By Michael Wacht

LEESBURG — The annual Florida Conference Hispanic Family Camp "Campamento de Familias" attracted more than 400 people to the Life Enrichment Center here, a record crowd for the 18-year-old ministry sponsored by the conference’s Hispanic Ministry Team. More than a third of those attending the early September event were youth and young adults.

"It’s very important for the people of the church to see youth…to see the work they are accomplishing because they don’t always see it," said Yohanka Cabezas, a member of Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in West Palm Beach and director of the conference’s Hispanic Youth Ministry Team.

The increased attendance at this year’s camp is a reflection of the growth in the various Hispanic ministries around the conference, Cabezas said. Although the growth is a cause for celebration, it also presents some challenges. "We have a lot of cultural diversity…a mix of cultures, different races and religious influences," she said. "It was hard to facilitate this, but it worked. …people realized we don’t want to change their culture or their ways. It’s a beautiful experience to share the different cultures."

Cabezas said in her work with the conference’s Hispanic youth this past year she has been intentional about inviting them to the camp so they could be visible to other church members and take advantage of the training and networking opportunities the camp offers.

"We offered different classes for different interests," Cabezas said. "We had sports, music and theater classes…and a class on the role of youth in the family."

The most significant classes were the sessions on the ordained ministry taught by Joaquín García, assistant general secretary with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry’s Division on Ordained Ministry, according to Cabezas. The class offered information about the various ordination tracks.

García said the class was important because its goal was to help more people connect with the United Methodist Church and its ministries. "We recognize in the next five years…there will be many people who will reach retirement, and we need more people to take their place," he said.

It was also important because the growing Hispanic population needs an increasing number of Spanish-speaking pastors to minister to them. "The Hispanic population has grown in very significant ways," García said. "It is our responsibility to extend our ministry to them. Clergy and laity together need to accept this responsibility to help our youth explore and participate in the [ordination] process."

The Rev. Cruz Edwin Santos, pastor of the Hispanic Mission at First United Methodist Church, Kissimmee, and Hispanic National Plan coordinator of the north area of the Florida Conference, said he was pleased to see nearly 50 young people participate in the class. "There is a big need for leadership in this conference, especially first-career pastors," he said, adding that since many Hispanic youth are bilingual, they can serve in either English- or Spanish-speaking congregations.