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With approximately 400,000 people of Hispanic descent living within the boundaries of the Oregon Pacific District, 97% of whom do not attend church anywhere, there is a wonderful mission field for us in most of our towns and cities, and perhaps even in our own neighborhoods. The Oregon Pacific District recognized the calling of God to reach as many of the 400,000 for the glory of God as we could, loving them into the Kingdom, so we prayed to God for the best leader He could provide to lead us. Did He ever answer that prayer?! Dr. Mario Zani comes to us from Argentina where he was in charge of Casa Nazarena Publicaciones (Nazarene Publishing House), the source for all Spanish language literature for the Church of the Nazarene. Prior to that, Dr. Zani has served as a Regional Director, Nazarene Theological Seminary professor, Provost/President at Nazarene colleges/seminaries in Central and South America and in other leadership positions in the Church of the Nazarene. He and his wife Ana served as pastors at a Spanish-speaking church in Kansas City while Dr. Zani taught at the seminary. Ana is currently serving as the pastor of a new Hispanic church at the Hillsboro Church of the Nazarene. Hispanic School of Ministry . On Saturday, November 1, 13 students successfully completed the second course of ministerial studies, at Central Portland Church of the Nazarene. Exploring History and Polity of the Church of the Nazarene began on October 4, and extended for every Saturday from 8 am to 1 pm. This course was taught by Dr. Mario Zani. There are a total of 17 students registered in the Hispanic program. One of the new students at the Hispanic School of Ministry is Pedro Ortiz, member of Springfield Church of the Nazarene. After a night shift and about 5:30 am, every Saturday, he left his home to drive over to Portland, to be back about 3 pm. Pedro, originally from Peru, stood before the students during the first day of classes to share how God called him to the ministry. Among other details shared during his testimony, he said: “About six months ago, I sensed a strong direction from God to witness Christ among my neighbors and friends in Springfield, Oregon. As I shared this with my pastor and district leaders, I began to sense the need to pray for my future. In general, I have been involved in church in many ways, including serving on my local church board. But this renewed a sense of responsibility to others about sharing Christ, to seek for ways to secure the JESUS Film. By knowing of this tool and how effective it may become in the hands of those that want to make an impact in others, I called our ORPAC Hispanic District Coordinator. As he informed me about the film, he also shared about the school of ministry. I was not too sure at that time about enrolling, but then, about a month before classes started, I sense God calling and leading me into ministry.” As classes progressed, Pedro and most of the students in this course they were lead into a point to be entirely sanctified. Pedro, with the leadership of his pastor (Dr. John M. Hanna) is making plans to open the Hispanic work in Springfield. Next course will be Holiness, which will be taught at the same location on January 17, 24, 31, and February 7 and 14. We are very thankful to pastors and congregations that are sponsoring students from Hillsboro, Springfield, Central Portland, Oregon City, and South East Community in Portland. Plans are to open a center in Eugene or nearby location during the first part of 2009. Women's Ministry . On October 4, at Portland Central, Marisela Flores –wife of pastor Mario Flores-- and a group of Hispanic ladies of the local congregation organized the first Women Hispanic congress. For the event, Rev. Ana Maria Zani was invited as speaker. The purpose of this meeting was to introduce the church and the Lord to women from the Portland Central Hispanic community. The event included a time of fellowship with students of the school of ministry and a specific time which served for the message to be presented to the group of ladies. About 10 children attended the activity for which special care was provided. Central Church, under the leadership of Dr. Jerry Warren and pastor Mario Flores is experiencing rapid growth. About 80 people and children are attending regularly all the Hispanic services. October 2008 update Dear Visionary Partner, When we all signed on to be part of the Transform Oregon Ministry with special emphasis on the Hispanic population we did not know what the results would be. Let me remind you of some facts: Over 400,000 Hispanic people live on our district. Only 3% of the Latino population attend church. Many have a Roman Catholic background but they do not attend church. There is openness to our kind of church from our wonderful Hispanic friends. In just two months we have over 300 names, addresses, and phone numbers of people who are signing up for English as a Second Language. This is tremendous. Please read and rejoice in the testimonies of the people who were baptized at Hillsboro Church on October 5. Patrick Darang: “I give my heart and soul to the Lord.Since I gave my heart to the Lord, I have become a better person and my relationship with my family has made tremendous recovery. Karen Darang : “I want to thank you God for the second chance you have given me to live. Thank you for your patience, love, grace and mercy. I want to tell you God before I met you my life was empty, but since I have you in my life and in my heart, my life has changed and now there is hope, love, peace and forgiveness. Thank you for my family and for bringing angels like Mary, Perla, and the Nazarene family into my life”. As you write your support check, please bow your head and thank God for the people who are being saved and redeemed by God's marvelous grace.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayerful and financial support of the work on the Oregon Pacific District that we call TransfORm Oregon. You are the human backbone of the transforming work that God is doing all across our district. Your encouragement, your prayers and your giving are paying immediate and eternal dividends. Dr. Mario and Ana Zani report that over 80 people showed up for the first English as a Second Language (ESL) class at Hillsboro on September 14 th and that they now have over 200 people on a list who have provided them a name, address and phone number. In addition, over 50 have signed up for ESL classes at Portland Central. ESL is a wonderful way to make initial contact, meet a pressing need (language skills), build relationships, introduce the church to people who didn't have it on their radar, and even to share the Gospel. Please continue to pray for this strategic initiative to be fruitful in building the Kingdom. The first course in the Hispanic School of Ministry has been completed with 11 in attendance and the 2 nd course has already been scheduled. The Hispanic School of Ministry is designed to develop local individuals to grow the skills and knowledge that they will need to lead Hispanic ministries right where God has planted them. We are committed to developing the individuals that God has already gifted us with right here on the district.
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Invoking a Holy, Positive,
Impact on Oregon
project! More than a project, this is a divine enterprise where we already see God transforming lives! 
y is now divided north, Central and South Fields. They represented churches from Portland south east, Portland Central, Beaverton, Oregon City, and Hillsboro. For the preregistration day (July 19), about 20 candidates were present. The final selection and count were 10 student completing this rigorous course.