In 2010, my husband, Cesar Salazar, and I moved to Bakersfield, California, to plant Plaza Iglesia Cristiana. We had never been to Bakersfield, but we sensed a clear calling from God to begin a Hispanic church in Southeast Bakersfield, or as my husband calls it, “the very best part of the city.”
Everyone laughs when he says this because Southeast Bako has some of the most violent and challenging neighborhoods where you find the majority of homeless, drug addicts and alcoholics. There are also many broken and dysfunctional families, young teenage mothers, single parents and grandparents raising their grandkids. I could go on.
Neighborhoods we call community
These are the neighbors we began reaching, the neighborhoods we now call our community. This community holds the families that we have visited and shared meals with, the people we have baptized, the babies we have presented, the Quinceañeras and the weddings and funerals we have officiated. It’s this community that we pray for day after day. It’s this community that God sent us to minister to.
We knew that ministering to the community would mean more than just holding church services, so we created programs that address the needs of the people: school programs that help students with their homework and learning to read; back-to-school and Christmas programs to help families in need; outreach programs where families can have fun together in a safe environment, summer programs, movie nights and a fall festival. Located right in the heart of Southeast Bakersfield, Plaza Iglesia quickly became a welcoming place for the community.
We focused on getting to know the people, to serve them unconditionally, to offer them support and encouragement. Someone once said: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” So, we set out to show how much we care, and, more importantly, how much God cares.
Not typical
We are not your typical Hispanic church. We consider ourselves “Una Iglesia Hispana Diferente” (a different Hispanic church). Our services are bilingual because we know how important family is to the Hispanic culture. We also know that Hispanic families do pretty much everything together.
Families shop together, go to the doctor together, go out to eat together, watch TV together—you get the idea. We believe church should be a place where families come together. Often, Abuela and Dad only speak Spanish while Mom and the kids prefer English. Plaza Iglesia is a church for the whole family, targeting first-, second- and third-generation Hispanic families. Plus, we have the best coffee. And people can drink it in their seats and wear jeans and T-shirts to church.
The partnership blessing
A pivotal moment in the church’s journey came in 2011, when The Bridge Bible Church partnered with us to put on our summer program. Nate Coleman was an intern at The Bridge when that happened but later became a pastor. This helped our connection grow deeper.
The collaboration with The Bridge Bible Church has been instrumental in helping Plaza Iglesia continue its mission to reach the lost and make disciples. The two churches have partnered on several outreaches, summer camps, community meals, jacket giveaways and the annual Hope for Christmas event.
Although The Bridge has been a generous financial supporter for many years, our partnership goes beyond that. They are family to us and our Bridge family has gone into the trenches with us as we serve our community. We have been able to do more because of our partnership with The Bridge.
For the past three years, we have been able to give away jackets to our community, thanks to The Bridge. The women’s ministry at The Bridge partnered with us in several events last year, and together we started the food pantry during COVID-19.
Just this past December we held a pancake breakfast where Pastor Nate and some of the church elders joined us to cook and serve. We distributed 135 jackets donated by The Bridge. We also participated in The Bridge’s Merry Christmas Bakersfield event, selling drinks. Someone at the Christmas event remarked how wonderful it is that we always serve together.
Love one another
John 13:35 says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Our partnership opens the door for more diverse and inclusive ministry efforts, enriching the spiritual experiences and outreach capabilities of both congregations. We love working together!
The start of this partnership predates Plaza Iglesia’s affiliation with USMB. The exemplary way The Bridge Bible Church showed the love of Jesus through their care for people drew Plaza Iglesia into the Mennonite Brethren family. The close relationship we have with The Bridge played a crucial role in facilitating our transition into the Mennonite Brethren community.
One of the challenges we’ve faced since we first planted the church is our finances. Serving an impoverished community makes it difficult to have a stable economy. Most of our members are field workers or packers, both seasonal occupations. People may be out of work for months at a time.
But God has been faithful in providing for every need through tithes and offerings, ministry partners and miraculous gifts. We have learned over these 14 years that when God guides, he also provides.
Today, Plaza Iglesia continues to thrive, dedicated to serving the people of Southeast Bakersfield just like it has from the start.
Maria Salazar serves Plaza Iglesia Cristiana in Bakersfield, California, with her husband, Cesar.
What a great story! Kudos to Maria and Cesar for their obedience to the call of Jesus and their faithful ministry.