News Digest

Last year’s sale of Major League Baseball’s Anaheim Angels to Arturo Moreno marked a new day for Hispanics in the United States. Moreno, 57, an Arizona native and fourth-generation Mexican-American, became the first Latino owner of an American-based professional sports team when he purchased the 2002 World Series champions for $184 million.

“Baseball has become increasingly diverse,” Bob DuPuy, MLB’s president and chief operating officer, announced at the time. “This is … a first step in increasing minority ownership over time.”

Most Hispanics will never earn as much as Moreno, but his acquisition of the Angels symbolizes the newfound purchasing power of Hispanics in the United States. According to a HispanTelligence study, Hispanic purchasing power in the United States has surged to nearly $700 billion annually.

Such statistics prove that dreams of the American variety do come true with hard work and determination. They also have rallied companies and advertisers to market to the Hispanic community.

Hershey Foods Corporation recently announced a multi-year partnership with Latin singer and actress Thalía Sodi as part of its strategy to tap into the fast-growing Latino market. Thomas Hernquist, Hershey Foods senior vice president, noted that Hispanics in the country who are influencing everything from music to fashion represent a tremendous market opportunity for the conglomerate.

Allstate recently launched a television, radio and print advertising campaign aimed at Hispanics. Major television networks are producing more programs that appeal to Latinos. Hip-hop radio stations have even hired Latino disc jockeys and run promotions in “Spanglish.”

But where corporate executives and advertising agents see dollar signs, Assemblies of God leaders see souls.

“Corporate America is wisely targeting Hispanics,” says Scott Temple, intercultural ministries director for the Assemblies of God. “If the church doesn’t welcome Hispanics first, they could be taken into a materialistic culture.”

There are nearly 40 million Hispanics living in the United States, making it the largest minority group at 13.5 percent. According to University of Notre Dame’s “Hispanic Churches in American Public Life” report, there are 12.2 million Latino Christians in the United States, of whom 9.2 million are Pentecostal or charismatic.

A/G Hispanics create their own districts with the mandate of reaching Latinos in the United States with the gospel, according to Daniel de Leon, pastor of Templo Calvario in Santa Ana, Calif., a church with a Sunday morning attendance of 4,000. Currently, there are eight A/G Latin districts in the United States with more than 194,000 members.

“It allows Hispanics to feel that they have an important role in the vision of the Assemblies of God,” de Leon says. “That in turn has created the responsibility of local autonomous churches to win our people for Christ.”

As aggressively as corporate America and advertisers are reaching out to Hispanics, so should the church, according to A/G leaders.

“Christ taught us that we should win everyone for His kingdom,” de Leon says. “In some areas of our country it’s going to be Hispanics that fill our churches.”