Hispanic church reaches out to its community

By Karen L. Willoughby 

BURLEY, Idaho – Hay wagon, barrel train, candy inside a dinosaur’s mouth, cake walk and even a photo op with a 1950 dusty yellow Chevy pickup. 

This and much more were available at Primera Iglesia Bautista del Sur in late October. Lucio Gutierrez is in his 18^th year of pastoring the church for the second time. 

“We have it every year,” Janet Molina told UI Connections. “I’ve been attending the church for 25 years and it’s been going on at least that long.” 

Known by the community as Harvest Festival – Fiesta de Cosecha – the late October event is one of many ways PIB del Sur makes itself known city-wide though tucked into a side street in the flatland town of a bit more than 12,000 people. 

Burley is 40 miles east of Twin Falls in southern Idaho, and three hours northwest of Salt Lake City. About 21 percent of the population speaks Spanish as its first language. PIB del Sur is the only Southern Baptist church in Burley that worships in Spanish. 

“It gets so busy there’s no way to keep track of numbers,” Molina said when asked about the numbers present during the two-hour event that routinely stretches into three hours. An observer suggested at least 300 attended the Harvest Festival. 

“It’s not about the numbers,” continued Molina, who works as a tax appraiser. “It’s about opening our church to the community. That’s the main part of it. They might not come to church on Sunday, but at least they know where we are when they’re in need. We don’t have any expectations, other than they know our location.” 

It’s kind of like Vacation Bible School, Molina said. She overheard a young couple talking at the festival. One of them said she used to come to VBS at the church when she was a little girl. This year she was bringing her baby and her friend to the Harvest Festival. 

“It’s hard to trust people you don’t know,” Molina said. “One way to serve God is to help people know where to find Him.”

The church’s consistent presence year after year is now attracting its second and third generations, to big events at least three times a year as well as monthly “Family Night” events at the church. “We’re becoming a neighbor,” the event director, WMU director, and previous VBS director said. “That opens doors.” 

This year’s Harvest Festival – Fiesta de Cosecha – included a hayride pulled by the pastor’s son, Marco Gutierrez, manager of a small financial service business in Twin Falls: Picture hay bales atop a flatbed utility trailer pulled through the neighborhood by a blue and black side-by-side. 

Teenager Roger Garcia drove the Molina family’s black and yellow ATV as he pulled five 55-gallon barrels, each cut to seat two youngsters, strung together like a colorful centipede, around a grass field next to the church building.

A 1950 dusty yellow and brown Chevy pickup carrying a “house” atop its back end, accessorized with corn stalks, scarecrows and hay bales, provided an enticing backdrop for those who wanted to take photos of their children or the entire family in costume. 

Along one side of the church’s property were seven vehicles decorated in a variety of themes. Easiest to identify: Jurassic Park, where youngsters had to reach inside a small dinosaur’s mouth to get their candy. An Egyptian princess with Moses’ baby basket floating down the river. The cartoon “’Up’ House” with balloons included “Russell and his backpack” filled with candy to share. PacMan and its theme – Gobble up the Word – were other attractions, as was the train engineer at the railroad crossing. 

“We encourage good fun trunks,” Molina said. “We don’t allow our people to have scary-themed vehicles. Each car handed out one or two pieces of candy to each person as they came by.” 

Don’t forget the cakewalk! Which this year was a box of four cupcakes, to help them get home undamaged. A cakewalk involves a big circle, with numbers spray painted (in this case) on the gravel parking lot. 

The music played. The youngsters walked around the circle, stepping on each number in turn. When the music stopped, a number was called out. The person standing on that number won a box of cupcakes. The music started again, until all the cupcakes were won.

Food this year was available for those who helped: Baked potatoes, chili, and nachos. Next year Molina wants to have a loaded baked potato meal – including chili – for everyone. 

“We try to do something different every year,” Molina said. “Some the same; some different.” 

Last month the church gave out 50 backpacks to elementary school youngsters through high school students, something members have done for at least the last five years. This is in a church where perhaps 30 adults and children attend Sunday morning worship. 

The previous month, August, the church hosted its annual church barbecue picnic, hosted at a different location every few years, to keep interest fresh. 

Next month the church will again provide a Christmas event for the community, a play that will in some way remind attendees of God’s gift to each one of them. 

And once every month, the church hosts “Family Night,” with a variety of activities – plus a potluck meal – so it’s never the “same ol’ same ol.’ 

“There’s always one or two biblically-focused games included to help us learn our Bible stories,” Molina said. “We say all the time, ‘If two or three are gathered together, God is in our midst.’ 

“I serve out of obedience, love, and gratitude to God,” Molina said. “If you stay active, you stay on fire, and you support one another.”