How does discipleship take root when a church walks through crisis together? In Pivot’s first bilingual episode, Dwight Zscheile is joined by Pastor Henry Burbano, executive pastor of Juntos Ministries at Emmanuel Covenant Church in Shoreview, Minnesota, and Anna Schaberg, one of the core leaders of the ministry. Henry speaks in Spanish and Anna interprets as they describe a community where people from about twelve countries share meals, meet in homes, and worship in two languages, with new Christians learning to follow Jesus alongside people who have walked with him their whole lives.
Last winter, during the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, nine members of the Juntos community were detained on their way to work, and three were deported. Henry and Anna tell how the church drove people to their jobs, went with families to immigration appointments, and sent a team to visit those who had been sent back, and how that season deepened faith across the whole congregation. They also talk about why helpers burn out, the wave of baptisms that followed, and what it takes for a church to begin a bilingual ministry.
