Spartanburg, S.C., tucked away in a corner of a small state, might seem an unlikely place to plant a seed that could sprout into a church on the opposite side of the globe.
Russell BegayeUnlikely, that is, unless you’re Russell Begaye, who has experienced firsthand the largely untapped power of ethnic networking to leapfrog international borders – and oceans – to plant churches around the world as well as at home.
“With ethnic people, there are no lines – no state lines, no national borders,” said Begaye. “You reach a Cambodian in Spartanburg, then you know that person is communicating with his family back in Cambodia. Next thing you know, the person in Cambodia is passing the word on to family members who live in Australia or Russia. And a Cambodian church in Spartanburg is very connected to one in Atlanta or Charlotte. They’re all connected. You reach an Iranian in Atlanta, next thing you know he’s starting a church in Tehran.”
It’s easy to see where Begaye is headed. His message for South Carolina churches is plain: “Reach your ethnic neighbor, and you will literally reach the world.”
Ethnic ministry is a natural passion for Begaye. A Native American and member of the Navajo tribe, Begaye was born and reared on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico and Arizona. His family became Christians at a Southern Baptist church on the reservation, and Begaye was baptized at 12. He said he felt a call to ministry from the time he first became a believer.
After his education at UCLA and Southwestern Seminary, he joined the staff of the Home (now, North American) Mission Board to work with all tribal groups in the U.S. and Canada. He later led the mission board’s language missions division, working with 217 ethnic groups and helping start up to 1,700 new churches each year.
Now retired from NAMB, Begaye is director of missions for San Juan Baptist Association in northwestern New Mexico. He also is active as the founding chairman of Ethnic America Network, which he helped start in the late 1990s. The network, based in Wheaton, Ill., has more than 50 member groups. Begaye said the EAN’s goal is to create networks throughout the nation touching every ethnic community.
Spartanburg will host the network’s national summit in 2012. Begaye was in town May 25 for a meeting of organizers for the 2012 summit (see “Spartanburg planners,” page 4). Jim Goodroe, director of missions for the Spartanburg County Baptist Network, is heading up the planning for the summit. Begaye said Goodroe has a “passion and vision” for reaching ethnic groups in the region. “God has placed him right here to challenge churches to reach out to the immigrant population, not just in Spartanburg, but beyond,” Begaye said. “I think God’s going to use brother Jim in seeing this network develop and to see hundreds of new churches started.”
Begaye thinks Spartanburg, home to residents representing more than 70 countries, is ideally situated between Atlanta and Charlotte to become a regional network hub for ethnic outreach. He said a key to successful networking must be a willingness among Christian churches and ministries to cross denominational and geographical lines to share key information and resources.
“This work in reaching ethnic America has to be a global vision, a global effort, bringing all members to the table without the lines,” he said. “That’s what the ethnic groups are doing anyway. For them, there’s no NAMB, no IMB. It’s just a globe, and their people live there in various countries, and they’re going after them: reaching people, starting churches, developing pastors, and those churches duplicating themselves – not just in the same country, but around the world.”