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BY LINDA WORTHINGTON
UMCONNECTION STAFF

'Te podemos ayudar?' 'Can we help you,' asked Maria 'Milly' Rivera as she made the rounds of the shopping malls, grocery stores, street festivals, schools and her new neighborhood in Frederick.

It?s a question that defines her ministry.

Rivera, a native Puerto Rican, arrived in Frederick in early June from Florida where she coordinated a number of ministries with Latinos, and for the past five years was pastor of the Genesis Hispanic Mission in Casselbury.

In Frederick, she has already set up an office at Trinity UMC, found an apartment and settled in. She?s also begun her outreach the growing Latino community.

The Frederick District, under the leadership of Superintendent Terri Rae Chattin, began the 'Latinos Initiative' to open the doors of its churches to the Hispanic Community and,'share the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that the Kingdom of God may be expanded in the community of Frederick.'

The churches are sharing the support for Rivera as an outreach worker and coordinator. She?s very aware that her ministry will not be in one church or one place, rather will be mostly on the streets, classrooms and workplaces of the city.

In her initial survey and get-acquainted trips in the city, Rivera noted several needs among the Latino population. 'To start,' she said, 'I need to work with the family in their houses, they don?t have cars to come to the church.'

The need for transportation became real as she invited children and their families to come to Trinity UMC for Vacation Bible School. They were interested, but they told her, 'We don?t have a car.' Public transportation isn?t always available.

She?s also observed that most of the Latinos in the Frederick area are from either Mexico or El Salvador, and they don?t always get along. 'It?s a multi-cultural population,' she said. While most Anglos think that any Hispanic speaker is the same as another, Rivera points out differences between the languages and the cultures, though she can communicate with both and several other Latino ethnicities.

The Hispanic community as a whole is one of the lowest socio-economic groups in the city, which does not preclude, perhaps even exacerbates, a variety of problems such as drugs, alcohol, child abuse and domestic violence, Rivera said. Unemployment is high, and at the same time, some families work at least two jobs in order to make ends meet. Families double up in small apartments and the overcrowding adds to the stress.

The Frederick District formed an advisory committee to work with Rivera and provide her with an emotional, as well as financial, support base.

At a recent meeting, the Rev. Sarah Dorrance from Calvary UMC, who works with English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, said, 'None of our students in ESL have papers,' pointing out another issue - and need - in the community.

A good project for a church, Rivera says, is to hold ESL classes for the parents, as children begin coming to Sunday school or Vacation Bible School. 'Sometimes parents work too many jobs and have no time for learning English,' she said. 'They want to.'

Churches can also be helpful and begin to connect to the Latino community by giving group support in the areas of domestic violence, for single mothers, and where there is child abuse. 'The community of faith is good about this,' Rivera said.

When she introduces herself as a United Methodist minister, her listeners often asks, 'What is a Methodist?' Since many Latinos are Pentecostal, Rivera reminds them that the Pentecostal tradition came out of Methodism. She?s now preparing a brochure to explain some of the basic tenets of United Methodism, such as baptism and Communion.

The people she visits are also puzzled about a woman doing ministry. 'The culture does not usually see a woman as pastor,' she said.

Most of the Hispanic community is traditionally Catholic, and the Frederick Catholic churches offer services in Spanish. So do the Assemblies of God and the Baptist churches.

Rivera doesn?t anticipate the United Methodist churches beginning worship services in Spanish, at least not yet. But they can provide social services and language classes.

Rivera has a vision for the future to establish a community center where she and others could offer immigration services.

She was a volunteer for an immigration clinic with Justice for Our Neighbors in Orlando a couple years ago.

Maria Rivera?s middle name is Milagros, 'miracles.' She?s aptly named as she brings the message of Christ to the Hispanic speaking community, not in large gatherings or evangelical crusades, but one by one.

'I?ll start with the people, person to person,' she said. 'Te podemos ayudar?'

SIDEBAR:
The Rev. Edgardo Rivera

Sharing the same last name, but unrelated to Milly Rivera, is fellow Puerto Rican, the Rev. Edgardo Rivera, who is beginning this month as the conference?s Hispanic coordinator and Adventure Gbwc_superusere. The two were in seminary at Drew University at the same time. Edgardo Rivera was ordained an Elder in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference in 2005, and most recently was pastor of a Hispanic/Latino congregation in an urban setting in Central Pennsylvania Conference.