Austin, TX | Spiritual Opportunities with Spanish Speakers

Prayer-walking and Discovery Bible Study bring new spiritual life to a marginalized Spanish-speaking community

Gloria cooked, and people came!

Austin Ridge is a large church that has embraced Novo's Disciple-Making Cohort and is putting everything into practice in various missional spaces around Austin. One of their significant outreaches is to Spanish-speaking communities, led by the church’s director of Latino ministries, Andry, and his wife Nadia.

About two years ago, they began to prayer-walk in a small trailer park with a Spanish-speaking majority, and soon a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) started. Then, they arranged for a mobile medical unit called "The Source" to come to the trailer park as a way to engage culture. As residents visited The Source, Andry and Nadia would let them know they’d be hosting a Bible study that same evening.

Things really took off when a “person of peace” posted about the DBS on a community social media page. Three new women showed up for the study, Bibles in hand. One of them, Gloria, turned out to be another person of peace, who opened her own home to host an ongoing DBS group. Gloria cooked, and people came!

A man tells Andry sometimes he’d like to know more about God. Joining the DBS transformed his marriage.

One of the women who often came to the study shared with Nadia about some struggles she was having in her marriage. Andry was able to visit with the husband, and he admitted, “I’ve seen you guys. It’s nice what you’re doing. Sometimes I feel like I would like to know more about God.” Andry started to pray for him and eventually he joined the DBS! Since then, the change in their marriage has been nothing short of a miracle.

When the Austin Ridge team began prayer-walking the trailer park, they knew no one. Now they know every single family (about 40 homes), 50 people have participated in the DBS group, and leaders are beginning to emerge. 

This trailer park is just one of many new Latino spaces Austin Ridge is serving. Their goal is to raise up leaders within these communities so they can pass on the ministry and continue to invest in new spaces. Novo continues to walk alongside this team, providing coaching, encouragement, and networking with others who have the same heart for mission. Austin Ridge leaders share that, “It’s been a wind in our sails.”