God showed Anna how to use her pain to minister to others who suffer.

Anna Cortinas was raised in a Christian home in Beaumont, TX. She committed her heart to Jesus and was baptized at sixteen in Templo Bautiusta of Beaumont. In 1987, she enlisted in the US Army and served as a records clerk for four years in Germany. Following her military service, she worked for the Social Security Administration as a claims representative for ten years.

She enrolled at the Baptist University of the Americas (BUA), pursing a call that seemed unclear at the time. There, she began to grow spiritually as she gained a deeper knowledge of the Bible. God was changing her and giving clarity to her call. It was her participation in BUA’s first Latina Leadership Institute group that helped her find her ministry voice. She credits Dr. Nora Lozano with giving her the encouragement to break the shackles that limit so many women in ministry. 

She was a gifted teacher but had been restricted to teaching only women by her fundamentalist church. Anna accepted this constraint because she had never seen an alternative. When she preached her first sermon, she found a greater confidence in her calling. Following her graduation from BUA, in 2008, she continued to teach and preach and served as hospital chaplain. She even preached at her home church, where she had once been told that women aren’t allowed to preach. Still, she felt a strong call to something more in her ministry.

Being at her brother’s side and caring for him in the final stages of his life reinforced Anna’s gift of mercy, expressed by caring for suffering people. She grew in her understanding of how God can use the hardship and trauma in her life to help others in their time of need. 

In 2018, Anna enrolled in the Master of Theology program at Dallas Baptist University, preparing for the next phase of her ministry. She currently serves as an intern at Baptist Temple, where she will apply her organizational and interpersonal skills, along with her spirit of encouragement to help serve the spiritual needs of our community. She will take the lead in developing support groups and helping hurting people to discover God’s unconditional love and healing.

Anna has three children and five grandchildren.

Meet Baptist Temple's 2020 Summer Intern Team

Baptist Temple welcomes four Baptist University of the Americas students as summer interns. They will work to help us navigate ministry in these changing times as we continue to reach out to our community with the love of God

Jonatan Solis is a native of Ecuador and is majoring in Human Behavior at BUA. He is called to work with children and youth and will seek to work as a counselor upon completing his education. He has served on many short-term mission teams including multiple trips to the Amazon region of Ecuador. Jonatan plays the guitar.

Valentina Sanchez is from Colombia and is majoring in Human Behavior at BUA. She had previously worked at Baptist Temple during the summer of 2018 as part of the BUA summer mission team. She looks forward to working in the garden and developing Bible Discovery Groups in the community.

Daniela Peña is from Colombia and is majoring in Music and Human Behavior at BUA. Her calling is to work with children and youth and plays the piano. This summer she will be working to develop Bible Discovery Groups in the community.

Juan David Cabrera is from Colombia and is majoring in Business at BUA. He will be applying his experience in church media to help enhance our current offerings and will be working with the team to use soccer and basketball to reach our community with the gospel.

Servant Spotlight: Mateo Beltran

BUA grad, Logsdon Seminary student and 

Student.Go missionary receives the 

Mary Ellen Long Scholarship.

Mateo was born in Cali, Columbia and came to the US to enroll at the Baptist University of the Americas (BUA). He graduated from BUA in 2018 with a dual major in music and theology. The practical side of his ministry training occurred, in part, at Baptist Temple, where he has served in with children, youth, community ministries and more. During summer breaks, Mateo would serve at different churches across Texas to gain a broader understanding of how churches understand and carry out their missions.

He keeps returning to Baptist Temple because of the creative ways we fund and carry out our ministry to the community. He sees a genuine love for both our neighbor and the members of the church. “I was made to feel welcome,” he says.

This atmosphere of welcome is reflected in the diversity of Baptist Temple's campus community. A diversity reflected not only in terms of race and ethnicity but, also, in economic, social and age as well.

The student body of BUA is around 50% international with students from Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe. This multicultural mix has served Mateo well in his work at Baptist Temple.

This year, Mateo has returned as a Student.Go missionary; a missions program of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) that provides opportunities for students to serve with our field personnel and ministry partners as they live out CBF Global Missions commitments—cultivating beloved community, bearing witness to Jesus Christ and seeking transformational development.

Mateo is currently enrolled in the Master of Divinity program at Logsdon Seminary in San Antonio, where he leads music during chapel and is this year's recipient of the Mary Ellen Long Scholarship. Mateo seeks to apply his training by ministering to communities of need. At BUA he learned about Business as Mission (BAM) and began to develop a concept for supporting himself through bivocational ministry. In this way he will not be limited to serving only those churches that can afford to pay him. 

 

UPDATE 2/25/21 - Mateo will be licensed this Sunday and will join the BT staff as Minister of Outreach

Servant Spotlight: Miguel Garcia

Miguel Garcia is Baptist Temple's Student.Church summer missionary for 2018. This program of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, provides college students to serve CBF related churches around America.

Born in Wichita, Kansas and raised in Houston, Miguel began to study world religions at an early age. He went from ancient mythology to the major religions with a some side trips into folk religions and atheism. His conclusion was that there is no God and the church was a lie. The idea of God was only useful, perhaps, to comfort the dying.

During a theological debate with a Christian about the virtues of Polytheism vs. Monotheism, he began to wonder about the possible credibility of Christianity. The Holy Spirit had previously used a Christian novel to warm his heart and expand his mind so, Miguel sought out a religious professional (a pastor) to answer his questions.

He went to church dressed in his Sunday best and was pleasantly surprised at the relaxed dress of the other worshipers. It seemed inviting, The pastor answered his questions and invited Miguel to return that evening.

At the youth gathering that evening, he saw students he recognized from school. The lesson that evening was about a God-shaped hole inside us that only God could fill. It touched Miguel deeply and his heart was changed by Jesus that night.

After his high school graduation, Miguel started attending the Baptist University of the Americas. He had received an ad in the mail and was impressed by it's affordability, national recognition and the ability to pursue his life passion, music.

Miguel began his music journey at age 10, learning to play brass instruments, later adding piano, percussion and guitar. He has written 24 pieces of music and finished a symphony by age 17. He has applied his talents to church worship, including playing in worship bands and audio-visual support.

This is Miguel's third Student.Church experience. He will begin his senior year at BUA in the fall and desires to become a music educator. Miguel credits BUA with helping him to understand his strengths and limitations and mature as a follower of Jesus.

Six Churches, One VBS

For the second year, the churches that meet on the Baptist Temple campus joined forces to put together a high quality VBS. The level of energy and the spirit of unity displayed were beyond measure. The Sunday morning attendance of the BT campus churches ranges from 20 to 150 and includes Baptist Temple Church, Community Bible Church Highland Park, Mision Bautista Betel, Family Deaf Church and Sunny Slope Baptist Church.

These churches have a diverse membership that crosses ethnic, racial, language and economic barriers. We were joined this year by a church that ministers to African refugees, Iglesia del Dios Altisimo. Their African children plus a student mission team from Baptist University of the Americas brought a total of 14 different nations to our campus that week.

Our efforts resulted in over 90 workers, 173 students enrolled, 667 dinners served, $730 raised for missions and six decisions for salvation. Although the six decisions seems a low number, we had a lot of children return who had made decisions last year.

The most significant impact of that week was the Kingdom impact of six churches, different from each other in many ways, working together for the sake of the gospel!

Click here for a slide show recap of VBS 2017 on YouTube.

Angello Sanchez joins the BT ministry team

Angello Sanchez joined the Baptist Temple family this year to develop our campus youth ministry. Along with Luis Juarez, from Sunny Slope Baptist Church, Angello ministers to the youth of our four Sunday morning churches (Baptist Temple, Betel, Family Deaf Church and Sunny Slope). On Wednesdays, Angello leads a program for the youth of our campus churches and the community.

Twenty five teens attended our first youth worship night led by Angello. The teens came from our campus churches (including Community Bible Church of Highland Park) and the community. Ministers from the Church on Congress Avenue, Austin, helped lead worship.

Future plans include youth worship nights every 4-6 weeks and a number of activities to build community and develop slow growth. In due time our youth will be part of an outreach effort to the youth in our community.

Angello was born in Venezuela and came to the US on a student visa, enrolling at the Baptist University of the Americas (BUA) to learn English. He started attending the Church on Congress Avenue, in Austin, where he played bass and led the youth ministry.

A follower of Jesus since he was 14, Angello felt the call to ministry while at BUA and enrolled in the theology program. Working with youth fills Angello with hope. He not only wants to teach but, also wants to learn from them.

Angello has a demonstrated passion for urban youth, is fluent in English and Spanish and is comfortable ministering in a multicultural environment. When you factor in the mission-oriented education he is receiving at BUA, Angello is in position to carry the BT campus ministry to a new level.

A learning lab for multicultural ministry in an urban context

A student from St. Phillip's College contacted me recently. He is interested in studying Deaf culture for a class project. He is one of many who have come to Family Deaf Church over the past few years to learn more about American Sign Language and the Deaf.

The Baptist Temple campus has become a learning lab for multicultural ministry in an urban context. We currently host three Christian Social Ministries interns and one music intern from the Baptist University of the Americas. Last month we entered into a formal agreement with OLLU and UTSA to help train students in their MSW programs. Earlier this year we hosted conferences for Deaf ministry and small church/bivocational ministry, as well as, the Immigration Service and Aid Center's Summer Institute.

Hands-on experience in a real world environment enhances classroom learning. In the business, non-profit and government worlds internships have provided mutually beneficial vocational opportunities. The host organization receives free or very cheap labor and the intern receives resume enhancing training and experience.

My personal experience of serving a two year internship in a new church start was foundational to my ministerial career. It not only gave me confidence in my first paid ministry position but, perhaps most importantly, paved the way for that job and the next as well.

Beginning with that first ministry position I have committed myself to help ministry students to develop their call. My internship experience allowed me to practice ministry skills under the mentoring and protection of a pastor. On more than one occasion he stepped between an angry church member and myself; even though I was in the wrong. His point was that I was a novice and our church was to show me grace and prepare me for the mission field. It was not until I had to do the same for one of my own interns that I fully understood the risk he took in protecting me.

Beyond traditional ministry training, Baptist Temple has had the opportunity to work with AARP to provide job training in office and janitorial skills. Furthermore, we wish to provide training in early childhood education and cooking.

Being a learning lab for multicultural ministry in an urban context requires providing a network of experiences that are both mutually supportive and independent. Spiritual formation, life skills, emergency interventions, recreation, health improvement and more all offer opportunities to develop marketable leadership skills.

Jose and Karla Morey

Jose and Karla Morey joined Baptist Temple last year. Jose is a native of Venezuela and a student in the Baptist University of the Americas' School of Business Leadership. Jose ministered to university students through Misión Ultima Frontera in Venezuela.

Karla is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where she earned the Master of Divinity. She was appointed by the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to minister to university students in Venezuela.

In San Antonio Jose and Karla serve as chaplains the Marketplace Chaplains, USA. They provide pastoral support to the employees of Surlean Foods, HEB Warehouse and Kielbasa Sausage in San Antonio. They also serve Baptist Temple by teaching health and finance classes from a Christian perspective on Wednesday nights are an integral part of our upcoming urban summer missions program.

Jose and Karla have a vision to develop Christian housing for university students in Latin America. The lack of campus housing creates a need and an opportunity to reach young adults with the gospel.