According to the 2020 Census, 11.7 percent of the 4 million Oklahoma residents are Hispanic or Latino. As the Hispanic ministry partner for Oklahoma Baptists, Everardo Borunda provides quality training for Hispanic leaders, facilitates connections around the state of Oklahoma and offers pastoral care to Oklahoma pastors and their families.
“My main job is to maintain good contact and communication with pastors and churches in the Hispanic context in Oklahoma,” Ever said. “Through the office of Oklahoma Baptists Hispanic Ministries, I offer support, training opportunities and resources for pastors and for the churches they serve.”
He also works with local pastors who want to identify future leaders. The next church planters will come from those churches. This journey toward planting a church all started for Ever when he was in the ninth grade.
“I was 14 years old when my family moved from Mexico to Oklahoma in the summer of 1990,” he said. “I could not speak English, and the culture was quite different from what I had experienced previously.”
Ever grew up and married his high school sweetheart, Dania. Soon they were experiencing the American dream.
“The Lord was blessing us with so much, and we were so happy,” Ever said. “However, some uneasiness had been brewing in my heart for several years. I wanted to start a business, but God had very different plans for my life. That was the source of my inner struggle.”
After a time of prayer and talking with several pastors, Ever realized that God was calling him to partner with Him in the new adventure of planting a Hispanic ministry in Oklahoma City and to now serving as the Hispanic ministry partner for Oklahoma Baptists.
“If God can use a boy who came to this country with no status,” he said, “who could not speak the language, with no formal theological education, and no previous experience in ministry, He can use pretty much anyone who is willing to step out in faith and obey Him.”
Ever asks to pray for more men who will be willing to become equipped for service in the local church, that God would raise up more Hispanic church planters and that there would be more healthy Hispanic churches planted in Oklahoma.
Because of the generous giving of Oklahoma Baptists through the Cooperative Program, an amazing array of ministries are supported. This unified giving encourages fellowship with other believers all over the world. Collectively, Oklahoma Baptists are advancing the Gospel together.
Everardo Borunda is featured in the 2023 Missionary Prayer Guide for Oklahoma Baptists. For more information about the Cooperative Program, visit oklahomabaptists.org/cp.
