The name of the Oakland missionary group Buena Tierra translates to “good soil” and was inspired by Matthew 13:23. It is a lively and vibrant group that loves, helps, shares, celebrates, has fun, and grows.
On August 1, 2021, the Oakland Spanish Church established a core group of fourteen members. Each member was tasked with recruiting two additional members to form the new Buena Tierra congregation.
Within two months, this core group began a search for a rentable church building in their East Oakland neighborhood, which has one of the largest Hispanic populations in the city.
After an extensive search on December 25, 2021, the new group was inaugurated and held its first official service with 41 members at the Mt. Carmel Baptist Church. Luis Manrique Pena, the pastor of Oakland Spanish Church, helped train and equip the members during the first four months. Members then surveyed their community to determine its essential needs.
The Family Harmony Evangelistic program started on April 26, 2022. It provides guidance and solutions common to marriage, family, and relational issues with a Biblical emphasis. There was an average of eight to ten visitors each week.
In August 2022, Buena Tierra partnered with the Alameda County Food Bank to distribute groceries to the community. Approximately forty households have been blessed weekly, and Buena Tierra continues this outreach each Sabbath.
By February 2023, Buena Tierra connected to 87 families in the community through their missional efforts. As a result, eight people from the community were baptized. Currently, the group has an average attendance of seventy people each week, including fifteen visitors from the community receiving Bible studies.
With their success, the group is excited to start three new missional efforts: An Adventurer club, a Pathfinder club, and a monthly health seminar program.
Its mission continues to be “each one reaches one”. They look forward to the future when they can bear more fruit, plant more churches, and continue to reach Oakland until the day Christ returns.
Featured in Northern Lights, March 9, 2023
