At UBA, we have a pretty amazing team of people hard at work in our churches. As you interact with the association, however, you may only know a few of our staff. And that's sad.
Our team is one of the best assets you have to get connected. So we wanted to highlight the people whose stories you might not otherwise know. Because every member of UBA is what makes up the association. Churches, ministers, staff, and associations are all #BetterTogether.
At UBA, we have a pretty amazing team of people hard at work to serve our churches. As you interact with the association, however, you may only know a few of our folks. Part of getting connected to our network of churches is knowing the people who can get you connected. Our team is one of the best assets we have to connect churches together.
So we wanted to highlight some of the people whose stories you might not otherwise know.
1. Introduce yourself.
I’m Victor Manuel Marte. My wife, Jackie, and I have been married for 33 years. We have three children, but they’re not little kids anymore (30, 25, and 21). We also have two beautiful granddaughters. Everyone's lives close by, so that’s wonderful. I've been working for UBA since May 2017 and am also the pastor at Iglesia Bautista La Tierra Prometida.
2. How did you get connected with the association?
I was connected through Lideres Transformadores (LT) with Campo before I started working at UBA. As I went through the program, I kept asking everyone if they had experience creating a vision community, so LTC was kind of my brainchild because it was about building a vision community, So I was invited to be part of the LT team and later Campo recommended me to UBA.
3. So what is a “vision community”?
“A vision community is a group of people from the congregation who will work with the pastor to discern the change a church needs to make.”
It’s part of Lidres Transformadores teaching. LT focuses on personal renewal, creating an expectation of change, and then creating a vision community.
A vision community is a group of people from the congregation who will work with the pastor to discern the change a church needs to make. It’s something we use as part of church renewal as well.
4. How does your role advance the gospel in our context?
My main focus at UBA is church planting and church renewal—revitalization and replanting. The only way we're going to seriously dent the city for the gospel is through church planting and church renewal.
Renewal becomes how we help churches catch a vision for multiplication. We've planted 20 churches in the last few years—7 during the pandemic! And I'm dreaming of seeing a Hispanic church planting movement in our city.
5. What's one thing most people don’t know about you?
“I’m very emotional. I laugh easily, but I cry easily too. Injustice and seeing people hurting really messes me up.”
I'm very emotional. I laugh easily, but I cry easily too. Injustice and seeing people hurting really messes me up. My emotions are not necessarily empathy, but they motivate me to do something about the pain in the world.
During a physical, a sonographer told me I have a beautiful heart, and I think that is true—literally and metaphically.
6. What are you reading right now?
I'm reading a lot about contextualization, especially in Hispanic cultures (Mision integral by Rene Padilla and Caminando Entre el Pueblo de Juan F. Martinez). These are about the challenges unique to Hispanic churches and how to engage our culture.
I'm also reading Inteligencia Emocional by Dr. Bradberry & Greaves and Fierce Conversation by Susan Scott for personal growth
7. What motivates you to go to work?
It depends on which work you’re talking about. As a pastor, I love the redemption stories. To see a person come to church who had no hope, being transformed and affecting change in their family and their community is one of the best parts of being a pastor.
“Telling the redemption story of a person is one thing. Telling the redemption story of a church is a whole other level!
I’m privileged to get to be a part of that. ”
For my work at UBA, I was apprehensive at first because I don't like meetings. And organizations have to have meetings. But at UBA, I also get to see the redemption stories on a bigger scale by doing church renewal. Telling the redemption story of a person is one thing. Telling the redemption story of a church is a whole other level. I'm privileged to get to be a part of that.
8. What’s the most exciting thing you’re working on right now?
Helping HCPN become a network of networks for church planting among the denominations in the city. HCPN en espanol used to do a residency and sometimes I would go to the meetings—Did I mention I hate meetings? They approached me and gave us (Hyme and Doug) to partner with them for church planting.
I’m getting a lot of opportunities to partner with different networks for gospel work. I am currently part of a network of catalytic hispanic leaders from several North America large cities and the Caribbean (Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Cuba) working on best practices for Hispanic church planting. I’m also part of a HCPN Espanol cohort of different denomination leaders helping to create sending Pipe lines. But, the most exciting thing i'm working on now is our conversation on the Forest and the Desert, thinking on how we can create serious collaboration to saturate every area of our city with the gospel of Jesus
9. What do you love to do when you’re not at work?
I like a good action movie. And spending time with my lovely wife. I also love watching baseball.
10. What’s so special about a local association of churches?
The local association knows what's going on on the ground. A national or state guy wouldn't know the details of the churches or their history. And we don’t get into bigger politics so we can connect different kinds of churches for the mission.
11. Tell me a story that makes you smile.
So many things make me smile. In my life, I have learned how to see things that are hard as part of his plan. My concept of the sovereignty of God is very strong. Because of that, I'm always looking at what God is doing even in the worst of situations. Every time I get down, I remember the stories of redemption, and it keeps me going.
I have a lady in church who for many years came in and out to the church. She recently told me that she was going through her stuff at home and found a card from 2007—the first time she came to church. She was working at a gentleman’s club but starting to come back to church. She invited a client to church, and they started coming together. She left the church for a few years, but he stayed.
He was baptized and married in the church.
Two years later, the first lady called and wanted to take her new boyfriend to church but wasn't sure if she could come with the other guy. They came, gave their lives to Christ, got married, and are now working on planting a church in the New Kaney area!
May we take encouragement from Lough Ah Fook’s story. God can use whatever “small” thing you’re doing for the gospel today to make an impact you could never imagine.