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Posted: 7/25/03

In Houston, Flores has a flair for finding fishers of men

By Karen Simons

Union Baptist Association

HOUSTON–Moises Flores is preparing laity for ministry, following the model that drew him from work as a civil engineer in Mexico to a multi-tasking minister in Houston.

During a Promise Keepers gathering in Houston in the mid-1990s, Flores met Jorge Camacho, now a Union Baptist Association consultant but then pastor of Iglesia Bautista Del Redentor in Houston. Camacho invited Flores to become the church's mission pastor.

Moises Flores (right) receives congratulations after a recent class graduation. He is director of the Bible Institute for Church Planters.

Flores knew God had called him to ministry, but he also knew he needed to study. Camacho offered him not only a ministry role but a place for training as well through the Bible Institute for Church Planters–Instituto Biblico para Plantadores de Iglesias, which he founded.

Flores graduated from the institute in the summer of 2000, and today he is pastor of Iglesia Bautista Del Redentor. He also directs and teaches at the institute, serves on a leadership development training team for Union Baptist Association and juggles the demands of husband and father to four children, ages 1 to 12.

Meanwhile, his church has sponsored five church starts in the Houston area since September 2000.

That's the model of multiplication in ministry he advocates through the Bible Institute for Church Planters.

Since its launch in 1998, the institute has graduated 47 students. The recent class of 12 came from five local churches and attended weekly Monday night classes for 16 months to complete the 11 required courses.

Each course takes five to seven weeks of three-hour sessions and covers topics such as Old Testament, New Testament, methods of Bible study, cults, church starting, pastoral ethics and preaching.

“We are doing an important role to engage the lay person to become a leader–or pastor if the Lord calls him,” Flores said. “It changes their vision. We have laypeople we are training to become cell group leaders or even church planters. We have the testimony of students who come with no idea (they could start a church) but the Lord opens their eyes.

“The Lord is moving,” he explained. “When the Lord calls someone, my role is to facilitate God's movement. I need to be aware. I want to be a part of those movements among church planters.”

Flores sees church starting as an effective tool to reach non-Christian people. For example, three of the churches recently started by Del Redentor have a total attendance equaling the sponsoring church.

So Flores keeps recruiting people from the pews to consider what God may be asking them to do by way of leadership and church starting.

“We try to provide tools for leaders, to help them become a better leader or teacher in the churches. And we always include the information and passion to plant churches,” he explained.

Of the 35 students who completed the course work prior to the latest graduates, 12 have moved from lay leadership roles to pastoral roles.