Dieppa-Báez named EM for Puerto Rican Baptists

Breaking news from the American Baptist News Service . . .

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 6/2/09)—Dr. Roberto Dieppa-Báez has been named the new executive minister of Las Iglesias Bautistas de Puerto Rico (the Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico) effective on July 1, 2009.

Las Iglesias Bautistas de Puerto Rico is a regional partner of American Baptist Churches USA.

A pastor for the past 28 years, Dieppa-Báez studied at the Inter American University and the Evangelical Seminary in Puerto Rico, and earned his Doctor of Ministry from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL.

As the associate executive minister in evangelism and new church planting from 2002-2008, Dieppa-Báez established ten new churches in Puerto Rico, as well as the Institute for Congregational Transformation, the Social Pastoral Institute, and the Institute for New Church Planters. He also designed a denominational profile to study the growth of the Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico.

He was the founder and director of Initial Counseling Center for persons battling alcoholism, drugs, and domestic violence.

Dieppa-Báez has coordinated missionary trips to Haiti, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, and Colombia.

He and his wife, Abigail Pérez, have one adult son, Axel Dieppa- Pérez, and live in Juncos, Puerto Rico.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.

R.I.P., Victor Mercado, 27 April 2009

My only encounter with Victor Mercado was through my participation in a week-long workshop that he offered on the Baptists in Latin America at the World Mission Conference in Greenlake back in the summer of 1990. Mercado retired six months before I became a volunteer American Baptist missionary in January 1993. Notably, he was the first area director for Latin America to be hired by International Ministries (IM) after American Baptist missions work in Latin America was transfered from the American Baptist Home Missions Society (aka National Ministries) to the American Baptist Foreign Missions Society (aka International Ministries). This was done, in part, out of recognition for the need to shift from a paternalistic approach to mission (in which our Latin American neighbors were viewed as a part of the U.S.'s back yard) to a mission of mutuality. Needless to say, Mercado provided much needed leadership to IM and its national partners in Latin America during this critical period of transition. He will be greatly missed.

MERCADO, LONG-TIME AMERICAN BAPTIST PASTOR AND LEADER, DIES

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 4/30/09)—Rev. Víctor Mercado, long-time American Baptist pastor and leader, passed away on Monday, April 27, 2009.

Mercado earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at the University of Puerto Rico and worked for the General Electric Instrument Corporation before pursuing his seminary training at the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico.

After seminary, Mercado served pastorates of churches in Caguas, Trujillo Alto, and Santurce. He also served as the president and treasurer of the Baptist Convention of Puerto Rico, served on the ABC Nominating Committee for several years, and held various positions on the Evangelical Council of Puerto Rico.

In 1975, Mercado joined the board of American Baptist International Ministries as area director for Latin America. He later served as the area director for the Carribbean. His ministry focused on training leaders, strengthening congregations, encouraging inclusivity, and pursuing interdenominational cooperation. He was passionate about a holistic approach to evangelism and church growth, including prophetic and justice concerns. In 1984, Mercado was named the associate director of the Overseas Division of International Ministries.

In 1992, to honor his distinguished work in Latin America, Mercado received the Arturo Parajon Order award—the highest distinction granted by the Baptist Convention of Nicaragua. He received an honorary doctoral degree, “Honoris Causa”, in Latin American Theology, from the Baptist Seminary of Mexico. He also received numerous other honors and commendations from various American Baptist organizations, including the Hispanic Caucus and the Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico.

When Mercado joined International Ministries, he commenting on how he viewed his ministry in the ABC, saying, “I see my work as being an interpreter to American Baptists, and of finding ways to help Hispanic people. Not all Hispanic people are alike; each country and group has its differences, and we must learn about them.”

Mercado knew how to defend and give a privileged place to ABC mission partners in Latin America and the Caribbean, where he was considered a champion of their cause. He interpreted the missionary cause as key to liberation, integrity and dignity.

Reid Trulson, executive director of International Ministries, said, "Victor was a wonderful inspiration. His strong voice for justice was both powerful and prophetic. He leaves a rich legacy of faith and leadership in the American Baptist Churches, and his work will continue to bless International Ministries and our partners for years to come. He will be missed."

Said American Baptist General Secretary A. Roy Medley, “Rev. Mercado was a tireless voice for economic and political justice. While his words were not always easy to hear, they were always offered out of concern for the well-being of the poor and oppressed, the health of the nations, and the integrity of the Church of Jesus Christ. It was my personal privilege to have worked with Rev. Mercado when he served with International Ministries and I with National Ministries. Through our conversations and our work together, he stretched my thinking, deepened my concepts of justice, and broadened my perspective. For this, I am forever grateful. We in the American Baptist Churches were made a better denomination and better disciples of Jesus because of Victor.”

A viewing was held at Primera Iglesia Bautista de Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday, April 29, followed by a memorial service celebrating Mercado’s life and ministry, and a funeral service was held April 30 at the Funeraria Ehret in Rio Piedras.

What's wrong with this picture?

Up until now, I have refrained from blogging on U.S. presidential politics because . . . well . . . it doesn't really have much to do with the Caribbean. This week, however, the campaign has taken a bizarre twist as Hillary Clinton has come to Puerto Rico to do what no one else has probably ever done before in a U.S. presidential campaign: aggressively campaign for the island's fifty-five delegates to the Democratic National Convention. This is even more bizarre given that Puerto Rico is a U.S. colony whose residents have no vote in the upcoming general election.

That being said, Clinton's three-day jaunt across Puerto Rico has provided some entertaining news coverage. Some news outlets, for example, have made much of Clinton's efforts to impress prospective Puerto Rican voters by "swigging from a bottle of Presidente beer" (see photo above). Apparently, nobody noticed that cerveza Presidente is a product of Puerto Rico's neighbor, the Dominican Republic. If Clinton really wanted to score points with voters, she should have tried drinking a locally brewed Medalla.

While some pundits questioned the wisdom of Clinton's Sunday morning visit to the Pabellon de la Victoria (a Pentecostal megachurch that I routinely drove by several times per week when I lived in Puerto Rico) in a country that is predominately Roman Catholic, this was probably a strategically smart move given that Pentecostalism is, after all, one of the fastest growing segments of Christianity in Latin America.

Not quite so entertaining, however, were Clinton's remarks in a Memorial Day speech that “I believe it is long past time that we give the people of Puerto Rico--United States citizens all--an equal voice in the vote for the commander-in-chief who sends young Puerto Ricans to war.” While I suspect that many Puerto Ricans wholeheartedly agree with those comments (keeping in mind that many others would argue that an independent Puerto Rico would not have to send young Puerto Ricans to fight in American wars at all), her words rang hollow.

Having lived in Puerto Rico for three-and-a-half years during Bill Clinton's presidency, I observed first hand as Governor Pedro Rosselló--a strong Clinton supporter--practically bent over backwards trying to obtain Puerto Rican statehood (holding two island-wide referendums on the issue during his eight years in office) while the Clinton administration basically ignored him. So unless Mrs. Clinton has chosen to stake out a radically different position on this issue, my guess is that this is nothing more than an empty campaign promise which she has no intention of delivering.