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Maldonado: Long Association With Covenant
CHICAGO, IL (May 19, 2005) - Jorge Maldonado, who will receive an honorary
doctorate at North Park Theological Seminary's commencement and
consecration service on Saturday, first learned of the Evangelical
Covenant Church at a mission church when he was a five-year-old in Ecuador.
"They rented a storefront church on the block where our house was," says
Maldonado. His mother came "to know the Lord" through the church and
brought him every Sunday.
Maldonado has served the Covenant in many ways in Ecuador and the United
States. He currently is the president of the El Centro Hispano de
Estudios Teológicos (CHET), which trains Hispanics for ministry.
The biggest challenge facing the growth of Hispanic ministries is
training enough leaders, he says. There are many who want to serve, they
have to get proper training. "They have to work hard to support their
families and go to school," Maldonado says. More than 95 percent of the
CHET students are first-generation immigrants, which makes finding work
even more difficult, he adds. "We need to be flexible and still hold on
to academic standards."
Maldonado says the denomination is attractive to Hispanics because "the
Covenant has shown respect and demonstrated real commitment to
multi-ethnic ministries. It has opened its arms and doors. It has been
received as genuine."
Maldonado also is a musician and hymn writer. One of his songs,
"Seguirte Solo a Ti (We Worship Only You), is included in The
Covenant Hymnal: A Worshipbook. He hasn't had as much time to devote
to his music, as he would like, he says. "I still play a little guitar
and a little writing."
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