Faith, religion important in Latino community

By SCOTT NILES AND LORENA PEREZ Courier staff writers

November 16, 2007 10:28 pm

— OTTUMWA — When immigrants travel to the United States, they often leave behind family, friends and their possessions. Sometimes the only things they can take with them are the values and the beliefs they hold dear.
Although the Catholic Church may be home to the largest number of Latinos in Ottumwa, many of those immigrants are part of other denominations including Baptists, Pentecostals, Missionary, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Pastor Noé Hernández, of Iglesia Belén, explained it best when he said that religion in Latin countries was more culture than faith.
“I went to church on Sundays because that is what people were supposed to do in my small town on Sundays,” he said.
At the age of 14, he moved to the United States and felt bombarded by the different religions and started to wonder what God wanted from him.
“Religion was not just saying I’m Catholic; it was something people practiced,” he said.
He enrolled in Crown College after he graduated high school.
“The big difference when I started going to church was that we used the Bible, we actually read it,” he said.
His mother had a nice, big Bible back home, but nobody was supposed to touch it because it was sacred.
Now 27, Hernández is pastor of a congregation of about 60 people and belongs to a missionary group. He was brought here through the Northgate Alliance Church after the congregation learned of the growing population of Hispanics in Ottumwa.
Northgate Alliance Church wanted to help, but the language barrier was a challenge.
“I was invited here to help people in their language,” he said.
Most people who have migrated to the United States are non-practicing Christians because they are still adapting to their new life.
This is true for Jorge Ramírez, 36, who worked a night shift at a job involving cleaning chemicals.
“I would get off work and spend the day sleeping. I couldn’t even open my eyes because of the chemicals. Now I’m used to it. I feel more relaxed and I’ve started going to church with Noé,” said Ramírez.
Hernández tries to reach out to the non-practicing Christians.
At one point, the Belén Church had just one couple and the rest were all single men.
“About half of my congregation is made up of single men that have their families in Mexico,” said Hernández.
Pastor Jeff Hendred of Hickory Grove Church in Ottumwa said he has witnessed some of the same congregational attendance.
“I think these young men come to the United States and don’t have a lot of places to go and the church is one of the first places they turn to,” he says. “A lot of them work to send money back home and they come to church to keep their faith in something.”
For many Latinos, faith runs deep into their daily lives.
Isidro Talamantes attends St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Ottumwa and said his faith in God has helped him through many family affairs.
“I think and I’m sure that as a Catholic and a believer in God, that He has helped me throughout my life and sickness and work and so on,” Talamantes said.
He has faith that if he believes in God, good things will happen for him in his life.
“I believe in God and because I believe in God, good things happen for me,” he said
For other Hispanics, religion is also a guiding factor beyond Sunday morning.
Silvia Ochoa recently opened a restaurant, “Taqueria Juquilita,” which translates into a nickname for Mother Mary.
In each town in Mexico, she said, they have a different name for the Virgin Mother. In her town, it was “Juquilita.”
She said since her faith has kept her safe, she decided to use the name in order for good things to come to her restaurant.
Father Bernie Weir of St. Mary’s Catholic Church said this is common. Many times they use religion in their daily lives.
“But so do Americans,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that one culture is more religious than another, but I think Hispanics show it more.”
A large example of this is the decals on vehicles driven around Ottumwa. Several Hispanics have logos of the Virgin Mary on their cars or trucks, as well as other saints.
“Americans do not let it be known a lot of times that they are religious; it is more of something that is practiced in private,” Weir said. “Hispanics are just more open with their faith.”
Scott Niles can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or via e-mail at sjniles@mchsi.com.

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.