Two Memphis Mission Groups Celebrate Growth with Special Service

Paola Mora Zepeda

Pictured are members of the Getsemani Company, along with friends and Conference administration.

Paola Mora Zepeda

Pictured are members of the Millington Company, along with friends and Conference administration.

Paola Mora Zepeda

Steve Haley, Kentucky-Tennessee Conference president, delivers the message during the dedication program for the Getsemani Company.

Xander Ordinola

Natanael Castor and Elizabeth de Castor, pioneers of the Millington Company, share the church’s history.

Xander Ordinola

Friends from the Orion Church, the mother church of the Getsemani church plant, show their support during the dedication program. Pictured are Jasid Velazquez (left), Fabiola Velazquez, and Arnold Velazquez.

Paola Mora Zepeda

Armando De Leon, pastor, prays over the Millington Company.

Paola Mora Zepeda

The Getsemani and Millington Hispanic mission groups, both based in Memphis, Tenn., celebrated their recent transition to company status with a special service on Sabbath, August 17, 2024. The event was marked by the presence of their members, friends, and Conference administration, who gathered to honor the significant growth and perseverance of these groups.

The Getsemani Company began meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic, holding their first gathering on July 4, 2020. Getsemani’s leaders, who had just finished planting and organizing the Memphis Hispanic South Church, felt called to start this new mission because they missed the close-knit community of a smaller church family.

“This was our plan from the beginning,” said Marco Hernández, elder. “We experienced the powerful hand of God when we planted the Memphis South Church, and we felt it was God’s purpose for us to continue growing and spreading His Gospel in Memphis.”

Initially meeting in a park, the group eventually secured a small chapel where they could gather regularly. The congregation, which started with just 10 people, has now grown to nearly 40 members, attracting people from Nicaragua, Mexico, and Guatemala.

“I believe that the mission is a call from God,” said Hernández. “We simply obey, and the encouragement comes from above.”

Similarly, the Millington Company began under challenging circumstances. On the afternoon of April 4, 2020, as the pandemic forced people into isolation, a small group of six individuals started meeting in a home. Over time, their gatherings expanded, occasionally taking place in restaurants.

“We had a hunger to worship together,” said Natanael Castor, elder. Castor and his family had just finished planting and organizing the Memphis Hispanic Orion Church. “The blessing is that we have plans, but God always surpasses what we envision.”

Today, the Millington Company has grown to more than 30 regular attendees each Sabbath. Castor’s prayer is that this company continues to grow and that its members are inspired to plant new churches.

“I feel like planting churches is a legacy that God created us for,” said Castor. “With my wife and son, we are a missionary group, and I hope that every family who walks through our church doors becomes a missionary family too.”

Kentucky-Tennessee | November 2024