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the population of 300,000, Laredo needs 278 new churches. We now have only 14 Baptist churches, averaging 50 people each. We need to start an ad- ditional 50 churches during the next five years—just to keep up with Laredo’s population growth.” Chuy says even putting the “danger” issue aside, Laredo is a challenging place to minister. “The average age of the population is only 30-35 years old, 80 percent speak Spanish and 70 percent are bi-lingual,” says Chuy. “Laredo is a city offering different kinds of situations.”


Chuy’s vision is to impact Laredo with the gospel one family at a time, so he focuses on reaching entire families for Christ. He also sees his role as a catalyst, who maps out the city, tries to find the right place a


new church is needed, and determine what kind of church to plant.


“Because of the average young age of the popula- tion, we may need a contemporary church. In an area of empty nesters, we might need a traditional church. For the Texas cowboys, we would need a cowboy church. My role is to discover the needs of the city and then find the right person to start a church.” While Chuy would welcome church planters from the outside, his preference is to use indigenous church planters, train and equip them locally, and then deploy them throughout the Laredo metro area. Does Chuy Avila’s ministry in Laredo make a dif- ference? It did to Angel Contreras.


Just 19, Angel had already made some serious mis-


14 Spring 2011 • onmission.com


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