ATLANTA (ABP) — For years, Jorge Zayasbazan's mission has been starting churches. But as his National Guard unit soon heads to Iraq, he will have an entirely different mission.
Zayasbazan, pastor of Grace Chapel in Round Lake Beach, Ill., will be stationed in Iraq for a year in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While he is gone, his church will rely on its associate pastor and lay leadership to fill his role.
“The most important thing I have to face this next year is my mission in the war zone,” the Cuban native said.
“I'll have one mission — to keep myself alive and to keep alive the people who are counting on me,” he said. “The church wants that to be my focus. There are many retired military in the church, and they have said to me, ‘Don't worry about us.' They understand that I have a mission and a duty.”
Since its start four years ago, Grace Chapel has had a goal to create a church that is self-sufficient — meaning that if the pastor left, the church leadership would continue on. Zayasbazan described it as a teaching church, a place that trains the leaders of tomorrow. Those leaders, five of whom have been preaching on a regular basis, will continue to fill the pulpit in Zayasbazan's absence.
In 2005, Grace Chapel became one of the youngest churches to host a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship regional meeting. Zayasbazan is moderator-elect for the North Central region.
“Jorge's effective leadership is evident in his ability to call on someone within his church's current leadership to supply for him while he fulfills his military obligation,” said Phil Hester, CBF's associate coordinator for church starts. “I will continue to pray for Jorge, his family and the church's interim leadership.”
Zayasbazan, who has started five churches in the Round Lake area, said that Grace Chapel is unique because of its diversity.
“This church has surprised me in its range of ages and races,” Zayasbazan said. “Part of that reflects the community. Part of that may be helped by the fact that I am Cuban-born. We also try to be intentionally multicultural. I don't know if I've ever seen this in a church before. It's a blessing for me to see.”
— Patricia Heys is a writer for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.