Texas Baptists Hispanic Education Banquet during Convención hears testimony from scholarship recipient, how to engage in Hispanic education

The Texas Baptists Office of Hispanic Education welcomed 160 attendees to its banquet held at Duncanville’s First Baptist Church on July 1. Those present heard remarks from Executive Director Julio Guarneri and Director of Theological Education & Institutional Engagement Stephen Stookey. Attendees also heard from Jazmin Olivarez, 2025 Hispanic Education scholarship recipient, and Albert Reyes, president and CEO of Buckner International.

Texas Baptists Hispanic Education Council Chair Rebeka Retta welcomed attendees to the banquet, followed by an opening prayer led by Sergio Ramos, senior director of relational development & GC2 Initiative at Texas Baptists. Banquet music was performed by Jancy and Berenice Rios from Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas.

Director of Hispanic Education Gabriel Cortes recognized the banquet’s sponsors and presented the 2025 Hispanic Education Awards to Albert Reyes, for prioritizing increasing Hispanic high school graduation rates across Texas Baptists churches and focusing on higher education as a convention during his time as president of the BGCT. Felipe Garza was recognized for his service as chair of the Texas Baptists Hispanic Education Task Force, established under Reyes’ leadership in 2005. Gus Reyes was recognized for his work as the first director of the Hispanic Education Initiative from 2009 to 2014, until he began serving as  director of the Christian Life Commission. Rolando Rodriguez was recognized for his service as director of the Hispanic Education Initiative from 2018 to 2024 in conjunction with his current role as the director of Texas Baptists en Español. Lorenzo Peña was recognized for leading a team in 2022 and 2023 that developed the groundwork for initiatives that Texas Baptists Hispanic Education is actively pursuing now and will continue to into the future. Stookey concluded the award presentations by awarding Cortés with his own Hispanic Education Award for leading the Hispanic Education Initiative, both currently and from 2014 to 2018.

“More than financial support”

Prior to the keynote address by Albert Reyes, Olivarez shared her testimony of how the Texas Baptists Hispanic Education has impacted her life. A business administration student at Baptist University of the Américas, Olivarez told attendees that there was a season in her life that “I did not see myself pursuing higher education,” but when she found out she received a scholarship, “something shifted inside me.”

“Over time, I internalized the belief that I simply was not capable… Looking back, I realize how much that mindset reflected how disconnected I was from God’s purpose for me,” said Olivarez. “[When I got the scholarship] it was like God saying, see, I never forgot about you. And since  then, he’s been guiding my every step.”

Olivarez said she knows God is “leading me to serve.” She said she feels called to “help churches thrive not just spiritually, but also financially and structurally.”

“Many ministries today struggle not because of lack of faith, but because of lack of resources, planning and training,” said Olivarez. “I want to equip leaders to fund missions, steward finances and build strong biblical foundations so that ministry can continue without unnecessary barriers.”

Olivarez said the Hispanic Education scholarship “represents more than financial support.”

“While Hispanics make up a growing portion of the US population, only about 15% of Hispanic adults hold a bachelor’s degree and fewer than 5% pursue a graduate education. This disparity is not due to a lack of ambition or potential, but often a lack of access, support and encouragement,” said Olivarez. “[The scholarship] sends a powerful message to students like me. It says, ‘We see your calling. We believe in your potential and you are not alone.’”

“To educate is to redeem”

In his keynote address, Reyes shared with attendees that in 2022, Hispanics became the largest population group in Texas and by 2050, “the Hispanic population in Texas will be the largest racial ethnic group in every age category.” He told attendees that the number of Hispanic high school graduates is accelerating, with Dallas Independent School District reporting 70% Hispanic enrollment in the 2023-2024 academic year.

He emphasized that this is significant because “to educate is to redeem.”

“[Andrews University] had this motto: ‘Educar es redimir,’ ‘To educate is to redeem,’” said Reyes. “There’s a spiritual, theological, biblical touch to that; that to educate someone is to redeem everything God intended them to be and to equip them and disciple them and to prepare them for a life of purpose.”  

He then offered some recommendations for students, churches, colleges and universities to “engage the future for the kingdom of God, for Christian higher education, for our state and for our nation.” The first recommendation being that the local church is a high school graduation zone.

“The idea is that if you’re near one of our Texas Baptists churches, you’re going to graduate,”  said Reyes. “The person with the highest level of education in any size Hispanic church is always going to be the pastor, and when the pastor has gotten an education, the teenagers and the young people say, ‘Well, if our pastor can do it, certainly I can do it, right?’ [The pastor] sets the pace… and [students will] rise to the occasion.” 

Reyes’ other recommendations are to give students university and vocational aspirations, resources for higher education and have Hispanic-ready colleges, universities and Texas Baptists leaders.

He said colleges and universities that are Hispanic-ready “recruit multiple Hispanic trustees on the board of directors,” “recruit and equip Hispanic administrators at the executive level,” and “recruit and equip multiple Hispanic faculty members” because they understand the culture and the language.  

“Going forward, our community should be viewed as the next generation of Texas Baptist leadership; harvest field, mission field, leadership. That’s where we need to be looking and thinking today,” said Reyes. “If we fail to prepare and educate Texas Baptist Hispanics for leadership, equipped with Baptist distinctiveness, our future will be inconsequential as far as the kingdom is concerned… A bright future for Texas Baptists rests in your hands.”  

Sylvia Villareal, educator and former Hispanic Education Council member, closed the banquet in prayer.  

For more information and resources on Texas Baptists Hispanic Education, visit  txb.org/educatetx.