These positions allow a formerly migrant population to remain in Skagit Valley all year. And becoming permanent residents has allowed many Hispanic agricultural workers to move into other facets of the work force. Ekblad believes the number of Hispanics in Skagit County is higher than the official count of nearly 8,000. The more stable population has spurred a cluster of Mexican restaurants and stores at the east end of Fairhaven. Among these businesses is a former bank that houses Tierra Nueva del Norte and the reverend's Hispanic ministry.
Children scurry about and play with the silver baptismal basin.
He also performs a daily prayer service and in the summer conducts Bible studies at farm-worker camps. He has arranged meetings where workers have the chance to tell their personal stories to mostly white Skagit Valley church congregations. When people can recount where they've come from and tell about their families, they are no longer anonymous, he explains. Rocio Robles, a Mexican immigrant, has lived in Burlington for four years and volunteers at Tierra Nueva, helping to produce a Spanish newsletter. While many here agree that Hispanics are becoming integrated and accepted by the predominantly white society, Ekblad still sees a gap.