When the guest group is a department of the host church it is both appropriate and vital that representatives of the ethnic department be appointed to serve on the boards of the church. A natural place to start might be an Hispanic Department member on the Board of Trustees or Property Committee. Serving on committees and boards is new to some cultures. But this involvement not only enriches the committee, it also helps train ethnic leadership to understand first-hand the problems which come with owning and maintaining property. As the ethnic department matures, representatives on both the main church board and on various program committees should be deliberately encouraged.
Regular communications are vital to build bonds of caring.
But nothing works quite so well as sharing together in work and worship. Cooperative Ministries Emigrant groups inevitably discover that their school- age children are finding it easier to speak, read, and write in English than in their native tongue. Before too many years, Iglesia del Salvador finds it necessary to hold Sunday school classes in English. Here is a splendid opportunity for the host and guest congregations to work together to their mutual benefit. At First Baptist Church of Los Angeles children from several language groups attend Sunday school together.