Nearly 20 percent of Hispanics nationwide have converted to evangelical Christianity in the last 10 years. Pastors quoted in The Charisma News Service article suggest that they are looking for more than the ritualism of their Roman Catholicism: "They come from the Catholic Church because they receive something better. They receive peace and security here."

Some Latino churches in the Los Angeles area are experiencing overflow crowds in their services. They are drawn to the "no-nonsense sermons on pious, drug- and alcohol-free living...a powerful antidote to everyday troubles plaguing their communities," according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

"Here lives are transformed. You are rehabilitated," observed one member of La Iglesia En El Camino, a former "womanizer."

The 2000 census found over 35 million Hispanics in the U.S. They reside in every state, but are more concentrated in the west, south central and northeast. It is the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S.

They are unusually open to the gospel, many having come from countries dominated by Catholic superstition. When they learn that their sins can be totally forgiven without confession, absolution, masses or purgatory, they often grasp freedom in Christ as eagerly as they seek America's freedoms.

Many soul winners are discovering that they don't have to go outside the country to be a missionary. The Hispanics are just one mission field that has come to us.

Chick Publications gets many letters telling how the foreign language tracts are gobbled up by foreign language speakers right here in the U.S.

One group took tracts to New York and shared their excitement: "Our mission trip to New York City is now history. Five of us distributed 13,000 English Chick Bible tracts in two days. Our second language was Spanish. We also got out Chinese, Farsi, German, Hebrew, Italian, Korean, and Russian tracts. NEW YORK CITY is truly a WORLD MISSION FIELD."

Another writes from Las Vegas, Nevada: "I was led to join a church that has a Hispanic Ministry. I gave the Spanish tracts to one of my Hispanic brothers in Christ, and he said that he'd never seen them before. But now, praise God! Your Spanish tracts are being used by God to plant seeds and produce fruit whenever our street witnessing teams go out. Hallelujah! Our God is truly awesome!!!"

Another street witnessing team has built an A-frame tract rack that they stock with tracts in 40 languages. They set it up on a busy street in New York, a city with 300 ethnic groups.

They write: "The foreigners love them; they are so excited to see something in their native tongue when they are thousands of miles from home. One Indian woman from India, stopped in her tracks, leaned up against the subway railing & started reading the Indian tract. My friend and myself have been doing street evangelism in New York City for the better part of 31 years. The Chick tract is one of the most effective witnessing tools we have ever used."

Chick tracts do the work wherever they go. Another soul winner gave some Spanish tracts to a farm hand who sent them to Cuba. A 15-year-old relative got saved and has led her mother, father, and grandmother to the Lord and is witnessing to the rest of the family. He writes: "We could share many more stories, but suffice it to say that I firmly believe in your powerful literature ministry."

A soul winner from Indiana writes: "I gave Spanish tracts to the owner of a Spanish Supermarket. He loved them and set them out in his store for customers to take freely. He really likes Visitors and Crisis. He told a guy they're very good and tell the truth."

Another pastor tells of a missions trip to Juarez, Mexico. During meetings there, a man came and explained he had found three Chick tracts on a phone book at his work. "He told me that he knew that the Catholic Church was not the way to heaven and that he wanted salvation. To make a long story short, I took a Spanish Bible and led Adolfo to Christ. After he prayed and received Christ as his Savior, his face lit up and he said, "I feel so different!"

It would be unusual if there were no foreign language people in your neighborhood. A little investigation probably would turn up at least one non-English language spoken there if not more.

Ssee the variety of over 100 languages available from Chick Publications.