NEWS

Gastonia Hispanic ministry aims to reach low-income community

The Gaston Gazette

Volunteers of the church painting kids' faces at one of the activities in the back-to-school event outside Iglesia Vida de Reino.

Several low-income students in Gaston County have returned back to school with new supplies and backpacks thanks to Iglesia Vida de Reino located in Gastonia.

Iglesia Vida de Reino which translates to "Church Kingdom of Life," is run by Abner Ramos and his family, who are responsible for the first-ever established Hispanic church in Gaston County. The church, Ranlo Church of God, Ministerio Hispano or "Hispanic Ministry," opened its doors for Hispanic residents of Ranlo in 1996.

Pastor, Abner Ramos, who runs the Iglesia Vida de Reino (Kingdom of Life Church), enjoys some cotton candy at his back-to-school event outside his church.

On Sunday, Aug. 22, Ramos gave away 180 backpacks filled with school supplies out of the 200 backpacks donated to him, with the help of his family and church youth ministry volunteers.

"This is the biggest event we have done in this church. We are grateful to be able to provide such in-demand materials for the kids," said Ramos.

The event was called "Ola de Verano" which translates to "Summer Wave," where Ramos welcomed community members by providing numerous kid activities, such as face painting, jumping houses and music.

An Aldi gift card was raffled and presented to two families in need at the end of the event.

Ramos described the event as "a success for the church and the entire community," an event he hopes to launch again next year.

"We want to be able to do the event again but better and bigger so we can help other communities," said Ramos.

Community leaders such as the Gastonia Fire Department, Police Department and Gaston County Health Department and Human Services came out to support and educate event attendees of the resources available to them.

Gastonia Fire Department stopped by to support the back-to-school event outside Iglesia Vida de Reino (Kingdom of Life Church) at 905 Shannon Bradley Road in Gastonia. Alongside various donators, the church provided 180 backpacks filled with school supplies to kids of low income.

With the leftover backpacks, Ramos plans to conduct a drive-through event to distribute them to more families in need.

Originally from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Ramos and his family migrated from the island to bring the word of God to the U.S. mainland.

Backpacks that were donated by multiple members of the church in support of the back-to-school event outside Iglesia Vida de Reino (Kingdom of Life Church) at 905 Shannon Bradley Road in Gastonia.

"I was part of the Ministerio Pastoral de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico's Pastoral Ministry,) because several of our congregation members would often come to us and tell us God wanted us to move out of Puerto Rico, as we were known to start different church communities in the island," said Ramos in his native Spanish language.

"We officially made the move in 1994 to Florida and then we moved to Gaston County establishing the church in Ranlo and then another in Mount Holly."

Ramos moved back to Florida where he took part in other Hispanic ministries, then in 2014 came back to Gaston County where a 15-year-old building became his newest church to spread the teachings of the Bible no matter what religion church-goers identified with.

Ramos tries to not only spread Christianity but to help those of low resources. Providing things such as groceries, turkeys during Thanksgiving and other different resources that would be on-demand.

"Our purpose is to touch the heart of the people. We hope to help out any necessities from low-income families. We aren't just a church, we are a community," said Ramos.

Beatriz Guerrero, who was raised in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, can be reached at 704-869-1828 or on Twitter@BeatrizGue_