SYKESVILLE, Md. (BP) — In the fall of 2024, Friendship Baptist Church (FBC) started a Hispanic church called FBC en Español, led by Church Planters Martin and Ester Nieto of Cancun, Mexico. The new church is already gaining momentum and drawing visitors from the local Hispanic community.

The plant wasn’t even a thought until last spring, but Friendship Church Senior Pastor Mark Massey said, “Doors we had not knocked on began to open before our eyes. Thoughts and ideas about ministering together that we did not conceive began to form in our minds.”

Massey and a mission team to Mexico connected with Martin and Ester in February 2024, but the story spans decades. Friendship Church began ministering in Puebla in 2000, working with Hananeel Church as part of a Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware partnership missions initiative. After the initiative ended, FBC has continued to serve in Puebla for 24 years, working alongside Hananeel members to transform their building from a small food stand into a facility accommodating 300 people with multiple services and an educational wing.

Ester worked as a translator with IMB Missionary Andrew Flagg when she was about 19 and actually met the Friendship team then. Last year was her first time back doing translation in over a decade, and she brought her husband, Martin, to join the team. Martin is a medical doctor by training and a pastor by God’s calling.

Part of the story is how God drew Martin and Ester together. Ester said, “It’s a love story.”

Ester grew up in a Christian home in Mexico. Their family formed a foundation called Trailer of Ayuda (Help), bringing doctors and medications to the vulnerable and isolated in Mexico and Cuba.

She met Martin when he brought a group of doctors to partner with their foundation. Martin said he was thrilled to use his profession and serve the community, but a big highlight at the time was meeting Ester. Martin said, “I invited her to go out for dinner, and that’s the way we started dating. I mean, for me, it was dating, but she used to say she was my friend and that she was Christian. She said, ‘Since you are not Christian, I cannot have a relationship with you.’”

Ester cared about Martin and gave him the book, “The Purpose-Driven Life,” by Rick Warren, and the Holy Spirit convicted him. “I could see the way I was living, and it was full of sin. God used Ester to show God to me, and I gave my life to Jesus. I was crazy for Jesus.”

Martin gave up practicing medicine and attended a Baptist Seminary in Mexico City. The couple married in 2019 and were called to plant a church in Cancun. A year later, they had their son, Dante. The Cancun church flourished, but the mother church insisted it be shut down a few years later due to pandemic-related financial issues. Martin and Ester were heartbroken.

Family and friends urged Martin to return to medicine and pursue a “secure” life, but the couple believed God had another ministry prepared for them. They also had financial needs. Dante has autism, and his schooling and therapy are expensive. He also needed medical tests that were hard to find or afford in Mexico.

In early January 2024, Ester responded to a message from Missionary Andrew Flagg asking her about returning to Puebla and providing translation for the Friendship mission team. Ester says, “It seemed as if God was closing one door and opening another during a painful time in our lives.”

They trusted Flagg and decided to share their situation with him. Ester said, “We told him what was going on with our ministry and how we felt, but we somehow knew God had a purpose through the closing of our church and this new door that may be opening.” 

Flagg called Massey. Massey said, “Andrew called and said, ‘I know this couple…,’ and then he told me their whole story. And I said, ‘That’s wonderful, but what am I supposed to do?’ And he said, ‘Well, you’re supposed to pray.’”

As time passed, Massey felt God was saying to him, “Hey, this couple may have some medical needs, but you need to start a church in Maryland with them.” He chuckled, saying he was trying to ignore God (and Flagg) all week, but on the last day of the trip, Massey called a leader meeting with Martin and Ester. God drew their hearts together. “It was during that meeting that I knew what I was supposed to do,” said Massey. Before returning to Maryland, they discussed bringing the family to Maryland for a visit so Dante could undergo the medical testing he needed.

God also confirmed the call at home. It takes months to get an appointment at Kennedy Krieger, but God, through a church member, provided an appointment very quickly. Additionally, during some regular home visits, Massey said several people “just gave me very large checks designated for ‘a new mission work.’ I never even mentioned to these people what had happened on the trip,” he said.

Martin and Ester were thrilled about the Kennedy Krieger appointment and flew to Maryland. For weeks, they spent time in fellowship with Friendship Church. Martin preached, the couple shared their testimonies, and the congregation grew to love them.

By the end of July, God confirmed to Friendship Baptist Church that they needed to start a Hispanic church and call Martin and Ester Nieto to lead it. The couple prayerfully and excitedly agreed.

“Martin and Ester crossed our path in just the right way and at the right time,” said Massey.

The church now meets regularly and is growing. Massey said there are between 40-60,000 individuals in the Hispanic community in Carroll and Howard Counties, and the church is excited to be able to reach into this community with the gospel of Jesus. Massey is thrilled. He said there’s fresh excitement in the church and in him.