Returning To Our Roots
Tres Dias for Spanish Speaking Communities
America has always been a melting pot of cultures, like a giant pot of soup whose flavors blend together. In Tres Dias we value our diversity, and are reminded of it each time we sing De Colores—“of the colors.”
Since Tres Dias roots are from Spain, expanding to Spanish speaking communities, both in the US and abroad, is a natural. A newly formed organization named Tres Dias Con Dios is dedicated to just such a mission. Southeast Tennessee Tres Dias is the sponsoring community, and the Apison Center camp, some 20 miles from Chattanooga, will serve as an “incubation center.”
J. Pat Williams, Chairman of the Southeast Tennessee community, points out that the camp is centrally located in the US and within a four-hour drive of fourteen Tres Dias communities. “People in the Southeast Tennessee community are ready to serve on team, sponsor candidates, and reach out to churches that have Spanish-speaking ministries,” he points out.
In the United States, Hispanics are already the largest minority. More than 32 million people in America speak Spanish. And Hispanics put great importance on faith and family values. According to a 2012 survey by the George Barna group in partnership with the American Bible Society, Hispanics believe a strong traditional family is the building block for a healthy community. Church is very important to them.
“Our goal is 40 new Tres Dias Spanish speaking communities in the next 15 years,” states Wilson Burton, one of the organization’s founding members. “There are over 20 Spanish speaking nations in the world right now, and they all need a Tres Dias.”
Tres Dias Con Dios will keep a database listing nations of origin of all who participate, for the purpose of developing lists of Spanish speaking pescadores to sponsor family back home. These pescadores can contact the churches and pastors and help locate potential facilities for holding a weekend. ” We already have folks wanting to take Tres Dias to Puerto Rico, Columbia, Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia, Costa Rica and several places in Mexico,” Wilson Burton reports.