October 1, 2026
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (BNM) – Fifteen people have given their lives to Christ after visiting a church to pick up free burritos and food bags. The free burrito and food bag handout started when Iglesia Bautista La Familia de Dios, Albuquerque, partnered with Hoffmantown Baptist Church, Albuquerque. Volunteers from both churches prepare food bags and burritos to hand out on one Saturday morning each month, starting in May 2026. Mesa Valley Baptist Church, Albuquerque, joined the effort because La Familia de Dios meets in the same building as Mesa Valley, Albuquerque.
Eleven of the 15 people who gave their lives to Christ did so in May 2026, during the first burrito giveaway. Four other people gave their lives to Christ in June 2026, and the three churches gathered once more on July 25 to hand out food bags and free burritos.
For the first two handouts, the volunteers gave out food bags and burritos from 9 to 11 a.m., but on July 25, the volunteers handed out food from 8 to 10 a.m.
Around 20 people came to the first handout to pick up food. Miguel Castillo, the pastor of La Familia de Dios, had put flyers around the neighborhood and contacted people about the event. During the second handout, more people came, and the volunteers handed out 24 food bags. During the July 25 handout, the volunteers distributed 30 food bags. The volunteers gave one bag each to an individual or a family. However, a family or person could pick up several burritos.
During that time, the volunteers shared the Gospel with the people who stopped by and prayed with them. The volunteers also invited people to come to La Familia de Dios or Mesa Valley Baptist Church, depending on which language they spoke. Initially, the volunteers expected that many in the neighborhood would only speak Spanish, but a mix of people stopped.
The people who came to get food also used different means of transportation. Some people came in cars while others walked. A few of those who walked by included moms with their children, something which Joe Crews, the Hoffmantown Baptist Church ministry coordinator, wanted to plan for by preparing more kid-friendly options like fruit juice on July 25.
The volunteers also left the church and went to a nearby bus stop to speak with the people waiting there. The volunteers invited them to come and get a burrito or food bag. Not everyone who was at the bus stop came to get food, but a few people did.
Crews said the people who came to the church seemed glad to get the food and were very willing. It also appeared that the people were spreading the news about the food.
Castillo came up with the idea of cooking burritos as a way for the church to reach out and share the Gospel with people. He had been speaking regularly with Crews as Hoffmantown Baptist Church supports La Familia de Dios, a church plant.
Crews agreed to the idea, and by the second handout, Brayden Marsh, the pastor of Mesa Valley Baptist Church, came to the handout and expressed interest in participating.
The organizers plan to hold three more handouts, one in August, September, and October.
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This story appeared in The Baptist New Mexican.
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