When Alberto Vidal visited Vicksburg in January 2007, he decided he wanted to stay and be pastor of the Hispanic community at First Church of the Nazarene.

Vidal was told to go back home, to Mexico, and fill out the necessary paperwork to move to the United States.

“They told me it would take three or four months,” said Vidal, speaking Spanish. “It was a little longer.”

Four years later, he is in Vicksburg, ready to begin his duties as pastor of Hispanic Ministries at First Church of the Nazarene on Wisconsin Avenue.

Vidal, along with his wife, Alma, and two children, daughter Jheslia, 14, and son Moises, 11, arrived in the U.S., in San Antonio, on April 16, and reached Vicksburg April 21. Vidal dove right in, preaching at the Hispanic church service on April 24.

The Hispanic ministry at First Church of the Nazarene got its start five years ago, when a group of workers at LeTourneau Technologies came forward and asked for a place to worship. Today, the group participates in a Sunday service, preached in Spanish.

The Rev. Chuck Parish, senior pastor, said the community has been eagerly awaiting its new pastor.

“They’ve been holding themselves together as a congregation, praying and waiting for a pastor to get here,” Parish said. “Four years was such a long time, and we’re all just totally blown away now that he’s here.”

The congregation was not alone in its eagerness. Vidal, 42, has spent the last four years in Reynosa, Mexico, a city close to the U.S. border, for what he thought would be a short time.

“Three months turned into four years,” Vidal said. “Sometimes I thought it was not going to be possible to be here, but the Lord made it possible.”

While he waited, Vidal got a job — first at a church, then in construction.

“In my work they gave me an opportunity to have a temporary home,” said Vidal. “My manager wanted to give me a permanent home, but I always said, ‘No, I have work in Vicksburg.’”

One day, Vidal checked the status of his paperwork and saw progress. “At that time, I really knew the Lord was allowing me to come here and is moving things,” he said.

“Fifteen days before we came here, I received a letter being laid off,” Vidal continued. “Then I understood that, in time, the Lord was leading us here.”

Vidal and his family arrived in Vicksburg with only their suitcases in tow. The church has seen to all their other needs, including a home, furniture and a car.

Vidal is grateful. “I think my primary responsibility is to be a leader to the people,” he said. “To be a comfort and support to others, I must know them first. That is part of my responsibility here.”

On Sunday, the Hispanic community of the church will celebrate its fifth anniversary.

“I waited four years for this, but this year we celebrate five,” Vidal said. “We were a part of this church the whole time. We were not here everyday, but by praying and supporting we have been a part of these five years.”