Hesston College to host church leader in residence

Posted on by Rachel McMaster

Anton Flores-Maisonet, the co-founder of Alterna, a missional community of U.S. citizens and Latin American immigrants in LaGrange, Ga., will serve Hesston College as church leader in residence Oct. 30 to Nov. 2.

Anton Flores-Maisonet
Anton Flores-Maisonet will be the Hesston College church leader-in-residence Oct. 30 to Nov. 2. He works with immigrants through Alterna and El Refugio in LaGrange, Ga.

Flores-Maisonet left his tenure-track social work faculty position at a United Methodist college in 2006 to follow a call to live in solidarity with unwelcomed Latin American immigrants through Alterna. The organization emphasizes hospitality to strangers and those in need, reconciliation for broken relationships, environmental stewardship and simple living. He also advocates for justice at Alterna’s off-spring El Refugio, the nation’s first hospitality house located outside an immigrant detention center.

His service to the church and world also includes serving as a steering committee member for Christian Peacemaker Teams and as a board member of Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection (DOOR), a faith-based network of urban service-learning programs. He has taught three summers in Guatemala at the Central American Study and Service (CASAS) program and at the Latin American Anabaptist Seminary (SEMILLA). Flores-Maisonet holds degrees in social work from Georgia State University (Atlanta) and the University of Georgia (Athens).

As church leader in residence, Flores-Maisonet will connect with Hesston College students and local pastors. He will share his life story and work during student-led campus worship at 9 p.m. Oct. 30 in the Northlawn basement. Drawing from the college’s 2011-12 theme verse of Micah 6:8, he will speak during chapel Oct. 31 on “What is good?: The call to community” and Nov. 2 on “What does the Lord require?: The road to reconciliation.” Chapel is at 11 a.m. in the Hesston Mennonite Church sanctuary. Campus worship and chapel are open to the public.

Flores-Maisonet will also lead a free workshop for pastors on “Strengthening Congregations – Building Communities of Vision, Intimacy and Commitment” at 9:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 31. Pastors interested in attending the workshop can contact the Hesston College Church Relations office at 620-327-8109 or toll free at 866-437-7866.