“Peña de Horeb Church has the vision to make disciples of people who are on the streets,” says Pastor Dania Marisa Hernández of Peña de Horeb. “And God is transforming their lives and their families.”
Peña de Horeb is a small congregation in south Philadelphia, PA that began in 2018. Their vision is to make disciples and become a family where all the members establish a deep relationship with Jesus. They desire to equip members to carry out the Great Commission in a church where Jesus is the head and we are His body.
“We feel blessed to be received by Mosaic Conference. It is a gift from God,” Pastor Dania shares. “We are a church that desires this kind of support so that we can bless and benefit others, and share the Gospel.” She is thankful for early and continuing support from Pastor Aldo Siahaan and Pastor Beny Krisbianto.
Pastor Dania and the church hope to receive support, opportunities for networking, and spiritual enrichment from Mosaic Conference. Through relationships with Lead Minister, Marta Castillo, Marco Güete, Aldo Siahaan, Beny Krisbianto, Noel Santiago, and hosting the Mosaic staff meeting in June, they are making connections and learning about the Conference. They are eager to develop leaders and bring new people into the Conference to be connected to Mosaic’s work.
God gave Pastor Dania the desire to serve from a young age. Born in Nicaragua into a family that offered support and hospitality to missionaries, she traveled across her country, focused on addressing poverty and the needs of the people she encountered.
After moving to Philadelphia, Pastor Dania became a part of the Centro de Alabanza congregation. There she learned the Mennonite vision of reaching out to others and of community service. She studied through IBA (Instituto Biblico Anabautista). Pastor Dania has a transportation business and takes advantage of any opportunity to share the Gospel.
With the blessing and support of the leadership of Centro de Alabanza, she started a small group Bible study in her garage and eventually moved into a worship space.
In the early days of the Bible study, someone invited a group of ex-convicts to come and participate in the service of her home. Though she was frightened, Dania trusted God, and those 15 ex-convicts became a part of what would become a new congregation.
Peña de Horeb now has a building at 11th and Washington Avenues in Philadelphia and continues to be deeply connected to people on the streets and outcasts in society.
The name, Peña de Horeb (“Rock of Horeb”), comes from Exodus 17:6. It is the rock that God commanded Moses to strike in order for the Israelites to have water to drink. That name came to Pastor Dania in the midst of prayer, as she was seeking direction about the new ministry God was calling her to start. She felt God directly sharing with her this name, recognizing that the church can be a place for those in need to drink the living, liberating water that Jesus offers.