Bidding Farewell to 2025 by Celebrating Collaborative Work

Taylor Mason
Jan 13
3 min read

The year 2025 deserved to be celebrated as the year in which the collaborative work between CBF Florida, CBF Global, the Caribbean, and sister churches in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic culminated in extraordinary ways. On December 20, in the beautiful Berea Baptist Church in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, nearly a hundred friends, pastors, and fellow ministers representing 17 churches on the sister Caribbean Island gathered.

The reason for such a blessed gathering was to share their testimonies and enjoy photos and stories of what was achieved in 2025, thanks to the collaborative efforts between local churches and CBF. It was a wonderful time of joy, laughter, affirmation, and gratitude for the blessing of being part of the CBF family.

As we listened to each church, individual, and ministry, we received an invitation to continue working together because “together we are more.”

For the CBF Florida and Caribbean region, it was a privilege to share with:

Paul Baxley, Executive Coordinator of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF);

Kasey Jones, Director of Outreach and Growth for CBF

Rubén Ortiz, Coordinator of CBF Latino Field. From IBAREDO, Baptist Churches of the Dominican Republic,

We received the tremendous blessing of having Rev. Benny Morato, Executive Coordinator of IBAREDO, his wife Ana, and their children Miqueas and Shaina.

We were also delighted to have Rev. Lillian Medina, Rev. Robert Bueno, and his wife Mariela Santos, who, for more than a decade, have been instrumental in the joint work between CBF Florida and the Dominican churches.

Taking advantage of the extended Caribbean family, IBAREDO and CBF FL & Caribbean signed a Collaboration Agreement to work together on the Sembradores de Esperanza (Sowers of Hope) project, which aims to train and support the launch of new congregations in the Dominican Republic through 2030 (photos above).

A special gift was the presence and enthusiasm of Reverend Aniseto Sustache, current Interim Executive Minister of the Iglesias Bautistas de Puerto Rico e Islas Vírgenes (Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Island).

The celebration concluded with traditional Puerto Rican music, a delicious lunch, and the shared hope for an even more productive, happier, more united, and more blessed new year in 2026 (photos bellow).

More Photos From The Event

As a Puerto Rican, it is an honor for me to share with my CBF family the most beautiful thing about my island: its people, whom I am blessed to call friends and brothers and sisters.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to Pastor Betzaida Rodríguez for welcoming us to her church and for her overflowing hospitality, and to Reverend Hilda Acosta for her timely help in coordinating with the churches and ministries present at the event.

To Pastors Omayra Gutiérrez and Ricarter Rivera for coordinating, together with members of Metropolis Baptist Church, the unforgettable parranda experience for the CBF team.
To Pastor David Sánchez for being part of the parranda and for sharing his family of musicians with us.
To Pastor Luz Doris Rivera for the delicious asopao for the parranda. Thank you.
To the executives of CBF, IBAREDO, and IBPR for taking time out of their busy schedules to embrace us.
To Tammy Snyder for having a Latin heart within her own heart.
To each of the pastors of the Puerto Rico Pastors Cohort, thank you, my sisters, for the privilege of loving you and sharing life with you for the past three years.
To the pastors of the Puerto Rico Fellows Cohort, thank you for your friendship, your trust, and for inspiring me.
To every pastor, friend, and church leader who has been part of this story of sisterhood that we are writing together, thank you.
To Rubén Ortiz, my husband, thank you for loving my people in Puerto Rico so much, for opening spaces for collaboration for almost two decades, and for your willingness to continue the work, even though we see each other rarely.

To you who are reading this, thank you for your prayers, financial contributions, accompaniment, and love for our Caribbean brothers and sisters.

Above all, thank you to our beloved Savior who continues to call us and equip us every day to do the beautiful work of ministry while covering us with love.

May God's abundant grace be with you and surprise you every day of the new year. With love and gratitude, 