Salem Friends Church pastor ready to grow congregation

Pastor Diego Chuyma of Salem Friends Church may be new to town, but he is ready to shepherd his church 'outward” - challenging them to look outside their four walls and into the community.

Chuyma hails from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, a city with a population of 2 million people. Moving his family to Salem in January, Chuyma said they were 'ready for something a little different.”

Chuyma moved to Salem with his wife Rebecca and three sons: John, 12, David, 7 and Joshua, 6. They are currently home-schooled.

Chuyma said they are adjusting well to Salem, although being cooped up during the winter months was hard for them.

The Chuymas' home in Bolivia was large with a lot of room outside for the boys to play soccer, Chuyma said. While the parsonage is nice, the kids aren't used to being inside all the time, he said.

Chuyma, too, is looking forward to spring weather. He's recently found an interest in gardening organic vegetables.

'I don't know anything, but I am looking forward to learning,” Chuyma said, adding that he would also like to learn how to hunt and fish.

While he was living in a city of 2 million people in Bolivia, Chuyma would often venture out to the countryside for some peace. He owned 60 acres of farmland and would go every Thursday to get away and spend time in the woods.

That's part of what drew him to Salem - the openness, the quiet and small-town living.

Although frigid temperatures have kept Chuyma from getting the chance to introduce himself to too many people, he's looking forward to having more members of Salem Friends Church and Salem residents over to his house for lunch or dinner.

Chuyma is leading by example. He would like his church to be 'outward focused.”

'Maybe it's just my perception, but it tends to be more inward,” Chuyma said. 'I am trying to challenge (the congregation) to look outside the church to reach people. Let's not just be the same group of people year after year. We need to reach out into the community.”

Chuyma has started preaching the Book of Joshua, instructing his congregation to 'take the Promised Land.”

'That land can be reaching out to other people and facing our giants,” Chuyma said.

The new pastor admits that while he should probably spend the first year observing the congregation and building relationships, he can't wait to make changes. He is planning on implementing small groups held in people's homes so visitors feel more welcome and generally thinking about how they can begin growing as a congregation.

Chuyma first went to church when he was 7 years old. His grandfather invited his father, who finally relented and found faith after a car accident.

It wasn't until high school that Chuyma really came to know the Lord, he said. At a youth conference, the pastor said Christianity is not about going to church, reading the Bible or being a member of a church.

'It's about really knowing Christ in your heart,” Chuyma said. 'I went forward and I prayed. That was a great experience for me. Everything seemed to change. I knew for sure that Christ lived in my heart, and I could sense the difference.”

Chuyma received his bachelor's and master's degrees and Ph.D. in the U.S., and went back to Bolivia as a missionary over 20 years ago. He taught at Bolivia Evangelical University and the Christian University of Bolivia, as well as planted and pastored a church.

When Chuyma returned to Bolivia as a missionary, he started a church plant almost by chance. The young pastor was invited by a carpenter who was starting a new business to pray over and bless the business.

Chuyma looked around the carpentry shop, saw all the open space and said, 'We should start a church here.”

The carpenter surprised him by saying, 'OK, let's start a church.”

'And we did,” Chuyma said. 'Him and his family and some of his workers joined - about 12 people.”

Since then, the church has purchased the building and grown from that original 12 to almost 300 people.