This is provided by MGM International (www.mgmi.org) and David Shumate, General Director

Here is a snippet of the lecture handout as he worked through the various resources on the internet:

“There is an abundance of information relating to Hispanics and Hispanic ministries on the web.  First, you should become very familiar with the wealth of resources put out by the US Census Bureau (www.census.gov).  It can take hours and hours to find and utilize all the resources that are available at this site.  The other benefit is that the material and images are absolutely free, and there are no copyright restrictions because this material by law is all in the public domain.  Many other groups and news organizations write up reports using research done on census bureau data.  There is another very important reason for you to become familiar with this resource.  In 2010, the census bureau will do the next decennial census.  When that happens, we will have a much updated and improved picture of the Hispanic population (down to geographic areas the size of city blocks in some cases).  It is very important that we have people who understand how to find and use this data to help plan our outreach.  Another important reason is that we need people who will learn how to use this tool in order to teach others, such as youth pastors, outreach leaders, Hispanic pastors, etc.

“Another important group is the Pew Hispanic Center, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.  This group is officially nonpartisan, but they are reputed to have a liberal political slant on things.  Nevertheless they provide a lot of useful information.  Their material is copyrighted, so you have to make sure that you stay within fair use guidelines.  You can get on the group’s e-mail list to receive periodic updates.  They produce reports, and occasionally sponsor seminars.  They can be found at http://pewhispanic.org/ .