Beth-El Farmworker Ministry began in 1976 when a small group of Cumberland Presbyterians rented a tiny house in Ruskin, Florida, and began holding Spanish-language church services for migrant farm workers. When the families came to worship, their many other needs were obvious: they were usually hungry, often cold in winter, some slept in cars or trucks, many could neither read nor write, and most lived in fear of deportation. In its effort to meet some of those needs, Beth-El grew.

Now legally a nonprofit corporation, Beth-El Farmworker Ministry, Inc. has a 27-acre site on U.S. Highway 301 about 20 miles south of Tampa. The Ministry serves the nearby rural population. It operates under a covenant among its governing bodies, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Tampa Bay and Peace River Presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church.

Throughout the year Pine Shores actively participates in supporting this ministry. The funds collected in our Care and Share monthly offering and our “2 Cents a Meal” offering go to provide food for the pantry. For more information we invite you to visit their website at http://beth-el.org/