One bilingual person carries the load
Most congregations have one or two people who can call Spanish-speaking members. They end up making every hospital, grief and reminder call on top of their own ministry.
For pastors, ministry staff & volunteers
Shepherd every household. In the language of home.
Your church may hold a Spanish service or host a Korean fellowship, yet the call to check on a family after surgery falls to whoever is free that afternoon. intelecho places a real phone call and translates both sides live, so an English-speaking pastor or volunteer can talk with a congregant in Spanish, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole and dozens more. Think of it as Spanish for church care calls, without waiting for the one bilingual deacon to get home from work.
- 46 languages
- No app for either side
- Free 5-minute demo calls
36%
U.S. Catholic adults who are Hispanic, up from 29% in 2007
Source: Pew Research Center, Religious Landscape Study 2023-244 in 10
Hispanic Catholics who usually attend Mass in Spanish
Source: Pew Research Center, 202515%
U.S. Latino adults who are evangelical Protestants (2022)
Source: Pew Research Center, 2023The challenge
Where the conversation gets stuck
Visitors slip away quietly
A family visits twice, fills out a connection card, then stops coming. With no shared language, the follow-up call never happens, and nobody learns they only needed a ride.
Two congregations under one roof
Staff on the English-speaking side rarely talk directly with families from the Spanish or Korean service. Plans for baptisms, VBS or a funeral get passed along secondhand.
Calls you can make today
Real situations, handled by phone
Recovery check-ins
A pastor calls a Spanish-speaking member who just came home from surgery, asks how she is healing, and sets up meal deliveries from the care team.
First-time guest follow-up
A volunteer calls a Brazilian family who filled out a card on Sunday, thanks them for coming, and invites their kids to Wednesday youth night.
Baptism and quinceañera planning
The church office calls a parent to confirm the baptism date, the prep class schedule and how many relatives plan to attend the reception.
Food pantry and benevolence
A ministry coordinator calls a Haitian Creole-speaking mother to say the pantry moved to Thursdays and to ask whether she still needs help with the electric bill.
What it sounds like
A sample call, English ⇄ Spanish
Each person speaks naturally in their own language. intelecho translates every turn so each side hears the other in a clear AI voice.
Languages that come up most
- Spanish
- Korean
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Haitian Creole
- Vietnamese
- Filipino (Tagalog)
- Mandarin Chinese
- Ukrainian
Spanish is by far the most common language spoken at home after English (61.1% of non-English speakers in the Census Bureau's 2018-2022 ACS), followed by Chinese and Tagalog. The rest reflect immigrant congregations many U.S. churches host or partner with, from Korean and Vietnamese parishes to Haitian, Brazilian and Slavic churches.
Translating both waysEnglish ⇄ Spanish
Pastor · EnglishHi Mr. Morales, this is Pastor Dave. We've missed you on Sundays. How is your wife's recovery going?Church member hears: Hola, señor Morales, habla el pastor Dave. Lo hemos extrañado los domingos. ¿Cómo va la recuperación de su esposa?
Church member · EspañolVa mejorando, gracias a Dios. Todavía no puede manejar, por eso no hemos ido.You hear: She's getting better, thank God. She still can't drive, so we haven't been able to come.
Pastor · EnglishOur care team would love to bring dinner on Wednesday. Would six o'clock work?Church member hears: A nuestro equipo de apoyo le encantaría llevarles la cena el miércoles. ¿Les queda bien a las seis?
Church member · EspañolSí, muchísimas gracias. Somos cuatro en la casa.You hear: Yes, thank you so much. There are four of us at home.
How it works
Three steps from this page to a translated call
- 01
Find them in your directory
Look up the member's number and note their language. Enter your name so the greeting tells them the call is from you.
- 02
Pick up, then wait for the ring
intelecho calls your phone first, then rings the member. They hear a short greeting in their own language explaining that this is a translated call.
- 03
Talk like you would after service
Greet them by name, ask how they're doing, then pause and let the translation catch up before you go on. Five minutes is plenty for a check-in, an invitation or a reminder.
Get it right
Tips for smoother calls
- Use plain names for ministries. "Wednesday Bible study for women" translates better than "Wednesday Women's Connect."
- If you pray together on the call, keep each line short and pause after it so the translation can follow.
- Spell out times and places: "Saturday at 9 in the fellowship hall, the door by the parking lot."
- On grief calls, open with one simple sentence of sympathy. The short translation delay is normal, so let the quiet be okay.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can intelecho interpret our Sunday service?
No. It connects two phones for a one-on-one translated call. For live interpretation of a sermon or service, you'll want a human church interpreter or an interpretation headset setup.
Can our missionaries use it overseas?
Not yet. Both phone numbers must be U.S. or Canadian, so it can't reach a phone in Mexico, Guatemala or anywhere else outside those two countries. It also isn't a language course, so it won't replace Spanish for missionaries training. It can help at home, for example when your team calls Spanish-speaking families in your own city before a local outreach.
Is it free for churches?
intelecho is a free demo right now. Calls end after five minutes, and only three calls can run at once across the whole service. If your church needs longer calls, contact us.
Will the member know it's a translated call?
Yes. When they answer, they hear a short introduction in their language explaining that the call is translated, with your name if you entered it. Then you each speak your own language and hear the other in yours.
Are the calls private?
intelecho doesn't record calls or save transcripts. Twilio connects the phone numbers, and OpenAI processes the audio to translate it. Even so, keep deeply personal pastoral matters for an in-person conversation.
Make your first translated call
Enter your number and theirs, pick both languages, and pick up when we ring you. It takes about a minute to set up.
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