These are some of the men studying and serving the Lord with us in Ciudad Juarez. Please contact us for information on helping equip one of these local pastors/students through your monthly support, or to learn about any new men who have entered the program but have not yet been added to this page. More details on pastor/student sponsorship can be found below.
Javier Ocón Ibarra
Javier finished 6th grade, went off to work, got married, had a few kids, and got caught up in the pleasures of the world. He focused on gaining money and possessions, enjoying drinking excessively with his friends, and being a macho guy. His money came from buying new and used electronics of all sorts in the U.S., then hauling them back to Mexico and selling them for a large profit. This party lifestyle caused Javier’s wife to divorce him, and his children to care little for him. Eventually his visa was taken away, and he could no longer cross the border. Having been divorced for four years, he found himself back in Mexico with no friends and no support. While living in his mom’s home, he showed up at one of our churches looking for some kind of hope. Juan, a graduate of our program and the pastor, led him to the Lord and helped him find hope in a new life. Juan counseled him and took him through “Self Confrontation,” a Biblical counseling course that changed his life and way of thinking. Soon he and his ex-wife were talking again, and the Lord restored their relationship. He and his wife are now remarried, and Javier is a graduate and on staff as a teacher at Servant Senders. He oversees our ministry to the police and state police. He has a Bible study weekly with his mom and family via conference call to Arizona. Recently, Javier started a house church and is building a church block by block, with a little help from brothers in our program, as he gets funds for materials. Please pray for his family and ministry.
Ramon Ramirez Treviño
The first time Ramon came to class, Nolan asked him what he had done the week before for the Lord. He thought about it and said, “No one has ever asked me that.” The next week when he came to class he had a lot to share. He went out to a neighborhood and was amazed at the kids who came up to him, hugged him, and asked if he was going to be their pastor. He graduated after three years with Servant Senders. He has a small property on a cliff side, a small building, and has been serving the community around the church. He is Pastoring his church and discovering it is hard work. He has a youth worship team, and is seeing growth in the youth he serves. He has a program to feed kids and help keep them in school. He is assigned a police station that he goes to three times a week, twice a day to share a devotion, pray and counsel. He goes to two fire stations and shares God’s work and encourages them. Ramon enjoyed preaching on the city bus as he traveled the city. He always seems to be applauded for his teaching of morals, and parents’ responsibilities to teach their children. He teaches from his brokenness and life experiences. His heart’s desire is to make disciples.
Lorenzo Alvarado
After graduating from Servant Senders, Lorenzo moved to Chihuahua, MX to work in a ministry of Tarahumara Indians. However he found he was not prepared for the intensity of dealing with over 100 kids, and lacked sufficient help or support. His wife felt she had no time for her own family. They returned to Juarez feeling defeated. He got a secular job and was not strong enough to battle the temptations all around him. He felt deserted and alone and his family was suffering for his choices. The Lord sent us to him to love on him and direct him back to the God of Restoration. He goes to the soldiers, “National Guard” that have been stationed on the border to stop immigrants from crossing illegally. He goes from post to post to give them a cold or hot drink and pray with them. It is a dangerous job as the cartel control the border using coyotes to cross people charging $5000. If they think Lorenzo is trying to make a deal with the soldiers to cross people illegally they could kill him. He also pastors a small home church that have to empty the house of furniture every week to meet and the overflow is the patio out back with the window open to hear the sermon. He is driving bus for a factory as his tent making job and another form of ministry. Pray for him, God’s protection and his family.
Efrian Perez
As a young man, Efrian made his way in and out of the U.S. spending time in the drug world, jail, and in and out of trouble. Later in life while in California he was introduced to a Calvary Chapel and his life was transformed. However the law caught up with him and he was sent back to Mexico. His wife and son go back and forth from Juarez to El Paso where Josue attends high school. They do this so that Josue can have a better education since he is a U. S. citizen. Efrian had looked for a good church in Juarez and through friends found Pepe’s ministry and began to attend and help Pepe with his programs. He joined Servant Senders in April of 2016. He teaches bible classes at four rehab centers and love to be able to have a “U-Turn for Christ” one day in Juarez. So far all a rehab does is dry someone out. No tools are taught on how to live in the world once they leave the rehab. He oversees our ministry to the migrants which has changed often over the past year due to covid. Recently he and his team make burritos and go to a migrant shelter to feed them physically and spiritually. He takes time to hear their stories and pray with them. He fills up pages of his notebook with their prayer request. When they have extra time he takes his team to the hospitals to pray for those waiting outside for a word about their family members or a chance to see them. He would ask for prayer for his wife, his marriage, his son and grandchildren and God’s call on his life.
Isaias Ramirez
Isaias Ramirez is the oldest member of Servant Senders’ team of teachers, pastors, and evangelists. Isaias has been with us from the start of Servant Senders in 2006. He is a widower and father of three adult children. By trade he works with sheet metal and can make pretty much anything with metal. Years ago when asked if he would like to join our program he said, “You mean I get to tell people about Jesus, teach them about Jesus, and lead them to Jesus, and that will be my job?” We said yes, and he put his head down and sobbed.
He teaches our new men in a leadership and history of the church class, and is our lead man at the police academy teaching up to five classes for forty-five minutes to an hour. Each class on the Bible is part of the training the cadets receive to become police in Juarez. This training is six months long. So the cadets get an hour of Bible per week for six months before becoming a policeman/woman. When the cadets graduate the academy is used for six week training classes for the traffic cops, special forces, National Guard and other law inforcment. He is asked to teach hour long bible classes to all of them also. He is also the pastor of a small gathering of family and friends at his daughter’s home. He has a group of teens whose fathers were killed during the violence. They were wondering the streets with no direction so he made a deal with them. He would teach them a trade if they returned to school and allowed him to teach them the Bible as part of their training. Please keep him in prayer for his health. He has a 70% block in his heart and tires easily, and at times it is very painful and suffers from shortness of breath. He needs cataract surgery.
Jose Luis Rivas
Jose Luis is a Godly man. He finished 9th grade, is married, and has four step-children. His job before Servant Senders was driving a gas truck and delivering gas, making $150 a week with benefits. He joined us to make $120 a week and few benefits. He and his wife, Isabel, have huge hearts for children, especially the single parent families. The moms often are gone trying to find work or working to survive, leaving their children in the care of older siblings sometimes only eight years old. He has a kid’s club at his home one day a week with about 25 kids. He has autistic kids, blind kids, and kids with other handicaps in his programs, and his heart breaks for them. He, his wife and children teach these children and their parents about the Lord, and feed them whatever they can as funds allow. He became a part of Servant Senders to learn more about the word of God in order to teach these children and hopefully their families as the Lord leads. He is a graduated pastor who pastors a house church. He is one of our teachers who teaches the new students on leadership. He ministers at one of the police stations three days a week for two shifts a day. He also has two fire stations he goes to once a week to do devotions and to pray for and encourage them. He is a tender hearted counselor, concerned for the lost and broken.
He desires you to pray for him, his family, the police serving Juarez, and the children in his ministry along with their families.
Juan Sanchez Rodriquez
Juan Sanchez Rodriquez, whom we have nick-named “Chez” was from a tough life. His desire for drugs and alcohol had him making poor choices until the Lord got ahold of his life. After time in a rehab, he began to help lead the other men. Soon he got plugged into a good church and began serving the Lord. After he married his wife, who had three sons, they began to struggle in a number of areas. They discovered that old behaviors die hard, and if not replaced by “New Life Skills”, you easily regress to old ways. Juan felt he was doing well by serving the Lord, but he didn’t know how to be a dad, spend time with his kids, and wife. He didn’t have a balance of serving the Lord and loving his family. He joined Servant Senders as a student in April of 2016 and has grown in leaps and bounds. He now has a kids program of around 80 kids and an “outside” church. He teaches at a rehab center and has a huge heart for the addicts. He loves to go out with his church and evangelize. He and his friend Efrain, go to the jails and speak to the inmates. He would ask for prayer for his boys, who help lead worship, to love the Lord, for his wife and his marriage to blossom, and for God’s direction in leading him.
Juan Gonzalez Jimenez
Juan and his family came to the Lord through a close friend, Javier when Juan was struggling with his diabetes and looking at the possibility of having his foot or part of it amputated. He was depressed, disheartened and out of work. He and his family were devout Catholics and part of a dancing group called, “Matachines.” They focus on worship of the Virgin Mary and other saints in a cult like dance. After accepting the Lord, his family followed suit and before long all idols were gone from their house and dancing for the Virgin Mary was in the past. Juanito, as he is called, is in class three days a week with studies in leadership, book by book, verse by verse through the bible, history of the bible, overview of the bible, the oral bible, false profits, discipleship and other classes. Other days of the week he is involved in outreach, building projects, working with the migrants and leading others to Christ. His diabetes was under control until he had the virus. Sometimes his blood sugar levels are high. He has to inject insulin now, which is not always easy to find here in Mexico. Please keep him and his family in prayer as he faithfully follows the call of the Lord.
Julio Ruiz
Julio grew up in Vera Cruz, a state near the bottom of Mexico in a small, poor village. His family, being very poor and of a local indigenous group, were looked down upon and treated very poorly. In his teens he made his way north trying to get to the U.S. He wanted the “American Dream” of making enough money to eat well every day and send money home to his family. He made it to Juarez and settled there. He kept his head down and worked hard to live. He had a girl friend who gave him a son, but things fell apart and they both moved on. He met his wife Norma, a single mom of one daughter, and knew she was the one. After settling into marriage, Norma and her daughter began attending a church with friends. It happened to be the church of one of our graduated pastors, Samuel. With the visit and invitation of the pastor, Julio followed with lots of questions. After attending for a while, he discovered another Servant Sender church was in his neighborhood. He began to attend and grew in the Lord. He was invited to our Tuesday study with the pastors and students and joined us in April of 2016.
He leads devotions, counsels and prays for one of the city police stations in Juarez, three times a week, twice a day. He goes to a fires station once a week to encourage them, leads a devotion and prays for them. He has a program and feeding kitchen for a group of about 75 indigenous Tarahumara Indian children and teens. His wife and daughter are a huge help in this ministry.
Temo Luria Ramirez
Temo and his family were saved through a V.B.S. program their oldest daughter attended. Closing night when parents are invited, they came. They heard the plan of salvation and soon after accepted the Lord. They have been a part of a ministry in Juarez called “Broken Heart Ministry’s” which was a ministry that focused on their community. Temo left his job after 15 years. That was a huge step of faith for him as job security here is rare. He felt the calling on his life and took a leap of faith. . It has been a challenge, but he is growing in his walk with Christ as are his family. Temo recently graduated and now goes to a police station Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays twice a day to do a devotion and pray and counsel. He and his wife have started a kids club and feeding kitchen in their home. 35 to 40 kids gather in their living room to hear stories of Jesus, memorized scripture, pray for the lost, and get a meal. He is an elder and leader in his church. We are finding Temo to be a quiet, steady, balanced leader. Please pray for him and his family as he discovers his passion and calling.
Pastor/Student Support
Once accepted into the program, we secure support for the pastor/student so he can participate full time in our program. We do this through partnership with a U.S. churches and individuals who commit to support the pastor/student financially and prayerfully. Some pastor/students are supported by multipole individuals or churches.
Support is sent to Servant Senders, and we administer the funds and provide accountability. We also keep the supporting churches/individuals informed about the pastor/student’s progress, development, and needs.
Monthly support per student is $565
100% of collected support benefits the student, and this amount covers their entire cost of living, training and minsitry!
As the Lord leads, one or more churches or a group of individuals can support the training and minsitry of a pastor/student. For just $30 a month you can be a part of sending out these trained disciples.
If you or your church would like to support a trained pastor or student disciple, please contact us for more information.
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