Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Call to Ministry

A Pilgrimage of Formation: The Call of Pastor Juan José Rivera (Seguidores de Cristo, Sarasota, FL)

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Pastor Juan José Rivera (right) sings together with Leadership Minister Marco Güete (left) and Tomás Ramírez (center, Luz y Vida Mennonite) at a Mosaic Florida pastors meeting in February 2024, at Pastor Secundino Casa’s ranch in Tampa.

The Lord called me to establish 25 churches, travel to different places, and form new leaders. 

As a youth in Honduras, I took a chance at serving as an altar boy in my Catholic church for a while. I wanted to confirm for myself that the Catholic church was the true one, and in a way, contradict the Evangelical church. However, when I noticed time and time again the priest could not answer my questions, and the Christian pastor always could, God began to call me to a different path. 

My conversion to Protestantism caused fights between my parents and me. They forced me to decide between them or my religion. I tried to explain, “it’s not religion, it’s Jesus,” but my mother kicked me out of her house. Thus, a pilgrimage began in my life. 

In my newfound independence there was of course the need to survive, but I did not want to leave the church. I began studying and obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH). 

There was a pastor and some church members who helped me complete my theological studies. I studied with the church Iglesia de la Santidad, where I was taught through a Bible institute not unlike today’s Anabaptist Bible Institute (IBA). Afterward, I went to seminary in Costa Rica for three years. 

I later taught as part of a missionary outreach program with Lancaster Mennonite Conference (LMC) and obtained a certificate from the Anabaptist Hispanic Biblical Seminary (SeBAH). 

While studying in the Semilla Seminary in Honduras, I was invited to work with LMC in the U.S. I arrived there in 1988 with my wife Elena and my children Isaac, Islia Edith, Jacer (born in Honduras), and later, my son Wolseley was born in New Jersey. 

In Camden (NJ) I established the church Iglesia Menonita Manantial de Vida (Fountain of Life) as an LMC church. I was a member of the council of Hispanic Mennonite churches in Pennsylvania and participated as coordinator of the Mennonite churches in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  

Years later, I read in a Mennonite newspaper that they were looking for leaders to help consolidate a Mennonite church in Sarasota, Florida. I went to Sarasota with the goal of establishing the congregation, which consisted of newcomers. Marco Güete recommended that we join Mosaic Conference. 

This has been just a little of what I have done in my ministry. The theme of establishing congregations has been present in my life since I was young. God calls me to train leaders using Jesus’ method described in Matthew 28:19 (NLT): “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” 

I did not feel worthy: the call of Pastor Fernando Loyola (Centro de Alabanza) 

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by Fernando Loyola

Transcribed and translated by Andrés Castillo

In my father’s room I stumbled across a Bible passage: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Mat 5:8). I did not consider myself pure in heart—on the contrary, in those days I was an alcoholic and had been abusing my authority as a policeman. I began to cry. 

In this context, in Mexico, I received my call. I was neither a Christian nor did I know what it meant to read the Bible. 

One day, the desire to follow Christ came to me, but I didn’t know where to start. I told my mother, who simply responded, “you already follow Christ.” While it was true that my family was Catholic, I knew that even drug traffickers in my country aligned with the Catholic faith. I replied, “I feel like there is more to following Christ.” 

One day my older brother introduced me to Kirk Hanger, a Mennonite missionary, and through him I learned about the gospel. I started going to church, where I met my wife, Letty. I began studying and became a teacher. Although I still didn’t understand what it meant to follow Christ, I wasn’t drinking, and things were going better for me. 

Unfortunately, the increased salary of the new job influenced me, and I relapsed. I stopped going to church and my wife’s leadership role was taken away. I began to be mentally and verbally abusive to her, which caused her to leave me and take our two daughters with her. I reacted by doing what I knew best: I drank. 

I was ready to let myself die, so much so that I ended up with alcohol poisoning and my sister, a nurse, aided me in recovery. The Lord reminded me of something I had once said: “God, I know You exist, but I want to live my life my way.” 

I went to a rehabilitation center. During my time there, I felt that the Lord was calling me to go to the United States. I knew my wife, Letty, was there and while I was finishing my rehabilitation program, she called me and invited me to come reunite with her. 

Despite the possible dangers, I believed it was what I should do. “Don’t the United States belong to me?” God asked me. The next day I started the journey and managed to get to Denver, where my wife lived. This call really was from God. 

In Denver, Letty and I went to church, worked, and lived “the American dream.” One day through Kirk Hanger my wife received a call to go to Philadelphia. I was helping her there when we suddenly received a call; Aldo Siahaan from Philadelphia Praise Center (PPC) was looking for a pastor who could help engage the Hispanic community. 

Shortly after accepting PPC’s invitation, people began to call me “pastor.” I did not feel worthy. I prayed, “God, confirm this call, and may there be no shortage of food in my house.” 

We now live a few minutes’ walk from Centro de Alabanza’s new building, which is undergoing renovations. I am studying at Anabaptist Mennonite Bible Seminary (AMBS). Some members of the church are studying with the Anabaptist Bible Institute (IBA) and with the Hispanic Anabaptist Bible Seminary (SeBAH) and my wife and I lead Bible studies. 

We have two daughters: Fernanda, 22, who supports with praise by playing the piano; and Daniela, 19, who is studying law. My hobbies are watching movies based on real events with my wife and reading about Biblical topics. 

Crazy for Jesus: Virgo Handojo’s Call Story

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by Virgo Handojo

My childhood was filled with the traditions and rites of Chinese culture, which are still deeply rooted in my heart. Unfortunately, those beautiful memories did not last long. Changes in political policy in Indonesia at that time prohibited the development of Chinese traditions. Even so, Chinese teachings and traditions still leave an imprint on my mind. 

Junior high is the second place where I learned of God. I was educated in a Catholic school. Here I learned that attending mass at church is more important than knowing God or learning from the Bible. When I was in junior high school, I attended catechism for one year to be baptized as a Catholic. 

Monday afternoon, March 5, 1979, was an extraordinary day in my life. God touched my life. Tiong Gie, my hometown friend and childhood friend, invited me to a prayer meeting where I experienced a new birth. It is difficult to describe in words, but I have felt the touch of the Divine hand. Since then, I have started to learn to hear and obey God’s voice and live with Him. 

Virgo Handojo speaking at JKI Anugerah. Photo provided by Virgo Handojo.

Meanwhile God began to expand my ministry and relationships with other Christians. Through the Sangkakala family led by Mr. Adi Sutanto with a prayer meeting in Semarang, God began to train my life, together with young people my age. We took turns preaching, becoming traveling evangelists to other villages and cities. Through a network of families, jobs, schools, and the services of the Sangakakala foundation, this spiritual movement and its prayer groups have spread to other cities.  

Through these services I grew both spiritually and in ministry experience. At that time, we also started to plant churches, both in villages and cities, at home and abroad. Through this youth movement, many mission foundations, synods, and new churches have sprung up, both at home and abroad. 

I was involved in the pioneering of the Indonesian Christian Congregation Synod (JKI Synod), which is theologically affiliated with the Charismatic Anabaptist movement. In 1986 I was ordained and served at the Maranatha Indonesian Christian Congregation church, Ungaran. Together with the JKI synod, we started the Maranatha Bible School, which became the seed of Sangkakala High School, Salatiga. 

In 1987, with just $65, I landed in Los Angeles to study at Fuller Theological Seminary. By God’s grace, I managed to complete three master’s degrees in the fields of Intercultural Studies, Theology, and Leadership, and in 2000 a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Studies from the School of Psychology. In 1989 God brought me and my wife to Mrs. Dina Boon from the city of Sierra Madre, CA. We were asked to clean Mrs. Dina Boon’s house from dark powers.  

Through this ministry, the International House Fellowship was born in Dina Boon’s house. At the end of 1990 this family association grew to 30-50 people from 10-13 different nationalities. Through this partnership, the Anugerah Indonesian Christian Congregation (JKIA) was born on September 19, 1992, at the Free Methodist Church, Pasadena. The first services began on Sunday, September 20, 1992. A few months later the church moved to Sierra Madre Congregational Church in Sierra Madre, CA. 

At the San Jose Mennonite General Assembly (July 4, 2007), JKIA, along with two Indonesian Mennonite churches in Los Angeles and the Philadelphia Praise Center (PPC), established the Indonesian Mennonite Association (IMA). Today IMA is a member of the Racial Ethnic Council of the Mennonite Church USA. Truly, God exists, is miraculous, and really loves us all. Amen. 

My Narrative of Inadequacy, Flipped Upside Down

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by Gary Alloway

Growing up, I was a kid who was a good at everything but never excelled at any one thing. I was a committed athlete, but never a star. I was a good student, but there were always a few students above me. I had friends, but others were more charismatic. Since I never had my own “thing,” I always saw this as a weakness in myself.  

When I was 16, God got a hold of my life, and I chose to follow Jesus. At age 18, in a moment of doubt and desperation, I heard God speak the words, “Serve me.” I consider those two moments to be my points of calling. I gave my life to serving God and helping broken people find Jesus.

And yet, for much of my young adulthood, I wandered. I wandered intellectually, trying to find how my beliefs held together. I wandered theologically, exploring everything from evangelicalism to Orthodoxy. I wandered between non-profit ministry and pursuing an academic career, and somewhere in the midst of this, I got a business degree.

At age 24, I was in seminary and not sure what I was doing with my life. I still felt like I was good at a little bit of everything but was not excelling at any one thing.  

One day, God turned this narrative on its head. I was talking with an old friend, and a light came on. Jesus took the narrative of inadequacy and said to me, “You are exactly who I need you to be.”  

Suddenly, I looked again at pastoral ministry and realized that this is a job that requires being good at a little bit of everything rather than being good at one particular thing, especially in the local church. What other job requires public speaking, counseling, budgeting, and knowing the basics of building repair? What other job changes so drastically from day to day … I may be planning a liturgy at one moment and planning a community meal in the next. What other job provides new challenges in every season, often ones that I could never foresee?  

I attended an academic seminary. I remember a professor, who had served the church for many years, say, “If you really want to use your brain, go into pastoral ministry, not academics.” He was right. For someone whose brain likes to wander in a million directions, pastoral ministry never runs out of things to think about. For someone who gets bored easily, pastoral ministry provides something new in every season. For someone who is good at a little bit of everything, but fails to have a specialty, pastoral ministry is a perfect fit.  

I often get exhausted by the ever-changing, never-settled state of the local church. But if church work ever gets boring, then I will probably be ready to move on. So, today I celebrate the local church, with all its chaos and challenges, and am thankful God made me just as I am. 

Gary Alloway

Gary Alloway is a pastor and church planter of Redemption Church of Bristol (PA), which is a Mosaic Partner in Ministry and was founded in 2009.  Gary serves with his wife, Susan, and his children, Augie (9) and Rosey (7), who deeply love pretzel dogs from the Bristol Amish Market.  Gary has a passion for Philadelphia sports, crossword puzzles, and for seeing broken people connect to the amazing love of God.