Adán Alexander
Hernández Cordero, "Alex"

In November of 1992, after being lost, Jesus rescued me, thanks to the testimony of my sister and my cousin who had already been converted in New Life Baptist Church and had been praying a lot for me.

I had a bad attitude towards evangelicals and when the pastors of the church came to my house to visit me I practically ran them off, I had no idea that behind them were many youth, among them, my future wife Normita, who were praying for me.

One day, because of the need I felt after having a bad experience playing blasphemous rock music, I decided to go to church where they were preaching the book of Revelation. Really I don't remember what they really preached about; I only knew that I needed to accept Christ and I did. My parents, who were already involved in church, were very happy with my decision and since this day I knew that God had something big in store for me. Later in 1993 I made the decision to be baptized and begin growing in the Word.

In 1994 I lead my first small group of youth. In 1999 God called me to work full time as a youth pastor in my church. It was also at this time that God allowed me to be married to Normita Camino.

In 2002 God allowed me to become a father of a little girl, Paola, it is a challenge because I must teach my daughter about the need we all have for God.

I continued youth pasturing until 2003. Leaving them was a unique and sad yet joyful experience; many had already risen to leadership positions.

Soon thereafter God sent us as missionaries to Lourdes (a 35 minute drive from San Salvador ) which has been a great blessing being the senior pastor of a church and expanding the Word of God in my country. My family and I are working together with the Escobar family and other very dear members of the mother church. This team work helps us so much as we all share the same burden and we all have the support we need from New Life Baptist Church in San Salvador.

Some years have been hard as we have raised up this new mission. In July of 2005, just as we were initiating the process, my father suffered a massive stroke while he was traveling to Lourdes . The stroke has permanently damaged his ability to speak and various other faculties. In the beginning I did not understand how God could allow this but He has comforted me and taught me to wait on Him and be courageous.

By the grace of my Lord we are working in His work. Our greatest desire as a family is to glorify God and be His faithful servants.

Our prayer requests:

•  For the conversion and consecration of my daughter Paola Mariel.
•  For my marriage, that we always glorify God
•  For the health of my father, Adan Hernandez
•  For more workers for His harvest
•  For more souls saved
•  For the purchase of the Qunita El Encanto for our church

José Salvador
Escobar Cortéz, "Chity"

When I graduated from High School in 1991 I was living my life out of control. My desires were to enjoy my adolescence as much as possible, and it appeared, from my point of view, that everything was going well; I had a good life ahead of me, I had a good family, friends, in other words, I had almost everything. Although I believed in God, I had never imagined that I could ever really need Him. This was until I had a near drowning accident in the ocean. This incident made me realize a true reality, without Christ I was lost and condemned to hell. This very day, alone in my room, I made the decision to initiate a personal relationship with God.

A few months later I was attending New Life Baptist Church and I began to meet with the youth group, receive discipleship, participate in retreats and go out on the evangelism campaigns. Later I began to lead a small group, study in the seminary and begin to sense the very intense call of God on my life.

In 1992, after arriving at New Life Baptist Church I met Patty Valladares, who would become my wife, she, and her family, had also recently begun attending there. It was difficult at first as there was a lot of pressure. Everyone at church said that we were a couple when that was not yet the case. This caused a friendship that had begun to deteriorate; nevertheless, this distance helped us to define ourselves. In 1993 we both went to a campaign in San Miguel and during the return trip we talked about the possibility of starting a relationship. Our dating relationship lasted 7 years during which time mutual respect and the idea of one day forming a worthwhile family sustained us under all temptations. God was very good to us during these 7 years, our values were based upon His Word, and so, we were able to stand before the altar of marriage. On August 12, 2000 Patty and I were married. I was 27 and she was 26.

When we were first married we talked about waiting 3 years to have a child but we never thought it would be so difficult. In 2003 when we decided the time was right we discovered that Patty had several serious problems which caused 2 very difficult miscarriages. Finally in 2005 Patty was able to get pregnant for the third time. God put us in the hands of an excellent doctor. Patty had to inject herself daily and take every precaution imaginable. Thanks be to God on June 27, 2006 God gave us a precious son, his name is Diego Josue. He has been a tremendous blessing to us and our families. Just to show you how incredible God is, when Patty saw her doctor 3 months after Diego's birth he told her , "I didn't want to tell you this before, but this child that has been born is a miracle, you Christians have a powerful God." We had only one response, GLORY TO GOD!

In 2003, the pastors spoke with me about the possibility of working at church with the Leadership Training Institute. This opened the door for me to prepare myself for God's work. In 2005 Metro America 020 was established with the first missionary church in Lourdes . That which I had asked God for, happened.

It is a joy to co-pastor the New Life Baptist Church in Lourdes with Alex Hernandez. He is not only my co worker but my friend. We have a very close relationship and count on each other for support. We realize that we work for the Best Boss in the entire universe. We are a team and we work together as we disciple, evangelize, visit, counsel, preach and raise up new leadership. Our wives are the perfect helpmeets in the ministry. My wife, Patty, is in charge of everything that has to do with Children's ministries and Alex's wife, Norma, is in charge of all women's discipleship.

What's happening today in New Life Baptist Church Lourdes?

Two years have passed since we begun (2005). God has been very good to His church. We have 97 members at this time and about 35 children. We have 12 Sunday school teachers, a small group of disciplers, 7 life circle small groups, a youth group for kids ages 11-15, and we are anticipating the purchase of the Quinta El Encanto which has been our rented church location. The lending process is already underway. God is preparing us for something huge!

What is our vision for the future?

We want to reach the families who live in Lourdes , they are in crisis. We want to reach the highly populated neighborhoods as well as the private neighborhoods which are impossible to get in to unless you know someone who lives there. We are developing strategies to accomplish these goals. Additionally, we want to have a solid church leadership, a youth group for youth of all ages, a Bible Institute, as a church be an integral part of the Metro America 020 project and truly be a church that is having an influence in every sector of Lourdes.

Prayer Requests:

•  Approval for the loan for the purchase of the Quinta el Encanto.
• Financial stability both in our church and church families.
• Stable families that are able to make a difference where they live.
•  A solid group of leaders.
•  A university age youth group.
• Permission to enter every private neighborhood by means of people who live in them.
• The establishment of new life circle small groups.
• Good health for my family and the conversion of our son, Diego