Incoming Leaders

I am extremely grateful to have grown up in a Christian home where I encountered God from an early age. My parents and grandparents prayed with me, took me to church and raised me up teaching me about God’s love and compassion. I was always accepting of God and became committed to the faith around eight years old. Around this age I began to really experience God in beautiful ways. I still remember the first time I encountered the Holy Spirit’s tangible presence. I was about eight or nine years old, playing and singing along to worship music in my room, when all of a sudden I felt a rush of peace and emotion as I felt God’s presence so tangibly. From then on, I have been on the journey of faith and ask daily that the Holy Spirit give me guidance and strength to continue to remain a faithful believer.

How did the Spirit guide you to your current ministry and what has God called you to do through your ministry?

During my Junior year studying ministry at Greenville University, I was looking to do an internship at a Free Methodist Church when I got connected with The Avenue Church here in Southern California. I did my internship in 2023 and fell in love with the ministry and people in Riverside. When I went home to Illinois to finish my studies I began to pray about what my next step would be once I graduated. I searched for many opportunities at the time, always keeping The Avenue in my heart but nothing worked out. I felt that the Spirit was guiding me to serve and be served by broken people but I had no idea where that would lead me. Eventually Pastor Joe and Soo Ji Alvarez reached out to me and offered me another internship at The Avenue, which I accepted. I have now been serving here almost two years and it has been such a blessing. I help serve as a volunteer pastor, worship leader, small group leader and am the church’s Administrative Assistant. My ministry at The Avenue has been life changing and I am looking forward to continue growing here as a disciple as well as in leadership.

How did you come to first be involved with the Free Methodist Church and why have you chosen to continue your ministry in the Free Methodist Church?

I learned about the Free Methodist Church by going to Greenville University, a Free Methodist school in southern Illinois. When I first began at the school I immediately appreciated the theology that was being taught as well as practiced by the faculty and many students. Over the years I became more and more invested and attended a Free Methodist Church myself. I fell in love with the church and its grounded, biblical theology as well as its belief in the freedom of the Spirit. I am grateful to be a part of a church that lifts up the voices of the poor and marginalized and I am excited to continue on my path to ordination in such an amazing denomination.