Hey Citylight Family!
We exist to multiply disciples and churches, and God is continuing to do a great work in our midst! God has surfaced and raised up new leaders, and since launching the West location in February of this year, an unanticipated ministry was birthed to the Spanish speaking community.
With that said, it is my privilege to introduce you Alejandro (Alex) Duran, our first church planting resident, who is passionate about Latinos coming to know Jesus Christ!
A Love for Jesus and a Clear Calling
Alejandro came to know Jesus about 9 years ago when he accepted an invitation to Christ Community Church. There, he heard a sermon about God’s grace and forgiveness. Listening to this gospel message changed his life and gave him a hunger to learn more about God.
During that time, he met Jack Arant, who is currently an elder at Citylight Church and has a history of leading others to Christ, making disciples, and multiplying his City Groups. Jack and Alejandro became instant friends. It was a natural connection and Jack immediately was intentional about investing in his life spiritually. They met weekly for prayer, Bible study, and to talk about life. Jack shared the gospel and encouraged him to memorize John 3:16, Matthew 6:33, and Proverbs 3:5-6.
Moreover, during this time Alejandro was dealing with the messiness of his life including addictions, identity crisis, struggling with sexual sin and was never truly satisfied. Where sin left him dissatisfied, he realized Christ was the only one who could satisfy and he surrendered his life to Him.
As time went by, Jesus kept working in his life. He married his wife Christina and they have three beautiful kids: Victoria (6), Samuel (2), and Lucas (1). Along the way, Jack continued to be an encourager to Alejandro, affirming him as someone who he saw working in ministry one day.
There were some bumps along the way, but God freed him from a smoking addiction, and continued to open up the door for full time ministry. After launching our West location, the Citylight Español City Group took off with Alejandro’s leadership and several came to Christ! God continued to affirm a calling into ministry through victory over addiction, affirmation from elders and pastors, and a willingness and unity with his wife to quit his corporate job and raise funds to be a church planting resident with Citylight Church.
This was a massive step of faith as Alejandro quit his day job as an email marketing manager, to raise funds to come on staff with the vision of planting a Spanish speaking/bi-lingual church in the city of Omaha! God has continued to solidify this vision and calling, giving him a partner, Jacob Richardson to pursue this together.
What I love about Alejandro is his willingness to do whatever it takes. He’s made sacrifices to invest in the Kingdom of God, is humble, teachable, an evangelist (Jack rubbed off him!), and deeply cares for people. He has a genuine spirit, is filled with faith, joy, and a love for Jesus that is contagious. Alejandro started his church planting residency at the beginning of September 2018, and has already been such a blessing!
Citylight, if you haven’t already please join me welcoming Alejandro to the Citylight staff family! What is so fun about this story is that Alejandro and his family have been part of this story from the very beginning, and God has raised him up from within our church, to do a new gospel work among Spanish speakers in our city!
If you would like to support Alejandro, visit https://citylight.churchcenter.com/giving
In Christ,
Phil Robinson