Redeemed and Feeding His Sheep

Posted on June 12, 2024

Jhonatan Rivera’s earliest memories were marked by violence, a broken family, abandonment by his biological parents, and substance abuse. “But…God was working,” he recalls, “and I didn’t even know him.” 

The pain of his circumstances eventually led him to cope with substance abuse. He confesses it was the lowest point of his life and he was in a deep pit. Through his mother’s prayers and the loving welcome of his local church, he heard for the first time, “Before you were formed, I knew you,” (Jeremiah 1:5). Jhonatan testifies, “And in that moment my life with Christ started. I was now loved…He by grace had not abandoned me.” As Jhonatan grew in the Lord, he also began leading worship and children’s ministry. 

When he began his Global Action Foundations course, he shares, “I…never had such teachers that were so committed with the duty of diving deep in the gospel, and the need to be able to associate the urgency to talk about the opportunity that Christ gives us… I love the Lord more now after understanding such amazing plans that he has not only for me, but to reach the whole world.” 

Now having theological equipping, Jhonatan feels God has written His story of redemption over his childhood and commissioned him to share the Word with others. Miraculously, he was able to show his birth mother his Foundations diploma before she passed away.  

“The Holy Spirit has made me restless so much since I heard Global Action’s slogan: ‘Go and share what you’ve received.’

Jhonatan graduated last November in Antigua, Guatemala. These days he leads worship at his church and serves at a ministry called “Agua Viva” translated “Living Water”, a local feeding center for children in his village of San Antonio Dueñas. Global Action exists to train leaders like Jhonatan, and we rejoice that each of these local leaders best knows the needs and context of their communities. Jhonatan is an example of local leaders who change the world for Christ.