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BROTHER MICHAEL GUERRERO
Brother Michael Guerrero (Minister of the Gospel): Growing up, I always wanted to be in the military, ever since I was young. My dad was also in the military and that was kind of the inspiration for me to want to join the military. Even throughout high school, I was already preparing to join the military. And one day, one of my friends—they had asked me—”What are you going to do when it comes to worship service?” I never thought about it. And when that person brought that up to me, it really struck a chord with me because in my mind, I didn’t want to miss even one worship service.
And right after high school, going into college, I decided to focus more on my duties. It was suggested to me that I should maybe think about the ministry. And the first one to do this was Brother Joel San Pedro. He asked me if I ever thought about becoming a minister. My answer was, “No, In ever thought about joining the ministry.” Fast forward a few years later, our resident minister now is Brother Max Vito, who also made mention to me, maybe I should consider or think about about joining the ministry. Even then, at that time of my life, I hadn’t thought about it.
January comes along and he asks me again, “You should really consider joining the ministry.” And I said, “OK, I will.” Now, it’s May. There was no reply. I didn’t know if I was accepted or not. In fact, when I didn’t receive a reply, I actually started to feel a little down because I started to feel that maybe this wasn’t meant for me. And that really made me think a lot about myself. So, I prayed that God would accept me inside the ministry, then I would give it my all, 100%—my whole being. By the grace of God only, did we get a reply.
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I was ordained as a minister in the Church Of Christ on July 27, 2019
Something that brings joy—a lot of joy—in my life is speaking to the youth menbers of the Church. Seeing how they are doing, you know, when they reach out for advice, it is such a fulfilling time and feeling that I get when I’m able to help the youth spiritually, especially when it comes to the world we live in today. It’s pretty crazy. That is one of the things that I’m so thankful for, that I can help our young brothers and sisters in the faith with things that they’re going through. For example, in different countries, there are different social issues that are being forced upon our youth—things that are not in line with our faith. And so, they have questions. And so, they approach me and I love talking to them about it because they really need our help, spiritually. They need guidance. And that is also something, Brother Eduardo, that really inspires me about you—among other things—is you always speak to the youth. You never forget the youth in your worship services. And that is such a great blessing for all of us in the Church and an inspiration for me. You also mentioned that we have to watch over the youth when it comes to mental health. The youth are going through so many different things today, things that I didn’t have to go through when I was younger because of social media and things like that but I, too, go through—just like everybody else—sadness at times, difficulties, trials in my normal life and sometimes, we feel some of that because we carry some of the weight from our brethren. When they talk to us about the things they’re going through, sometimes we carry that with us, and when I think about all of those things and what can I do—if I’m the one who’s supposed to be helping strengthen them, what about me? And that’s why I’m so thankful that we have our international ministerial class with you, Brother Eduardo. It is such a blessing. It is so inspirational because you are speaking directly to us. You are speaking directly to the ministers in the Church. You are inspiring us—you are reminding us to continue to give it our all, no matter what happens in this life, that God will always take care of us. Again, thank you, Brother Eduardo Manalo, for always watching over us, for caring for us, especially us inside the holy ministry. And reminding us—teaching us how to watch over the Church; to take care of the members, watch over them, teach them so that they will be prepared for salvation. We always pray for you. We hope that and we pray that God will always watch over you and take care of you, especially as you continue to lead us in our services to our God.
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