It’s been a long journey, ups and downs,” Rolando (Jae) Rivera, Spanish-American church pastor, said, “but God is good.”
Rivera was born in Puerto Rico. Raised in a dysfunctional home but forced to attend church, he grew up wanting nothing to do with God. After moving to the Bronx, his life became a mess and he hit rock bottom. He later moved back to Puerto Rico and, one Sabbath, was invited to church. Once he stepped into the church, he never looked back. He soon was baptized, met his wife, Yahaira, and years after believing they couldn’t have children, their miracle child, Abigail, was born.
They soon moved to Los Angeles. A few years later, while working at the Glendale Adventist Book Center, he received a call to pastor the young people at San Fernando Valley Filipino company. It was there that his ministry began.
Rivera went on to study at Andrews University. When he was invited to be the pastor of the Newhall Spanish company, Rivera didn’t accept right away because he knew he needed confirmation from God. He prayed, and while he was in class at Andrews, God told him, “Go for it.”
Less than two years later, he was called to pastor the Shalom Spanish and Los Olivos churches. At his ordination, he was introduced as the new pastor of Spanish-American church.
Rivera thanked the pastors who were crucial to his start in ministry and expressed gratitude to friends and family who supported him along the way.
“I want to thank everyone because you’ve been a part of my life,” Rivera said. “Mostly I want to thank God, because He pulled me out from misery, from my old life when I thought I was going to die, when I didn’t want to live anymore. But His light shined upon me, and He brought me back to life. We are here today because of His grace.”
