Juan Hernandez

“Help These Kids Stay on Their Walk with Jesus”: The Story of Juan Hernandez

Juan Hernandez has learned that sometimes God prepares us for mission long before we realize what He is doing.

Juan’s childhood was not an easy one. He moved around often and spent time living with different family members. Looking back, he remembers seasons when he felt bitterness about the instability he experienced. But as the years passed, his perspective began to change.

“I never was homeless. I never turned to drugs. I always had a place to stay. I always had clothes on my back. I never went hungry,” Juan reflects. “All of these experiences have made it so that someday I can be a blessing to somebody else and help them get through some of these difficult things.”

As a young man, Juan joined the Marine Corps Reserve while also working full time and going to school. Little by little, he built a life for himself. He found an apartment, bought a car, continued his education, and learned to provide for himself. And through it all, he says, God was there. Even during difficult days in Marine boot camp, Juan remembers sensing that God was with him, encouraging him to continue and keeping him on the right path.

Finding His Church Home

Juan grew up Catholic, but even as a child he wrestled with questions about faith. He believed deeply that he could have a direct relationship with Jesus. He struggled with the idea that he needed to accomplish certain works in order to earn God’s favor. In his heart, he kept returning to a simple conviction: Jesus was enough. Then Juan met the woman who would become his wife.

His life was at another crossroads at the time. He was considering leaving San Diego and returning to Sacramento, where much of his family lived. But after meeting his wife, he decided to stay. She had grown up Lutheran. When Juan and his wife were first married, they were not regularly attending church. Then his mother-in-law gave them some loving encouragement. “You don’t have to go to my church,” she told them, “but you need to go to a church.”

Juan agreed. He wanted Christ to remain part of his life, but he did not feel drawn back to the Catholic Church. So he decided to give the Lutheran Church a try.

In 2010, Juan walked into Community Lutheran Church in Escondido, his first Lutheran congregation. What he discovered surprised him. As he learned Lutheran teaching, he found words for convictions he had carried for many years, especially that salvation is God’s gift and that Jesus Christ is sufficient. “I was like, ‘Hey, this is right in line with what I’ve always felt and believed. This is where I should have always been.’”

Community Lutheran also gave Juan and his family a home. Pastor Vogelsang and the members noticed them, welcomed them, invited them into the life of the congregation, and helped their two young sons become involved. Juan and his family began worshiping every Sunday. Years later, Juan was invited to serve as an elder. But God was not finished.

New Orleans

Last year, Juan was invited by DCE Rachel Zamorano to serve as an adult leader accompanying young people from Community Lutheran to the LCMS Youth Gathering in New Orleans. Juan thought he was going there to help the youth. Instead, God did something profound in his own life.

During the Gathering, Juan describes becoming unusually attentive to God’s direction. He says that what had normally felt like an ongoing quiet conversation with God became almost impossible to ignore. “I could hear God in stereo,” is the way Juan describes the experience.

One day, while walking through the convention center, Juan was headed toward lunch when he felt strongly that he should continue in a different direction. He kept walking until he came to the LCMS U display for Lutheran campus ministry.

At first, Juan thought he understood why he was there. He was in the season of sending his two sons off to college, and like many Christian parents, he was thinking about what would happen to their faith when they were away from home. With the help of his pastors, Juan had been able to connect both of his sons with pastors, churches, and Christian ministries near the universities they would be attending. God had provided the right people and connections so that his sons would not have to walk through their college years alone.

Juan was grateful. His sons would have people nearby who could encourage them in their faith and help them stay connected to Christ and His Church. So Juan looked over the LCMS U information, thankful for the resources, and started to walk away. But then he stopped. He felt compelled to return to the display. And this time, the question in his heart was different. God had provided people to care for his sons while they were away at college. What if Juan could now do the same for someone else’s son or daughter coming to his community? “Get your church on that board,” Juan remembers understanding. “This is what I want you to do.”

Suddenly, campus ministry was no longer only about finding Christian support for his own children. It was about becoming that support for someone else’s children. His sons were being sent into communities where God had already placed people ready to receive them. Now students were being sent to San Marcos, into Juan’s own community. Perhaps it was his turn to be one of those people. “Be somebody else’s blessing.”

“Help These Kids Stay on Their Walk with Jesus”

When Juan returned to San Diego, he immediately contacted his pastors. He told them what had happened in New Orleans and explained what he believed God had placed on his heart. He did not want to create another responsibility for the congregation. He told them that he was willing to take responsibility himself. He simply wanted the blessing of his church. His pastors encouraged him to move forward.

A few months later, Community Lutheran became officially connected with LCMS U. But Juan knew that getting the church listed was only the first step. The real mission was much simpler and much bigger. “Help these kids stay on their walk with Jesus so that they don’t fall away while they’re away from home.”

Juan’s vision is deeply practical. A college student might need a ride to church. Another might need transportation to a doctor’s appointment or the airport. Someone might need help finding a trustworthy mechanic. A student far from home might simply need an adult nearby who cares. Maybe someone needs a trip to Costco. Maybe they need a meal. Maybe they just need to know that there is a Christian family nearby willing to receive them. Juan does not see the ministry primarily as starting another program. He sees it as being available.

Mission in San Marcos

That vision brought Juan into conversation with the Lutheran Mission Society San Diego. His pastors connected him with the Mission Society so that he would not have to figure out the next steps alone. Together, we have begun exploring ways to connect Juan with people who are already serving students at California State University San Marcos, rather than assuming that everything needs to be built from scratch.

There have already been conversations with other campus ministry leaders. Some doors have opened slowly. Others have not opened yet. Juan has reached out to the university and to Christian groups serving on campus. We have discussed partnerships, ways to identify Lutheran students, the possibility of forming a recognized campus group, and simple ways of being present among students.

So far, things have not moved as quickly as Juan hoped. But he is not discouraged. Juan remembers something he sensed very strongly in New Orleans: this ministry might take time. He may not immediately meet dozens of students. Perhaps there will simply be one. One student who is far from home. One student whose faith is struggling. One student who needs someone to listen. One student who needs a ride, a meal, a church connection, or a reminder that Jesus has not forgotten them. Juan wants to be ready when that student comes.

“I know that I’m doing this because God wanted me to do it,” he says. “Somebody is going to need God, and God can use me to fill that need.”

Perhaps Juan’s entire story has been preparing him for exactly that. The boy who moved from home to home now wants college students away from home to know that they are not alone. The young man who experienced instability wants to become a steady presence for someone else. The father who worried about his own sons has discovered a calling to care for somebody else’s sons and daughters. And the man who found a spiritual home at Community Lutheran Church now wants to help another young person find a Christian home while they are away at college.

Please pray for Juan Hernandez, for Community Lutheran Church, and for the developing campus ministry at Cal State San Marcos. And if you know a student attending Cal State San Marcos, especially a Lutheran student or a young person looking for a Christian community, please let us know. We would love to make that connection.

If Juan’s story also makes you think, “I would love to be part of something like this,” we would love to hear from you. Perhaps you have a heart for college students, could help Juan build relationships on campus, provide a meal, offer a ride, pray with students, or simply be another caring Christian presence for young adults away from home. And if you know someone who might be a good fit for this ministry, please connect us with them or send us their name.