Meet Juan Reyes, a new church planter in Tenancingo, Mexico, and a man who is always learning.

Juan Reyes has spent his life learning.

He learned how to be a tailor in Mexico City, how to run a taxi business in Tijuana, how to drive a bus in Puebla, and how to do plumbing and electrical work in Toluca. Juan has always kept his eyes open to new opportunities. He has excelled at finding creative solutions to challenging problems. If something needed fixing, he figured it out. If there was something that interested him, he learned it.

However, the greatest thing Juan has learned is how to share God’s Word.

A lifetime of learning

Juan grew up in Tenancingo, Tlaxcala, Mexico. From a young age, he learned the value of persistence. His father encouraged him to learn a trade. By age 10, he was working in a tailor’s shop.

Before finishing middle school, his father took him to Mexico City for more training. Juan quickly picked up new skills—how to trace lines, cut patterns, and sew new seams. He enjoyed doing things well and learning to do them better.

When he returned to Tenancingo, he opened his own shop. “At first I made 2 to 3 pairs [of pants] a week,” Juan recalls. “Then I learned to make 50.” Soon he was producing shirts and jackets too.

To provide better for his family, he moved to Tijuana, intending to immigrate to the United States. But on one of his first days there, he saw a help wanted ad for a tailor. He introduced himself, demonstrated his talent, and got the job.

When styles changed and jeans replaced dress pants, business slowed. Juan adapted again, starting a taxi business and eventually owning ten cars. When the economy declined and as his mother grew older, he returned to Tenancingo. There he learned to drive a bus in nearby Puebla. Later, he studied plumbing and electricity in Toluca. Along the way, Juan started agricultural projects and even began raising sheep.

Juan was always learning—but not everything came easily.

Learning through struggle

For a long time, Juan couldn’t find a solution for his drinking. “I started drinking when I was young,” he says. “It became part of my daily life.” As the years went on, he wanted to stop but couldn’t.

He tried spiritual retreats and self-help programs, but nothing worked. “I wanted to change,” Juan says, “but I couldn’t do it on my own.”

One day, while working construction, he heard music he liked. He asked his coworkers about it. They told him it was Christian music and invited him to a house church. At first, he hesitated. Then he thought, I’ve spent plenty of time learning bad things. Maybe it’s time to learn something good.

That meeting was a turning point. The pastor prayed for him, especially that God would help him stop drinking. Later that week, friends invited him to drink. Juan thought, Why not? But as he opened a bottle and took a sip, he was disgusted by the taste. He thought it had expired. He tried another bottle, and it tasted the same. His friends assured him it was fine, but Juan was convinced it had gone bad. That’s when Juan realized God had answered his prayer. From that day forward, Juan says, “I lost the taste for beer.”

Grateful that God had helped him overcome his addiction, Juan threw himself into church life. The house church he was attending was an extension of a larger church about three hours away. Juan traveled there, many times twice a week, to attend gatherings. He longed to learn more about God’s Word, but despite making those trips to church, something was missing.

Learning grace

So Juan looked for something else. “I went to many churches,” he explains. “Many preached about prosperity—about receiving more blessings, more success, more money. They didn’t preach Christ.” In other churches, the teachings didn’t seem drawn from Scripture but from pastors’ own interests. Some of the churches had internal conflicts. Some were overfocused on manmade rules. Juan remembers one church prohibiting members from playing soccer and another requiring that his son cut his long hair. As Juan studied the Bible, he found joy. But, as he tried out churches, he experienced confusion. Juan wanted to learn more about his Savior but hadn’t found the right place.

In 2021, he discovered Academia Cristo, a ministry that helps people learn God’s Word and share it with others. Through online studies with WELS missionaries, Juan finally understood the gospel clearly.

“There I learned that salvation is not something we earn,” Juan says. “It is a gift from God.”

Learning to serve

Under the missionaries’ guidance, Juan began learning not only what God’s Word teaches but also how to share it.

For one class project, he had to share a Bible story with others. His wife asked, “Who will you share it with?” Juan replied, “You!” Juan organized a time with her, their sons, relatives, and friends. He shared a Bible story using an Academia Cristo method that applies law and gospel in a simple way.

In time, this small family group grew into an active church in Tenancingo. People noticed, and new spiritual needs arose. Juan learned how to address them.

When a young woman turned 15, her family asked Juan to lead a special worship service. Juan accepted the invitation and got to share God’s Word with many families in the community. When a neighbor passed away, Juan was invited to speak and shared words of comfort. When couples decided to get married, both from within his congregation and outside of it, Juan guided them through premarital counseling and how to share God’s Word at marriage ceremonies. He also began visiting areas where alcohol abuse is common, gathering a group and teaching a course called Jesús es el Señor, la adicción no (“Jesus is Lord, addiction is not”).

When meeting these needs, Juan learned how God’s grace applies to every corner of life.

Still learning—and leading

Juan’s learning hasn’t stopped. As a graduate of Academia Cristo, he continues his studies through Seminario Cristo, the seminary of Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional, WELS’ sister synod in Latin America. Every Tuesday, he joins missionaries and other leaders in text studies to prepare his Sunday messages. He meets regularly with his consejero (mission counselor) to discuss ministry plans. “I’m always learning something new from God’s Word that helps me serve better,” he says.

Recently, Juan’s group in Tenancingo became a member congregation of Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional. His congregation was officially welcomed at the church body’s convention in Medellín, Colombia, in October, where Juan met other pastors from across Latin America (see sidebar below).

He returned home encouraged. “I learned that we are not alone,” Juan says. “We are part of a larger family that believes the same things and supports one another.”

Learning for life—and for eternity

Juan Reyes may not have formal education, but he has spent his life learning. What he treasures most is learning the gospel—and helping others learn it too.

“At first, we all have fears. We don’t know where God will lead us. But he gives us courage and reminds us that we’re never alone,” says Juan. “I’ve learned that when I don’t know what comes next, God always puts someone or something in front of me—like Academia Cristo or a consejero—to guide me.”

God has blessed Juan with creativity and persistence—qualities that serve him well as a church planter in Tenancingo. There, many people have a church home, and countless others are learning where they can find help in this life and for the life to come.

“It’s not thanks to me; it’s thanks to God,” Juan says. “If it were up to me, things would be like before. But how could I not work for him, seeing all the good he has given us?”

Learn more about WELS’ Latin American missions.

Watch the December 2025 WELS Connection that features an interview with Juan Reyes.

Author: Matthew Behmer
Volume 112, Number 12
Issue: December 2025

A growing sister church

Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional, WELS’ sister synod in Latin America, held its third synod convention in October in Medellín, Colombia. Juan Reyes attended the convention, at which his congregation in Tenancingo, Mexico, was welcomed into fellowship. This church is the second church plant established through Academia Cristo outreach efforts to join this growing synod—a significant milestone. The synod also welcomed the Evangelical Lutheran Confessional Church—Puerto Rico into its midst.

Henry Herrera, president of Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional, was moved by Juan’s story. “One of the most beautiful parts of this is seeing how a student—or Juan Reyes—begins sharing with his wife and children everything he is learning,” he says. “That encourages all of us, because this is exactly the plan God has for his people.”

He continues, “From the synod’s perspective, we are overjoyed to welcome them. This is exactly the vision we have: people come to study, follow the Academia Cristo path, grow in their knowledge and training, and then support the church as it grows by God’s grace.”

Formed in 2021 from churches in Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Venezuela, Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional is made up of congregations from across Latin America that work together to do mission work, train pastors, and support one another with prayers and fellowship. Many of these churches started out as WELS mission fields but are now part of WELS’ borderless support network, reaching out to new places with the gospel.

“We’re partners in this,” says Larry Schlomer, WELS World Missions administrator, who attended the recent convention. “It’s good for me—not only me, but other leaders in WELS—to visit the conventions of these church bodies because we can’t forget that [forming independent church bodies] was part of our goal of world mission work. And now that they exist, we can’t just walk away and say, ‘Be warm and well fed.’ When the Lord is blessing it in ways that we prayed for, we need to celebrate that and keep those connections strong.”