 |
A couple finds peace in the gospel and works to share that peace with other Spanish speakers.
Aquí tu paz. “Here is your peace.”
Ángel Otero spent his entire career in the US Army, working to bring peace to the areas he served.
But he and his wife, Maribel Diaz, didn’t find true peace—spiritual rest—until they visited a WELS church in Florida during Ángel’s last tour of duty.
Now the retired couple is working to spread that peace to other Spanish speakers. “It’s like a second career,” says Ángel, “and a different kind of army”—God’s army that brings the peace only the gospel can provide.
Peace for the family
Ángel and Maribel both grew up in Puerto Rico. Ángel’s parents had both Catholic and Pentecostal roots, but Ángel says he and his two brothers grew up under the influence of the Pentecostal Church. Maribel, on the other hand, was raised nominally Catholic, mainly attending at Christmas and Easter.
Ángel was familiar with his church’s teachings, but “as I was getting older, I became frustrated with what I know now is legalism,” he says.
Ángel and Maribel met and married while they were in college. After graduating in 1991 and having difficulty finding a job in his field, Ángel joined the US Army and spent the next 25 years in active duty.
The couple moved around the United States every three to four years. As they moved, they would visit churches but didn’t settle into any specific denomination. “We were pretty much visiting whatever church was close—Christian, non-denominational, evangelical,” says Ángel. “We baptized our kids Catholic, but we were not part of any church.”
That is, until Ángel’s last tour in Florida in 2013. That’s when Ángel and Maribel decided to try out Risen Savior, a WELS church in Orlando. “On different Sundays, we visited different churches. [Risen Savior] was the third or fourth one we visited, and we just clicked and we stayed,” says Ángel.
What did they appreciate about Risen Savior? “The message,” says Ángel. “Everything was not about what I do to get salvation, so it took that piano off your back. [The message] was based on the gospel.”
This was the first time they had heard the pure gospel, and they reveled in it. “When we heard that, we felt that peace,” says Ángel.
They and their two sons began membership classes with Steve Blumer, then pastor at Risen Savior. They had a lot of questions. “I wouldn’t say we fought, but we argued a little,” says Ángel. “But Pastor Blumer did not argue with us. He said, ‘Let’s check this Bible passage.’ ”
“He knows a lot,” says Maribel. “The more I asked, the more I wanted to know.”
By January 2014, the family had joined the church.
Peace for the community
Ángel retired in 2016, and a year later the family relocated to Deltona, Fla. It was difficult for them to leave Risen Savior, the place where they first found gospel peace—so much so that they commuted back and forth for more than a year to attend church at Risen Savior.
“But God was pulling everything together,” says Ángel.
Good Shepherd, the WELS church in Deltona, Fla., was in an area that was 45 percent Spanish speaking. While Spanish-speaking families were part of the congregation’s academy and preschool, this was not reflected in the congregation. Christopher Goelzer, the pastor at Good Shepherd at that time, didn’t speak Spanish, but he saw a wonderful opportunity when Ángel and Maribel finally decided to transfer their membership.
They started by filling in as janitors at the church and school, but that was only the beginning. Goelzer—and God—had bigger plans. “These pastors—they are very smart,” says Ángel. “They see that this guy was in the military and this guy likes to serve . . .”
Goelzer contacted Andrew Johnston, team leader of the One Latin America Team and president of Academia Cristo, a WELS World Missions ministry that helps Spanish speakers learn God’s Word and share it with others. Johnston visited them in Deltona in 2020 to share more about Academia Cristo and to encourage Ángel and Maribel to take the online courses.
“When we started taking the classes, we learned so much, even though we were already confessional Lutherans,” says Ángel. After quickly finishing four self-study courses on the basics, they jumped right into Bible institute courses that are taught live online by a WELS missionary or national partner. “It was so addictive—in a good way,” Maribel says. “We were sometimes taking two [classes] weekly.”
While they were taking courses, they started incorporating little things into their church’s ministry to reach out to the Spanish-speaking community, including bringing Hispanic food trucks to special outdoor events and combining Hispanic Heritage Month with the congregation’s harvest festival in September. They targeted parents and families at the school. A small group of Spanish speakers began gathering.
In two years, the couple had finished all 23 Academia Cristo courses. The next step was planting a church. In 2023, they started the first Academia Cristo Grupo Sembrador (church plant) in the United States at Good Shepherd. With the support of Chris Walther, Good Shepherd’s pastor, Ángel and Maribel now coordinate the Hispanic ministry at the congregation, including teaching Spanish-language Bible studies. They are continuing their training with Seminario Cristo, the seminary-level training program created for Academia Cristo church planters.
They, along with other Hispanic and non-Hispanic church leaders at Good Shepherd, recently attended the first Spanish Outreach Intensive in Denver, Colo., to enrich their outreach to the Spanish speakers in the community. (Read more about the Spanish Outreach Intensive.)
Peace across the nations
While Ángel and Maribel continue coordinating Hispanic ministry in their own congregation, they also help others who are using Academia Cristo in the United States.
Ángel has begun working part time for the One Latin America Team. As part of that work, Ángel and Maribel visit and encourage current and potential US Spanish speakers going through Academia Cristo. “Every time we go to a new place, we come back home so energized; we just want to do more. We feel so fueled by the Spirit,” says Maribel.
Ángel also has started teaching some of Academia Cristo’s online courses. “I’m on the other side of the screen now,” he says. He is answering many of the questions that he once asked; he is now offering that peace that he found in God’s grace. “You don’t fight with them [when they have questions],” he says. “You just show them the way like it happened with us years ago, and you let the Word do the work.”
When Ángel and Maribel first visited Risen Savior in Orlando, they didn’t expect to be joining God’s army when they retired. “It was step by step, little by little, baby steps,” says Ángel. “We didn’t know God was going to put all of this together for us.”
Says Maribel, “Look at us now. God is working through us. I love it. This isn’t work. We are retired—well, not anymore.”
Learn more about Ángel and Maribel and the use of Academia Cristo.
Author: Julie Wietzke
Volume 113, Number 04
Issue: April 2026
Academia Cristo in the US
In the past, Academia Cristo was mainly used with Spanish speakers outside the US. But Andrew Johnston, team leader for the One Latin America Team, says that this training program can also be used in several ways in the States:
- To train Spanish-speaking WELS members to be leaders in congregations that don’t have a Spanish ministry. Ángel and Maribel are prime examples as they started a Spanish ministry at Good Shepherd, Deltona, Fla., in partnership with their pastor.
- To provide further leadership training to Spanish-speaking members at congregations that already have a Spanish ministry. This will allow Spanish-speaking members to participate more fully in that ministry.
- To connect with Spanish speakers who aren’t WELS members but are looking for gospel peace. Juan, who lives in Skokie, Ill., recently discovered Academia Cristo online and began taking the courses. He asked one of the missionary teachers to direct him to a church that follows the same teachings. Juan was connected to Abiding Peace, Elgin, Ill. He and his family have been attending every week since.
Peace in Puerto Rico
Besides sharing God’s peace with Spanish speakers in the US, Ángel and Maribel are supporting the gospel spread in their home country, Puerto Rico.
Since 2021, they have been traveling through WELS Mission Journeys to Guayama, Puerto Rico, to encourage and help out at a small congregation in fellowship with WELS there. This includes doing maintenance projects, reaching out in the community, teaching vacation Bible study, and participating in Día de los Reyes (Three Kings’ Day), the Latin American celebration of Epiphany. Ten to 15 members from Good Shepherd, Deltona, Fla., visit annually.
