Eduardo Cruz: From Bible institute graduate to pastor in La Fama

Eduardo Cruz became pastor of a church in La Fama, on the west side of Monterrey, after preparing for ministry at Instituto Bíblico Bautista Monte Hebrón. His path to the pastorate connected the ministries of Ricardo Maldonado, Danny Reeves, and Tommy Ashcraft: one congregation provided the setting for his conversion, the institute helped prepare him for service, and a missionary’s church-planting work became the setting for his pastoral responsibilities.[1]

Conversion and preparation

Eduardo was saved and baptized in the church pastored by Ricardo Maldonado, himself a graduate of Monte Hebrón’s Bible institute. Eduardo subsequently entered the institute, and he and his wife graduated in 1999.[1]

Their graduation added another connection between the institute and the work of its former students. A man reached through a graduate’s congregation had now completed his own preparation for ministry, alongside his wife.[1]

A church begun by Danny Reeves

Missionary Danny Reeves started a church in La Fama, west of Monterrey. When the time came to entrust the congregation to a Mexican pastor, he contacted Tommy Ashcraft. Tommy recommended Eduardo Cruz.[1]

Eduardo went on to pastor the congregation. The transition brought together Reeves’s work in establishing the church and the institute’s work in preparing a man to lead it. The surviving account does not give the date Eduardo assumed the pastorate, but it identifies both the recommendation and his subsequent ministry there.[1]

Reeves continued in church planting, starting another congregation on the north side of Monterrey that was also pastored by a Monte Hebrón graduate by 2017. Eduardo’s appointment was therefore part of a wider connection between missionary church planting and the preparation of Mexican pastors.[1]

Growth in La Fama

By November 2017, the La Fama congregation had developed into an established ministry and was in the third phase of a building program. The planned construction would provide space for more than 500 people.[1]

That figure describes the capacity the project was intended to provide, rather than a recorded attendance total. It nevertheless marks a substantial stage in the congregation’s development: the church Reeves had begun was preparing facilities for a larger ministry under Eduardo’s pastoral leadership.[1]

A continuing relationship with Monte Hebrón

The connection with Tommy Ashcraft continued after Eduardo became pastor. In September 2017, Tommy preached a family conference at the church. The meetings addressed homes and marriages, and participants responded with decisions concerning their family lives.[1]

The visit illustrates a relationship that extended beyond graduation or a pastoral recommendation. Years after Eduardo and his wife completed their institute studies, the congregation they served continued to receive preaching from the ministry that had helped prepare them.[1]

Eduardo’s story is one example of the relationships linking Monte Hebrón’s training work with local churches: Ricardo Maldonado’s congregation, Eduardo and his wife’s preparation, Danny Reeves’s church planting, and Tommy’s recommendation all contributed to the path that led to his pastorate in La Fama.[1]