Pastor Yolanda Ramirez and her husband, Luis, joined the Foursquare family after being independent pastors for a year. Today she and her husband, Luis, are key leaders in the Southeast District and also serve as part of the Foursquare National Hispanic Commission.
Meet Yolanda Ramirez, a senior pastor and member of Foursquare’s National Hispanic Commission.Together, the couple pastors Iglesia Cristiana Remanso De Paz (Warner Robins Hispanic Foursquare Church) in Warner Robins, Ga. Yolanda serves as senior pastor, Luis as co-pastor.
In 1998, the Ramirezes planted a rapidly growing church in the suburbs of Atlanta. In 1999, they met Foursquare Pastor Scott Reece, who immediately accepted the Ramirezes and reached out to them. Their relationship became one of mutual trust and love.
After a few months, The Foursquare Church, which was in the process of closing a church in the area, offered the Ramirezes the empty building and land, and invited them to join the Foursquare family. After researching the values and doctrine of The Foursquare Church, the Ramirezes fell in love with Foursquare and decided to join the denomination. Yolanda stresses that their decision was motivated by the love they felt for the church and not because of a building or land.
The trust that the Fourquare family has placed in the Ramirezes has been key to their ministerial lives. Yolanda states: “What I liked the most when we first joined the denomination was that they trusted us when others did not.”
To Yolanda, continuous communication from the denomination through phone calls, emails, the district staff and other pastors helps them to feel supported while doing ministry. There have been difficult moments in which they have felt lots of care and acceptance and, consequently, they have felt a sense of belonging to the Fourquare family, which allows them to have a voice with the leaders in the denomination.
“What I liked the most when we first joined the denomination was that they trusted us when others did not.”
—Yolanda Ramirez, senior pastor of Iglesia Cristiana Remanso De Paz in Warner Robins, Ga.
This moral support has greatly impacted the ministry of the Ramirezes. It also led them to support and assist other leaders, especially Hispanic leaders, both in the Southeast District and at a national level. They are able to help others so they can feel part of the family, as well.
Throughout their 16 years with The Foursquare Church, Yolanda says that they have had very few down times and many good moments. One of those good moments was the recent opening of their new sanctuary.
Yolanda highlights the friendship and willingness of leaders in The Foursquare Church to talk, meet and support one another. She also speaks very highly of many leaders, two in particular: Scott Reece, pastor and former Southeast District Supervisor; and Daniel Prieto, Foursquare’s National Hispanic Missional Coach and chairman of the National Hispanic Commission. She and her husband see them as examples for their lives and ministries.
Yolanda offers the following advice to other pastors who want to join our family: “The Foursquare Church is a safe place, but ministry requires hard work. Churches should be built with much work. Foursquare will guide you and give you stability, but it’s the pastor’s responsibility to complete the work. If you don’t want to feel isolated, but want to be part of a well-grounded council, Foursquare is for you.”
Yolanda loves The Foursquare Church for its evangelical vision, mission and the sense of family within the denomination. She says that she will continue to be Foursquare in bad times as well as good, and that she never wants to stop being Foursquare.
