Bringing Hope to the City
Behind each headline and statistic is a mom, a dad, a child, a neighbor impacted by confusion, trauma and stress. Our nation and our city are in need of healing, hope and compassionate care.
At the core of these issues we believe, and a large body of scholarly evidence confirms, is the increasing breakdown of the family. The loss of love and guidance present in the intimate levels of marriage and love have broad social consequences. We decided to be part of the answer as we stepped out to love the people of our community in practical ways. This is what led to the founding of Puerta Hermosa and what has fueled our desire to become community service chaplains stationed in our Menasha community. This is the letter we wrote to our friends and family to express what was in our hearts as we stepped into that role and began to raise awareness and support, it remains our focus today.
Dear Friends…
God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. When our 24 year old son, Jerrad unexpectedly died, it was you, our neighbors and our friends in Christ who loved and strengthened us spiritually with your presence and practical expressions of compassion. Through Jerrad’s death and the passing of Nan’s dad, grandma and a number of precious longtime friends, we have been deeply touched by God’s love, grace and faithfulness. As we pressed into Him in the midst of our pain, He brought His healing and compassion, strengthening our marriage and our family, filling our lives with His hope and love. He has helped us to see that death has been beaten because of what He has done at the Cross.
We believe God is calling us to minister to the community what He has helped us experience and overcome through the ups, the downs and the “whys?” In August 2013, at God’s prompting, we were trained, ordained and certified as “senior chaplains” by the International Fellowship of Chaplains. In fact, it was affirming to us that we received a call to join an eldercare ministry—Shepherd’s Care—on the way to class!
We are community service chaplains. We comfort with the very comfort we have received from Him, preaching Christ crucified! In this role, we reach health care facilities, business owners (through our business, Rising Son Web design), prisons, mental health institutions, public safety agencies, schools, and of course, neighbors.
• We are currently touching seven senior care communities sharing love and hope with hundreds of those in God’s “waiting room.” In recent years, we have met some of your loved ones in our travels and consider it a great honor to help the sick, elderly and dying find hope and eternal security through Jesus Christ. We impact residents, families, administrators and caregivers. As chaplains, we perform funerals and memorial services.
• We build relationships in our city. Tony is serving as police commissioner, Nan has facilitated an educational program that builds bridges between Americans and Latinos and currently does nursing home and hospital ministry.
• We touch youth in our schools as we continue to facilitate Bible study at our local high school (six years and strong!)
• We visit the sick in hospitals and encourage and strengthen those in prison.
• We share our story of hope in the midst of grief with those experiencing loss.
The headlines are grim. Our neighbors need hope. Loving them means helping them to find salvation in Christ and His strength for their journey. Thank you for your love, prayers and support.
Nan and Tony Gutierrez
If you would like to join us in serving our neighbors, we invite you to contact us. If you would like to be a part of "sending us" into the city through prayer or financial support, just click on the button below.
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At the core of these issues we believe, and a large body of scholarly evidence confirms, is the increasing breakdown of the family. The loss of love and guidance present in the intimate levels of marriage and love have broad social consequences. We decided to be part of the answer as we stepped out to love the people of our community in practical ways. This is what led to the founding of Puerta Hermosa and what has fueled our desire to become community service chaplains stationed in our Menasha community. This is the letter we wrote to our friends and family to express what was in our hearts as we stepped into that role and began to raise awareness and support, it remains our focus today.
Dear Friends…
God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. When our 24 year old son, Jerrad unexpectedly died, it was you, our neighbors and our friends in Christ who loved and strengthened us spiritually with your presence and practical expressions of compassion. Through Jerrad’s death and the passing of Nan’s dad, grandma and a number of precious longtime friends, we have been deeply touched by God’s love, grace and faithfulness. As we pressed into Him in the midst of our pain, He brought His healing and compassion, strengthening our marriage and our family, filling our lives with His hope and love. He has helped us to see that death has been beaten because of what He has done at the Cross.
We believe God is calling us to minister to the community what He has helped us experience and overcome through the ups, the downs and the “whys?” In August 2013, at God’s prompting, we were trained, ordained and certified as “senior chaplains” by the International Fellowship of Chaplains. In fact, it was affirming to us that we received a call to join an eldercare ministry—Shepherd’s Care—on the way to class!
We are community service chaplains. We comfort with the very comfort we have received from Him, preaching Christ crucified! In this role, we reach health care facilities, business owners (through our business, Rising Son Web design), prisons, mental health institutions, public safety agencies, schools, and of course, neighbors.
• We are currently touching seven senior care communities sharing love and hope with hundreds of those in God’s “waiting room.” In recent years, we have met some of your loved ones in our travels and consider it a great honor to help the sick, elderly and dying find hope and eternal security through Jesus Christ. We impact residents, families, administrators and caregivers. As chaplains, we perform funerals and memorial services.
• We build relationships in our city. Tony is serving as police commissioner, Nan has facilitated an educational program that builds bridges between Americans and Latinos and currently does nursing home and hospital ministry.
• We touch youth in our schools as we continue to facilitate Bible study at our local high school (six years and strong!)
• We visit the sick in hospitals and encourage and strengthen those in prison.
• We share our story of hope in the midst of grief with those experiencing loss.
The headlines are grim. Our neighbors need hope. Loving them means helping them to find salvation in Christ and His strength for their journey. Thank you for your love, prayers and support.
Nan and Tony Gutierrez
If you would like to join us in serving our neighbors, we invite you to contact us. If you would like to be a part of "sending us" into the city through prayer or financial support, just click on the button below.
