New Churches Podcast | Season 1 | Episode 679

From the Brink of Divorce

Clint Clifton

Episode 679: Hector Medina came from a gang background and hated God and Christianity. Now he serves as pastor of Salvo Por Gracia in Claremont, California. Host Clint Clifton talks with Hector and his wife, Alicia, about how God miraculously took them from the brink of divorce to a fruitful ministry in church planting. 

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

  • How God can take the most broken of souls and redeem it for His purposes
  • That our investment in gospel work sometimes pays off in ways we can’t imagine 
  • How God uses our feeble efforts to do things we don’t even know about 
  • That God can continue to give hope in the face of difficulty 
  • How church planting is like a sheet of plywood

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Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

No one really wanted to do anything with me in life. Society, my family, school, everywhere I went, that was the life I lived. — Hector Medina

I was such a baby believer, and I didn’t have nobody to walk with me, to guide me, or to tell me, “It’s all going to be okay. Trust God.” For me, giving up was the easiest, healthiest option for both of us, before he would kill me or something. — Alicia Medina

Hector and Alicia’s story is a story where God began to work in them and they, with obedience, stepped one step right in front of the other, and eventually God prepared them and equipped them for the work. @ClintJClifton

I needed to be humbled to enter this church planting. I think God was like, “Man, you can’t enter this like this.” — Hector Medina

One of the primary reasons church planters quit is because of isolation. @ClintJClifton

Finally, I said, “I need help. I know God’s called me. I just don’t know how to do it.” — Hector Medina

Church planting is a difficult and dangerous sport, but it’s worth it in the end, as God uses us to establish churches that become rooted in our community and proclaim the gospel of Jesus to others for generations. @ClintJClifton

Published on June 30, 2022

About the Podcast

New Churches Podcast

The New Churches podcast offers practical answers to your real ministry questions. We aren’t going to provide lofty pie-in-the-sky theories. Instead, we are going to help you in your real ministry context, with your real thoughts, questions, and issues.

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Meet the Author

Clint Clifton

Clint Clifton passed away on January 12, 2023, as a result of a small plane crash. Clint and his wife, Jennifer, had been married since 2000 and have five children. He completed a B.A. from The Baptist College of Florida and an M.A. from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. Clint founded Pillar Church in Dumfries, Virginia, in 2005. He oversaw the fruitful church planting efforts of Pillar Church and served as Senior Director of Resource and Research Strategy for the North American Mission Board.

More Resources from Clint