Ana Estevez grew up in El Salvador. When she was 19 years old, she began her first ministry—to poor children living in rural villages that wanted to be Boy Scouts, but could not. They had no money for uniforms. Ana collected hand-me-down Cub Scout uniforms and raised money for new ones. A troop of 25 Scouts was born and continued for four years.

Ana emigrated from El Salvador to Miami, Florida as a university student, married her husband, Marco, also from El Salvador, and remained in Florida. Together the couple has raised four children.

Though residing in the United States, Ana’s heart never left the rural poor. She runs aCross Missions, the parent corporation of several missions.

Beautiful Are the Feet provides worldwide missions trips to those who want to go abroad sharing the Gospel. Many of those who go with Ana on these trips return and some dedicate their lives to full-time missionary work.

Ana’s second mission, Altagracias or High Grace, is in the Dominican Republic. Within a community a church has been planted and school supplies are provided to children. Without these mandatory school supplies, the children will not receive an education. A seven-year-old mission, Ana has seen some of the children graduate and go on to university. The economy of the community has also improved.

The third mission, El Buen Samaritano or Good Samaritan, is a feeding program in Apopa, El Salvador. Each day 200 children are fed. It has operated for ten years. A former child from the program grew up in the streets and knows what it is to be hungry. Today, she is the one who receives the food and prepares it. 100 children arrive before school to eat and another 100 arrive after school. The children sit at tables in a little home. Through Good Samaritan, the children also receive shoes and clothing sent as donations. Each year the mission brings a medical clinic to Apopa. American doctors and nurses participate as well as those native to El Salvador. Without the clinics, there would be no medical care for these children in Apopa. Ana has partnered with Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston, Texas to help support Good Samaritan.

A fourth mission is in Miami. Ana and her husband, Marco, have opened up their former family home in Pinecrest to missionaries with No Place Left. Ana and Marco are as Lydia was to Apostle Paul; she opened the door of Europe to the Gospel by providing a place for Paul to stay. Last December, No Place Left leader Steve Carswell led a mission team sharing the Gospel in the city; they used the home as their base of operations.

Miami is a global city known for its leadership in finance, commerce, culture and trade. Each year it hosts more than 13 million visitors. It is quite diverse—80 various cultures thrive in the Miami-Dade area. Approximately 51% of its residents are foreign born, more than any other city in the USA.

Miami-Dade itself is huge, the fourth largest urban area in the United States, with a population around 6.2 million (2015 census). To cross the city takes time and planning, because it is actually 19 cities, six towns, and nine villages.

It is also the third biggest immigration port in the country after New York City and Los Angeles. Miami is a key city, affecting not just Florida, but the world. What is happening there is carried to other parts of the state, country and globe.

There is also spiritual poverty: The lack of hope; the lack of Jesus.

Darkness. American missionary Steve Carswell has stated that, “Miami is a region in darkness.”

Barna Group calls Miami a Post-Christian City, ranking high at number 36 out of the top 100 Post-Christian Cities.

The Biblical city of Ephesus was “an urban hub of travel, trade and culture. A whole region could be influenced by changes in a major city.”

Apostle Paul spoke of Ephesus “a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Cor 16:8-9). This is modern-day Miami.

I asked Ana about the charity of her own home in Miami. She stated, “Nobody is coming to Miami, yet it is one of the most unreached places in the United States. People need to come here and walk the streets. As Miami grows, there is more lostness. A new generation has grown and they are totally lost; they don’t even know who Jesus is. The most important thing is to bring the Gospel to Miami.”

Ana and Marco have recently begun preparing a fifth ministry called The Lampstand in El Salvador where they own another home. Nearby is an orphanage with many children who have been abandoned or abused. They have received a quality education and therapy, but are now aging out at 18-years-old. Without a residence they will end up on the streets and more than likely in the sex-trafficking trade. The Estevez home already has a Christian couple residing on the property; a plan has been made to renovate the upper floors for ten teens. Ana is currently raising $11,000 for the renovations.

Ana has also worked in West Bengal, India, helping young women get off drugs and out of the sex trafficking trade. The same program was brought to Miami where Ana helped streetwalkers get off drugs and out of darkness.

A translator, Ana translated the 4 Fields method of evangelism and other tools, effectively used by No Place Left, into Spanish for use in Miami where Steve Carswell’s team is training church members to go out across the city with the Gospel.

I asked Ana what her dream is. She answered, “It’s already here. I want to continue supporting the ministries and continue leading teams. I’ve never been someone who wants to hold on to things—I want to give it away.”

Ana believes her best ability is the training of people. Through her life’s work, leading by example, she has been able to go where others cannot or will not go. With God, she has effectively changed the lives of thousands of children around the globe for the better. She is a mother of missions.

Ana Estevez has taken what she has and used it for God. Most of these charities are supported by Ana’s grant writing work and Marco’s salary. Ana has also served as the Global Director of Missions, a volunteer position, at Christ Fellowship Church of Miami for five years.

Would you like to do what Ana has done?

Ana says this, “Take a chance with God and see where He leads you. He will show you what to do; He gives you all that you’ll need.”

To contact Ana Estevez: info@acrossmissions.org Phone: 305-796-6605

Contact Kelly Jadon: kfjadon@gmail.com

“My parents left me two weeks with a doctor, with hopes of healing my muscular dystrophy, but what they didn’t know is that he was a voodoo witch doctor.”

The life of Bernadette Todd is the stuff of feature films. It is the substance of miracles. It is true and is her testimony.

When Bernadette was born in Jamaica, the doctors didn’t expect her to live. But she survived. She endured demonic chants, witchcraft spells, and was made to drink the blood of sacrificed animals forced upon her by the witch doctor.

Bernadette was considered a castoff in Jamaican society, as many disabled children are in third world countries. Family members told her parents to just let her die, don’t educate her, and medical physicians did not expect her to live long.

But Bernadette’s parents loved her, paid for her education and later brought her to Miami at age nine for further healthcare.

It was in America that Bernadette discovered her worth. Here she was not cast aside but welcomed and assisted. Bernadette is an international speaker and missionary with Global Faith Mission Agency and recently also took a position as Small Group Director at Christ Fellowship Church in Miami, Florida. Wheelchair-bound, she travels abroad to many third world countries to tell others, especially those cast off that they too are worthy.

As a young woman and a Christian, Bernadette prayed for a husband who would accept and love her as she is. God provided Jeff Todd, a Miami native. Going into the marriage, Jeff knew that Bernadette may not live a long life, that she would decline physically, but vowed on his wedding day to take care of his wife.

Jeff Carrying Bernadette, El Salvador 2007

Jeff is a Biblical husband in the sense that he has lain down his life for his wife. Jeff has given up his work to travel overseas with Bernadette. Where no wheelchair can go, he lifts his wife up and carries her. No nurse enters their doorway; Jeff provides all of Bernadette’s care. When she enters Christ Fellowship Church in Palmetto Bay, Miami, to shepherd a multitude of small group leaders, Jeff goes with her. Together they oversee women's and couples’ small groups. No finer example can be found than the Todds—a husband who has sacrificed for his wife just as the Savior sacrificed Himself for His church, His bride.

Fearing mortality of her fatal disease, Bernadette, at age five, prayed and asked God by faith for 30 more years to live. She is now 50, has lived past the 30 years, but is watching her life slip away.

On Bernadette’s 30th birthday her arm muscles began to fail. The cake fork in her hand felt like lead. Since that time, she has not been able to feed herself.

Bernadette has overcome false shame, feeling unwanted and rejected, enduring pain and the inability to do many physical things. But, her testimony of the miracle God has done with her life continues. This year she and Jeff will travel to El Salvador and Brazil and any other places they are invited to as witnesses of God’s great love and power.

During their 30 years of marriage, Jeff acknowledges that he has counted about 25,000 people who have come to faith after hearing Bernadette’s testimony in 15 countries.

Bernadette quietly, but firmly states that the church should be about reaching the lost, including people with disabilities, who are fast becoming the one of the most unreached people group in the world.

To the disabled, Bernadette says this, “God has a purpose for you. No matter what you are going through, He can use you despite weakness and pain. Even with a disability, He can use you more.”

Bernadette says, “I have learned to accept the things I cannot change.” Their life together has included sacrifices, even giving up having children. Though possible, doctors warned that Bernadette might not survive a pregnancy. Instead, Bernadette savors the children she touches in her international ministry.

I asked Jeff how he feels about watching Bernadette’s lungs and body weaken. He relates that, “It’s difficult, but is a reminder to us that each day we have together is a gift.”

Bernadette states that she knows how Jeff feels from his reactions, which to her are “endearing.”

Separately, each worries about the other if he or she should die first. Jeff is concerned about Bernadette’s care. Bernadette is concerned about how Jeff would cope. They are one. They are more one than any couple I have ever met.

Jeff calls his wife “brave” and says that, “Bernadette does not feel sorry for herself.”

“It’s not easy to watch life slowly leave you. I am walking through the valley of the shadow of death, as we all are, but others don’t see their shadows the way I see mine. If I didn’t always remind myself that God is always with me, I would go insane. That’s what helps me live above this disease,” Bernadette reflects.

Bernadette and Jeff live an inspirational life of faith. They depend upon financial contributions of the of individuals and churches to travel abroad and to live. I have chosen to partner with the Todds because I believe and I know that as they live by example, as leaders, they are changing Miami for the better.

If you would like to partner with or contact Jeff and Bernadette Todd, please email them at: BernadetteTodd@aol.com or 305.753.5613

Contact Kelly Jadon: kfjadon@gmail.com

Hometown Heroes