Roberto & Iris Martinez, Interim Pastor, Living Water Church, San Quintin, Mexico
Recent Updates: Martinez Update 2025 September
Roberto is the interim pastor at Living Water Church in San Quintin, Mexico. He was discipled by Fernando Rocha and Bruce Moscoso in Tijuana for several years and was the worship leader for Ebenezer Church there. When Pablo Ramirez, the previous pastor in San Quintin, retired in 2025, Roberto and Iris accepted the call to move to San Quintin and be the interim pastor there for 6 months. In this role, Roberto is both serving the church in the pastoral role, and furthering his preparation for ministry with training and mentoring. The church continues in its normal ministries of Sunday morning worship, children's Sunday School, as well as men's and women's ministries. These are all new responsibilites and routines for Roberto as a new pastor. Pray for Roberto as he builds connections with each church attender, and seeks to guide and grow each one, while he also works to build new routines to prepare to preach each week, guides and leads the other ministries, and helps his family transition into the San Quintin community. At the end of 6 months, Roberto will re-evaluate the situation in San Quintin to decide if this pastoral ministry is where God is leading him long-term.
Roberto was born in Durango, which is in central Mexico. His family moved to California for a few years while he was little and then back to Durango. When Roberto was 14, his family moved to Tijuana. As a teen there, he began hanging out with other boys who welcomed him into a "street life" (fighting, cursing, drugs) without respect for others and without regard for the dangers to which he was exposed. His mother never stopped praying for him and inviting him to church and he went with her to church occasionally. Those occasional messages stuck in his mind, and in 2002 when a crisis overwhelmed him, he remembered those truths and realized that he had offended the Holy God. He acknowledged his sinfulness and asked God for mercy and forgiveness. God poured out His grace and mercy, forgave Roberto's sins, and gave him new life. Roberto began to serve God with all his heart. Later, Roberto became a member of Ebenezer Church in Tijuana, growing and learning under the teaching of Fernando Rocha (now in Costa Rica) and Bruce Moscoso (now pastor of Ebenezer Church), later serving Ebenezer church as worship leader, and now serving Living Water Church in San Quintin as interim pastor since May 2025. Roberto is married to his wife, Iris Anahí Avila Ponce. They have two boys, Carlos (2019) and Caleb (2020).
Prayer Items:
- For Roberto's family to grow in their knowledge and understanding of God and His Word.
- For God to give Roberto wisdom and understanding of His Word as he prepares to preach and teach.
- That Living Water Church will influence their community as they learn and obey God's Word.
- For God to raise up faithful men to help teach His Word, and build unity in the body of Christ.
- For church families; for husbands to love their wives, for wives to love their husbands, and for children to honor their parents.