We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Juan Bustamante a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Juan, thanks for joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

On September 13 1993, I would say was my first defining moment that changed the projectory of my life. That defining moment is when I surrendered and accepted Jesus into my life. I was in a very bad situation. But If I were to choose the one that impacted my life the most it was when my mother had a drug overdose in 1998. At this time in my life, when we were without hope and did not know what would happen, I was taken to Lakewood church where the love of God engulfed me and filled me. It was then that I truly embraced my new life with Christ and things began to change and I never looked back. My mother was miraculously healed that day and my whole family attended that Sunday.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was saved at the age of 17 in the Harris county jail. I was charged with attempted murder. I grew up in a family of seven, with parents that had a stronghold of drugs (heroen). This led to my Father being gone for a lot of my life in and out prison. This also left my mother to fend for us and herself. We grew up in the inner city and got involved with others in our neighborhood with the same issues. Which led to gang affiliation, drinking, drug use,promiscuity, and prison. This was our way of life, this is what we were taught, and this is what we did.
When I was saved in 1993 and discipled from 1998-2010 my outlook on life was changed. I no longer wanted to be a taker but a giver, a giver of life! Thats when in July 10, 2011 “God told us to become the church we desire to see”. We stepped out and started City on a hill church, being the salt, light, and love to the world.
Our Vision was and still is to: “Love people where they are and help them become the person that God created them to be”
God told me to go back to the place where I grew up and make a difference. Just like He did for me and my wife Carmen that have been together for 30 years.Today those generations curses have been broken off of my children and grandchildren. God restored our marraige, God took us from depending on the government to prosper in our spirit soul, and body..
Today City on a hill is a place where people experience the love of God in a special way. Those that have been down and out with drugs, Those that come out of prison, and families that are broken get restored.We have a mission for every person to: Know God-Find Freedom-Discover their purpose, and make a difference. Our greatest testimony is when people visit, that they say “there is so much love here”. If they know that they are loved then they will listen, receive and change.. This is when they want to go and make a difference in their families and community.
We have just celebrated 13 years of loving, helping, teaching, and reaching those people that were just like us. To see a person who was in bondage be free is one of the most beautiful gifts that we are able to receive.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

There are many “give up” moments that we all will experience when we are on a journey to make a difference. Im grateful that in my field, long before I began our ministry that the Bible became my source of wisdom. The Bible not only taught me about the victories, but it taught me that in order for David to become King, he had to face Goliath, Moses had Pharoah, That as the disciples were persecuted, the church grew. It taught me a lot as I read, but until you go through it yourself, then you will know what it means to preservere.
In 2020 before the pandemic hit, I was praying at the church and I recieved what i beleive was a word from the Lord saying something is coming that will effect everything around you but if you make a stand “I will be with you, preserve you and protect you”. That was it, a couple of months later, everything shut down and the government wanted to shut the church. Then I knew what god was taking about, I sought counsel from mentors and other pastors and almost everyone was saying to close, but in my conviction I knew God has spoken to me to make a stand and to keep our church open.
The news went out that if any church was open that you could go to jail and be given a fine of up to $1000. Well, the fire Marshall came out and issued me a citation, I told him the church was to vital to close, I told him that we are the first responders for those on the verge of suicide, mental breakdown, and family tragedies. I said we cannot close,
The news media got a hold of it that we were open, we began to get hate mail, threats on our voicemail, letters from satan, But the more the persecution, the more people would come. The day I recieved the citation, that night a lawyer called me out of the blue and told me that he applauded the stand we were making and that he would like to represent me and defend the liberties that we were given as a church. To make a long story short, we had to sue the state and we did, and we won! God gave us the victory and we never close one week during those three years of the pandemic. I dont say this arrogantly or with any pride because I know that many people lost loved ones, but no one in our church died, I beleive this as the grace of God and God watching over His word to perform it.
This was a difficult time in our journey as a church, many churches closed down, many of them are still feeling the effects today, some didnt come back and have reverted to online church, but our church grew. What I’ve learned during times of adversity is to trust God, even when it doesn’t make sense choose faith instead of fear, God will always bring you through.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Treat people the way you want to be treated. When you make mistakes as a leader, own it, take responsibility, and a sincere apology.
Our ministry is 90% volunteer ran, and for the majority of people most dont take volunteering as serious as a paid job. So our aim is to be intentional with reminding our dream team (volunteers) that they are making a difference and having fun while doing it.
We allow them to give inout for better ways of doing what we do. We give them permission to give input to change the method but not the vision.
Delegate responsibilities and empower people.
As the senior leader, I invest more in the 20% and allow them to invest in the 80%.
Recognition for a person that goes above and beyond.
Be relational in our teams, do things outside of work environment.
Laugh together, cry together, and rejoice together.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.thecityonahill.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cityonahillhouston/?utm_medium=copy_link
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CityOnAHillChurchHouston/
• Youtube: @CityOnAHillChurchHouston

Image Credits

City on a hill church