Pastor Jaime Ramirez

Growing up in El Salvador I saw poverty and war in a very real way. Attending church or even going to school was truly a traumatic experience. When people think of war they consider only external opposition but in this civil war it was an internal battle. 

Upon arriving to the United States my parents had already begun their journey with Christ. Though I was in the middle of a war I was sad to leave the only place I had ever known. My relationship with Christ and His church began when I was about 11 or 12 years old. I was blessed to grow up in a very Christian home where God’s word was well respected and honored. 

I began preaching in my early teen years and spent lots of time in discipleship, being mentored and under the spiritual guidance of others. However in my youth I had been devastated by people within the walls of the church and in my immaturity and pain walked away from God, His church and His people. I lived a long life of rebellion but in that I also found more emptiness than I ever imagined. 

I later married and God blessed me with two sons. I knew that our lives would never be what I had seen in my parents without Christ in the center but my heart was hardened. Later God would call me back through our kids. My son was invited to a youth summer camp through Cypress Fellowship and with some hesitation we allowed him to go. Upon his return his excitement and joy was so illuminating it wasn’t long before it rubbed off on my wife and hers on me. My wife and oldest son were both baptized the same day by the founding Pastor of Cypress Fellowship. 

We attended small groups and got connected fairly quickly. We were blessed to serve in the youth ministry where we remained for our duration here at CF. God has worked in our family in more ways than we deserve but I am forever humbly grateful for His never ending mercy. One of our first commitments to our founding pastors here at Cypress Fellowship was that we wanted to serve in whatever capacity God would call us to. Never had we anticipated that He would call us to Pastor CF as our founding pastors’ move forward with the calling that God had for them. 

My heart and passion is for people to know that the church is more than just a place we go; it’s a family you belong to. We make mistakes, we fall short but we try to improve, we ask for forgiveness and we praise God for His loving mercy.