Barnabas Ministries

I was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1945. When I was two years old, my mother was very sick with tuberculosis and my father was an alcoholic. So my siblings and I went to live with my Aunt and Uncle, my father’s sister. We lived with my Aunt and Uncle until I was thirteen. By then I had started to drink and hang around with street gangs. My mother then came back from the hospital that she had been in for eleven years. So I was asked by my Aunt and Uncle if I wanted to go back and live with my mom. We lived in low income Housing and I became more involved with street gangs.

I was married at the age of seventeen and my wife at the time was sixteen. After we had our first three children, I thought it would be better to relocate somewhere else. Out of nowhere, my mother’s younger brother came to visit her. We had not seen him seen him in a long time. He was living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and told me there was a lot of jobs there. So in 1968, I came to Milwaukee to find a better way of life for my wife and my children.

Little did I know God was already working in my life. I tried to change my lifestyle for the better. But without Jesus, no one can change completely. I had a few jobs but I couldn’t keep any jobs because of drinking and doing drugs. I was on county welfare for a while. But I grew tired of being on welfare and went to look for a job. They found me a job at a flour mill. I worked there two years. Then, out of nowhere, I got a phone call from the man that had originally found me the flour mill job. He told me of a better job with more money.

This is where God stepped in my life. Because at this new job he had a man waiting for me to tell me about Jesus. His name was James Howard Smith. For two and a half years Pastor Smith was after me, telling me Jesus loved me and inviting me to visit his church. Finally, I gave in and went with him to church. God touched my heart and I gave my life to Jesus. He delivered me from drinking and doing drugs. After eight years God called me into the ministry to teach the Word of God. I can not say it was always easy. But God was always there when I needed Him.

My first wife and I got divorced due to some differences we had in our marriage. I was a single parent for six years with six children. But God is faithful and he brought another woman in my life. Her name is Pat. We married in 1985. She is a Godly woman and we serve the Lord together.

God has given me the ability to teach His Word and that is why we are here today. God has given me Barnabas Ministries to carry out the vision which He has given me – which is to encourage people with His Word.

GOD BLESS YOU - PASTOR AL CALDERON JR