When Juan and Madai Guzman moved to Cincinnati, they left their extended family and a church that they loved behind. For years, their community back home prayed with them that they would find a church in Cincinnati where they could truly belong.
When their son, Gadiel, reached high school, some of his friends invited him to Tribes. He loved it so much that he encouraged his little sister, Atara, to come and see what it was all about.
Eventually, Atara invited her friend Gwen to Tribes. Gwen’s mom, Kellie, said, “She would share some and always seemed to enjoy it. She got along well with her small group friends and would always talk about how kind and comforting her small group leader was.”
“One night on our way home from Tribes, she was so overcome with emotion and started to cry as she was telling me about the message she heard on salvation. She told me she wanted to get baptized and asked me to get baptized with her.” Kellie was nervous, and reminded her daughter that she had been baptized as a baby. She had never heard that followers of Jesus are called to get baptized after choosing to follow Christ.
“I learned what salvation truly was that night from my 15-year-old daughter. I could feel something in my heart that I now know was the Holy Spirit. God has been using her to get to me her whole life. Through my tears, I agreed.”
Growing up in an environment that emphasized religion over a relationship with Jesus, some of Kellie’s family members were uncertain about her and Gwen getting baptized.
“My mom, Cheryl, didn’t come to the service, but called my husband afterwards. She told him that she watched online and asked him if he could get her a New Believers Kit. I was shocked. Over the next year, we worked on building our faith as a family. Partnering with RC Kids helped lead my 13-year-old son, Jimi, to ask my husband, Tony, to get baptized with him. He also asked his 6th-grade small group leader to baptize him. My mother decided to get baptized with them. I couldn’t believe this was happening. My 8-year-old, Donovan, asked to be baptized by his sister, and my step-dad, Mike, was baptized a few months later, all at Rivers Crossing.”
In January 2024, Kellie found Celebrate Recovery. “This has been the biggest blessing to me and my family. I completed a step-study this year and am so glad I did. I’ve met some amazing women that have carried me through some extremely difficult times. My 13-year-old has flourished this year. He has grown so much and prays with us, reads a devotional and openly discusses his faith with us and others. We couldn’t be happier to have found a church that supports families and provides resources for healthy marriages and creates a safe place to find healing. We feel so blessed to call Rivers Crossing home.”
Today, Kellie is a leader in Celebrate Recovery. Her daughter, Gwen is still being mentored by her Tribes small group leader even while she’s away at college.
It had been Juan and Madai Guzman’s daily prayer that their kids would find their way through Jesus–that they would see other people the way God sees them, and share the Good News of the Gospel with others. Once they saw what God was doing in their kids’ lives at Rivers Crossing, they knew they had to be a part of it. Today, the whole family is involved, serving, and fully integrated into the Rivers Crossing community.
It was Gadiel who invited Atara, who then invited Gwen, who shared her faith with Kellie– leading Tony, Cheryl, Mike, Jimi and Donovan to proclaim the Gospel through baptism. The Guzman family– lifelong followers of Jesus– found a church home through their kids. A simple invitation from Gadiel’s friends started a ripple effect that changed the legacy of two entire families.
The Good News of Jesus, Changing One Life After Another