Humberto Paz, originally from Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, moved to the U.S. in 1968 to attend Foursquare’s LIFE Bible College (now called Life Pacific College). He met his wife, Teri, in Los Angeles, and they were married in July 1972. Together the couple has raised three daughters, all of whom are now married and living in the U.S. Humberto and Teri have four grandchildren, and a fifth will arrive in September.

Soon after they were married, Humberto and Teri planted a Hispanic church in Denver, where they pastored for three years before being deployed as Foursquare missionaries to Mexico. They served there for 19 years, until 1994, when Humberto was asked to be the regional coordinator for Latin America.

In 2007 Foursquare Missions International (FMI) asked the Pazes to move to Nairobi, Kenya, to work as missionaries serving East and South Africa. Today, Humberto is Foursquare’s area missionary to East and South Africa.

Called to Africa

In East Africa, Humberto serves Foursquare’s work in the nations of Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia and East Congo. In South Africa, he serves the denomination’s ministry in Botswana, Swaziland, South Africa, Angola, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mauritius.

When asked how God led him to Africa, Humberto responds simply: “I had been sensing for a long time a desire to change venues. It just felt like the right time, and so here we are in Nairobi.” He says his assignment feels like a perfect fit.

Despite the inconveniences of congested traffic and sometimes high security risks, Humberto describes living in Nairobi as a tremendous cross-cultural experience where nationalities from all over the globe congregate. He and Teri enjoy the prominent presence of an expatriate community, which creates the opportunity for very interesting friends and conversations.

Making a Difference

The spiritual statistics among the nations of East and South Africa are exciting. In 2010 alone, more than 40,000 people gave their lives to Christ through Foursquare ministry. The same year, more than 12,000 individuals were baptized in water, and more than 17,000 believers were baptized with the Holy Spirit. The denomination added 89 new churches, bringing the total number of Foursquare churches and meeting places to 1,491. 

The many countries in this region are at various stages in Foursquare’s Four-Stage Development Model, ranging from Stage 1 to Stage 3. Stage 1 is the “initiate-evangelizing” stage; Stage 2 is the “nurture-strengthening” stage, when leaders are developed; Stage 3 is the “expand-multiplying” stage, when congregations reproduce; and Stage 4 is the “send-extending” stage, when churches send missionaries outside their countries.

Many countries in the region are highly Christianized, and Humberto describes the Africans as “great evangelists.” But he affirms that there is still a need for stronger leadership development, and for pastors to be trained more effectively to build healthy, strong churches and reproduce strong leaders. Many pastors in the region have little formal education and even less Bible training. His primary focus in all of the countries is to reinforce the leadership that is already in place, and to prepare and train upcoming leaders.