A Bit About Me
His full name is Juan Manuel Guarin, of Colombian origin, born on July 26, 1979, in Cali (Valle del Cauca, Colombia). He studied primary through secondary school at the Santo Tomas de Aquino school in Bogota, where he graduated in 1996 at the age of 17. After rendering his mandatory military service in the National Police of Colombia for one year, he initiated college at the Colombian School of Engineering to pursue his dream of becoming an Industrial Engineer. In July of the year 2000, Juan traveled to the United States (Tucson, Arizona) to learn the English language and thus expand the possibilities of his field of work. In 2001, he traveled to the state of New Jersey to visit a friend without knowing he would meet the person who would later become his wife, Mary, and with whom he would later have two wonderful children.
In 2005, Juan enrolled in International Business studies at Ocean County Community College, and in 2007, he joined Brookdale Community College to study Automotive Technology, although his heart was taking a different direction towards his passion for helping the community. In 2005, he gave his life to the Lord Jesus Christ and began serving in a local church where he served in different areas of evangelism, such as men's ministry, marriage counseling, evangelistic radio, food pantry, and Bible teacher, among many other acts of service!! He would serve there for the next 10 years until 2015, when the Lord would guide him to start a new ministry in his own home. Two years later, in 2017, he joined the Church of Grace and Peace, where he would serve as the Hispanic Pastor of that congregation along with his wife. This is where he would begin to work in a different capacity for the community by serving as a bridge between the Hispanic immigrant community and government authorities, hand in hand with different leaders of Ocean County clergy, Prosecutor’s Office, Sheriff, the Police Chiefs, Mayors, Senators, and congressmen. It is for this reason that, in the year 2017, the nonprofit organization, Community Ambassadors, was established to improve the quality of life of the Latino immigrant by bringing their voice to the ears of the authorities so that their needs are made known. Community Ambassadors reflects Juan’s personal dream of creating and maintaining closer and more trusting relationships between the Latino community and the different government entities by addressing issues and conditions that cause people to refrain from being an active part of their community.