Christian Leaders Alliance of Kansas City, Missouri – Nathan Vierra

My name is Nathan Vierra. I was born into a lower-middle class family in 1975 as the second of four children. My parents were young and inexperienced in life, but they did the best that they could. I am grateful that I still have both of them, and they are still happily married.

My early childhood years were spent in church, where I first had an encounter with the Lord. I’ll never forget the first time I felt His nearness. I was ten or eleven years old. It was around that time that I had first said a prayer surrendering my life to Him, but honestly, that surrender was short lived. When I was twelve years old, my family moved out of Oakland, CA, and subsequently out of church. From that time and for the duration of my childhood, my family never went back to church.

Throughout my childhood and into my young adult years, I had an awareness of Jesus, but more often than not, I ignored him. I enlisted in the United States Navy at 20 years old and found myself stationed in a small southern coastal Texas town. There, I met the guy who would get me back into church, a solid group of Christian friends, and later, my wife.

I joined First Baptist Church, Ingleside, TX and befriended the pastor, who became my first mentor.

This was when I began to seek God, seek forgiveness, and seek a relationship with Him. His grace met my faith, and He began to change me.

I met Melissa in the summer of 1997 and we were married in January 1998. The following year, our son was born, my military obligation ended, and we moved to Lexington, KY. There, we would end up living for 14 years, having a daughter, and having a shake-up that would cause us to redefine who we were spiritually.

God really began to get my attention in 2006. He began requiring me to grow up and become more than who I was. This was where I really began to understand grace; His ability to accomplish what we cannot accomplish in our own strength. My understanding began to explode, and with that, the accountability came with it. In what turned out to be a six year process, I moved my family to Kansas City, MO, where we currently live and serve in our church.

As I write this, Melissa and I have been married 22 years, our 21 year old son, Zion, is married, and our daughter Natali will be graduating high school in a few weeks.

God has been the absolute center of our lives for several years now, and He’s blessed us incredibly. We’ve gained much understanding regarding the kingdom of God and our (humanity’s) role in it. We serve in several areas in the body of Christ, from mentoring & parenting, to serving (or have served) in nearly every aspect of church services. I have traveled some in ministry and I am excited to walk out my future in serving the King of Kings and the people of His kingdom.

I am grateful for CLI and the programs that they offer. I have been ordained through Christian Leaders Alliance as a deacon servant leader, and I am currently taking classes with the intent to earn an associates degree (and later a bachelor's degree) in ministry.