For more than a year, a Pentecostal church in east-central Wisconsin has been missing its pastor.
Rev. Esdras Paredes of Fond du Lac left the United States to care for his sick mother in Guatemala in August 2025. When Paredes tried to return home, the U.S. government said he wouldn’t be able to enter the country for another 10 years, due to a 1991 deportation order.
“It was shocking news to us,” Paredes told WPR.
Paredes’ church, called Ven y Descansarás, has about 150 members, and Paredes has continued to lead them from thousands of miles away. He preaches several times a week and prays with his congregants — all by phone.
Back in the U.S., the church has put on food fundraisers — making and selling hundreds of tamales — to help pay the pastor’s expenses, as the church members continue to pray that he can soon return home to Fond du Lac.
Paredes’ wife and co-pastor, Rev. Wanda Paredes, is a U.S. citizen and had to return home from that August trip without him. In his absence, she takes care of many of the physical duties he used to perform for his congregants, like blessings and baptisms, and providing care through life events like births and illnesses.
WPR’s “Wisconsin Today,” spoke with Wanda and Esdras Paredes during one of Wanda’s rare visits with her husband in Guatemala, which they’ve done twice a year since he was deported.
“We need our leader. We need our pastor. I need my husband. My children need their dad,” Wanda said. “It’s been so hard. I say to God, ‘Lord, is it meant for me to cry every day of my life?’”
A hands-on pastor, far from his flock
Esdras first came to the U.S. with his brother in 1988 as a teenager, seeking asylum from Guatemala’s civil war. According to reporting from NPR, Esdras was almost deported in 1991 when the U.S. government denied his asylum application. Before he was deported last August, he became eligible for a new asylum hearing and was able to stay in the country. But he again became vulnerable when he unknowingly missed a 2004 appointment. Until he was refused reentry, Esdras didn’t know his immigration status was in question.
“I have no felonies — not even misdemeanors. I don’t have any criminal record,” Esdras said.
Esdras went to seminary in the U.S. and became a minister for the Church of God denomination. In 2020, Esdras and Wanda were sent by the church to Fond du Lac to rebuild Ven y Descansarás. Starting from just one family, they built up a community. Many of the people they brought into the fold were experiencing hardship: struggling with addiction, coming from dysfunctional families or experiencing relationship problems.
“God used us through our ministry to help restore their lives,” Esdras said.
“Many of them are newcomers to believing in Christ,” Wanda added.
Esdras does what he can to be there for his church virtually. But his absence has hit the tight-knit community hard.
“They miss him. And since we’re a family, they’re like, ‘We miss our dad. We miss his hugs,’” Wanda said.
They’re also missing Esdras’ hands-on service. A handyman by trade, Esdras would be there for his flock whenever their homes needed maintenance, their lawns needed mowing and their cars needed fixing. He’d also drive them to the airport or the store and accompany them to court dates, doctor’s appointments and wherever else they needed his support.
“He was always a hands-on pastor, and they miss that so much,” Wanda said.
Taking on Esdras’ physical duties for the church in addition to her own has been exhausting for Wanda.
“I keep on doing what I need to do to keep the church going,” Wanda said. “I give everything I have until I fall asleep. I go home and I knock out, and then the next day I start all over again.”
A time of trial
The church community does their best to take care of the Paredes family in return. The congregation prays for Esdras and raises funds for his expenses — the Paredes have hired several immigration lawyers who have not been able to bring Esdras home. The couple also said they’ve been scammed out of more than a thousand dollars by people posing as immigration judges.
Crackdowns by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement under the Trump administration have affected the Paredes’ congregants directly as well. The community has had a handful of people deported or detained. Esdras said many have been afraid to drive to church or show up for court dates.
“A lot of our people, they have misdemeanors like traffic violations, and usually I was taking them to court,” Esdras said. “They would be panicking, saying, ‘Should I go to court or should I stay here?’ And I would tell them, ‘We trust in God. Just go down and comply with the law.’”
Right before he left for Guatemala, Esdras preached about the apostle Paul, who ministered even as he was imprisoned. He said that the sermon turned out to be somewhat prophetic.
“Paul was saying, ‘Be obedient to God, like you have been in my presence. Also, do so in my absence,’” Esdras said. “I was preaching that a month or two before, not knowing that this was going to happen to me.”
Wanda sees this time as a trial for her family and her church.
“I see this as a test in how far we’re willing to go, how much we believe in God, if we’re willing to wait, if we’re willing to serve him no matter what. And here we are. We will,” Wanda said.
Recently, there have been signs of hope. Esdras said a fellow pastor is in contact with someone at the Trump administration, and they’ve been looking into his case.
“There might be a chance that hopefully, within the next month or two, I will be getting good news.”
This story was originally published by WPR.
