Pastor Ojeda and his wife Jackeline have been married for 16 years, and they have two children, Nathaniel and Elizabeth.
Noel Ojeda was named Indiana Conference Hispanic Coordinator. Ojeda comes from Cuba, the son of a pastor who worked in Cuba for several years and who came with his family to the United States as a refugee in 1995.
In 1999 Noel felt God's call to be a pastor, so he decided to study for the ministry at Atlantic Union College (abbreviated AUC). After graduating from that institution in 2002, Pastor Ojeda began his ministry with the Southern New England Conference pastoring two churches in Connecticut. In 2003, the conference sent him to Andrews University to study for his Masters of Divinity. He graduated in 2005 and returned to the Southern New England Conference to serve as a district pastor. In 2013, he was appointed Hispanic coordinator of that same conference. He served in that capacity until he accepted the call to Indiana.
Pastor Ojeda and his wife Jackeline have been married for 16 years, and they have two children, Nathaniel and Elizabeth. The entire family loves music, with the pastor playing the trumpet, and his wife and children singing.
When asked what does he like most about the ministry and he replied that his great passion is evangelism, which includes helping church members win souls for Christ. He is also interested in working with youth, strengthening families, and planting new congregations. But he also knows that nothing can be done without the power of God, so he has maintained for many years the habit of praying on the phone with two fellow pastors at 5:30 in the morning for five days a week.
Ojeda replaces Victor Jaeger who accepted a call to serve in the Carolinas Conference.
Carmelo Mercado, Lake Union Vice President for Multicultural Ministry, carried out a large part of his ministry in the Indiana Conference. For twenty-five years he had the privilege of pastoring 10 churches in four church districts and served for a time as the Hispanic coordinator. When he started as the coordinator there was only one organized Hispanic church and one group in the city of Indianapolis. Thanks to the faithfulness of the church members, the Hispanic pastors and the effective leadership of the coordinators, the conference today has sixteen Hispanic churches and companies, with almost 2,000 members.
