| My Photo Album Part 2 - The Excitement Continues... |
 |
| I met Monica Ialuner at the Seminary. She entered the same year I did. She caught my attention immediately. That wasn't the case for her with me. I was too young and got more fun than allowed... But persistence is the mother of all accomplishments. We started dating in 1978 and in less than one year we got engaged. |
 |
| We got merried in December 12th, 1979. I wrote a song for her "We were ment to find each other" that a Seminary choir sung during our ceremony. We were blessed by pastor Ignacio Loredo, pastor of the oldest Baptist Church in Argentina, and our pastor for two years as we were interns in his church. |
 |
| We had a three month honeymoon trip. We visited the whole East Coast of the US, we went to Brazil and to different tourist resorts in Argentina and Paraguay. Those were the years when the Argentinean currency was overvaluated and Argentineans were known in Miami as the "Gimme two of that" people. In this picture we were staying at our friend's home in Atlanta, Charles and Lois Shirley, who happened to be our Pastoral Care teachers in the Seminary |
 |
| January 7th, 1981. Steven is born as Esteban A. Hernandez. That year was so important for Monica and I. We had our first child, I was ordained to the ministry and we went to our first church as ordained ministers. |
 |
| I was ordained to the ministry on February 1981. My first church was First Baptist Church of Cipolletti. Here you see from left to right, deacon Ruben Gasparini, who nowadays is one of the pastors of that church; Efrain Trigoso, a pastor in the area; Lorenzo Klink, the most important pastor in the region and one of the most brilliant pioneer pastors I ever met in my life; and Osvaldo Casati, my mentor, friend, and teacher. |
| For many reasons that church in Cipolletti was and still is very significant for Monica and me. We took a very unstable fellowship and from that the Lord blessed us with a congregation that grew 5 times in 4 years. We started several mission post that today are churches and a school that is still growing and blessing the entire community. I was certified in Evangelism Explosion and from that experience I grew up to become one of the International leaders of the organization and from the contacts made through it I was called to come to the States in 1992. |