Liz Rios was born in Brooklyn and grew up in single parent home, where her uncle would pick her up and take her to his Baptist church in Manhattan. Eventually, her mom moved to one of the toughest neighborhoods and there Liz grew up and attended a new church that would change her life. It was also at that church that Liz met her husband, Hiram.
“The church saved our lives. Growing up in the hoods of New York City was not easy, but it was the church that told us we matter and we have a voice. They showed us that our upbringing – no matter how messed up – didn’t matter.”Dr. Liz Rios
Liz and Hiram, both born and raised in New York City, have been involved in ministry since they were teenagers. They later married and began serving as youth pastors almost right away. At the church they had both attended for years, Liz and Hiram were given the charge to restart and revive the youth program that had dwindled to five people. “Those five people became our core leaders and we built the youth program back up through evangelizing and sponsoring well-know and well-attended youth conferences throughout the city,” Liz shared.
In the same neighborhoods where they had grown up and met the Lord, they shared that message of hope and reached the youth with the gospel. “We were hungry to reach people for Christ, but we knew it wouldn’t be through traditional methods,” they said. Gradually, Liz and Hiram began to feel a call to adult ministry and continued to serve at the church, but this time with adults.
In 2002, the Rios family moved down to Florida on doctor’s orders: because of their son’s health, they needed to be in a warmer climate. Over the last decade, the pair has pastored at two church plants in Florida, but recently sensed God leading in a new direction. Liz and Hiram began to seek God’s leading for their next steps. “We just followed where we felt He was leading. We said, ‘Whatever door you open, God, we will walk through,’ and here we are,” Liz said.
“Whatever door you open, God, we will walk through.”
Dr. Liz Rios
The Rioses met Tim Wynn, a CITYREACH NETWORK Regional Pastor in Florida, and attended a Church Multiplication Network (CMN) training in Miami. At that training, a pastor shared the importance of planting in a place that you can live and breathe that city. The next day, they discovered a list compiled by CMN of the top cities where a church plant was needed. The first city on the list was the city where Liz and Hiram have been living for the last seven years: Miramar, Florida.
“At that moment, we knew we had our answer. God gave us the neon sign we needed. We would plant in the city where we live, Miramar!”Dr. Liz Rios
The church will launch this fall on September 18, 2016, along with over 20 other CITYREACH NETWORK plants.
Click here to learn more about CityReach Church Miramar Pines!
