Juan Chavez

church planter in south phoenix and Founder of AZ Reach

I married my beautiful wife, Tina, in 2013. We love spending time with our three children - Jael, Violet, and Jacob - while always remembering our son, Jovani, who is with the Lord.

I grew up in South Phoenix. Jesus Christ saved me at age 19 and immediately birthed in me a passion to reach South Phoenix with the gospel - to reach those who were far from God, just as I was. He sovereignly placed me back on the high school campus I graduated from(Cesar Chavez HS), teaching and building relationships with students and staff. God immediately began to move! 40+ students came to faith at a football camp. With other believing staff, we helped bring FCA and Young Life on campus which were both very fruitful. My wife and I began a “D-group” (discipleship group) in a home near the high school where we broke bread, prayed, and walked through scripture weekly. This group started with 6 students and grew to around 40. We noticed how many of our high school seniors were not able to stay connected to a Christian community after graduating, so we began hosting these same community gatherings for young adults. 

Tina and I were celebrating the fruit God was bringing about, and at the same time, we were burdened by the reality that these students and their families had no local church to connect to. God planted a seed in us to see a healthy, gospel-centered church, established in South Phoenix. God has watered that seed over the last 5 years as we’ve been able to do TONS of ministry and relationship development in that community.  

In 2013 the work we now know as AZ Reach was born. In 2019 we turned it into an official 501c3 non-profit. This work has rooted us even deeper on the Chavez campus and in the South Phoenix community. We have recognized the need for positive male and female role models and have met that need through our support groups. The need for clothing, community, and collaboration birthed the work of the lunchtime AZ Reach room for relationship development and what the school now calls “Cesar’s Closet”. Students wanted to start their own businesses but did not know where to begin; this need was met with our entrepreneur program. We’ve also been able to meet the school’s need for a grief support group for their students.

Although we’ve seen much fruit and impact over the years, we’ve never been able to shake the burden of starting a church in this community. We are gearing up to plant a church in South Phoenix, between 35th Avenue -7th Street (west to east), and Baseline-Broadway (south to north). This area is full of physical and spiritual needs, what we know as “whole-istic” needs. As I often travel through these communities and meet with people, it’s obvious that poverty, gang violence, broken homes, food deserts, and drug use plague their neighborhoods. Our church plans to help meet these needs, and more, while providing a place of worship and fellowship in the body of Christ. We began our in-home church plant gatherings and will continue through the summer of 2024 before we plan to launch.

Our prayer is to buy a piece of land or building that we can utilize daily for holistic care (bible studies, financial literacy classes, entrepreneurship classes, food distribution, recovery programs, and counseling) and worship in that same building as a church on Sunday mornings.