Meet Esnilder Popo, the New President of the C&MA Church of Colombia

Esnilder Popo grew up in a Christian home, learning to love and serve the Lord from a young age. As President of the National Church, he plans on revitalizing the churches, strengthening and developing the ministries they have, and focusing on church planting and missions.

Pastor Esnilder Popo Colorado was born May 27, 1967, in Santander de Quilichao Cauca, and grew up in a home with Christian principles: his grandparents on his father’s side were members of the Christian Alliance, and on his mother’s side were members of the Missionary Union. When his parents married, they attended the Christian and Missionary Alliance church. All of his siblings serve in leadership in the churches that they attend in Colombia. He married Irma Rivera Perdomo in 1998, and they have two children: Zurisaday, 19, and Sneyder Camilo, 14.

Rev. Popo began his professional studies at the Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia (UNAD), where he received the title of Community Social Psychologist. He began his theological studies in the Alliance Bible Seminary of Cali and obtained his bachelor’s degree in Bible and Theology from the Alliance Bible Seminary of Colombia (SEBAC). He entered full-time ministry in 1993 as assistant pastor at the Santander Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Quilichao. In August 1998, he was elected Senior Pastor of that church.

In August 2003, Rev. Popo was transferred by the national leadership to the Alliance headquarters in Popayán to be the Senior Pastor, and he currently serves there. Pastor Esnilder also performs the functions of Director of the Southern Region of the Alliance in Colombia, formed by the departments of Cauca and part of Nariño. That makes him a member of the National Board Council (CODIN).

Pastor Esnilder was elected to a four-year term as President of the C&MA Church in Colombia at the National Assembly in March 2020. During this period (2020-2024), he plans a serious revitalization of the churches in Colombia. They would like to invest the necessary time in the development of pastoral care, the strengthening of the pastoral and administrative body teamwork, church planting from the local church, and projection of multi-site Alliance churches across the country. They also want to start developing and restructuring the Ebenezer Convention Center, as well as creating a Cooperative that they have planned for in previous years.

They also plan to further develop and expand their ministerial and administrative departments. “The idea is that in this period we replicate the departments and ministries in the regions and local churches with the commitment and quality with which they are managed at the national level,” says Rev. Esnilder.

He asks us to pray for his family, that they may have a smooth transition and adaptation when moving to another city. He also asks us to pray for their ministry, so that God may give them wisdom and capability to lead in the midst of this tremendous worldwide pandemic. Pray also for the national headquarters of the Alliance: may the Lord allow them as a team to develop and connect with all the pastors to work together in carrying out the plans God has put in their hearts.