Leadership Team

Our leadership team recognizes the Supreme Authority of God through His Word, and realizes that we are shepherds who serve under the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. We desire to devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of God’s Church, through His Word. Our passion and goal is to equip the believers for the work of the ministry until we all attain maturity in the fullness of Christ.

 

Colvin Blanford Organizing Pastor

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Pastor Blanford was born in Dallas, Texas and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1948 to 1970.  He received the Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University), the Bachelor of Divinity degree from the Berkeley Baptist Divinity School (now the American Baptist Seminary of the West), and the Doctor of Religion degree from the Southern California School of Theology at Claremont California.

He served as the organizing pastor of the Cosmopolitan Baptist Church in San Francisco, Executive Director of the Brooks House of  Christian Service in Hammond, Indiana, Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Gary, Indiana, and on the faculty of the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (Lombard, Illinois), serving as Director of Black Church Studies and Associate Professor of Ministry.  He taught in the areas of ministry, preaching, and social ethics in both the Master of Divinity and the Doctor of Ministry programs.

Pastor Blanford organized Christ Baptist Church, Gary, Indiana in 1981 and served as pastor until 2002.  The church was blessed to be the “parent” or “grandparent” of churches in Chicago, South Africa, and Malawi (Central Africa). As of August 2001, there were twenty-two Christ Baptist churches: Nineteen in South Africa because our pastor there has been blessed to plant 18 churches in the past several years; one in Mzuzu, Malawi, one in Chicato, and one (“The Mother Church”) in Gary. As of October 2002, Pastor Blanford retired from this ministry in order to help plant and develop dynamic Christian churches throughout the country and around the world.
 
In October 2003 he became the Organizing Pastor of New Life Christian Fellowships International in Mesa, Arizona.  This is a Spirit-led, Spirit-empowered, Purpose-driven, Prayer-centered ministry that is interracial, intercultural, intergenerational, and international.
 

Pastor Blanford has preached from coast to coast and on the continent of Africa and has been accompanied by his wife, Margaret.  Sister Margaret also serves as an elder,  coordinator of our Prayer Ministry and works with the Women’s Ministry.

Pastor Blanford has conducted seminars on Evangelism, Discipleship, Stewardship, Church Planting, Prayer and Spiritual Warfare.

Pastor Blanford is happily married to the former Margaret AnnTyrrell of Beaumont, Texas.  He and Margaret have two sons, four grandsons, three grand daughters, and several great grand children

Aisosa Ayela-Uwangue – Minister of Operations

 
Aisosa Ayela-Uwangue is originally from Nigeria and has been serving at New Life since July 2007. An electrical engineer by training, Aisosa is actively involved in the audio visual department of the church.
Aisosa is married to Teresa, and together they have three beautiful daughters: Ivie, Isoken and Imade