Jesus Trejo: From single father to thriving officer
Looking back, Jesus Trejo remembers reaching the end of himself not long after his brother, Juan, died on a Christmas Eve.
“Juan had chosen a lifestyle that eventually killed him,” Trejo said.
The tragedy forced Trejo to begin thinking about the eternal consequences of his own actions, realizing that he, too, could wind up dead from the poor choices he was making.
He needed to change not only for himself, but for his two small children. He was a single father in his late 20s, working in a Chicago suburb. His mother took care of the kids while he worked. When Trejo came home, he was responsible for cooking and cleaning, feeding and bathing the children, playing with them, and putting them to bed.
“My life was a mess, but I was all that my children had,” Trejo recalled.
One night, exhausted and overwhelmed, he sat on his front porch and cried out to the God his mother had talked about while he was growing up.
“After I cried out to God, I suddenly felt something warm come over me,” Trejo said. “For the first time, I felt hope and joy. I cried out, ‘Thank you!’ and immediately got on the phone to my mother.”
His mom came over, and the two knelt in prayer. Trejo asked God for help in putting his past behind him and to be released from his sins and unhealthy behaviors. He certainly didn’t want to become like his father, who’d left Trejo and his seven siblings when Trejo was a young teenager.
Later, Trejo began attending a Salvation Army church in Aurora, Illinois, with his mother and kids. A Hispanic ministry leader named Alfredo Martinez took Trejo under his wing and began mentoring and discipling him.
Trejo eventually felt called to become a Salvation Army officer. The call became reality after he met a young officer named Kelli Chase. They met at the church and fell in love, agreeing to marry in 2004 after Trejo completed officer training school.
Today, Jesus Trejo’s name is preceded a distinct title – Captain. He and his wife, Captain Kelli Trejo, are now officers at the E. Lake Street Salvation Army in South Minneapolis. Both are fluent in Spanish, allowing them to better serve the neighborhood’s mostly Hispanic population.
“I truly love The Salvation Army for the impact it had on my life both past and present,” said Trejo, now 47. “My greatest reward is being used by God to help people in need, to build relationships that foster trust, and to lead others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.”