Pastor Jaime Simán
About Jaime Siman and the start of ELVELA – The Word for Latin America
Jaime Siman was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, the son of immigrants from Europe and Bethlehem, Israel. Being the youngest of six children, he grew up in San Salvador, in a traditionally religious environment. He was forced to leave the country he loved in October 1981, due to the violence of the civil war raging in those days.
Jaime was exposed for the first time to the gospel of Jesus Christ in the state of Georgia, in The United States of America; where he had moved early 1982 to work as a Materials Engineer at the Research and Development Department of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. He answered to the gospel of grace, beginning to follow and serve Jesus in 1984, fellowshipping at the First Baptist Church of Watkinsville, Georgia; the church God used to bring him to the feet of Jesus, to His light and to His love.
In 1986 Jaime moved to Columbia, South Carolina, where he pursued Biblical studies at the Columbia Bible College and Seminary’s postgraduate program. In 1988, he moved to Southern California, where he had been hired to work as a Materials Project Engineer for the Research and Development Department of Edwards Critical Care, a subsidiary of Baxter Healthcare Corporation, located in Irvine, California.
After a month of his arrival in California, Jaime was led by the Lord to visit Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California (www.calvarychapel.com); which he immediately made his home church. There he had the privilege of studying under its Sr. Pastor, Pastor Chuck Smith. After studying under Pastor Chuck Smith for seven years, Jaime joined the Spanish speaking fellowship at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, where he fellowshipped for a little bit more than a year. He then went out of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in 1996 to begin a Hispanic ministry in the city of Orange, California. The ministry has grown now and become Calvary Chapel Emanuel, a church incorporated in the city of Orange, CA and in fellowship with the Calvary Chapel family of churches.
Since his conversion in 1984 Jaime felt a strong calling to share the gospel of grace with the Hispanic world. Since 1990 he has also felt the calling to teach the whole counsel of God’s word in an expository way, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book; following the example of Pastor Chuck Smith and other servants such as J. Vernon McGee.
In 1999, Pastor Siman directed a project to make available in audio cassette an evangelistic message he wrote, called “Encuentro con Jesus” (Encounter with Jesus). The message is combined with worship songs entwined in the message; with the participation of “Siervo”, the worship group at the Hispanic congregation that Pastor Siman led in Orange, CA. With that evangelistic work, Pastor Siman felt compelled to start a missionary organization to operate – as a nonprofit organization – with all the privileges and within the laws of the United States; an organization which would serve as an instrument to produce and distribute the cassette “Encuentro con Jesus”, as well as other evangelistic and edifying resources. So, “The Word For Latin America” was born; an organization that also operates under the Spanish name of “El Verbo Para Latino America”, and under its acronym in Spanish, ELVELA; an organization formed to share Christ with the Hispanic world; and to minister and equip the body of Christ in general throughout the world regardless of denominational affiliation. ELVELA is registered in the United States of America as a 501 (3) c organization. Donations given to ELVELA are tax exempt in the United States of America in accordance to U.S. tax laws.
Pastor Siman is dedicated to teach the word of God in an expository way and travels preaching and teaching the word of God. He also speaks on the veracity of God’s word, and the importance of the whole counsel of the Word of God in the believer’s life. Pastor Jaime Siman teaches seminaries on the subject of Creation / Evolution, where he exposes the fallacies of the theory of evolution, presenting the natural, and scientific evidences that confirm the universe is the result of direct creation by a Supreme Creator of unfathomable intelligence, wisdom and power about 6,000 years. Pastor Jaime shows that the natural evidence is in complete harmony with the creation narrative found in the book of Genesis. He has a Master in Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering from McGill University, Montreal, Canada; which helps him present the academic aspect of the subject to people of different backgrounds, including professionals and university students.