Jhonattan Bonilla

Jhonattan Bonilla

Minister, Español Director

Life Story

I’m a Canadian born and raised in Colombia. I grew up in a traditional Catholic context, but I did not know Jesus or have a personal relationship with Him. The Lord met me in 1994 through physical healing. After this encounter, I was desperate to learn about God. I fell in love with the Lord but did not know Him, so I began looking for other believers in Colombia to learn more about Christianity.

In 2005 while living in Toronto, I walked through a journey of sanctification and dedication to the Lord. I began bi-vocational ministry serving as a youth pastor in 2010 and later led a church plant from 2013 to 2017 on the outskirts of Toronto.

The journey was complex in 2017, I almost quit the mission feeling burned out, but in 2018 the Lord came after me again. It was clear He was inviting me into vocational ministry.

I learned about Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas and we moved there to be equipped for ministry in the summer of 2019. At the same time, we got plugged into The Village Church. The Spirit of God helped us understand God’s story through Scripture and the message of the gospel more clearly. The Lord set us free from the condemning power of sin, guilt, and legalism by accepting and living out the message of the gospel. We could not be more thankful to Him for making the message of salvation so clear.

I worked on a bachelor's degree in Practical Ministry with a Pastoral Major, and was ordained as a minister through Kingdom Global Ministries and The Village Church . I was commissioned and sent by The Village in November 2023, after completing the Church Planting Program, to reach Hispanics in and around Flower Mound, Texas with the gospel. I’m currently working on my M.Div at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Spanish.

My love, wife, and friend, Sandra (also a Colombian I met in Canada), has been kind and faithful to me. We have three electrifying, outgoing, smart, and loving children: Samuel, Matías, and Noah. As a family, we have found grace and mercy in the Lord, and our goal is to live out the gospel of Christ, to intentionally walk with unbelievers and believers, to see the beauty of the Lord, and to faithfully serve and love God and people within the local church context. We are so excited to be part of this loving, local church.

Hope for The Village Church

I pray that this community can continue to build a space where many can find rest, hope, and transformation into the image of Christ. I hope we continue to multiply and create a domino effect of faith, especially among the Hispanic/Latino population in North and South America.