Director of Student Ministries (Nursery to Teens)
Djenane Cortez Santos is a Brazilian lawyer turned missionary in America. She accepted Jesus Christ at age 11 under the spiritual leadership of American missionaries Robert and Derlani Fife at Igreja de Cristo Norte de Goiânia. She married John in 1996 and they lived in San Jose, California for 7 years where Djenane served at Message of Peace Assembly of God, Crossroads Bible Church, World Sport Ventures and Westgate Bible Church. One of her great accomplishments was to engage Westgate in sponsoring Valley of Blessing’s Cidade da Criança Orphanage in São Paulo.
John and Djenane returned to Goiania, Brazil and welcomed their newborn daughter. There they partnered with Pastor Rafael Correia and Juliana Arruda in a new Presbyterian church plant.
In 2015, the Santos family moved back to the Bay Area and joined the Brazilian Baptist Church in Brisbane. A year later they chose to worship at New Life in Pacifica. Djenane began volunteering to teach and coordinate the Children’s Ministry until she got offered the job officially. In 2018 Pastor Jonathan referred her to Gateway Seminary where she earned a Masters in Educational Leadership with a concentration in children’s ministry. She got promoted to her current position, Director of Student Ministries, overseeing Biblical education from Sunday School to Youth.
