Jose Antonio Barrientos Jr. says he “cannot stop praising God.” His upbeat outlook is helpful for one of his volunteer positions: Barrientos is a chaplain at Washington Dulles International Airport, where he deals with many travelers every week. The 28-year-old pastor is the only airport chaplain who speaks Spanish. Born in Texas, he grew up in Central America, where his parents were missionaries. Barrientos has lived in the Washington area for about a decade and is a children’s ministries pastor at Community Praise Center in Alexandria. Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
Yes! I am a Seventh Day Adventist, which is a Christian denomination. And what I like the most about this faith is the promise that Jesus is coming soon, the promise that it doesn’t matter who we are, or what we have done. We just come to Jesus, and he forgives everything we have done and gives us a second opportunity. And the promise that soon we will see him in the second coming shows us that the situations we’re going through in this world are just temporary. Soon it will be over. So that’s what I appreciate most — the hope that he gives. He can change things in your life.
