Domingo Guerrero didn’t find out he was Jewish until he moved to Montana in 2003.

For a man who had been drawn to Montana to expand his Christian ministry, the revelation was a complete surprise.

Guerrero, of Bigfork, is pastor of the Spirit of Truth Apostolic Church in Ronan. He and his wife, Cheryl, moved to the Flathead Valley from Napa, Calif., because “we felt the Lord was drawing us into some kind of ministry.”

He initially found out about his Jewish roots from his cousin, Milca Montanez.

The Sephardic Jews were driven out of Spain in 1492. A group of them settled in Mexico City, but after heavy persecution they relocated to other areas, including Arizona. That’s where Montanez found her relatives. Guerrero’s maternal grandparents’ last names were Juvera and Corella, she said. Juvera is a river and Corella is a city, both located in Spain.

Montanez did extensive genealogical research. Half of the family members were excited with their newfound “Jewishness” and the other half wanted nothing to do with it, she said.

Guerrero was in the excited half.

“I was so shocked. I said, ‘I can’t believe this.’ Then I said, ‘cool,’” he said.

“I never realized how severe the persecution was in Mexico,” he said, noting the Spanish Inquisition continued in Mexico. People were burned at the stake for being Jewish.

The Jewish aspect of his Christian ministry has had an impact on the congregation he pastors, Guerrero said.

He recently incorporated a Jewish prayer shawl that his cousin gave him into a prayer service. He covered a woman with the prayer shawl and after a time of prayer, she in turn covered the woman next to her with it. The cycle continued until everyone in the small group was included. Guerrero said it was accompanied by an awesome presence of the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Guerrero taught on the prayer shawl that night, reading from the Bible’s book of Numbers 15:37-40.

The Guerreros attended a United Pentecostal Church in Kalispell for a couple of years before joining a related ministry in Bigfork. Their ministry with American Indians didn’t start until a Great Falls pastor asked him to conduct a funeral for an American Indian woman in 2004. Afterward, Guerrero, 66, became drawn to them. They affectionately call him “Papa Mingo.”

The first couple the Guerreros worked with was Trevor and Casey Sorrell, whom he met while giving a marriage communication seminar in Polson.

“They asked me to open a church,” he said, noting he was still helping with the Bigfork mission that met at the Swan River Community Center.

In 2007, the Guerreros began conducting services at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo. They were there for a year before the group relocated to the Pache Community Center on Beaverhead Lane in Ronan. They hold services there on Thursday and Sunday.

American Indians to whom the Guerreros minister at Spirit of Truth Apostolic Church come from many tribes, not just the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille. Others include Chippewa-Cree, Cheyenne and Blackfeet.

“They just want somebody to love them and bring the truth to them,” said Guerrero, who noted he couldn’t minister without his wife of 44 years.

They took the Sorrells under their wing and are now using them as pastoral assistants. Trevor Sorrell is a direct descendent of Salish Chief Charlo.

As Guerrero has learned about his own Jewish culture, he has learned about tribal culture, too.

“Their needs are different,” he said. “Their emotions and sense of humor are different. Once you win their confidence, they’re very endearing.”

Since he has been in Montana, Guerrero has continued his education in other ways, too, completing a master’s degree in biblical counseling from Masters International School of Divinity of Evanston, Ind. He currently is three-quarters of the way toward a doctorate degree.

Guerrero’s uncle, Manuel J. Vizcarra, served as bishop president, the top official in the Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ Jesus from 1986 to 1994. Public announcement that he was Jewish didn’t happen until his funeral. A hush came over the crowd when the announcement was made, Guerrero said.

“I see God’s hand in leading us from Judaism to Oneness doctrine,” he said, referring to the Apostolic belief in a “modalist” viewpoint on the nature of God in contrast to the more common Trinitarian view. “Who would have believed that God would use Hispanic people who are Jewish to accomplish His work to the point that the (bishop president) of the Apostolic church was Jewish?” he asked.

Guerrero can be reached via e-mail at mingo238_2000@yahoo.com.

Reporter Caleb Soptelean may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at csoptelean@dailyinterlake.com