# Seeing God Through the Tears - Pastor Mel Oquendo Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-kingdom-truth-6379457/seeing-god-through-the-tears-pastor-mel-oquendo Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-kingdom-truth-6379457/seeing-god-through-the-tears-pastor-mel-oquendo.md Podcast: [The Kingdom Truth](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-kingdom-truth-6379457) Published: 2025-11-13T14:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://the-kingdom-truth.captivate.fm/episode/seeing-god-thru-the-tears-pastor-mel-oquendo Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/1da661bf-881c-4d0a-ae41-8932ee5166ab.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-kingdom-truth-6379457/episodes/seeing-god-through-the-tears-pastor-mel-oquendo Duration seconds: 2307 ## Resource In this truly heart stirring episode, Pastor Mel candidly shares his testimony about rejection from his parents, hurt from a church leader, and many family sufferings along the way. Where is God in our pain and suffering? Do the tears in our pain and suffering blind us from the goodness of God? When do we know when it is time to seek professional psychological help? Pastor Mel’s faith journey started early in life. He gravitated towards the church as a child, after his parents divorced. As a teenager, at the age of 16, he served as a youth director. He became an associate pastor by the age 19.  In 2000, Pastor Mel relocated to Orlando, Florida, where he was instrumental in planting six churches and campuses. Recently, he served as the Lead Pastor of River City Church in St. Charles, Illinois, where he led with vision, compassion, and a heart for service. Pastor Mel has more than 25 years of ministerial experience. He is a dynamic speaker, seasoned trainer, recording artist, author, and servant leader with a passion for empowering others. Specializing in ministerial leadership and family and marriage dynamics, Pastor Mel is committed to helping individuals, couples, and teams grow into stronger leaders, pastors, parents, and spouses. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Ministerial Leadership with a Minor in Pastoral Leadership from Southeastern University, a Master of Divinity, and a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching and Leading from Asbury Theological Seminary. With this strong academic foundation, Pastor Mel integrates deep theological insight with practical leadership strategies across all areas of ministry and life. Pastor Mel specializes in multicultural and cross-cultural ministry, equipping churches and leaders to navigate cultural complexity with… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-kingdom-truth-6379457/episodes/seeing-god-through-the-tears-pastor-mel-oquendo/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-kingdom-truth-6379457/seeing-god-through-the-tears-pastor-mel-oquendo.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.