Ivan Illarramendi

Meet Ivan

I was born and raised in El Paso, Texas and my parents adopted the Christian faith since I was 3 years old. I gave my life over to Christ at the age of 12, however, I spent a large part of my early Christian life confused about the gospel until I came to Watermark. My wife and I met as teenagers back at a church in El Paso and got married in 2007. After 15 years of marriage, we are blessed to have three little ones, Ivan (12), Sofia (9), and Iker (7), each of them have taught us how to be better ambassadors of Christ in so many ways!

My job brought my family and I to Dallas in 2014 and we have been part of the Watermark family since. I am so grateful for the people that God has used to shepherd our family and the men that have lived out Proverbs 27:17 so well during my time here. I arrived with little hope of restoration in several areas of my life, in particular, my marriage. God used the Re|Engage ministry to resurrect our marriage and restore our relationship with Him. There are truly no words to express how thankful I am to all those who served us well during the most difficult times of our lives. One of the best aspects of being at Watermark is that I get to see similar stories of restoration played out every week and I’m always encouraged to see how God continues to heal and change the lives of those around me.

Truthfully, I never thought I’d be in full time ministry and feel privileged to have even been considered for the community director role. Most of my experiences stem from the corporate and entrepreneurial world, however, God has blessed me with a special opportunity to serve the body in a bilingual role. My wife and I were a part of the Re|Engage en Español team for 5 years and loved seeing God bring couples to forgiveness, reconciliation, and ultimately a Christ-filled marriage. My life experiences have led me to have a heart towards the Spanish speaking community, and I am so grateful to serve in a dual role with our married community groups and being a part of the teaching team for Watermark en Español. My prayer is that we continue to grow in truth and love as a family here at Watermark!