Juan Salazar was born in the small town of Tuman, Peru, in August 1958. He grew up speaking Spanish with his mother, father and three older sisters.

His family was Catholic, so they would celebrate holidays like Christmas, Mardi Gras and Easter. Additionally, the Peruvian Independence Day, July 28, was a very big celebration. His favorite childhood memories are at the beach.

When Salazar was seven years old, his parents split up, and he went with his mother to live more than 1000 miles away in Arequipa, where he attended Catholic and played on the school’s soccer team. He finished high school at 17 while simultaneously attending a night school to learn electric work; after that he was accepted into the Peruvian Air Force and served for 11 years.

While at school, Salazar met his future wife, Urcina. They had their civil ceremony in March 1977 and religious ceremony years later, in 1982.

Salazar and Urcina were both studying at university when they decided to go to seminary in the small village of Trujillo to spread their religious message.

Life took the two all over — Argentina, Spain and back to Peru — until they landed in New Jersey and later, Missouri.

Listen to FOG’s audio production of Salazar’s story by tapping the link in our bio.

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Read all of Salazar's story and the rest of the Ethnic Life Stories Project stories by clicking here.

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Music is Bach Cello Suite no. 3 by Colin Carr from the Free Music Archive.

Episodes are edited, recorded, mixed, and published by Diana Dudenhoeffer.