Meet Our Team
Phil & Denise Anderson
Director of Development & Volunteer
Phil and Denise came to Cactus from Bourbonnais, IL where they were both
helped plant a church with their daughter and son in law. Phil is the Director of Development & of Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center. Denise is a volunteer and serves as a Department Of Justice representative for the Immigration center,
writes grants and fills in where she can in other ministries for CNMC .
Phil has a Masters in Missional Leadership and a Masters of Divinity from
Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) and Denise has her Masters and PhD
in Social Work as well as Masters in Pastoral Ministry (NNU). Phil and Denise
were in lay ministry until they were called to serve as missionaries in 2003.
They have served along with their daughters Makenzie and Morgyn, in Thailand, The Dominican Republic and South Africa. They feel blessed to serve the Lord
and the church with so many different people groups in different world areas. Serving in Cactus brings all of the world areas they have loved into one place.
Email: phil@cactusministries.org
Olbin & Alshandra Visagie
Exec. Director & Teen Mentorship coordinator
Reverend Olbin and Pastor Alshandra Visagie are both South African born. They have been married for 23 years and have two beautiful children, Olandra and Aldrin. They have been in active ministry for all their married life both as lay people and as pastors. Reverend Olbin has a Bachelors in Theology and is in Cactus leading an international Church Plant. In addition, he is serving as our Teen BLAST Mentorship Coordinator. He is experienced in leading a multi-cultural church and youth ministries for several congregations in South Africa.
Alshandra started at CNMC volunteering her time to assist with finance, as well as volunteering as the Director of Ministries which is an assistant to the Exec. Director. She was appointed to become the Exec. Director of CNMC in March of 2023. She has been in banking for 23 years and is experienced in Worship ministries and counselling. They are both an active part of Cactus Nazarene Ministries family in the mission of taking the love of Jesus Christ to the many nations represented in Cactus.
Email: olbin@cactusministries.org
alli@cactusministries.org
Scarlin De la Cruz
Media Coordinator
Scarlin is originally from the Dominican Republic but came to cactus from Bourbonnais Illinois in 2020, where she graduated from Olivet Nazarene University with a bachelor's of science in the Multimedia Studies field. Scarlin is the Multimedia coordinator for CNMC. She maintains and develops the CNMC Website, FaceBook, and the monthly Newsletter. She also assists in the front office and helps translate spanish for our Immigration services. .
Scarlin is an amazing cook and her scones and traditional Dominican food are legendary among the staff of CNMC!
Email: scarlin@cactusministries.org
Todd & Raquel Forrest
Ministry Teams & Family Ministries Coordinators
Reverends Todd Forrest was born in Indiana and met Raquel Liz Cintrón or “Raqui,” who is from Puerto Rico, in Guatemala while on a short-term mission trip. Todd has a Bachelor of Theology from Olivet Nazarene University, and an M.A. in Religion at Southern Nazarene University. Raqui earned her Bachelor of Religion from Southern Nazarene University, and an M.A. in Religion from Olivet Nazarene University.
They have pastored in Oklahoma, Indiana, Colorado and Texas including directing Compassionate Ministry Centers in Denver and Chicago Metro. Raqui has also worked for Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army in Denver and Kansas City, while Todd worked as a residential treatment therapist in Denver and as a Special Projects Editor in Sunday School Ministries at Nazarene Headquarters in Kansas City. Todd and Raqui have three daughters. Celeste, who is married to Joseph Blissett, Aliza and Estrella.
EAL Instructor/Care Coordinator
Joy MacLean
Joy arrived at Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center (CNMC) from Illinois. She graduated in May 2021 from Olivet Nazarene University with a Bachelor of Social Work. In her final semester, Joy worked with refugees, asylees, and immigrants as the Employment and Job Readiness Intern at World Relief in Chicago.
Joy’s introduction to cross-cultural engagement started early when her family moved to Beirut, Lebanon when she was 9 years old. Her friendships with Lebanese, Arab, Palestinian, French, and Jordanian children sparked her interest in working between cultures, building bridges, and developing relationships. In high school and college Joy participated in cross-cultural trips to Basque Country in Spain and South Africa.
At CNMC, Joy enjoys continuing to build relationships cross-culturally through teaching English and aiding with the BLAST after school program.
Email: joy@cactusministries.org
Yessica Chavira
EAL Instructor
Yesica has lived in cactus her entire life and is well integrated into the community. Her previous teaching experience has been at the elementary school as a substitute teacher for a number of years. Yesica is bilingual in English and Spanish and is using this skill to relate with a larger variety of students. Having Yesica here at the Center has been a big asset to the ESL ministry. She brings an energetic spirit and creative ideas to enhance the English classes held here. Yesica and her husband are raising their three kids here and though they have done some traveling to other places, they truly love this small town and the diverse, friendly community here.
Front Desk
Cristal Garcia Rivera
Cristal was born in Mexico & came to United States at the age of just 2 years old. Her family settled in Cactus and has been here ever since. Cristal works for DHCD at their Assisting Living Facility as a PRN MCA. She is also planning on going back to school for either Social Work or to become a Registered Nurse. Cristal is bilingual in English and Spanish. She has joined the Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center family part time as front desk and staff sand some of her duties include answering the phones, directing clients to the appropriate personal, and assisting clients and staff members in the day-to-day operations of CNMC.
Email: cristal@cactusministries.org
Bori Cintron Forrest
Media support staff
Bori arrived to Cactus, TX in 2015 from Phoenix, AZ. She was born in Thailand but raised in United States. She graduated from NPOC in 2021 and is currently in college for her teaching degree.
Bori is bilingual in Burmese and English and has been using it to help translate during various events. Bori has a little boy: Alijah.
Bori is part of our Americorps partnership and helping us in the media department, she is assisting the media coordinator and covering events, taking pictures, writing stories for social media & more. She is also assisting with our BLAST program, which is our afterschool program. She helps with our pre-k - 4th grade with their reading, writing, and helping with their English.
Email: bori@cactusministries.org
Volunteer Public Notary
Claraisa Martinez
Claraisa was born and raised in Cactus, TX. She started working as the front desk secretary for The Well in fall of 2020. Then, served in a different role as Medical Assistant. Her duties as a MA included taking vitals of patients, asking some questions regarding their health, drawing their blood, and carrying out other necessary lab work. She also worked at Med/Surg as a CNA at the Dumas Hospital before joining The Well Team. In 2021, she joined the CNMC staff as front desk secretary and served with us for a year. Now she is volunteering her time as notary and has been a great asset to our team.
Immigration support staff
Isabel Posada
Isabel Posada is originally from El Salvador. She came to the US at age 18 as a student, and since then has been granted Citizenship. Isabel has trained and obtained a Vocational Nurse License.
Isabel is part of our Americorps partnership and has joined the CNMC family as Immigration support staff. Some of her duties include contacting clients and scheduling them with one of our DOJ accredited representatives, as well as filing & translating. In addition to serving with us, Isabel is the Client Coordinator for CareNet of Dalhart TX where she resides.
Email: isabel@cactusministries.org
Email: info@cactusministries.org
Phone: (806)-421-0160
Registered Charity: We are 501C3
EIN 46-3670736
GuideStar profile: https://www.guidestar.org/profile/46-3670736
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