Born in El Salvador, Mauricio Rivas moved to Los Angeles with his family at age 11. He accepted Christ after his father passed away in 1989. He first arrived in the Antelope Valley in 1990, stayed for about five months, then made a permanent move to the area in 1992. It was during those initial five months that he first visited Valley Bible Church, later becoming involved in the college and career groups.
Mauricio spent two years studying at the Logos Bible Institute of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles and is currently working on a master's degree in Biblical studies from Tyndale Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. In the past, he has been active in both children's and adult Sunday school at VBC, as well as the high school and growth group ministries.
As one of our deacons, Mauricio heads up the Mexico missions ministry and is a certified teacher trainer in the Evangelism Explosion program. He is employed as an engineer at NASA and has been married to Katie since 1999. In his spare time, he likes watching USC football -- and everybody just calls him Moe.