Failure need not be final, as the life of the following missionary pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church (CBC) illustrates so well.

Leonardo Lomero Salgado, Jr., the CBC missionary pastor to Dasmariñas, Cavite, was born on October 25, 1975 in Castilla, Sorsogon. He is the fifth among the eight children of Leonardo and Belen. His father was a tenant farmer and a fisherman while his mother was a housewife. Due to the size of their family and the amount of his father’s income, the family often found it hard to meet all their needs.

During Nards’ childhood, his family moved from one place to another. Finally they settled in Pilar, Sorsogon, where he studied at the town’s public elementary and high school. When he was in grade four, a nun gave him a New Testament. Upon reading and learning the teachings of the Bible, he began to question the unbiblical traditions of his own religion.

Sometime in 1988, his father became a believer through a Bible study that he attended. Not long after that, his mother also became a believer. His mother then started to bring him and his siblings to Legazpi Bible Baptist Church, in Legazpi City. On his third visit, realizing that he was doomed to die in hell, he responded to the altar invitation. Brother Dennis Fundano took him aside and explained to him that he needed to repent his sins and receive Jesus as his Savior in order to be saved. On that very same day, he accepted Jesus into his heart.

He was not blind to see that laborers are needed in the spiritual harvest. In September, 1991, he volunteered himself to be one of the laborers of the Lord. While he was in his third and fourth year high school, he began a campus Bible study in his own school, and became a song leader of his church. After he received his high school diploma in 1994, he was sent to San Pedro, Laguna to train for the ministry at Bible Heritage Baptist Seminary.

After his graduation in 1998, he went back to Legazpi City to serve in his local church. He served the Lord by leading the youth ministry of his church and by starting a mission outreach in a small barangay. But few months after his return, he became tired and sick over his senior pastor’s hypocrisy and cruelty. Greatly offended, he left the ministry and went back to the world.

He went to Metro Manila to find a job and earn some money. He found a job at RKJ Construction. After two years, the construction company closed. His older brother, Ramon introduced him to Samuel Quising, who hired him in his construction company. During these years Nards was not happy, although he had money, for he knew he was in the “wrong” place.

His boss, Samuel Quising learned his bitter story. He encouraged him to return to the Lord and brought him to CBC on November 11, 2001. He eventually came back to the Lord, and in September, 2002, he recommitted his life into the fulltime ministry. After proving himself in the areas of evangelism and discipleship, Nards was assigned to oversee the CBC Tanauan City Mission for sometime until he was reassigned to pastor the CBC Dasmariñas, Cavite Mission.

With his wife, the former Ruth Ramacula on his side, Pastor Nards is faithfully pastoring the CBC Dasmariñas mission church. He has a son – Daniel Joshua, and he envisions leading his people to victory.