We exist so people in San Antonio will be in community with Jesus and one another.
The Akouo Story
The word Akouo (ä-kü’-o) is Greek and literally means “to listen.” Every time any form of the word “listen” is used in the New Testament akouo is the word it is derived from. The reason we used this word is because God has been constantly speaking and prompting us to listen throughout every single step of setting up this church.
The first word God spoke to someone in this journey happened eight years ago when God told Pastor Humbie to begin praying for the school building behind Redeemer Lutheran Church at 100 Quentin. Fast forward to August 2019 and God told Pastor Humbie to go knock on the door of Redeemer Lutheran Church and “ask for the school building.” Humbie knocked on the door and met Pastor Mike Bailey at Redeemer. From that day on, Mike has been an advocate for Humbie and Akouo Church. Because of that meeting, Akouo has a home in the Redeemer School building.
Akouo Church will be a place where we listen to what God has to say to us. It has gotten us to this point and it will carry us for all of our days.
“At Akouo we want to listen to God, love people, lead by empowering, and link to our community.”
– Senior Pastor Humbie
Listen to God.
Our Sunday services feature engaging teaching that truly teach people the Gospel, how to walk with God and how to hear from God in a life-changing way. This is a place that believers and spiritual investigators can hear the Gospel of Jesus.
Love People.
Our Community Groups connect to all people no matter what age or stage of life. We are building relational support systems so people feel loved and genuinely cared for by our community.
Lead by Empowering.
We believe that God has given every person unique spiritual gifts. At Akouo, we will encourage each and every person to discover them and use them to serve the world. We will empower each and every person to serve in the unique way they have been created.
Link to Our Community.
We believe our church shouldn’t exist only to the people that attend. Akouo will listen to our community’s needs and do our best to meet them. By meeting their physical and social needs first, that will give us an opportunity to share the Gospel.
Our Team
Humbie Cervera
Humberto (Humbie) Cervera is the Senior Pastor at Akouo Church. He was born and raised in San Antonio, TX and has lived in the Deco District for the last eight years.
Humbie graduated from John Marshall High School and then moved down the road to the University of Texas at San Antonio where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication.
After graduating, he achieved his childhood dream of becoming a sportscaster by landing his first job as the Weekend Sports Anchor at KGNS-TV in Laredo, TX. Almost two years later, he was hired at the TV station he interned at, News 4 San Antonio, to become their Sports Reporter/Producer from September 2008 to June 2011.
After almost six years of living out his childhood dream, Humbie felt he had a different calling in his life and he followed it. Shortly after leaving the television industry, he started doing contract video production work at CityChurch and volunteering as a service producer at City Church Downtown.
In April of 2012, Humbie was hired as a full time producer at City Church Downtown. From there, he grew into an on stage personality for the church. At the urging of his Senior Pastor, Doug Robins, Humbie enrolled in seminary at Grace School of Theology.
In September of 2016, City Church ordained Humbie to become a pastor. After ordination, Humbie moved from running the City Church Downtown production department to helping people at the church get connected to one another in the position of Community Pastor.
In October 2019, Humbie began his journey to plant Akouo Church in July 2020.
Abel Ortega
Abel Ortega is native of both San Antonio and the Deco District. Abel was born and raised in San Antonio and spent seven years in Monticello Park where he graduated no. 7 in his class from Thomas Jefferson High School in 2012.
He further pursued his education at the University of Texas at Austin, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Rhetoric & Writing in 2016 and proceeded to work for Bexar County’s Criminal Operations Department.
Throughout this time, Abel served as a volunteer musician for City Church and in 2018 would become a worship leader at what has now become City Tribe Church.
A year later in 2019, after hearing from the Spirit, Abel will now follow God’s new plan for his life and lead the Worship Arts Department at Akouo Church joining Humbie Cervera in a mission of listening to God and spreading the Gospel.
Alyssa Leal
Alyssa Leal was born in 1987 in Lake Jackson,Tx and lived there for her first nine years. Her family and the church they attended showed her the love of Jesus. She asked Him to lead her life when she was about 6 years old. Later her family moved to Houston for several years and developed a love for the community that she found in her local church. In high school she began serving in preschool classrooms and children’s choir there. In 2004, her family moved back to Lake Jackson where she graduated in 2006. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development from LeTourneau University in Longview, TX in 2009. While attending LeTourneau she became a children’s ministry intern at a small church and continued to worship and work in that church as an administrative assistant for the next three years.
In 2012, God orchestrated circumstances for Alyssa to move to San Antonio, Tx. She trusted
God’s plan for her despite the reality that she was moving into her older brother’s hallway and taking a job teaching at a local day care. God proved Himself trustworthy again after two years in San Antonio. By then she had a job at Easter Seals Early Childhood Intervention, was serving at Grace Point church in the children’s special needs ministry and production teams, and met her husband, Luis Leal there. They were married in 2014 in downtown San Antonio. Luis and Alyssa bought a house in the Woodlawn Lake area in 2016 and welcomed their son, Esai, in 2017. Alyssa began attending a daytime women’s Bible Study Fellowship class and began leading in the preschool program in 2018.
After serving together at Grace Point for seven years, God led her family to City Tribe in October 2019 just in time to hear Humbie share about the church God was calling him to start in their neighborhood. That day, Alyssa told Humbie Cervera that she had listened to God and He told her to be part of the community that would eventually be called Akouo.
In 2021, God told Alyssa to send in her resume for consideration in the Children’s Ministry opening. In March, she became the Family Ministry Director at Akouo. Alyssa finds no greater joy than in sharing the love and faithfulness of Jesus with children.