María Luisa Piraquive

María Luisa Piraquive   (Chipata, Santander, February 10, 1949), Maria Luisa Piraquive Corredor, is a Colombian educator, singer, philanthropist, and leader the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International.

Additionally, she is founder and president of a not-for-profit organization, Maria Luisa de Moreno International Foundation, which offers a broad range of social assistance services, and pioneer of the Colombian political party, MIRA.

Commonly known as Sister Maria Luisa, she has received three honorary doctorates and the Medal Order of Democracy Simon Bolivar, awarded by the House of Representatives of Colombia. She hosts online church services that are streamed live on YouTube with over 300,000 views per video, and her sermons are dubbed into 12 languages.

Early life
Maria Luisa Piraquive was born on February 10, 1949, in Chipata, a town in southwestern Santander, Colombia. She was the third of ten children, six girls and four boys, and was raised in a Catholic home. Shortly after her birth, her parents moved to the town of Sachica, in the department of Boyaca, and, subsequently, to Bogota, where she worked making blankets. Piraquive shared that when she was seven years old she had a dream with the Lord Jesus Christ that changed her life. She met Luis Eduardo Moreno when she was 16 years old through her sister Beatriz Piraquive. He was pastor of a Pentecostal church called "Iglesia Pentecostal." She married him a year later.

Founding the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International
In 1972, Maria Luisa Piraquive and her husband founded the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International in Bogota. Five years later, the church opened its first location in Panama. Upon graduating with a bachelor's degree in linguistics and literature, she worked as a schoolteacher in the capital of Colombia. When Luis Eduardo Moreno passed away in 1996, Maria Luisa took on the leadership of the congregation, which included the spiritual roles as pastor, prophetess, and apostle to her followers, among other roles. With the policies that she implemented after taking leadership, the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International experienced remarkable growth.

Founding the Maria Luisa de Moreno International Foundation
In 2000, Maria Luisa founded the Maria Luisa de Moreno International Foundation, a non-profit organization that offers social assistance services to vulnerable populations through the development and implementation of educational, productive, and humanitarian programs. The organization is present in numerous countries in Latin America, and the European Union as well as Canada, with over 50,000 volunteers.

Education
Maria Luisa Piraquive finished her elementary schooling in Sachica and her high school studies were conducted by radio at Colegio Normal Nacional in Bogota, where she also graduated as a schoolteacher in 1988. Subsequently, she pursued her long distance university studies and graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor in Linguistics and Literature from Universidad de La Sabana. In March 2000, she graduated with a degree in Educational Management from Universidad Libre. In November of that same year, and in partnership with the Office of the Mayor of Bogota, she graduated from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana with a degree in community development and social management. On June 29, 2016, she completed her threefold master's degree in international law, human rights, and international cooperation from the Instituto Europeo Campus Stellae in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and won an award for the high-quality investigative work she performed.

On June 20, 2019, she received her Doctoral Degree in International law from Universidad Central de Nicaragua after completing her award-winning thesis titled "Method: Discover Abilities, an Opportunity" after five years of research at said Central American school.

Publications
Maria Luisa Piraquive has compiled a book of Christian hymns and choruses. In 2001, she published her autobiography titled "Experiences," which was later relaunched in 2018 for Amazon Kindle and other digital platforms. She constantly records and publishes videos of the Christian gatherings she hosts, known as Bible Studies, which take place in the different countries where the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International has locations. These videos are published on the C hurch's website and official YouTube channels and are projected and viewed weekly in all the C hurch's locations around the world. They can also be heard on various podcast platforms.The material is dubbed into several languages including English, Italian, Portuguese, French, German, Japanese, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Albanian, and Vietnamese. I n Spanish alone, her weekly sermons get over 300,000 views each week.

Singer
Since the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ was founded, Maria Luisa has sung the hymns and choruses that are played in the congregation. Additionally, these songs have been released as singles on CDs: 11 albums of hymns and five of choruses. Her music is also available on digital platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music, Spotify, Deezer, and her YouTube channel.

Address to the United Nations
On June 21, 2019, Maria Luisa Piraquive spoke before the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, to present her model of productive inclusion for people with disabilities that is already being implemented at the Maria Luisa de Moreno International Foundation. The model, which she developed and has implemented since 2012, is called "Discovering a Skill, an Opportunity."

Personal life
She married pastor Luis Eduardo Moreno when she was 17 years old and they had the following children: Cesar Eduardo Moreno, worldwide administrator of the Church of God; Alexandra, Colombian Consul of Judicial Cooperation, Nationalization, and Titling in New York City; Perla, who created the medical foundation Mira Tu Salud;  and Ivan Dario, who is president of a virtual university.

A decade after widowing, she married Mexican architect Humberto Romero Medina, with whom she lives in Florida, where she became a United States citizen.

Recognitions and awards
María Luisa Piraquive had received several awards in Colombia and Latin-America.

Locally
Maria Luisa Piraquive was postulated in 2009 to receive the award The Exemplary Colombian (El Colombiano Ejemplar), in the personal solidarity category by the journal El Colombiano of Medellin. The Neiva´s Municipal Council granted her with the Recognition Award to Finest Personalities (Moción de Reconocimientos a los Ilustres Personajes).

Nationally
The Colombian Air Force gave Piraquive the award "Alas de Esperanza 2012" (Wings of Hope Award 2012), for the health brigades delivered through the ONG that has his name. In February 2012 the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia decorated her with the Order of Democracy Simón Bolivar (Orden de la Democracia Simón Bolívar); the same day the Caqueta Government gave her the Gold Coreguaje to a Model Citizen (Coreguaje de Oro a una Ciudadana Ejemplar). In May 2016 the Mayor of Segovia, Antioquia, Colombia, acknowledged her in appreciation for supporting the most underprivileged communities.

Internationally
Maria Luisa received the Frida award in Argentina, given by Vía Nostrim in 2011. In August 2012 in San Juan (Puerto Rico), during the XIII Iberoamerican Summit of Millennium Leaders for an Education with Love and Value, she received a master's degree in educational administration and an honorary doctorate summa cum laude by the Iberoamerican Council in Honor to the Excellence and Education Quality (CIHCE). In August 2013 she received in Mexico, by the YMCA University, a doctorate honoris causa, in recognition of her 40 years teaching with values. A year later the CIHCE and the Puebla Government gave her an honorific doctorate in philosophy of education and a master's degree in educational sciences in recognition of her work for disabled people with the project “Find the Capacity, One Opportunity".

Honorable titles
In August 2012, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the XXII Ibero-American Summit "Líderes del Milenio Unidos para una Educación con Amor y Valores," ("Leaders of the Millennia United for Education with Love and Moral Values") Maria Luisa received both a master's degree in educational administration and doctor honoris causa summa cum laude awards from the Ibero-American Council in Honor of Quality Education (CIHCE). The CIHCE is a private entity not officially recognized by any international government or body.

In August 2013, she was awarded a doctor honoris causa by the Universidad YMCA of Mexico in recognition of 40 years of teaching with values. In 2014, the Honorable Academia Mundial de la Educación, awarded her the title of Ilustre Académico de Iberoamérica, for her project titled Employment Center for the Social and Productive Inclusion of People with Disabilities. That same year, the aforementioned CIHCE and the State Government of Puebla awarded her an honorary doctorate degree in philosophy of education and a Master of Science in education.

In early 2016, she received the European Campus Stellae Award, for submitting the best research project and was named the Protectress of the First Promotion of master's degrees for this Higher Education Center that year. List of awards



Books and works
The first edition of Piraquive's autobiography Vivencias was published in 2001. A second revised edition followed in 2007.

Maria Luisa Piraquive compiled Hymns and Choirs. Her first edition was in May 2003, Her second edition was in February 2012 and her third edition was in June 2018.