It was a lonely November night in 2024. I was neck-deep in late assignments, and all of my friends had gone home for Thanksgiving Break. Alone in Marshburn Library, I worked tirelessly, filled with stress and anxiety. I prayed to God for comfort and He answered my prayers by sending Johnny Montoya, APU’s nighttime custodian.
Johnny works in Custodial Services at APU, where he is assigned to clean restrooms, vacuum carpets, dust, and perform many other tasks. He goes from building to building, ensuring that everything is tidy and the bathrooms are restocked.
Often, janitorial labor is seen as one of the lowest jobs. But Johnny takes great pride in the work that he does. He gleefully showed me photos from his phone of the stains he had removed from the library’s carpets and talked about all the other tasks he gets to do. But the most rewarding part of his job happens spiritually.
“When I see students… I ask how they’re doing. From there, we start talking, and I’ll ask if their walk is with Christ and if they want me to pray for them,” Johnny said.
Every night, Johnny takes the opportunity to pray for the students he sees—especially in Marshburn Library and the Student Government Association office.
“It makes me feel good. Because when I come to work, I pray, and I ask God to use me as His instrument. I see myself being used by God when I’m able to pray for somebody with whatever they’re going through,” Johnny said.
The most gratifying part for Johnny is when students come up to him months later and thank him for praying with them. Coincidentally, I got to be one of those students.
“I can not even fathom how good God is,” I wrote in my daily journal from November 25, 2024, “I felt alone in my mod. [My roommates] were all home for Thanksgiving break…I felt defeated…Then I met Johnny.”
Johnny Montoya, one of APU’s secret prayer warriors. Photo courtesy of Ben Doerksen.
I went on to chronicle my interaction with the gentle custodian and how we bonded over our Thanksgiving plans. Through our interaction, I found out he was a Kansas City Chiefs fan (he is a kind man, but not a perfect one).
At the end of our conversation, he prayed for me. As anxious and burnt out as I was, God sent someone to care for me. I simply wrote, “Tonight was a miracle.”
Johnny’s story is truly inspiring, but as I continued to do research for this story, I found something equally extraordinary. I found that he was not alone. Instead, he was joined by an entire department of custodians who are committed to prayer for students, staff, and faculty every day.
“I believe the Lord is moving here,” Travis Lafond told me. Lafond is the night shift lead for Custodial Services. He oversees a team of people that includes Johnny. “[Custodial work] can get kind of mundane, kind of redundant, but I say, ‘Hey, when you’re going through your buildings, pray for the different professors. Pray for the different administrators. Pray for the students as you’re cleaning their areas. Just think about them and about the work that the Lord is doing. And just cover them in prayer.’”
In addition to supervising day-to-day tasks, Lafond is committed to the holistic development of the group.
“We started to do a weekly Bible study to start our week. We go through the Bible on Mondays, and [I] also connect with everybody one-on-one in the different buildings. I hear their stories and walk through life with them, and try to mentor them and lead them from a biblical standpoint. I get to impart what the Lord has done in my life.”
The main thing that stands out from this group of incredible individuals is their commitment to prayer. They truly seem to embody what the Apostle Paul says when he writes, “rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV)
I asked Johnny what his main motivation was. “God,” he said, “I pray before I start work all the time. Just to give me the strength, wisdom, and knowledge…and to carry me through the night. That’s my big motivation right there. Just praying to God.”