Testimony of Fabian and His Wife
Jaime is a believer in our church who is a fisherman by trade. He often preaches the gospel to the rest of his crew. One of his crew members, named Fabian, had heard Jaime preach the gospel and Jaime told him that he should contact me so that I could visit him. So, Fabian called me to ask if I could come to his house, saying, “Pastor, I want you to visit me so that you can preach the gospel to me and my wife, and so that you can counsel us.” Honestly, at that moment I didn’t have any means of transportation to get to Piura, where he lived, but by faith I told him that I would be there that evening. I went with my youngest son and we were there for three hours, speaking to them about the gospel.
Soon after that, Fabian and Jaime went out to sea again, and after two weeks, Fabian’s wife called me. She said, “Pastor, I am in Paita and I would like to talk with you about what you said to us a couple weeks ago.” She came to my office and she said, “Pastor, I have not been able to stop thinking about the things you said when you came to our house, and I want to hear more about the Bible.” I presented Christ to her once again and explained what it meant that Christ died for sinners. I also told her about our need for repentance and faith. When she left, she was very excited and wanted to share what she had heard with her mom.
The following week she was in the Sunday church service and she was eager to talk about the sermon afterwards. She told me, “Pastor, I have understood the gospel! I want to repent! And I want my husband to be saved too!” She went away very happy that she had been able to hear the word of God. She came to the church again the next week, but this time with her husband Fabian who had now returned from sea. Right after the service I spoke with both of them and continued explaining the gospel. Fabian told me, “Pastor, I want to repent too!” So, I read John 8:30-32 with them and explained what true repentance is.
October Baptisms
This month we also had a number of baptisms in our church. A few of the new believers that were baptized have written their testimonies below. Praise God for his work in the life of these brothers and sisters!
Ruth
It has been nearly a year since I began my new life in Christ. Before I knew Christ, I went through a lot of problems and difficulties—although perhaps not as severe as some of the trials others face—and I would tend to get very discouraged. Often I would wonder whether or not my life even had any meaning at all. However, in reality, God gave me many great blessings, the greatest of which was being born in a Christian home. From the time I was a small child I heard about Christ. At times growing up I would feel like I needed to repent, but I wouldn’t do it. I was afraid of losing friendships or being made fun of in school.
Throughout much of my childhood I attended public schools, but when I reached high school my parents suddenly decided to send me to a private Christian school. At the time, I didn’t understand why they would do that, but now I can see that it was one of the great blessings God has worked in my life. In my Christian education class, the professor showed us a movie called, “The Pilgrim’s Progress.” It is a beautiful film that had a major impact on my life. The gospel was then preached to me and I came to realize that I was the person who had the burden of sins on my back and that only God could free me of it. I came to see that Christ alone is my Savior and that I must humble myself before Him, asking Him for forgiveness.
Yelti
I gave my life to the Lord last October, and I want to tell you how that came to happen. My teen years had been very difficult. I had a lot of problems with my parents, and also with my friends, and there were even points when I began to consider suicide. I was so desperate to find a solution for the different things that were happening to me. It was right around that time that I heard the preaching of the word of God. As the preacher spoke about sin and our need for salvation, it was as if through the word of God he was giving a summary of my life.
He told us that the Bible teaches that those who die in their sins without Christ will have eternal condemnation. But he also said that there was a promise from God that the one who believes in Jesus would be saved. It was then, when I believed that Christ alone could deliver me from my sin, that I gave my life to Him. I am trusting God that He will save my family members as well, that they also may know the Lord.
Yulissa
I am eighteen years old and I have attended church ever since I was a little girl. My mother is a Christian and she always took me and my siblings with her. I enjoyed going when I was a child, but as I grew into my teenage years, I didn’t want to go anymore and I would always make excuses for not going. Slowly, I distanced myself from Christianity. When I was fifteen, I decided to go back again to the church and I heard a sermon that moved me, and I supposedly decided then to receive Christ. But as time passed, I became more and more distanced once again and started to live just like the girl I was before. About a year later I went through a lot of trials with my health, including two surgeries, and I began to understand that it was the Lord’s loving discipline, making me see my need for Him and His great love for me.As the days passed and I was beginning to recover, I returned to the church. There was one sermon in particular that really marked my life. I was amazed that God knew my sins, that He knew the course that my life had taken, and yet He continued to extend His grace to me and speak to me. It was then that I began trusting Him and following Him with my life.
Michael
My desire is to serve our Lord Jesus Christ until the last day when the Lord takes me to be with Him. The Lord rescued me from my sins when I was in a very difficult season of life, after I had made some bad decisions. I had formed some bad friendships and had gotten myself into a bad situation. In that moment, the Lord touched my heart and I couldn’t help but submit my life to Him. A verse that had a big impact on me was John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Through the preaching and the discipleship of the church, I began to understand more about the gospel. I knew that my friends would likely reject me—especially after I was baptized— but I knew that it is better to serve the Lord than the enemy. I would prefer that my friends reject me rather than find that the Lord rejects me on the day that I come before His presence.
