Testimony of Conversion and Call to Ministry

My name is Diego Armando Carvajal Arrieta, and I was born on January 9, 1987. In my family, I am the youngest of five siblings. My parents lived in Grecia Alajuela, Costa Rica, and when I was born, they moved to Sarchí Valverde Vega.

I grew up in the Roman Catholic Church and all its customs. I was baptized as a child and made my first communion shortly after. But my sin increased, and I really didn’t even care about going to church or having any religion, so I completely turned away from anything that had to do with church and God.

Since a very young age, my life has demonstrated depravity. By age ten, I had already exposed myself to sex and was chewing tobacco regularly. I got multiple piercings and tattoos as well. I became very rebellious with my parents and brothers. I had problems with my sisters, offended them, and no longer obeyed my parents. My father was present in our family, but he was very detached. We had no real relationship. To the whole family, he was just the man who provided food.

I started to play soccer, and there I made friends who encouraged me to partake in other sinful activities. I went to discos with them, where we would drink alcohol and chase girls. At that time, I also tried marijuana and got to the point of being in a free union when I was 17.

When I was at school, I was expelled several times. The first year I was expelled because, together with other friends, we stole all the tools from the metal workshop that the school teaches. The second year I was expelled because I had too many absences, which were usually spent smoking and slacking with friends. In my third year, I got a job and had to work during the day and study at night. Being a disorderly person, I didn’t last long in that role. I dropped out and continued to work to help support my family. I eventually entered an illicit relationship outside of marriage with a girl I knew. We were together for two years.

One day I met a young lady named Karla who attended an evangelical church I had heard about. I began to talk to her and soon formed a secret friendship with her. Eventually, I decided to leave my girlfriend and begin dating Karla.

She invited me to her evangelical church. I accompanied her there one Sunday, and there is where I became exposed to the gospel. A desire to know more about the Bible grew inside me. I began to attend church with Karla every Sunday and Thursday, taking with me an American Catholic Bible that my mother had given me. I began to read and slowly I realized that the Catholic Church was wrong about everything and that I had been deceived. I was a sinner.

After some time I realized I no longer wanted to be the same. I wanted to obey the Lord and read His word even more. I read the entire Bible in three months. God through His Word transformed my life. I got rid of my piercings, cut my hair properly, and even changed the way I spoke. I never returned to any of the discos I used to frequent.

God had done a work in me. He used Karla, who is now my wife, to bring me to the gospel. Since then, I have continued to read His Word, pray to the Lord, and gather myself together, and I have truly seen how God has transformed my life, my family, my brothers and sisters, and my parents, and all of them have seen how God has transformed my soul for His glory.