Testimony of Conversion

My testimony is similar to many people who were raised in the context of a church, as I was. When I was seven years old my parents were converted to the Lord and from that time I was taken to church every Sunday. Several years after my father’s conversion, he was called to the ministry and became a pastor. At times, it was a difficult burden for him to bear.

Throughout the years of my youth, I went to church against my will. When I became a young man, I knew many things about the church and the Bible, but I had no idea what it meant to have a personal relationship with Christ. Religion always seemed cold to me, boring and without feeling. The church services were hard to bear. In the church there were no other young people—in fact, the majority of the people who attended were elderly. The only young faces in the congregation were my sisters, who, like me, were only there because our parents made us go.

My religion was simply outward in form. I knew many Bible verses and also old hymns that I heard from the time I was a child—and which, to me, were very boring. I was what the world called “a good kid” and the worst part is that for many years I believed that lie. I was certain that if anyone was going to go to heaven, it would be someone like me. While my friends were involved in all the fun the world has to offer—parties, vices, etc.—I was in the church or in some other admirable activity.

So, as an adult, though I had benefited outwardly in many ways as a result of religion, internally nothing had happened. It’s true that I did not do many of the wicked things others were doing, but it’s also true that I did not have Christ. My corrupt heart looked to my supposed morality and I was deceived and prevented from seeing that I was a sinner that needed a Savior.

It was when I was about 21 years old that the Lord began working in me. I remember waking up during the nights without any sense of peace, wondering if life even had any meaning. This went on for a long time. I would sit in bed praying and meditating, but I continued feeling empty. 

I remember that during one of those nights the Lord had mercy on me and brought to my mind 1 Kings 18 where Elijah admonishes the people and says, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions?” I realized then that I did not want to be without God, but I also did not want to submit to the will of God. I was not outwardly living in the world, but my heart was as worldly as it could be.

The truth is, at that point, I didn’t need to be evangelized. I knew what the gospel was because I had heard it many times. I knew that Christ had come to save what the lost and I knew that I was lost. What’s more, I truly believed that Jesus was the Savior and that I was a sinner. But I did not want to repent. I did not want to abandon my sins. It was my love for sin that would not allow me to repent. And it was here that I had been hesitating, as Elijah said. I was dying. I was waffling between following Christ or continuing in my sins.

The Lord brought light to my mind and I was saved in that hour. By His mercy, He drew me to Himself and brought me to the point of crying out that He would enable me by His grace to follow only Him. It was then that I began to walk with Christ. It was with great difficulty because I became more and more conscious of my sinfulness. I began to see clearly what I had not seen before. But the Lord had mercy on me and His grace abounded toward this sinner.

Call to Ministry

A short time after my conversion, I began to serve in the church, especially in the area of outreach to non-Christian youth. During that time, the Lord put a desire in my heart to preach His Word, but I also understood that I needed to continue growing in my understanding. Over the next two years, I formed a good friendship with some brothers in Bogotá and they sent me some books written by Reformed theologians. I remember that one of the first books I received was The Sermon on the Mount by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. 

At that time, there were not many options for studying Reformed theology. I made plans to study in a seminary in Cali, Colombia. I registered for classes, but when it was time to start the classes I became ill with convulsions. The doctor told me that I could not travel to study in those conditions, especially because they could not determine the cause of the convulsions.

When I was twenty-three, I traveled to Ecuador to spend some time with my sister and her husband, who was a pastor in the city of Salinas. In the end, I decided to stay and became a member of the church. By that point, I had been reading good theological books and resources that had begun to shape my theology. The church asked me to work with the youth and I was there for some time. 

Later, the church asked me to become a pastor, but I was fearful. I stepped away from ministry for a time and worked as a construction supervisor for some condominiums that were being built. During that time, the Lord worked in my heart and renewed my desire to serve as a preacher of the gospel. So, I spoke with my pastor about my desire to begin serving in the ministry again.

After a while, the church called me to be one of the pastors, and by the grace of God, I was sent out to plant a church. We began a church in a community called Rio Verde and another church in a city called La Libertad, where I am currently pastoring.