I grew up in Colombia in a Catholic home, but we only attended mass on special occasions. I also went to a catholic school, but I never came to grips with the reality of the gospel. Even though I was taught morality, humility, and the consequences of sin, I remained prideful. I was especially proud of my family’s heritage. I came from “old wealth,” and I was proud of the higher education and powerful connections my family and I had. I thought we were above the rest. I thought I had it all.
However, God had a different plan for me and my family. I went on a business trip to Canada in 1996 and fell in love with the country. On top of that, Colombia was having a difficult time with guerrilla violence. Within a year I had a “landed immigrant visa.” We were very excited to go to Canada.
A Canadian company in Montreal offered me a sales position specifically to sell in Latin America. It was a perfect job; I didn’t have to speak much English, and I thought that I had been hired because of my own accomplishments. In 1998 my wife and I sold everything we had in Columbia and moved to Canada with our two young boys. When we got there everything fell apart: The day after we arrived, I went to work only to find I had no place in the new company. They had made last-minute changes and I was not included. I had no job and a family to feed in a brand-new place. At the time I had very poor English and spoke no French.
For months I searched for a job. Nobody responded to my job applications; my education was not acceptable, my experience not adequate, and I was coming from a country that had a terrible reputation. I also struggled with the English language. Finally, a factory hired me to manufacture computer chips. There, working 12-hour shifts, I met a dear brother who shared the gospel with me. And God, in His sovereignty, took all material things from me, but he gave me all spiritual things in Christ Jesus.
While I worked at the factory, God worked in my heart. I started to see things differently; my values changed, and my wife and I began serving in a church. I listened to John MacArthur’s sermons on the radio for several years until I felt that I could not continue serving the flock without preparing myself. I started saving to come to The Master’s Seminary. God, in His sovereignty, provided a scholarship and jobs at the bookstore and at the seminary cleaning the offices so that I could come to TMS.
My time at TMS improved my prayer life and the education prepared me academically to be a faithful preacher. I needed a strong foundation to be able to teach. Although I was a part of a church, I did not know much of Scripture before coming to TMS. Many professors encouraged me; it is hard to point to one. Dr. Montoya shaped me in pastoral ministry in a way that today I still recall today. And Dr. Lawson helped me improve my preaching.
Our church is growing, and we give thanks to the Lord for bringing new people every week to our congregation. We have increased to more than 120 regular attendees, and we recently had a membership class with over 30 people. We meet at a hotel right now but at this very week, we are praying that we can move to a bigger place.
I am also part of Instituto de Expositores (IDEX) in Colombia. We are training pastors and leaders in Bogota and Cali, two of the major cities in Colombia. We are reaching out to the students and their churches to help them see the Word of God as the ultimate authority. We are amazed that we just finished our second year of training!