A caravan moved through northwestern Oregon Nov. 4–12, 2011. It was a Caravan of Life!
Also known as Caravana de la Vida, this Spanish-language event featured José Rojas as speaker and, to date, has resulted in 229 baptisms, with more Bible studies and connections still being made.
Starting in Salem, Ore., the series began with nearly 1,400 people attending the Saturday evening presentation. After a quick teardown, the caravan moved to Hillsboro, Ore., to set up for three nights before moving to the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore., for the last three nights.
For nearly a year, hundreds of members from 27 churches worked to bring the event together. Church members began hosting small groups in their homes and inviting their friends and neighbors to supper, church socials and Bible studies. As November approached, the members invited those same people to hear Rojas. In all, nearly 3,000 people heard that God loves them.
One miraculous story from the event was that of Ivan. A heart attack left Ivan in a coma three weeks before the Caravan of Life. Doctors gave him 72 hours to live. A large group of Ivan's family members from Mexico, most of them non-Christians, were at the hospital when Hillsboro (Ore.) Spanish pastors Harold Altamirano and Rafael Escobar came to pray in the waiting room. At the moment Altamirano finished the last prayer, a nurse rushed through the doors. Ivan had just woken up! He was in church a week later and was baptized with his wife and two children during the Caravan of Life.
The process begins again, as the Adventist Spanish-speaking community prepares for the NET 2012 meetings, which will be downlinked to all Oregon Conference Spanish-speaking churches this October.
