Aug. 20, 2022 was our first Sabbath in our new church. Being new to the area, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and have an evangelistic campaign at Medford Hispanic Church. The church board approved my motion with enthusiasm.
I decided, first, to visit church members. Then, circumstances led me to visit nonmembers. One Monday, I was so tired I decided to take a day off. I put on my appropriate clothes and shoes for a good hike in the mountains to rejuvenate. I got in my car and was about to leave when I heard a lady, a neighbor of our church, outside her house talking on her cell phone, crying. Hearing her, it was hard for me to leave without at least looking at her to see what was happening.
When she saw me, she immediately asked, "Are you the pastor?"
"Yes, how can I help you?" I replied. Then crying, she told me that her father was dying and she wanted me to say a prayer for him.
Even though she was a neighbor of our church, she had never come to visit. However, I perceived that she was a woman of faith. She also asked me to pray for her son Robert. She was very worried about him because he did not behave well. I raised a prayer for Robert fervently and for the whole family. I spent 40 minutes with her that day.
Just before our evangelistic campaign, I went to visit the family. The lady was not at home; she had gone to Mexico to bury her dad. I expressed my condolences to her husband and invited him to go to our evangelistic campaign. He promised to go.
I was surprised and glad to see him the first night and successively every night until the end of the evangelistic meetings. At the end of the meetings, we baptized three youths. Bob was not baptized, but he was touched by the grace of God. Today, he is enthusiastic about church and even joined our prayer service. I asked him if he had a Bible, and he told me that he does. He has begun to read it and wants to study with me. I pray this young man, by the grace of the Lord, could completely surrender his life to Christ and that the transformation that already started in him will continue for the rest of his life.
