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Miracles at Divino Salvador
September 3 2008 / ShareHim in Salvador B, Aug. 15 - Aug. 30 '08 #321by William Smith
Personal Testimony of William Smith.
I want to thank the Southern Union Conference leadership and ShareHim for allowing my wife and me to go on an evangelistic campaign. The San Salvador B campaign was a very powerful, life changing experience. Here are some of the highlights of this awesome trip.
Attendance was between 146 and 235 nightly, with an average of 60 visitors. People came faithfully, many after working 12 hour days, for $1.00 an hour. Senior citizens, pregnant women, teenagers, and women with very small children came with big, warm smiles, riding on the back of an open truck, holding on to skinny rails. The back of the trucks were always jam packed. A big bus also brought people from other churches in Pastor Molina’s six-church district.
As the service began at 6:30 nightly, the sing-along videos were displayed on the white sheet screen, and the place was filled with heartfelt singing that needed no song leader to encourage them. Young and old sung with such sincerity and zeal that tears flowed from my eyes many nights before it was time to preach. I imagined that heaven would have such singing.
The conference president said that we would not wait to the end of the campaign to baptize, but would ask the Lord to give baptisms daily, adding to the church daily such as should be saved. His prayers were answered in our Divino Salvador, Mejicanos church as souls who were already being ministered to by team leaders, came down to be baptized every night. Night after night, souls would miraculously come down and express their desire for baptism, the total number being 44.
While I was preaching, over ten team leaders were in the back room meeting with the pastor and praying hard for souls to come to Christ. As the appeal was being made, they would come out and in a personal, close way, appeal to their visitors to accept Christ as Lord and Savoir and be baptized. It was heart touching to see them appeal to their friends’ hearts. The pastor would continue the appeal after I finished and then even after the baptism would make a strong appeal while in the pool.
After one “pool” appeal by the pastor, Julio, a fully clothed teenager, came down under conviction, and went right to the front of the church, walked into the pool, shoes and all, and was baptized. Praise God!
The next day, the pastor asked me to baptize and watch the miracle of a “pool” appeal, and after I baptized, I made an appeal, and a young lady came running up with tears falling profusely. She was comforted, dressed in a robe, and baptized that same night! God is awesome!
One night after the pastor and I made a lengthy appeal, it seemed like there would be no baptisms that night, so I proceeded to the back of the church to shake hands. The pastor, whose faith was much stronger than mine that night, put on another music video, and made another appeal after that. A precious soul came down for baptism to my utter amazement! As I shockingly looked on, he asked me to get dressed so I could baptize him. Pastor Molina knew how to encourage, mentor, and teach his student!
The first person that was baptized in the campaign, Mario, ended up inviting and encouraging his friend, Francisco to come, and eventually he was baptized.
My translator, Eduardo Zomora, saw a neighbor who had known him from a baby, forty-one years ago, give her life fully to Jesus and get baptized.
My wife Joyce, who showed much love and kindness to the young and old, saw a young pathfinder girl named Roxanne, who she assumed was a baptized member, go up for baptism one night. She and Roxanne were the best of friends during the campaign, and when my wife saw her surrender to God and get baptized, it filled her with joy.
The campaign ended on a Saturday evening, with a packed house of nearly 250 people, including 80 visitors. Two lovely couples decided to get married the in the biblical way, in a well decorated church, and after the wedding, all four of them were baptized.
Now this final baptism was no ordinary baptism. The pastor and his team leaders wanted to do something even more special than the closing Olympic ceremony that had just been shown on TV. And so for the grand finale baptism, all of the thirty souls that had been baptized all along the campaign came down the aisle in a darkened church with lit candles in their hands. They surrounded the baptismal pool and lined the aisles. The pastor told me that they only had scheduled three baptisms for the night, but the Lord touched hearts and fourteen were baptized that night. As the candidates came down the aisle, the new converts cheered them on with candles held high. After they were baptized, a candle was handed to each one, and we all were encouraged by the pastor to share our light with the world!
After preaching nineteen sermons, all filled with the gospel of Righteousness by Faith, and after seeing more miracles than I can write about, I am encouraged to go forward in a stronger way, to let my light shine wherever I go! To God be the glory, great things He hath done!
Attendance was between 146 and 235 nightly, with an average of 60 visitors. People came faithfully, many after working 12 hour days, for $1.00 an hour. Senior citizens, pregnant women, teenagers, and women with very small children came with big, warm smiles, riding on the back of an open truck, holding on to skinny rails. The back of the trucks were always jam packed. A big bus also brought people from other churches in Pastor Molina’s six-church district.
As the service began at 6:30 nightly, the sing-along videos were displayed on the white sheet screen, and the place was filled with heartfelt singing that needed no song leader to encourage them. Young and old sung with such sincerity and zeal that tears flowed from my eyes many nights before it was time to preach. I imagined that heaven would have such singing.
The conference president said that we would not wait to the end of the campaign to baptize, but would ask the Lord to give baptisms daily, adding to the church daily such as should be saved. His prayers were answered in our Divino Salvador, Mejicanos church as souls who were already being ministered to by team leaders, came down to be baptized every night. Night after night, souls would miraculously come down and express their desire for baptism, the total number being 44.
While I was preaching, over ten team leaders were in the back room meeting with the pastor and praying hard for souls to come to Christ. As the appeal was being made, they would come out and in a personal, close way, appeal to their visitors to accept Christ as Lord and Savoir and be baptized. It was heart touching to see them appeal to their friends’ hearts. The pastor would continue the appeal after I finished and then even after the baptism would make a strong appeal while in the pool.
After one “pool” appeal by the pastor, Julio, a fully clothed teenager, came down under conviction, and went right to the front of the church, walked into the pool, shoes and all, and was baptized. Praise God!
The next day, the pastor asked me to baptize and watch the miracle of a “pool” appeal, and after I baptized, I made an appeal, and a young lady came running up with tears falling profusely. She was comforted, dressed in a robe, and baptized that same night! God is awesome!
One night after the pastor and I made a lengthy appeal, it seemed like there would be no baptisms that night, so I proceeded to the back of the church to shake hands. The pastor, whose faith was much stronger than mine that night, put on another music video, and made another appeal after that. A precious soul came down for baptism to my utter amazement! As I shockingly looked on, he asked me to get dressed so I could baptize him. Pastor Molina knew how to encourage, mentor, and teach his student!
The first person that was baptized in the campaign, Mario, ended up inviting and encouraging his friend, Francisco to come, and eventually he was baptized.
My translator, Eduardo Zomora, saw a neighbor who had known him from a baby, forty-one years ago, give her life fully to Jesus and get baptized.
My wife Joyce, who showed much love and kindness to the young and old, saw a young pathfinder girl named Roxanne, who she assumed was a baptized member, go up for baptism one night. She and Roxanne were the best of friends during the campaign, and when my wife saw her surrender to God and get baptized, it filled her with joy.
The campaign ended on a Saturday evening, with a packed house of nearly 250 people, including 80 visitors. Two lovely couples decided to get married the in the biblical way, in a well decorated church, and after the wedding, all four of them were baptized.
Now this final baptism was no ordinary baptism. The pastor and his team leaders wanted to do something even more special than the closing Olympic ceremony that had just been shown on TV. And so for the grand finale baptism, all of the thirty souls that had been baptized all along the campaign came down the aisle in a darkened church with lit candles in their hands. They surrounded the baptismal pool and lined the aisles. The pastor told me that they only had scheduled three baptisms for the night, but the Lord touched hearts and fourteen were baptized that night. As the candidates came down the aisle, the new converts cheered them on with candles held high. After they were baptized, a candle was handed to each one, and we all were encouraged by the pastor to share our light with the world!
After preaching nineteen sermons, all filled with the gospel of Righteousness by Faith, and after seeing more miracles than I can write about, I am encouraged to go forward in a stronger way, to let my light shine wherever I go! To God be the glory, great things He hath done!