The Energy of a 10-Year-Old Girl

June 24 2011 / ShareHim in Colombia, May. 13 - May. 28 '11 #491
by Oscar Rodriguez


Personal Testimony of Oscar Rodriguez.

My experience in Bogota Colombia was a wonderful one. When we arrived I did not know what to expect. I had envisioned what it could look like. But once we got there, it was something different. Bogota is a huge city. It was like being in a major US city. The people of Bogota are one of the nicest people I have ever encountered. I felt that they were very polite to us foreigners while we were here.

The church that I was assigned to was a small church of 60 members. But the majority of the members are young people. They were praying that a young preacher would arrive to their church. In the past, they were given preachers for other campaign but were older preachers. They wanted one who could be the same age as some of the young people of the church who could relate to them well. The day I came to visit the church and meet the board, they were very welcoming. They were very excited to see their prayers answered. We were able to interact with each other and got to know many of them on a personal level. They had everything set and ready to go for the campaign. That made life easier for me as I preached the sermons throughout the campaign. They were able to set up a group of women who would be in charge of having dinner ready for me when I came to preach. I had some of the most wonderful dishes. There were things I had never tired and did and it was delicious. The church members were very wonderful and I felt much embraced as a part of their family.

As soon as I began, I noticed that I had a big impact and influence on them. They would come to me for guidance and advice. They take the presence of a pastor or preacher seriously. I was glad I was able to help them and be able to preach the Gospel to those who needed it.

During the campaign, I thought that at the beginning it would be packed with people and then during the week, attendance would die down. To my surprise, it did not. I had for the most part a consistent attendance of members. But I always had visitors come to the meetings. I always had a minimum of 7 visitors. One point, I had 18 visitors come to the meetings. That was impressive. The members did their groundwork ahead of time and it showed. There were moments where people laughed, cried, and best of all, repented. At the end of the series, there were 11 for baptism and 10 left for future baptisms.

There was one story of a 10-year-old girl who from the moment I met her, I could see that she was full of life. The first thing she said to me was that she wanted to be baptized. But her mother did not think she was ready to be. Her mother is an ex-Adventist who also wants to return to the church but for some reason she is not. We talked and were able to find out some interesting things about her daughter. She is a miracle to be alive now. She was born very sick and was not given much hope to live. She has many tumors in her head and her skin is peeling or discoloring. But you can never know by just looking at her. She runs, plays, and is full of energy. She wanted to be baptized and we spoke with the mother and she agreed. But now it was time for her to make the decision as well. But she would flop on the decision numerous times. She would say “yes” one day but “no not yet” another day. Finally on the day that her daughter was baptized, the mother accepted the final call to prepare for a future baptism. Praise the Lord!
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