Transcribed and translated by Andrés Castillo
I came from Honduras to the U.S. with the dream of returning to my country to start a business after two years, but my stay was prolonged.
I was introduced to the Mennonite church through my wife, Mirtza, who was a part of Encuentro de Renovación congregation in Miami, Florida. At that time, the church had existed for about five years.
I started studying through Instituto Bíblico Anabautista (Anabaptist Biblical Institute) because I wanted to know more about God. A brother from the church named Nicho motivated me to grow in my spiritual life.
After a year of attending Encuentro, I married Mirtza. Soon after, I was invited to be a leader in the church. I didn’t know what gifts the church leaders saw in me.
Suddenly, theological differences arose in the church. The pastor at the time preached the prosperity gospel, which some of us didn’t agree with. This caused the church to split. The pastor left, took most of the people with him, and we were left with five or six members.
Seeing the need, God pushed me into pastorship. If God had given me the option, I would not have chosen to be a pastor, but for one reason or another, nobody else was able to take on the responsibility. I had a desire to care for others—I did home visitation with my wife—but I had never thought about doing it with the title of “pastor.”
Encuentro restarted with the members that remained. Some leaders from the Southeast Mennonite Conference and Homestead Mennonite Church helped us with ideas for how to continue as a church. We continued evangelizing and inviting people, and the church started to be filled again.
Although I have been actively pastoring, sometimes I have doubts if God has called me to ministry. I wonder, “Why didn’t God call someone more prepared?”
In my initial role as an interim pastor, I suffered from a partial facial paralysis. The doctor asked me, “Do you worry? Are you stressed? Something caused this.” I realized that I was trying to solve other people’s problems, ones that were out of my control.
In 2020, the pandemic came, bringing another new beginning to the church. A couple of years later, we received another blow: a new Florida law that forced many of our congregants to flee the state.
Today we have a congregation of about 20 members. Some are long-time members, and some are new. Past events have helped us understand that the church belongs to God, not to us. When we realize this, we can rest and know that there is hope, that someday, God will multiply our church.
At Encuentro de Renovación we believe in mutual transformation carried out through companionship and communion. It is a multicultural church that faces difficulties, but we share in meals and other activities. We also provide an opportunity to give feedback after the sermons, which are not given only by me.
My wife Mirtza and I have three daughters: Jocelyn (29), Johanna (27) and Marlyn (26). We like to read, watch movies and go for walks in the park.