The Lord has blessed us with many opportunities to spread the gospel in our missionary work in Calgary.
With God’s help we started a series of vegetarian cooking classes in Calgary on November 23rd. It was not easy because of a problem that occurred at the last minute. A month prior, we had requested to use the same church that we rent for our meetings on Sabbaths. They had given us permission to use the church’s kitchen, but two days prior to the first cooking class, we were informed that we could not use the church’s facilities. By this time we had done a lot of advertising through the radio, Internet, and personal invitations. Thank God we were able to use the church after all, but only for the first cooking class. Nine women attended, willing to learn a healthier way to eat; and one of them announced that she has decided to give up meat eating, together with her husband and children. Some women came as a result of our radio program. We taught them how to make gluten and tofu spinach souffle. Please pray for this project that the Lord will give us many sincere souls through these cooking classes. This is our daily wish and prayer.
The radio ministry that we started has given us many interesting experiences with the Lord. In the beginning, while Br. Jerry Eaton was visiting Calgary for a week, we applied at a radio station for air time to present our message. Unfortunately, they answered us two weeks later that they did not have any spaces available for this year. Then we remembered that one of the programs on the air is a religious program. We decided to talk directly with the owners of this program to see if they would allow us a portion of their time slot to preach via the radio. This was very exciting; we prayed to the Lord, asking Him to open doors for us. Then the director of the program who is in charge of the 5-6 pm time slot (a minister from an evangelical church), told us that he has to ask the people in his church about this, because many other churches have requested the same opportunity and have been denied.
We explained that we, as the International Missionary Society, did spiritual work for families and the community. After waiting a couple of weeks, they finally got back with me and asked me to present a theme entitled: “How to deal with rebellious young people.” He gave us 15 minutes of his one hour time slot. By grace of the Lord, people liked it because many called the radio station to thank us for the message. The subject was initially going to be presented in one session but there was so much interest, so many people calling, in that the minister asked us to come again the next week to continue. The same happened the second week, so he asked us to continue for a third week. This was wonderful because they did not charge us for this initial presentation, which lasted three weeks. The next subject we presented was, “How to educate your sons to be responsible and confident.” This material took two programs to cover for the same reason; the good response of the listeners. Praise the Lord. Now we are presenting the subject of, “How offence affects our lives” and then “Finding spiritual healing for our heart.”
We thank the Lord for the interesting experiences have had while we have been on the air. For example, after one of our programs, a woman called to thank us for the program of that day. She told us that it will help her to think about how to change the behavior of her sons.
On another occasion, after the program, while we were with Julio, (who is one of the other speakers in that religious time slot), one of his friends called him asking to meet us. We met him at a Tim Horton’s to drink tea together. When he arrived, he told us that part of our program that day touched him deeply and he identified with the theme we were presenting. His name is Angel España and he is the treasurer of the church, a very special elderly man. He told us that he attends an evangelical church and he always listens to the programs on the radio. He gave us his phone number and wants to keep in touch with us. We are praying that the Lord will show us a way to touch his heart with the truth of the gospel.
But the most beautiful experience from these first five programs was the one that we had last week. After we finished the program, a man called me and said he had been praying to God for a few days to show him a church where he can attend, because he is dissatisfied with the church he has been attending. The Lord told him to listen to the radio that day, and when he turned on his radio he heard our program. He told me that he was attending a Baptist church, but he didn’t feel comfortable because he didn’t understand the message completely, and he desired to meet with people who speak Spanish. Then he told me that he understood that the Lord has a purpose for him and his family in this country and he is willing to follow the path the Lord is showing to him. Before this, I invited him to the group that we are meeting with in the north of the city, because he and his family live outside of Calgary to the north. The Bible Study that we have with this group is on Sunday afternoons, and the biggest surprise was to see him parked in his car, in front of the house where we hold the study, half an hour before the start. He came out of his car and we joined in a big hug. He then introduced his family to us; his wife Rosa and their three sons Daniel, Ezequiel and little Misael. It was wonderful to have them in our humble meeting in the basement of this house. He told us that he wants to come to our church as well, and wants to help in preaching the gospel. Also he mentioned that the doors of his house are always open for us any time we want to go to study the Bible because he has six people who are willing to study the Bible with us.
It has been a good idea to conduct this group study on Sunday because it has opened door for people to attend who are accustomed to worshipping on Sunday. They have an opportunity to meet with us and study about the true day of rest.
By God’s grace we hope that many will be added to His fold in this city, because He has shown us His mercy and has illuminated our way with opportunities, like the radio program, to reach people who will be part of his flock. We encourage you to work with the media, like radio or TV and also the Internet to take advantage of every gift and talent that the Lord has given to His church. Be creative when you spread the Word and this will open many doors. Deal with the necessities of the people, satisfy their needs through the Word and show them God’s promises and His love that is with us in eve-ry moment of our lives. And finally, humble your hearts before the Lord every moment, every morning, so that He can guide your every step in soul winning. Those who are around us need words of hope in this world without hope. They need to know that God loves them, forgives them, and desires a better life for them.
Please pray with us, so that the work in Calgary will continue to grow in winning souls for Christ.
Elder Hernandez