Level 1 Training Testimonies

Marie

Marie is from Guatemala. As a teenager she became the first believer in her family. Since then she has led her mother and one brother and sister to Jesus. As a young Christian she took a job doing administration and secretarial work for her church. It is a large church of several hundred members, but it is in a very poor area of Guatemala City. Over the years Western short-term missionaries would come to her church to minister to the poor. Seven years ago, through their encouragement and example she felt called to serve God in missions. Though her father has died, and her family is poor, she regularly ministers in the barrios, helping and giving as she can. In preparation for mission work, she took a local missions course and even now is taking night courses at a nearby Bible school. During the mission’s course she first heard about people groups that had no churches and she has been praying for them ever since. At that time she received a burden to reach the unreached. She talked with her church leaders about serving overseas. They agreed she should go, but said they could not offer any financial assistance. That was five years ago. One of the EVI trainers spoke at her church last October and shared about the program. After he spoke, many of her friends came to Marie and told her she should go. The church offered her $100, and scores of other friends provided $1 to $10 gifts to buy the plane ticket to send her to this training, hopeful she would be selected for the next level of training (we provide free room and board). It was the first time she had ever flown on a plane.