Level 2 Training Testimonies

Patty

I grew up in a poor family in Venezuela. We lived on a rural farm, so as a little girl I would go to the fields to work. I remember being very tired. When I was young my mother was tired of the hard life, so she left my father and went to the big city of Caracas. But in seeking help she met some Christians and they brought her to the Lord, so I started going to church when I was nine years old. It was a Presbyterian church. One day I happened to wander into the church by myself. It was empty. The pastor's wife saw me and came and talked to me. She asked if I knew Jesus personally. I said, "Yes, of course, I sing in the choir." She explained to me that my works for God would not lead to salvation, but I needed to know Him personally. She led me in prayer of salvation. I was 11. As it was just my mother and me, I had to do all the work around the house. My mother had a job and was too tired to cook and clean when she came home. One time my mother said, "Let's go to the market as if we have money." On the way, we found $10 on the ground. I learned from my mother how if you work hard, and even in times of need, God will care for us.

I got my first full-time job when I was 14. I was fired after a few days as they said I was too slow. I went to school half day and then worked. I went to church, but as a teenager my walk with God was not very strong. I applied to a teachers' school three times, but each time I was rejected. About that time a church leader spoke to me, and told me he felt God did not want me to be a teacher but a business person. When I finished high school, I applied and got accepted into a local university. In university I met a man named Abraham who was six years younger than me. Abraham was preparing to go to India to serve God. He asked me to manage his funds for him. So I raised money for him and sent him the money via bank transfers. This was my first exposure to missions.

My first real job was as a manager was of a landscaping company. I greatly enjoyed Fridays, when I would give each person their pay check. I realized that business was good and helping people's lives. While working there, the church needed an administrator and they asked me to work in the church. I prayed about it and took the job, even though it was a drop in pay. But it was good as I learned how the church worked and how the church budget worked. While I was working there the church made a decision to not support any missionaries any more, as the pastor felt we needed all the money for the church. As a result giving dropped and the church lost members.

In 1999 I attended a mission conference and was challenged to go to the tribal people in the jungles of Venezuela. So I made a short-term trip to a tribal church. My heart was touched and I started going more often. Then God gave me Psalm 39 to show me that I should serve Him and not live for myself. I had a non-Christian boyfriend at that time, so I broke up with him. Soon after that my mother died. I felt God betrayed me, taking my mother and my boyfriend. So I stopped going to church, but the emptiness and pain was even worse. So after three months I began reading my Bible again. God spoke to me about trusting Him and that He'd protect me.

Soon after that I heard that the local branch of the "Church Resources Ministry" needed a manager. I told them I was available and they hired me. I've worked for them for eight years. In the beginning CRM trained people in evangelism and discipleship, but I was able to introduce them to world missions too. Now I speak to churches about what is happening around the world. I was shocked at first by the apathy in the churches, but soon was challenged by it, to change it. I started taking church teams to tribal areas do to evangelism. I started raising my own support so I could spend more time in the tribal areas. God gave me Jeremiah1:10, "See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant." I then began to ask God to take me to the nations, to those places where there are few workers. This led me to attend a training center for missions, and I was able to join a short-term team to Egypt. I also heard about EVI.