My parents were not Christians, but they were very religious and sent me to Sunday school at the Apostolic Faith Church in the Dominican Republic, where we lived. I went regularly and learned about God and His Word. One night in my teenage years, while I was alone in my room I heard the voice of God telling me, “If you do not repent, you will perish.” Those words resonated in my heart.

The next evening, I went to church service and heard the preacher say, “You can accept Jesus into your heart this night.” I did not pray right then, but after I returned home and was alone in my room, I got on my knees in the dark and prayed. I asked God to forgive my sins and save my soul, and suddenly the room lit up and the Spirit of God came down. I started to give glory to God because I knew something powerful had happened in my life; God had saved me.

I went back to the church the next evening and told the pastor I had experienced genuine salvation. God had fully changed my life, taking away my desire to use bad words, listen to secular music, and dance. I began attending all the church services, and the Lord gave me Christian friends. Together, we read the Bible, prayed, sang hymns, and talked about the Gospel.  

My pastor often emphasized the need for entire sanctification, and I began to pray that God would give me this experience. When time passed and I did not receive it, I decided to fast and pray. As I was crying out to God on the third day, He did something beautiful in my life that has lasted: He purified my heart. The Adamic nature was removed and an inner fight was gone, leaving only peace in my soul. 

Later, God filled me with His Holy Spirit and fire, and I knew the work was complete when I spoke in another language. After the Holy Ghost came into my life, there was more power in my words to reach souls with the message of the Gospel.

Over the years, God has been good to me. He gave me a Christian wife, and we have five children and many grandchildren. God has answered so many prayers for our family in miraculous ways that I could tell of them for hours. When our children were at home, we prayed for them whenever they were sick, and God answered every time. One dramatic miracle took place when our eldest daughter became sick and could not keep down any food for seven days. My wife and I were praying for her one evening when she became very weak and lifeless. We called for our pastor to come. When he arrived and checked her vital signs, he concluded that she was already gone. However, he said, “We must pray.” We started praying and her spirit revived and she spoke, but she was still very weak. My wife gave her some milk, and we continued to pray. After an hour, strength came into her hands, and within several hours she was walking. God in His mercy and love had returned her life, for His honor and glory. Now she is over fifty years old and glorifies God as a minister in this Gospel. 

When my wife and I were raising our children, we set aside Sundays for fasting and praying as a family. This came to an end when the children grew up and left home. Then in 2008, there was a great move of God within the church, and many of our family members were saved, sanctified, and baptized with the Holy Ghost. At that time, the Lord told us that if our family would pray together, He would bless us. We began coming together on Tuesdays to fast and pray, and we have continued this practice since. It has been a blessing and we have seen many answers to prayer. Today, all of our children are ministers. We praise God for this. He is full of mercy.

God allowed me to serve Him as a Sunday school teacher, youth leader, minister, and since 1994, as a pastor. Yet the biggest call on my heart is to pray. We are living in days of apostasy where even some churches are straying from sound doctrine. Though I preach, my focus is on praying, because I know that prayer is our power supply. We need to pray to maintain our experiences, remain loyal to the Gospel, and hold firmly to sound doctrine. 

I am so thankful for God who has been with our family in a mighty way. My goal is to be loyal to Him, and one day to obtain eternal life.