By Gerardo Hernandez
Hello, beloved brothers and sisters. Today I want to share a little from my testimony.
I am from Pachuca Hidalgo, Mexico—two hours from Mexico City. When I was little, about 6 years old, I began to like music. My wish was to be able to play guitar, and in those days, my father had a guitar that he played. My father was very careful with his things. One day I wanted to pick up the guitar to play, but he scolded me because he did not want me to break it. So, I grew up with the desire to one day be able to buy a guitar.
In the year 1999, I came to the United States and lived here in Illinois in Mundelein. At that time, I had not given my life to Christ. In the year 2003, I was sitting on the balcony of the apartment where I lived. I was anguished by so many thoughts that came to my mind. I felt an emptiness in my heart.
One day a relative of my brother-in-law visited me. His name is Ignacio. He greeted me very kindly and asked me for my name. Suddenly he started talking about God. He asked if I wanted to accept Jesus Christ as my only Savior; I told him yes. Then I felt that something happened in my life. I felt a peace in me; the Holy Spirit started working in me.
A few days passed. I suddenly went out to throw the garbage in the container outside, and I saw a guitar on the garbage container. I said, “Wow, a guitar. Thank you, God, for fulfilling my desire.” I took it and looked at it everywhere. I said to myself, “How beautiful it is. It only lacks a few strings and some grooves.” I was so excited that I went to the store to buy what I needed to repair the guitar, along with some songbooks to be able to learn to play. That’s how I started to play.
In a few days, Brother Ignacio came back to visit me. He brought me some praise music cassettes and also a Bible. I started to listen to them, and over time I started to practice them and study the Bible to know more about God. My life has not been the same. Jesus Christ has been changing, restoring, and transforming my life to this day. I thank God. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Thank you, brothers and sisters. My wife and I feel blessed to be part of the Lutheran ministry. Thanks be to God.