The Holy Spirit is moving strongly on the hearts of our viewers. One of those who have been moved is Roberto Chavez, a retired engineer, who lives in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Several years ago he began watching 3ABN Latino and came to the conclusion that we were preaching a message from the Bible that he’d never heard before.
One Sabbath morning, he felt strongly compelled to enter a church building he’d seen many times before on his way home. As he entered the lobby, brother Ovidio Galindo reached out his hand and introduced himself. He proceeded to ask Mr. Chavez if he was coming for the church service, or if he was just looking for someone, to which Mr. Chavez replied, “I’ve been watching a TV channel called 3ABN Latino, and they talk about prophecy and other interesting topics. However, this morning I was impressed that this is the church they make reference to in their programs.” Brother Galindo was delighted, and after the service, they set up a time for Bible studies.
To everyone’s amazement, Mr. Chavez soon proved that he had a good understanding of the truths held dear by the Adventist Church, and it wasn’t long until he made his decision for Christ and was baptized. Today he is an active member of the Guatemala City Seventh-day Adventist Church! We rejoice that the Lord is blessing 3ABN Latino’s efforts to reach the millions of souls who live in Latin America! Thank you for your support!
We love to hear how 3ABN Latino has impacted our viewer’s lives and I’m often moved to tears when I hear how the Lord has brought about a change of heart through His transforming power. I feel so energized and encouraged that I just want to say a big, Praise the Lord!
Here’s a beautiful testimony from one of our viewers in Nuevo León, Mexico, which made me smile. In fact, parts of it made me laugh out loud!
3ABN Latino was invited to take part in a special event held in Mexico City, Mexico, that encouraged people in that huge city to embrace a healthier lifestyle. God really blessed, and we were able to assemble a set where we could interview people who have come into the Seventh-day Adventist Church because of 3ABN Latino programming on the hundreds of cable companies in Mexico!
A “Different” Channel
María Teresa Flores Morales, a wife and blessed mother of three daughters, was flipping through the channels on her television one day when she suddenly found a “different” Christian channel—3ABN Latino.
What is this? she wondered. Who are these people? And what are they talking about?
Because she takes care of her grandchildren, she says that when she discovered 3ABN Latino she’d only spend a few hours at a time watching our programs. “But I made my grandchildren watch the children’s programming,” she admits, “because, after all, 3ABN Latino has something for everyone.”
Maria Teresa come across 3ABN Latino one day, and found she could not pull herself away—much to the annoyance of her daughters, who wondered if she’s lost her mind!
When her daughters would come to pick up their children after work, they soon noticed that their mother wouldn’t leave her bedroom to say hello or goodbye. Instead, she’d just sit there watching 3ABN Latino intently, with her Bible in her hands!
“Dad, I don’t think Mom’s feeling well,” one of her daughters commented one day. “I think there’s something wrong with her! How can we get her to stop watching that channel and get out of her room?” However, nothing they said could pry her away from her television.
I asked María Teresa what kept her glued to 3ABN Latino, and she answered, “I was enthralled because I was hearing and learning many things I’d never known—and it was all in the Bible! But what impacted me the most was that I never knew the Sabbath was part of the Ten Commandments. I honestly didn’t know! How can it be part of the Ten Commandments? I asked myself. And how is our relationship with God?
“I continued watching and giving God thanks because I was growing in Bible knowledge. I watched all the programs, and all the pastors—including you and your husband John,” she says. “And then I began watching Respuestas Bíblicas [3ABN Latino’s Spanish version of House Calls/Bible Answers]. I had so many questions, but I never bothered to send them in because someone else would beat me to it every time, and I’d get the information I needed to know! It felt like that program was custom made just for me!”
A Frustrated Family
When asked how often she watched 3ABN Latino, María Teresa admits her family got pretty frustrated with her.
“They actually got mad at me for watching that channel so much,” she says. “But I kept telling my husband that it was beautiful, and that they taught the Word of God and presented the truth.”
Her daughter Miriam says, “I was surprised by Mom’s comments, and they actually touched my heart because we were practicing a religion that didn’t explain a lot of biblical things. So I started getting interested, as well. I kept reading the Bible even though I didn’t understand a lot of things, and Mom kept explaining them to me.”
Another daughter, María, says, “Mom surprised us by watching 3ABN Latino all the time! We had a tradition of getting together every weekend for family gatherings and meals, but she was always so engrossed in watching 3ABN Latino. It frustrated me, but one day Mom said, ‘Honey, just listen to this man, Pastor Andres Portes. Listen to what he is saying.’ So I stopped and listened, and to tell you the truth, I felt something nice inside. He spoke so nicely that I felt it was getting somewhere within me; but I still held back and sarcastically asked my mother, ‘So are you going to become one of the sisters? It’s best for me to leave your house!’
“Months went by, and Mom continued watching 3ABN Latino. I told my father, ‘Mom is sick! There’s something wrong with her!’ But because of her sweet spirit, before you knew it, we began to see that there was something wrong with us!”
An Invitation?
The first time María Teresa visited a Seventh-day Adventist church was a memorable occasion. Her husband dropped her off at the church and said he’d be back to pick her up, but as she approached the door she hesitated.
“May I come in?” she asked.
“Of course!” the greeter replied as they offered her a Visitor Pin so others might welcome her, too.
Many people did welcome her, and several asked who had invited her to church that day.
“Oh, I didn’t know I needed an invitation,” she stammered. “I don’t know anyone here!”
Thankfully, a lady who overheard this conversation exclaimed, “The Holy Spirit invited her! That’s why she’s here!”
That made María Teresa feel special, and she proceeded to tell them all how the Holy Spirit had been working on her heart while she watched 3ABN Latino.
Then she surprised them all with a question:
“I’d like to get baptized. How do I go about it?”
Run and Hide
María Teresa was delighted when a couple from church began visiting her home to have Bible studies. She invited her daughters and their spouses, but every time the church members would pull into the driveway, everyone would run and hide! Even little Daniel would pretend to be asleep!
Pastor Elias Reyes Rivera beams as he prepares to baptize María Teresa, and her daughters María and Elizabeth. Several other family members are studying and preparing for baptism, as well.
But finally, they were each impressed to join in, and today all but one of her daughters are baptized members, along with some of their husbands!
(And in case you’re wondering about the others, well, I’m happy to tell you that they’re studying to be baptized, too!)
“I’m so thankful that the Lord brought this channel to my family,” María says. “It’s a great blessing that Mom found it, and that she shared it with the family. We are here now thanks to what happened with Mom by finding the channel, by learning about God. ”
Daniel says he loves to go to the church because he’s learning about Jesus. “I’m learning that He has a lot of love for me,” he explains. “I want to be in Heaven with Him!”
I still laugh when I picture those family members running to hide, but I praise God that today her family stands undivided, serving our Lord!
Won’t you continue to pray for 3ABN Latino? Because of you, we can reach much farther than our minds can comprehend.
Thank you for your sacrificial giving! You have truly been missionaries in many countries without paying a penny for a passport or an airplane ticket. Your investment in 3ABN Latino enables us to preach the gospel both here at home and around the world!
It was just another sunny afternoon on the busy streets of Humacao, a city on the southeastern side of the Isla del Encanto (Enchanted Island), as many like to describe Puerto Rico. It was Saturday, August 11, 2007, and what happened that day would impact many lives with sorrow and sadness.
An absurd misunderstanding between Humacao police officer Javier Pagan, and a well-known biker, Miguel Cáceres, would end in the tragic death of a husband and father of a ten-year-old boy. The struggle between the two that ended with Miguel’s death reached a worldwide audience after a bystander recorded the crucial moments in which the police officer unloaded his firearm on his victim, who was already down on the ground. The footage filled the following hours as news outlets and TV networks from all over the island and the world showed the graphic images of the two men fighting, surrounded by a multitude of people who witnessed the events in disbelief.
Revenge!
The years that followed this episode were marked by what seemed like an endless legal battle to serve justice in this complicated case, and meanwhile, another story was developing. Miguel Cáceres, Sr., the father of the man killed that afternoon, made a solemn promise to himself. He would not stop until justice was served. He would avenge his son’s death. He would kill Javier Pagan himself when he was released from jail, as he awaited his sentence!
Mr. Cáceres’ world became ever blacker with hatred and sadness. As he thought of how to kill Javier, the stress ate away at his body, but he didn’t care. Finally, as his resentment reached a critical point, his heart gave out on him and he suffered a heart attack that nearly ended his life.
Another Saturday
But God had a different plan, and another Saturday afternoon changed his life. While he lay in his hospital bed recovering from his heart attack, a group of ladies from the Las Piedras Seventh-day Adventist Church came by to visit and pray with the patients. After their visit, one of them took the time to contact Mr. Cáceres’ family, and later visited them. She also continued to ask God to take the hate and sadness from his heart.
Meanwhile, 3ABN Latino was working with the Puerto Rican church leaders to broadcast a massive evangelistic series entitled, “Un Futuro Con Esperanza”(“A Future With Hope”) with Pastor Robert Costa. 3ABN Latino would soon carry the series live from the very city where this tragedy had occurred, and the lady who visited the Cáceres family didn’t waste any time in bringing them an invitation to attend.
By God’s grace, Mr. Cáceres accepted her invitation and began attending the meetings. God wanted this man for His own, and by His grace, the Holy Spirit touched his heart and converted him! During one of Pastor Costa’s altar calls, he gave his heart to Jesus and came forward for prayer.
Today, Miguel Cáceres, Sr. is a new man. Although the life of a young man was tragically taken, his father now has a new life in Jesus Christ! He eagerly shares his testimony at prayer meetings or with anyone who will listen, and by the time you receive this magazine, Miguel will be baptized as the newest member of the Las Piedras Seventh-day Adventist Church. God has truly transformed his life, bringing him out of darkness into the marvelous light of His love!
Visit the Las Piedras Seventh-day Adventist Church
If you’re in the area, please visit the Iglesia Adventista del Séptimo Dia, at Calle Faris Santiago #7, in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. They would love to have you worship with them!
At times we don’t realize the impact of the little things we do. However, they often have an impact for eternity. Not too long ago I received what seemed to be a normal phone call. A lady thanked us for our programming and gave me her prayer request, but as the conversation developed things started to change.
For the past four years, 77-year-old María Ramírez has been watching the 3ABN Latino network. When she moved into her new apartment she brought along her satellite dish and installed it, but soon one of her neighbors complained because it was against the housing policy.
María prayed, and when the administrator came to speak with her she said, “If you take away my satellite dish, I will die.”
“Die?” he asked.
“Yes, I will die spiritually, because this is my spiritual food,” she explained. (Amazingly, the administrator allowed her to keep her dish!)
DOING MORE
Although María is a monthly donor to 3ABN Latino, one day she questioned whether she was giving enough to God’s work. As she asked Him what more she could do, the thought came to her to collect aluminum cans, recycle them, and send the money to 3ABN.
Soon María was going through the dumpster every day looking for cans, and it wasn’t long before her neighbors began approaching her, worrying she might be in need of food. Each time she would tell them about her plan, and many of them began helping her!
“But the enemy tried to harm me,” she adds. One of her neighbors became so angry they denounced her again to the administrator and threatened to kill her if she continued to collect cans!
Once again he spoke with María, asking why she was collecting cans. She showed him all the receipts she’d received from her donations to 3ABN Latino and other ministries, and he congratulated her—he even gave her an offering to send to 3ABN!
Next, María began encouraging her aunt to collect cans, and, just as before, her aunt was threatened with eviction as she began to help! María assured her by saying that if they kicked her out of the building, she should be at peace, because God was in control. “For us who love the Lord, all things work out for good,” she said. “He who gives, receives.”
(Not surprisingly, her aunt was never evicted.)
AMAZED
These aren’t the only ways God has used María to testify about His power and love. When she went in for her regular checkup, her doctor was deeply impressed by her health improvement. He asked her what she’d been doing to keep herself healthy and she told him that she’d been watching 3ABN Latino’s health programs and learning about natural remedies. Impressed, her doctor told her he would try them for himself and share the information with all his patients.
“I know why you are improving,” he said. “You take care of your health, and you always have a smile on your face. When you come here you’re always sharing literature with other people in the lobby, you get your exercise gathering cans, and you donate that money for God’s work.”
María asked us to pray for the owner of the apartment building where she lives. He has health problems, and noticing her good health habits, he asked her to cook for him every other week. He was even willing to pay her, but she refused.
Truly, María’s life of service to others, and to her Lord, is a testimony to those around her. Faithfulness in the “little things” are having an impact for eternity!
Recently, Pastor Armando Miranda, vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, related a remarkable story to us. While traveling in Texas for an event earlier this year, he met a fascinating couple who had told him of an amazing “coincidence.”
Gabriel and Minerva Hernandez live in what they call “The Valley” in south Texas, an area close to the U.S. border with Mexico. They have seven TV sets in their home, but six of them couldn’t receive any TV channels, and the seventh one could only receive two channels: a Mexican sports channel and 3ABN Latino. However, the sports channel came in so poorly that it wasn’t too appealing to watch.
One morning Gabriel watched 3ABN Latino for a couple of hours and was blessed by the programming, but when he turned it on later that evening, his wife asked, “Why are you watching that channel again?”
“Oh this is a Christian channel, and it’s very good,” he told her. Then he added, “You should watch it, too.”
“Oh really?” she asked as she stood there for a moment.
Before long Minerva was sitting down. As she was a much-sought-after speaker, pastor, and evangelist, 3ABN’s programming was very appealing to her. They began watching together whenever there was an opportunity. Having a theological background, Minerva ordered some Bible studies offered in one of the programs and began to dig deeper.
Eventually their interest prompted them to contact Amado Sanchez, a local Seventh-day Adventist pastor, and he invited them to an evangelistic series scheduled for the next two weeks.
“I would love to be able to come every night,” Minerva said, “but the only night I can come is Monday, since I have to preach all the other nights.”
“What a shame,” Pastor Sanchez said. “I think you would really appreciate these presentations.”
“PLEASE DO SOMETHING”
Gabriel and Minerva came on Monday and they were blessed. Again she expressed her wish to attend every night.
Later that night she prayed, “Lord, I would really like to go to these meetings, but I’m booked every night to preach. If You really want me to go, please do something to make that possible.”
I believe God heard her prayer, because the very next morning she received an apologetic call, explaining that an unforeseen situation had developed and asking her if she was willing to postpone her preaching for two weeks.
“No need to apologize,” she said. “God is in control, I don’t have a problem postponing for two weeks!”
The Lord had worked it out, and they didn’t miss a single night. Soon after, Gabriel and Minerva were baptized, and today they are happy members of the McAllen Spanish Valley Central Seventh-day Adventist Church. What seemed a strange coincidence was really a blessing to them!
Once again, we praise the Lord for using 3ABN Latino to help people “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18.
