Introduction and Background
Today I will share my testimony of how I got saved. I will share a little bit about my life before salvation, and how I heard the gospel. I will also share a little bit about what happened the moment I received Christ and what's happened since that time. Thanks so much for listening to my story!
What was your life like before salvation?
Going to school in 2nd and 3rd grade, I would always see the brownie scouts dressed up in their uniforms, and I thought that they were so special. I wanted to be special too, and to wear a special uniform. I wanted to become a brownie scout also. Finally, in the 3rd or 4th grade, my mom signed me up to join a girl scout troop! And, I was so excited. I got the green uniform, and we would wear it to school on troop meeting days. That began a 3 or 4 year stint of girl scouts for me.
I sold girl scout calendars; I sold famous girl scout cookies. Back in those days, it was safe to go door-to-door in my neighborhood. Nowadays, I would not recommend this for a 10 year old, unless she was with her parents. I sold enough cookies and calendars to earn me a scholarship to girl scout summer camp! So, I was industrious; hard-working; resilient. I earned the badges to sew onto my sash. For those of you who may not know, part of our girl scout uniform was a sash that was like a wide ribbon that went across diagonally on your chest and front side of your body. I was also a little bit shy, and timid, and a quiet kind of person except with close friends. And, I was a good student, getting good grades. The teachers always told my parents that I was a "model student".
However, not all was dandy. For example, in kindergarten one girl told me to call another girl a "fatso" and I did. Less than five minutes later, a teacher, a mom, my mom, and the little girl, all came up to me, and I got severely verbally reprimanded for name calling that little girl. Nevermind that someone else told me to do it! She should have been in trouble too. The teacher insisted that I apologize, and say sorry to the little girl, but I refused. I would not be forced to say sorry for that. All I could do was look down on the ground and wait for this torture to be over.
Another childhood incident when I was babysitting one of my little brothers, I got this crazy idea of tying a piece of string around his fingers for something (now I don't recall what exactly). When my mom got home, I again got in trouble for doing that; she said I could have chopped off his finger by doing that. Well, I'm not sure today if that's true or not, but as a young child I believed her!
How Did you hear the gospel?
After 3 years of being a girl scout in the 4th through 6th grades, our troop leaders offered to keep us together; they renamed us "The King's Kids" where we still continued to meet, but there would be a Bible teaching component included. I had a Catholic upbringing; I took a class for the holy communion in first grade. I had to learn and memorize the 10 Commandments and the Our Father prayer.
I also participated in a correspondence Bible study either in my youth or teen years. I do not recall exactly how my name got entered in to this correspondence Bible study, but, I would do a lesson, and mail it back in. Then someone would "correct it" (check it) and send me the next lesson. I learned important biblical concepts at that time. I learned that "as far as the east is from the west is how far God has removed our transgressions from us". I also learned that "the word of God will not return to Him void"; in other words, that God's word would accomplish the work it was meant to do.
In high school, one of my classmates had started a youth Bible club, and I participated. In one of our conversations, I distinctly remembering discussing the similarities and differences of my faith of upbringing (Catholic) and his faith (Protestantism). Although there were, I believed, many similarities between the two, he pointed out one major flaw of the Catholic doctrine about praying the rosary and of praying to Mary. From that point on, I think I began to not say the Hail Mary prayer anymore, nor the rosary prayer.
What happened at the moment you received Christ?
(Part 1) In the 7th grade, as part of "The King's Kids" group, we had a girls sleepover slumber party. We were eating snacks, playing games, and telling ghost stories because that's what you do at sleepovers. One of the girls wanted to say bedtime prayers so we did. Since we had been spending time each week also reading our Bible stories, it was not weird when one of the girl scout leaders, Linda, gave us an invitational prayer to receive Jesus into our hearts. She asked us to raise our hands if we wanted to receive Jesus, and I'm not sure who did or did not raise their hand. However, there was a lot of emotion and crying; maybe that was the power of God? I too, got weepy eyed, teary eyed, and wanted to say yes in my heart to Jesus. And, our girl scout leader, Linda, prayed over all of us, whether we raised our hand or not, that if our hearts wanted to respond to receiving Jesus, that we could know that we could also do so.
(Part 2) This same classmate, Dave, who had started the campus Bible club, told me about the Billy Graham crusade coming to Anaheim Stadium. He told me I should ask my mom to take me, and fill up the van with people and go there! And, that's exactly what I did! My mom took me, 2 of my classmates (girls), and maybe my 2 younger brothers, and we all heard Billy Graham speak the gospel message at Anaheim Stadium. At the end of his speech, Mr. Graham gave us the opportunity to respond to Jesus. He said if we wanted this Jesus he talked about, that if we wanted to know that when we died we'd go to heaven, if we wanted to have our sins forgiven, then to make a public declaration of this desire by coming down to the field. He assured us that our friends would wait! So, I stood to my feet, and made my way down to the field, saying yes to Jesus again, in my youth. I was around 16-17 years old at the time. And, I met a girl who was a counselor and she prayed with me down on the baseball field.
What's happened since receiving Christ, since your salvation?
- many rededications, consecrations to the Lord
- work of the Holy Spirit
- correspondence Bible Study/discipleship in my youth
- youth Mexacali short term trips/outreach
- after college outreach mission Ukraine, soccer missionary, dance missionary (serving Christ)
- sowing/reaping poor choices-poor results (dark side)
- good choices-good results (light side, God's side)
- TODAY-studying under Dizdar training daily; I will occupy until Christ comes-
- I am experiencing God's staying and keeping power 40 plus years
- season of darkness, unhealed wounds no match for God's saving power
- I am growing in God's grace and knowledge of salvation by faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. I am growing in my friendship with God. I am a true believer in Jesus Christ, the One True God of the Universe, and I build myself up daily in the power and strength of the Lord.
- I went on an overseas mission trip, gave a speech to young kids, and at least one girl from a Budhist background got saved, receiving Jesus as her Savior.
- praying for loved ones to get saved; bringing friends or family members to church
Blessings and Thanksgivings
I am grateful and thankful to three brothers in my life that God has used to help grow me in the faith.
One is Paul McGuire. Through Paul's ministry, I learned (in 2020) that my life is to be about fulfilling the Great Commission Jesus taught in Matthew 28. In other words, the God-given purpose of my life is to teach all people everywhere to obey all that Jesus taught and did. This is true life.
The second brother I am grateful for is Russ Dizdar, who I only heard of recently (August 2021). Through Russ's fatherly, motivational and biblical teachings, I learned and am learning how to engage in powerful spiritual warfare, and how to grow in becoming all that God has intended for me to become.
Finally, the third brother I am inspired by is Joe Kirby from Off the Kirb Ministries (October 2021). Joe gave a Black Friday challenge to believers to go out and share the gospel on this year's Black Friday. By writing this testimony, I am encompassing and combining these men of God's teachings, all similar in nature, all God's calling on my life. Because of Joe, I am recording a video of my testimony and will share it on social media (hence, I thought I'd write it down here first, for practice). Because of Russ, I learned a simple format for giving my testimony (the 4 questions you've just read). And, because of Paul, I realize the importance of being obedient to Jesus Christ.
Thankful to God for these brothers who have helped me get back on track. To God be all the glory.
Final Remarks, Conclusions
Please accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior today friend. The time is short. The world is a mess. We are not going back to normal. No one knows the day or hour when Christ returns. Your eternal life is at stake, here. One day we will all stand before God, and He will either say to believers, "well done good and faithful servant, now enter into the joy of your master's happiness", or he will say to non-believers "depart from me for I never knew you".
Where you spend eternity is truly up to you. Acknowledge before God that you are a sinner in need of a savior, and call upon the name of the Lord; then you will be saved. Repent and believe that Christ died for you. Jesus said, in John 3:16, "for God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life". Jesus also said, in John 14:6, that "He is the way, the truth, and the life. And that no one comes to the Father except through Him."
Thanks again for reading my "Black Friday Story" here today. God bless you always. ~Monica Velez
