Partner Stories
Battle for a Soul
Gustavo had tried to end his life twice before. “I felt alone,” he says. “I realized that there was nothing in the world that could change my rotten life.” Both times, paramedics revived Gustavo, only to send him back to his hopelessness and despair.
Since he was a child, Gustavo had been in his father’s traditional church of Mexico, “like every good Mexican boy,” he says. “I knew that there must be a God, but I didn’t find Him in church.” Gustavo’s father introduced him to alcohol when he was 12, a quasi rite of passage for becoming a man. “In my search for significance and purpose, I followed peers who introduced me to a gang lifestyle, where criminal activity, drugs, and alcohol became my world.” But the vices soon took a toll on Gustavo’s life and that of his family.
By the time he was 33, Gustavo was married to Silvia, and the couple had three children. Peace and contentment eluded them, leaving Gustavo and Silvia feeling unfulfilled and searching for answers in all the wrong places.
“We began consulting a spiritist, who would recite incantations over us for protection and success,” he says. “He broke an egg over me and saw visions. When I left, my indulgence of alcohol and drugs increased greatly.” Silvia also had struggled with anxiety and apprehension, but the last visit to the spiritist caused her to be consumed by fear.
Marcial met Gustavo when they worked in the orchards, picking fruit for central California’s harvest. Marcial, a member of Iglesia (Alliance) Cristo Salva in Chico, befriended Gustavo and began sharing the love of God with him. “I wasn’t interested,” he says. “There were times that I wanted to hit him because of what he said to me about Jesus.” In spite of Gustavo’s insults and cursing, Marcial persisted, steadfast in his love and testimony, speaking of Jesus at every opportunity.
After two years, Marcial’s faithful witness began to have an effect on Gustavo. But still without hope and at the end of himself, Gustavo attempted suicide again. “I took 350 pills and downed them with alcohol,” he says. “My neighbor found me under my truck in 110 degree heat. I was in a coma for a month. During that time, I remember seeing a dark hole that was going down, and I was heading that way. Then Marcial’s words of Jesus came to my mind. I also saw and felt my children’s arms around my legs as they told me not to go.”
“Satan was trying to destroy him.” says Mark Volstad, pastor of the church and former Alliance missionary in Chile. “But God had other plans for Gustavo’s life.” When he recovered, Gustavo agreed to attend church with Marcial to “try it out.”
Gustavo brought his wife and children to church with him. Silvia was so impacted by the love of God’s people and the ministry of His Word that she surrendered her life to Christ that first Sunday. “Within minutes I saw incredible changes,” says Gustavo, “even in her physical appearance. She told me of the joy, peace, and love that had suddenly invaded her heart.”
Gustavo was moved as well, but it took him two weeks to follow in his wife’s footsteps and give his life to Jesus. “Pastor Mark looked me in the eyes and asked if I was ready to give my life to Jesus. He said Jesus would do what no one else could do for me. That’s the day I was freed," he says. "[His love] was overpowering. I have never experienced such love and acceptance for who I am. I cry so easily now when we sing of His mercy and grace."
“There have been many trials and tests in their lives since that day,” says Volstad. “But God has been faithful in healing and carrying them through each one. They are important members of the congregation and faithful witnesses to any who will hear their story of how God has changed their lives.”
La Iglesia Cristo Salva has been the source of God’s grace for Gustavo and Silvia as well as many others like them who now walk in faith. “The need is great in this area,” says Volstad, “where the Mexican population is so high. Yet we know that God’s heart for them is greater than ours.”
ADF provided a loan for the construction of a worship center for the Iglesia Cristo Salva congregation. Cristo Salva, an outreach ministry to Hispanics, is the daughter church of Neighborhood (Alliance) Church in Chico, California.
