Testimonies

The second greatest story ever told is the story of what God has done in your life.  That's why we want you to hear these amazing stories of what God has done and is doing in some of us at CCESL.  We will try to post testimonies weekly, so check back often and rejoice with us in the work God is doing in His church!

For there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. – 1 Timothy 2:5-6

I was born in a small town in the jungle of Peru and like many people here, I was raised in a family with Catholic beliefs and traditions that I never liked or understood. I had the idea of a so-called god who gets mad and punishes you whenever you do or not do what he says, but had never heard about having a relationship with Jesus and what it meant to be saved. My idea of going to heaven was basically the outcome of being as good as possible and doing enough good deeds to make God happy.

I would say that my parents and family were great and that my childhood and teenage years were awesome too. Except for the fact that I was introduced to sex at a very young age and to me and many people in the jungle, this was normal and not a big deal. Little did I know that it would affect me enormously later in life.  I struggled a lot with how I saw women, relationships, and many other things. All the pain and tears that came along the way always had me turning for help to a God that I never knew completely but had heard about because of a Christian friend at school. A friend that I did not want to listen to very often and the God I always forgot whenever things got better.

I moved to Lima, the capital in 2006 with many plans and goals, none of which involved studying to have a career, studying English, or even going to a Christian church with a group of crazy (Gringos) Americans. These plans were not the ones God had for me. I studied English from 2009 to 2012 in one of the many language schools in Lima. It was at that place where I met people from CCESL for the first time.  Pastor Rick with his wife Beth and other members of his church were in charge of the conversation club, which was a class for students to improve their speaking skills. Not only did they have conversation clubs in my language school but also at their church, a place that I never wanted to go to, but ended up attending faithfully “just to improve my English.”

It is at CCESL that I understood who GOD really is and what having a relationship with Jesus and living a life for Him means. I started attending CCESL not just for conversation clubs but for every single meeting where they would speak in English, until one day in 2011 a group of young people from pastor’s Rick home church in the USA came and, in an event, called Coffee Shop Night started sharing their stories and how God changed their lives. Those stories were very similar to mine and were used to hear God calling me again. It is after that night at church when alone in my room, silly me decided to give God a last chance. It was Him calling me again; that night I prayed to God and asked Him to help me, and if He really was real, I asked Him to get rid of all the struggles and issues sex caused in my life--things that I had always tried to fix on my own but never could. That night He made me a new and different person, and all the burdens and struggles disappeared.

Ever since that day, I decided to follow Jesus for the rest of my life, and I have been part of CCESL. The Lord has used me in many ways and all for his glory, from setting up tables and chairs, mission trips, sound ministry, kids ministry, worship band--wherever and whatever He wants to use me I am there. Who I am and everything I am is thanks to Him. He has been faithful all these years, and done it all. He has been with me all the time in the good, bad, and ugly. When I thought it was going to be impossible for me to get a job, He gave me one out of nowhere.  He gave me a wonderful wife when I thought I was not good enough for anybody; and when the doctors said having children was going to be impossible, He gave us two amazing children who keep us busy all. And I could keep going.

All I can say is that God is real and that I am a new creature because of Him. There is nothing I did or deserve. It was all because of his grace, mercy, and love that He sent his son Jesus to save me and you. Just as He was there waiting for me, He is there waiting for you today.

 This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” Jeremiah 29: 11- 14 

---Jimmy Vasquez