I have never written a blog post or done anything like this so I don’t really know how to do this. However, I will give it a try. My name is John Sanchez and this is the beginning of a journey God has called me to partake in. I suppose I will start with my testimony. I was raised a christian all my life. My parents took my to church from the days of my youth. I grew up familiar with all the bible stories and must have heard the gospel a hundred times. I remember raising my hand when I was like 6 at my private school when asked for the first time if I wanted to accept Jesus into my heart. I innocently raised my hand because what kid wants to live life not knowing if they are going to heaven or not when they die. I did not understand the implications of that decision and to be honest did not see an instant life change but I did believe I was saved and continued my life as normal.
Growing up as a christian, I was exposed to the writings and lives of many of the heroes of the faith. I remember as a young child being exposed to the story of Jim Elliot and Nate Saint and the Huorani natives in Ecuador. The tale of the martrydom of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint and the other three brave missionaries who sought to bring the gospel to the tortured people group. There lives ended abruptly, but though their efforts ended in death, the efforts of their families to still reach the Huorani people despite their murderous ways displayed an attractive quality to me as a young child. The wives of these missionaries were able to use the martyrdom of their families to bring the gospel to these people and redeem them for his glory.
I share this story because it inspired me as a young child to want to be a missionary. As my life moved along though, I began to stray from the things of God. He was a sort of life insurance on my eternity and I wouldn’t really describe how I was living as living for him. That all changed however, on my first mission trip that I took to Dominican Republic when God really changed my life and my heart. I had grown believing in a decision I had made long ago instead of believing in the All powerful Lord of Hosts to transform a man dead in his trespasses incapable of seeking God into a living man in the power of the Holy Spirit who is now free to seek God with all of his heart. The passage in
Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit within You. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
best summarizes what God taught me that trip. It went from me trying to imitate Christianity to God living it out through me by changing my heart and my desires. Giving me a hunger for the word of God and a true relationship with him.
About a year later, I went on another mission trip with my youth pastor to the heart of Ecuador. The city of Shell, where Jim Elliot and Nate Saint, began their journey into the heart of the amazon. This trip was also very life impacting and reminded me of what I wanted for my life so long ago. It was then that I knew God was calling me to a life of global missions in which I share Gods power to transform one’s life for the better, to teach people to glorify him and enjoy him forever to the ends of the earth.
