MY VERY EARLY (Gullible) YEARS
I was saved over 30 years ago in Puerto Rico, when I was eighteen years old. Fortunately for me and my family, our first steps in the Lord were under the spiritual direction of a true man of God. We would have our services, not under a traditional church "building", but under a tent. That's right. The name was "Carpa Catedral", Cathedral Tent. We started learning about God in a non-traditional way. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, in those days all we knew for sure about "the Pentecostals" was that they did not cut their hair, did not wear make-up, did not shave their legs, and did not wear pants. Sad to say, my experience with them at the time was not welcoming at all.
I remember one day that I was standing by the door with some friends, curious about what they were doing there (or was it God calling?), listening to their singing, and somebody from the church approached us to tell us to go away because we were wearing pants. You would think that it was the perfect opportunity for them to tell us about God, but that’s not what happened. Did I mention that I lived next door to this church? I don’t remember anyone ever knocking at my door to present the Gospel of God either. I want to think that this happened because they did not know any better, and although this is true, the problem is that many churches, from back then, and today, are full of traditions of men. Consciously or not, their attitude is very Pharisee-like, topic that I will discuss in another chapter.
It took this man of God, an evangelist, David Garcia, coming from Texas during a Revival Crusade in my town, Ponce, for my family and me to have a close encounter with God. The years we were under his leadership were ones of profound learning, spiritual freedom, and blessings from the Holy Spirit. Brother Garcia aroused a lot of controversy among the local churches because of his approach to Bible teachings. By no definition, was he a perfect man, but he was not at all like the other preachers. He had no legalistic or pharisaic doctrine; only the free and unadulterated Word of God.
Right from the beginning the desire of my heart was to preach the Word of God. God called other members of my family to different ministries such as teaching, music, and singing. It was hard to take-off in a ministry in those days because the religious system of the time was very tight, very traditional, and very much men-oriented. Our church took the ministries to the streets through door-to-door evangelism, street corner services, and revival crusades.
That was great, but I also wanted to reach out to Christians in the churches, so I remember saying to myself, “Well, Evelyn, comply, at least you will be able to get in there and teach the truth”. The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (NIV) “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible...I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some...”.
Paul did what he had to do for the sake of the gospel, so I figured I should do the same thing. You see, you have to know how I am, my personality, to understand why I came to this conclusion. I am not afraid of challenges, very daring, and have to try what comes to my mind. I don’t like to NOT do something, and then wonder what would have happened if I would have had the guts to do it. I remember discussing this with a male evangelist friend of mine and he said…”you can’t go in there preaching that?...they are not going to let you in!!!” While he is talking, I’m thinking...”if I can’t preach the truth, then what the heck am I going to do there?” (“Truth” meaning the Word of God without the doctrines of men).
Dear reader, you are still going to find people that will argue with you to the death with regards to pants, make-up, and even underarm shaving.
I remember buying suits (I had like 14), all skirts of course, used no make-up (I looked like a ghost), and did not cut my hair or wore any jewelry. I was about 21 years old at the time but I looked like a neglected 40-year old. I’m glad I did not have a problem with gray hair at the time.
I don’t know, but somehow, after Brother Garcia left to continue evangelizing, our church started to believe that this “traditional” way of believing was right (it didn’t feel right, though); after all we were just beginning and these other pastors had so much more experience! (Lord, help us!)
BUT my preaching was still strong, no “beating around the bush”, no entertaining doctrines of men, and no “sucking up” to the leaders of the time. Needless to say, I wasn’t very popular among men preachers who thought I wasn’t supposed to be there to begin with; after all I was a woman. My little sister would say to that “Oh Brother!”. Why was I selected to preach when there were men there to do it? I remember that during a revival campaign, where I was the preacher, one of the ministers that were sitting at the pulpit refused to shake my hand and told me that I shouldn’t have been the one preaching. I shrugged my shoulders and didn’t say anything. I was so used to that that I said to myself…..”Grow up…”, in the Lord, I meant.
God started using my sister-in-law, Wanda Batista in the music ministry and we traveled together with a ministry of singing and preaching. God was manifesting Himself in amazing ways, people were saved, and we were happy, but we were still unable to accomplish many things. I remember poor Wanda being harassed by the church of the time because she had short hair and because they thought the picture on one of her records was “too sexy” (she rested her body with one leg against a tree). Wow!
I would like to tell you that everything was perfect after that but I would be lying. It is not in vain that the Bible says that we are in a constant battle with the flesh, the world, and the powers and principalities of darkness. A battle that leaves you exhausted, full of guilt, and lacking in faith, strength, and peace unless you get a hold of the promises of God. The Bible says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:11-13 NIV)
Since day one of our conversion we were told that God had a purpose for our lives, and if not a purpose, a mission. We complain about how boring our lives are, about how we are living a routine, and about not being challenged enough. There is plenty of excitement and challenge if we want to live our lives according to God because “...the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and [only] forceful men [and women] lay hold of it” (Matthew 11:11-13 NIV).
The main purpose of this book is not to talk about my testimony but to wake you up to the reality that you must think, walk, talk, and breathe the Word of God twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week if you are to survive this temporary life victoriously and with much fruit. Romans
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