ON FIRE FOR CHRIST By Marlon Wallace
p Brownsville Seventh-day Adventist Church outreach team. q Adalberto Mendez, left, chose to be baptized by Marlon Wallace, Brownsville Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor, after hearing about the church from Ivan Guajardo.
I
was at the door greeting people following the worship service at the Brownsville Seventh-day Adventist Church in Brownsville, Texas, a few months ago when this young man asked, “Are you the pastor?” After confirming I was, the young man asked permission to attend the worship service. “Of course!” I replied. What he didn’t know was that the church had been praying for more young people to start attending. Seeing that he was alone, I asked whether someone had invited him. “No, sir,” he replied. “I was just reading my Bible,
14 | THE FLAME |
Winter 2020
found out about the Sabbath and wanted to start keeping it.” Continuing the conversation, I learned that Ivan Guajardo had been reading his Bible for a couple of years on his own, trying to find meaning for his life. He grew up in a loving, traditional Catholic home but had many questions about religion and especially about the Sabbath. We started studying the Bible together. Guajardo was thrilled with everything that he was learning and soon decided to be baptized. Unfortunately, before his baptism he faced some challenges. His mother, who is a wonderful person, was afraid that her son would lose his salvation if he left the Catholic faith. She tried many times to convince Guajardo to quit his efforts of going to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She even set up a meeting between Guajardo and the local priest. They exhausted their arguments
