Using Professions for Faith Conversations
By Armando and Veronica Sanchez
The business that Armando owns is flexible enough to develop his ministry as a pastor, since he can set his own schedule to meet the needs of the congregation where God has called him to be the pastor.
Armando has hired people who do not know the gospel; he shares with them that he is a pastor and that he knows Jesus. His question for them is, “Do you know Jesus as Savior?” They start a conversation and he shares the good news of Jesus with them. Some of them have been reconciled with God and are now attending church.
Veronica also helps our son with his cleaning business as a supervisor. His group of employees are four women, two from Nicaragua and two from Honduras. One day she went to take them to their work area and they talked a little about the Bible. The next day, she went to supervise them and took them iced coffees to start a conversation about the good news of Jesus.
Two of them have taken significant steps of faith, and another is interested in learning more about Jesus to give her life to him. All four have attended worship at church. We will be in conversation with them to start a discipleship group at home.
Now we’re starting a home meeting, where discipleship has begun for them. We’ve implemented the tools we’ve received from VMMissions.
The man pictured at right on the roof was Armando’s coworker for several years. Armando always told him to return to God’s path, to straighten his steps. He has returned to faith, brought his family from his home country, and now they’re reunited here in this country, and are attending church.
As Marketplace Workers, we receive coaching from Lizzette Hernandez, the VMMissions Latino Ministries Coach. This relationship helps our ministry because she is attentive to our pastoral health, and shares strategies and tools with us to strengthen our ministry so that it is more efficient.
Why do we relate to a mission organization as church planters? We once planted a church without the help of an organization, and it was more difficult because we didn’t have many tools or strategies to evangelize and make disciples.
When we planted our second church, Iglesia Shalom, we did so with the help of VMMissions. It has been a blessing to have a coach, tools, training, and strategies to equip us and start in a different way. Through this partnership, we have reached more people who now know Jesus.
Armando and Veronica Sanchez are church planters and pastors of Iglesia Shalom, Waynesboro, Virginia.