THE BRAVOS: Missionaries to Chile

OUR TESTIMONY

Alejandro:  I was born in Santiago, Chile the 14th of July 1971. My mother came to know Christ when I was three years old and had a serious illness.  From that point on, my mom began to take me to church every week.  It is because of the grace of God that I began to know His word at a young age.  When I was nine years old, I received Christ as my personal Savior in Sunday School.  When I was a teenager, I received spiritual encouragement in the ministry of Word of Life in Chile.  I went to Christian youth camps, conferences, and leadership training.  At 19 years old God touched my heart to study at the Word of Life Bible Institute in Argentina.   I graduated from the Bible Institute and returned to Chile and  began a Bible meeting in my house with about 7 other people.  God blessed this group and after 15 years  we now have a church, The Misisionary Baptist Church of San Joaquin, with an attendance of 125 people.   In 1997 I met Melissa in Chile.  She was a short term missionary and attended my church.  We began to pray and saw that God was guiding our hearts in the same direction.  We were married in January 15, 2000 .  Our hearts are united in the Lord and we both are happy to be in Chile to win souls and to plant churches for His glory.

Melissa:  I was born in Ohio on the 11th of April, 1975.  I consider myself to be fortunate to have been raised in a loving Christian family in rural Ohio.  As a result, I heard Bible stories and the plan of salvation at a young age. I received Christ as a result of the ministry of the WILDS.  I was five, but I remember the day clearly and the new feeling I had after asking Jesus to come into my heart.  From that point on I attended church faithfully with my parents. God began to work on my heart about missions when I was in high school.  I went to college at Ohio Northern University where I studied chemistry.  There I had many opportunities to be involved in various campus ministries and to start Bible studies.  God continued to work on my heart about missions.  I was made aware of a need for a science and math teacher at an ABWE missionary school in Santiago, Chile.  I prayed about this possibility and God opened the doors.  After I graduated from college, I spent a year in Chile teaching in the school, working in youth camps with Word of Life, and working in the local church.  It was during this year that God gave me a love for the people and for missions.  Now with my husband, we are praying that God continue to bless His work in Chile.