“My name is Eduardo González and I have served as pastor at Iglesia Bíblica de Albacete since 2017. I have the joy of serving the Lord in the church where I grew up, even though this seemed impossible just a few years ago.”
You may not know Eduardo, but supporters like you—who pray and give to our Berea Training Center in Spain—have been used by God to help revitalize Eduardo’s church. Were Berea Seminary not to exist today, Eduardo’s church might look very different. He shares his story below:
“Our church was born out of a division regarding the charismatic movement. During that time, a group of believers sought to return to the Scriptures, and that conviction moved them to plant a new church in Albacete, Spain. Through the teaching of John MacArthur in his book Charismatic Chaos, some of the men of the church had the conviction to honor the Lord and go back to a biblical expression of Christianity. However, while our new congregation started out with a good desire to get back to the word, there was no biblical leadership to shepherd it. Sadly, they soon became immersed in liberal theology.
After the Lord saved me, He gave me the conviction to train for ministry. I thought that I should study at our own denomination’s seminary. However, when I started my studies, I quickly understood that this institution was a fundamental part of the problem in Spain. Contrary to their own confession of faith, most of the teachers denied the inerrancy of the Scriptures. Because of that, no one practiced expository preaching and they believed that everything said in a pulpit was valid. As long as we have expository preaching and biblical leadership in Spain, we will have hope to see fruit in this spiritual wilderness. We have begun to see it already. To God be the glory!
It was then that, by God’s grace, I heard about Berea Seminary. In one of their conferences, they announced the launch of their Diploma in Expository Preaching. At first I was puzzled by the phrase “Expository Preaching,” and that led me to attend a conference on preaching with Pastors David Robles, Luis Contreras, and Henry Tolopilo [Berea faculty]. I was so impacted by that conference that I immediately signed up for the program as if my life depended on it. Berea was an oasis in that desert. I remember David Robles began the class by establishing the inerrancy of the Bible. I remember that day thinking to myself: “Finally, I’m home.” God had given me the fellowship and instruction that I so desperately needed for the ministry.
In 2017, my home church called me to be their preaching pastor and instantaneously, the Lord started to work on the congregation by the power of His word. Today, our congregation joyfully sits under the word because they recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ; and they follow Him (John 10:27). Expository preaching allows His voice to be recognized, and it is powerful beyond our expectation. The other day, an older gentleman from the congregation said to me, “We had never understood the word as we do now, and we have never had this kind of fellowship as a church before.” This was made possible through training I received at the Berea Seminary.
The ministry of Berea Seminary is a direct answer from God to the prayers of many in Spain. It is my desire that God would continue to use it for the restoration of His word in the pulpits. As long as we have expository preaching and biblical leadership in Spain, we will have hope to see fruit in this spiritual wilderness. We have begun to see it already. To God be the glory!”
Be encouraged today as you read this reminder of what can happen when God’s voice is heard in a church—even a church immersed in error. Without God working through the prayers and support of people like you, Berea Seminary would not exist. But because it does, Eduardo was given the opportunity to learn to preach at a pivotal point in his life, and his church is enjoying the fruit of that. Thank you for your support of men like Eduardo, and please know that your investments in their education can be used by God to help change churches around the world.
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