Luis Montano

I surrendered my life to God before
going to WCBC. I still had no clue what
that meant nor did I know exactly what
capacity I was going to serve the Lord full
time. All I knew was He had my life to do with it as
He saw fit. During my first year in WCBC I realized
He wanted me to preach. So I surrendered to be a
preacher. I knew God wanted me to focus on the
Spanish-speaking world. And still I did not know what
country. Toward the end of my fourth semester God
placed Mexico in my heart, and I surrendered to what
God had placed in my heart.

It has been said that “a faith that has not been
tested cannot be trusted”. During deputation we
faced our times of trial, and that was a preparation for
what was to come in Hermosillo. As we got settled we
started our massive door knocking endeavor for the
launch of Iglesia Bautista de Hermosillo (Hermosillo
Baptist Church). The goal was 10,000 flyers. My family
was up for the task. Seeing that we had passed out
about 7,000 invitations two weeks before launch day,
I decided to pass out close to a 1,000 tracts in one
day. Not knowing that I was already showing signs of
dehydration from the previous days of door knocking,
after four to five hours of door knocking I collapsed on
the floor. I really don’t remember much. I do remember
getting up but I have no recollection as to how much
time I was out on the floor. I remember parts of how
I got to the car and walking into the house. That is
all I remember. My wife told me I came in and said “I
don’t feel good” and then collapsed on the couch until
the next day. I remembered feeling
horrible for a couple of days, feeling
sick to my stomach. I remember feeling
desperate because we had so many
invitations left and our launch day was
approaching and I felt too ill to go out
like I had been in the days past. After 4
days of getting back to speed I went out
again but I still struggled with energy
levels. I remember telling “I did all I
could” I was scared we were going to
have a small turnout because we did
not pass out all the invitations. We
ended up passing out just a little over
9,000. But God brought me to a state
of weakness so that I could depend on
Him more. I prayed more. Our launch
date was awesome, as we saw more
than 59 adults come, and over 12 saved,
we knew that was the Lord’s doing.

The lesson God is always
reminding me in is to be faithful
no matter what the outcome. The
hardest things I felt was to continue
even though I felt like a failure. I
guess we all push for something
great, but maybe great for me was
20 people saved, but even if 5 get
saved that is “great” in God eyes.
By nature I push, I organize, and by
nature I want God to give me results
like I imagine them. It has been a
journey for me to learn that when
things don’t come out like I wanted
them, I can rest knowing that I did
my best, and God deserves my best
whether He decides to bless me
with visual outcomes. I determined
no matter how many come, I need
to stay faithful.