This is the story of my coming to faith and growing in faith in broad brush strokes. There are always more details of God’s grace to tell…
I grew up in “suburbia” (Norcross, Georgia – a suburb of Atlanta) and like many around us, my family was trying to live the suburban dream. We were not Christians, nor did we pretend to be. Although the lawn was nicely kept, things on the inside were not so. As I neared adolescence the cracks of my families foundation were beginning to show. The pursuit of this worlds riches and the abuse of drugs and alcohol took its toll. My own suburban dream world came crashing down on me when my parents divorced when I was eleven or twelve. This was and still is a wound in my life. And yet, the Lord would use this wound to show me my need of Him, even at a young age.
By God’s grace, my dad started to attend a church down the street. It happened to be Perimeter Church (PCA). Each week my dad would ask me if I wanted to go to church and each week I would decline. Eventually, primarily to get my dad to stop asking me to go to church, I went. And I found a refuge that I needed. In September of 1989, my youth bible study leader led me to Christ (I remember him sharing the Gospel with me in the parking lot of Wendy’s). Although I attended youth group and bible study, the reality of my faith in Christ were not cemented until two more incidents of family crisis came at the end of my 9th grade year and the middle of my tenth grade year. For the rest of my time in high school, I continued to grow in my faith and first became aware of both my call to ministry and the gifts that the Lord has given me to fulfill that calling. I also met my wife (Lydia) during this time (we started dating when we were 16) and was nurtured in her family’s home – a Christian home.
My future wife and I both attended the University of Georgia and found ministry opportunities both in our campus ministry (sponsored by Worldwide Discipleship Association) and local churches. I also served as a youth intern for a Baptist church my freshman year. At the beginning of my junior year I became the Youth Director at Christ Community Church (PCA) in Watkinsville (just outside of Athens, GA). This was further opportunity to grow in my walk with Christ and ministry experience. My wife and I wed in August 1998 and decided to stay a few more years at the church before attending seminary. This gave us an opportunity to start our marriage in a familiar and loving place, as well as giving me more time as the youth director (I also added Outreach to my job responsibilities after graduation).
In 2000, we moved to St. Louis so that I could earn a Master of Divinity at Covenant Theological Seminary. It was a great blessing to be at Covenant, although not always easy. Yet, we know that it has been through the hard times that we have grown tremendously in our love for God and our trust in Him. Also, there was the opportunity to grow in ministry and my sense of calling during that time. Specifically, the opportunity to serve an elderly Baptist congregation as an interim pastor (one of two) for a little over a year. Also, while in St. Louis, the Lord blessed us with our first child, a son. The Lord also blessed us with our daughter shortly after graduation from Covenant and shortly after my beginning work at Calvary Presbyterian Church, where I served for five years. In June of 2009 I began to serve North Hills Church (PCA) in Meridianville, AL (just north of Huntsville) as senior pastor.
We find that God continues to pursue our hearts, not because of what we can do for him, but because He desires us to be more like Christ. Therefore, God must receive all of the glory for who we are in Christ and what He continues to do in us. May those who read this, praise the Lord, for He is the Lord of salvation.
June 11, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Thanks for your story…please keep my husband and I in your prayers as we begin to embark on a similar journey at Dallas Theological Seminary! -Jessie
tjandjessie.wordpress.com
June 13, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Thank you for taking the time to read my story and I am sure that the Lord will bless you during time at DTS – it’s really His story after all!
September 2, 2009 at 10:38 am
I came across your blog from the tagsurfer of my blog. Felt really happy to read your story…The way Holy Spirit molds a person to the way He wants him to be is just amazing. May God Bless You..
springsinthedesert.wordpress.com
September 8, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Thank you for stopping by and for leaving your kind comments. And yes, God is amazing.
September 11, 2009 at 5:36 pm
As peaces of clay, our Lord molds us and sometimes he uses fire. Your testimoney is wonderful. The Lord showed mercy with you and your family though parents divorced. This situation made you appriciate your own family more and the importance of being the spiritual leader in your home. Now a community.
In 1956, my grandfather brought my mother, sister and I to Miami from Cuba. I was six years old. He was the umpire of the international basball team of Cuba in the 1953-54. This was his part-time job. HIs full time job was that of a carpenter of luxuary boats. He had an accident at work and cut off half of his hand. He was very proud of his work and they were just keeping him because they felt sorry for him. He decided to move the family to Miami. He got a great job here doing the same work on luxuary boats. In Cuba at that time he was very well known throughout the Island for is stand on principles. My mother was 14 and very rebellious, my dad was 19 and the “John Trevota” of the time with all the girls.” Mom ran away with him and the whole town found out about it. To the families shame, the police, judge made them get married while the family was in mourning with embarrassment. My dad was a gambler, Cuba used to be the Las Vagus of the time! I was born shortly after, nine months. Mom was 15, the family tried to separate them and that is why grandpa brought us with them. When I came to Miami, mom had my sister before coming. she is 10 months younger than I. Both of us were the only hispanic in the whole school. Grandpa had to do all the papers to make sure he was going to support us. It was very difficult for me not knowing the language but I could understand. A friend of grandpa came to visit us and took us to a little Baptist church where I accepted the Lord. Mine you no one in the family was a believer. I loved to hear God’s word when they would take me to a cousins of grandma’s and I would enter another little church while the family was visiting. My teachers were believers and they talked to me about the Lord. This was public school. They helped me when I was feeling very alone not having my dad. Later at 17 I met my husband while working at McCory’s he was 24 I now have been married 43 years. by the grace of our Lord. We have five sons and I have been active in church since 21 years old. My husband accepted the Lord with a co-worker at Eastern Airlines who used to go to Jamaica and smoke those strange things. until he got saved. One day while they were having lunch another co-worker, mechanic stood up while they were having lunch and for no reason at all slapped Richard, this was a very tall man.He told him, knowing he was a christian, “Now turn the other cheek” Richard stood up and said, “I’ll forgive this one for the Lord but if you just touch me again, you are going to be nailed to the grown. This impressed my husband so much, he used to be a gang member in Miami when he first came in 1959 because there was a lot of prejudice in the schools being hispanic, they had to stick together and the fights were of ethnic. When he saw whatRichard did knowing Richard was no angel but a Christian man who was witnessing to him, This action made empressed him so much, he accepted the Lord while he was taking a shower at home that evening. We had bought a small house and my husband told me if I would consider living in a trailer for a while and to buy a peace of land and make our own home. We had four sons now. 2,4,6, and 8 years old. We moved far away from the city but close enough to afford Christian education for the children. At the same time of moving to a little trailer while building, I was expecting our fifth child. It was so hard in the middle of no where, without water and electricity. He worked two jobs, eastern airlines and southern air transport, (cia) After 10 years, he needed triple by pass, we all went to Houston Methodist Hospital. Here they would not touch him. after 12 more years at the same time the government wanted our farm for the Everglades scam, restoration. They would flood us, our property of over 1,200 agriculture land. They would do this when a storm was coming to study the natural flow of water? They devalued our land though it was not wet-land. It took them over 12 years to decide if they wanted to expand the park or not. We could not buy, sell, or move. At the very same time, my husband calls me from his doctors appointment and tells me he can not come home. I told him do not worry, come home when you can…. It was a week short of a year waiting for a heart transplant.
when he was put in intensive care, a storm was coming and I knew they were starting to add water and close the levees to our south. I could not park in the grass for they were adding water through the northern levees. I called the guy in charge of the restoration Alyson De Fore, put there by governor Jeb Bush at the time and I had gone to Tallahasse representing our area. He did not open the levees gates to our south, the storm came and it back fired to all of the state of Florida! Miami was under water and this was done diliberately! Last week of September, 1999. My husband came home to a flooded road 10 days later and I had to take care of the lines going into his heart because of the flooded roads. Finally in 2004 after devalueing our area properties lying saying we were wetland when we were higher than anywhere in elevation, They took our farm, they had ruined our grafted trees three times. The study is called the Iteration 7 of South Florida Water Management District. They gave the project over to the ARmy Corps for condemnation so they would not have to pay our lawyers fees. We had one of the top eminent domain lawyers in the nation because I had joinded the Tax Cap Commitee and was taking petitions gainst higher taxes and fees and Toby Brigham, lawyer was one of the persons who wrote this law to take place. He firm represented us for many years. they even visited my husband in the hospital. and when they saw how they assalted my family, threaten demolitions around us that would be deadly with the aspergilis fungus becoming airborn, these lawyers tried so hard but saw the corruption and if we were to go through the courts, it was their own people. Throughout Florida millions of acreas were taken. These lawyers waived their fees at the end. In the middle of all this nightmare. The Lord was with all of us. The church helped me emotionally and we had the support of the body of Christ. We were so left alone to battle the government. As I write, they are mining all this area for lime rock and getting ready for oil. The pictures I have no one can emagine. This is when I saw globalization, our national parks part of the United Nations world heritage sites, and our agriculture being distroyed with treaties done with south and central america to bring in all of our produce. In California they are also destorying the farming communities. All this is to make us dependent in third world countries. A pastor gave me to see a film called White Mountain. I could not believe the things, laws in place and information. After I saw this and a third pump station was being made in the middle of the Everglades, I went around this restricted area and took some picture from far away and all the miles of fruit trees and vegetables that they were going to destroy. The owners of these lands came to see who I was taking pictures in the middle of no where and then they shared with me that they were also losing their land. I believe they have done a restraining jail, not a pump station, for the civil problems of the future if we continue with these socialistic ideology. I have seen and heard in meeting how scientist from FIU, christian who would not go along with the lies of water contamination just to control the land were being harrassed and had to leave the project. I saw how senator Bob Graham gave millions to the university, the fish and wildlife and environmental groupd to be bias. They would go section by section with the army corp, Colo. Rice and the only contamination was by Turkey Point Nucler Plant! My sons keep telling me to be careful, because the government had done many things with families, including WACO, and I am sure they lied and manufactured many things. Just like they envaded that little boy who drifted alone at sea whose mother was bringing him form Cuba and drowned. Her family were taking care of him here and the communist dade and Castro wanted him because they were superstitious and Castro wanted to use his blood for his witchcraft ritual. Janet Reno under president Clinton ordered the raid to take the boy to the communist island without giving the family a hearing. It was money and politics. Clinton recieved over two million dollars for his library from China in Trade for information of names of human rights persons there. Why did Clinton went to get the two North Korean girls? He has always delt with these communist nations including Cuba, Presently I have neighbors to our relocated home that live in six acres, two homes, tennis court, barns car building and they have been here only six years from Cuba. Speak no English and money is no object. The Hummers and vehicles and animals and luxuary seems they must be some of Castro’s relatives. It is not my business but the reason I am writing all this is for my brothers and sisters t know what is going on. These are signs of the times and all these hard things are to make us stronger in the Lord for we know our Lord is coming soon. Be strong and may the Lord guide you to lead your church. I am a member, sunday school teacher of SouthWest Community Church, here in Miami Fl. and very active in church, my family. I love my brothers and sisters in the Lord so much. I pray many blessings for all of yours too. If you ever would like me to send you pictures of all this, I can always try.
Blessings, YOur sister in the Lord,
Berta Valdes