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Missionary to America: Edgar Arroyo, Guatemala
Edgar Arroyo left Guatemala for the United States to find work. He wanted to earn enough money to marry his sweetheart. Things don’t always work out the way we plan, and Edgar’s search for a job in the United States did not go well. After a long time, his sweetheart gave up on Edgar.
Alone, on a dark street in Los Angeles, Edgar’s head down and his heart broken, he wondered if it was worth living at all. He prayed, “Lord, if you are there, show me the purpose you have for me in this life.”
Then he heard music and singing coming from inside a church. The door was open, lights were on – he hesitated, and then plodded inside. The Spanish singers welcomed him, prayed with him. Invited him back. It was not exactly what he was used to, all that singing with guitars providing the cadence for hymns praying to God, but the people were warm and friendly. He went back again, and again. His search for work brought him to a church with a Child Care Center. He started as a custodian. But a missionary to Hispanics, Rev. John Durkovic, sensed Edgar had more to offer. The hole in Edgar’s heart received the affirming words of the missionary. Actually, Edgar could not find God, but God had found Edgar.
It had not been his plan, to become a Missionary to America – but the man who had prayed, “Let me find you God,” was found. Edgar entered a program at Concordia University Irvine to be ordained as a pastor/missionary. He spent several years beginning a new outreach to Spanish speaking people in Los Angeles. Today he heads a congregation in Carpinteria, California that reaches out to Anglos and Hispanics.
A man from Guatemala did not come to the United States because he was looking for work – he was brought to us, as a gift, from the Lord Jesus Christ.