Pastor Aaron
Pastor Petra Balgue
Pastor Aaron's Testimony:
Before meeting the Lord: I grew up in a dysfunctional family. My parents divorced when I was only 5 years old. Like all children of that age my sister and I (2 years older than me) did not understand much of what was happening, but in the end my dad won custody of us, something that is not common in Nicaragua. I grew up without a mother figure, which I never understood how that could affect the growth of my sister and me. As a child I was a fearful and insecure, but above all, very physically weak. I grew up practically alone, without my mother and without much attention from my father, which silently made my heart more rebellious and hard. I was raised morally by my father, teaching me that we were good people and that if we helped others, everything was fine. I graduated from a Catholic school, I went to the university, and I started working but there was always a void and dissatisfaction in my life. In the end I got bored of doing everything I did. I got bored of studying and even working, but I kept thinking that I was a good and correct person because I didn't do what a normal teenager my age did.
When I was 20 years old, a former high school classmate invited me to a youth activity, but I said no at the time, as the activity took place on Saturday. I can only say that it was God working in my life and preparing my heart without any explanation and I changed my mind and accepted to go to the church activity. It was God's grace as I did not want anything to do with churches that were called evangelical, but by God's mercy from that day I stayed in the church.
Conversion: Three months later I stayed that day near the church after finishing the service waiting for an activity in the afternoon and on the way to a supermarket a pastor of the church preached the gospel to me. At first, I was very confused in my mind as nothing he told me made sense in my life, since it was the opposite of what I had been taught. But that day I was convicted of my sin, evil and offense in being a sinner before a Holy God. That day everything changed for me: the desires, thoughts and attitudes of my life changed. God began to work in my life and desires, including my interests. I began to desire to know more of Jesus, to the point of quitting my job to be able to attend Youth studies on Wednesdays. I began to get involved in the church and to grow, which was putting the desire to serve the Lord as a missionary.
By the grace of God, at the age of 25 I married my beautiful wife Betty who was 23 years old, and 10 months after we were married, God called us and took us to the Ometepe island to start a church in the community of Merida, which was launched on May 4, 2014. In 2018 we moved to the Balgue church, the first church that was founded on the island of Ometepe, in which we currently serve the Lord. God has been good and faithful to all of us and in these 16 years in which the Lord has worked in my life and that of my family, we have three children: Elizabeth (8), Lukas (6), and Matías (18 months). Glory to God for all these years that the Lord has been faithful and good, for saving me and making me able to serve him.
Before meeting the Lord: I grew up in a dysfunctional family. My parents divorced when I was only 5 years old. Like all children of that age my sister and I (2 years older than me) did not understand much of what was happening, but in the end my dad won custody of us, something that is not common in Nicaragua. I grew up without a mother figure, which I never understood how that could affect the growth of my sister and me. As a child I was a fearful and insecure, but above all, very physically weak. I grew up practically alone, without my mother and without much attention from my father, which silently made my heart more rebellious and hard. I was raised morally by my father, teaching me that we were good people and that if we helped others, everything was fine. I graduated from a Catholic school, I went to the university, and I started working but there was always a void and dissatisfaction in my life. In the end I got bored of doing everything I did. I got bored of studying and even working, but I kept thinking that I was a good and correct person because I didn't do what a normal teenager my age did.
When I was 20 years old, a former high school classmate invited me to a youth activity, but I said no at the time, as the activity took place on Saturday. I can only say that it was God working in my life and preparing my heart without any explanation and I changed my mind and accepted to go to the church activity. It was God's grace as I did not want anything to do with churches that were called evangelical, but by God's mercy from that day I stayed in the church.
Conversion: Three months later I stayed that day near the church after finishing the service waiting for an activity in the afternoon and on the way to a supermarket a pastor of the church preached the gospel to me. At first, I was very confused in my mind as nothing he told me made sense in my life, since it was the opposite of what I had been taught. But that day I was convicted of my sin, evil and offense in being a sinner before a Holy God. That day everything changed for me: the desires, thoughts and attitudes of my life changed. God began to work in my life and desires, including my interests. I began to desire to know more of Jesus, to the point of quitting my job to be able to attend Youth studies on Wednesdays. I began to get involved in the church and to grow, which was putting the desire to serve the Lord as a missionary.
By the grace of God, at the age of 25 I married my beautiful wife Betty who was 23 years old, and 10 months after we were married, God called us and took us to the Ometepe island to start a church in the community of Merida, which was launched on May 4, 2014. In 2018 we moved to the Balgue church, the first church that was founded on the island of Ometepe, in which we currently serve the Lord. God has been good and faithful to all of us and in these 16 years in which the Lord has worked in my life and that of my family, we have three children: Elizabeth (8), Lukas (6), and Matías (18 months). Glory to God for all these years that the Lord has been faithful and good, for saving me and making me able to serve him.