How Learning to Weld Changed Two Men’s Lives
Francisco lives in the high mountains of Salta, Argentina, in an extremely religious town where Catholicism melds with spiritism and Animism. His village is hesitant to allow strangers and very hostile toward missionaries.
Miguel lives in the desert of Córdoba, in a tiny town that struggles to get enough water, and doesn’t have a religious foundation at all. His town is open to new faces but rarely experiences them.
Both men were participants in Crecer’s Trade School program this year. In contrast to the hostility toward missionaries, the trade schools have been met with open doors and overflowing classrooms. Men - and even some women - are eager to learn new labor skills that can bring them up to date in the workforce. The training goes hand in hand with relationships, and always culminates with a gospel presentation.
Francisco’s town would never accept a church plant or missionary but have repeatedly welcomed the trade school and thus have been told to the gospel on more than one occasion. He and his classmates all received a Bible and printed explanation of salvation after our team taught the gospel to them. While some classmates were not interested, Francisco was. He’d never heard this message before. He stayed after class to talk to the team, thank them for the Bible, and share that he understood and was impacted by the word of salvation.
Miguel’s town was reached by a trade school thanks to faithful stateside partners in Boise, who not only covered the costs but sent a team to be present and serve the community during the week of the school. Miguel had had some dealings with the local church plant but hadn’t committed to a life for Christ yet.
During the trade school, he and the trade school leader developed a deep relationship, leading to long conversations, and ending with Miguel’s decision to accept Christ and get baptized.
Both men walked into the trade school hoping to learn new skills to provide for their families, which they did indeed learn. However, both walked out with a knowledge of Christ. That is the point of Crecer’s Trade Schools. Next year, the team has already been invited to 9 towns - double the amount from 2018 - and to places where the truth of the Word is nonexistent. Your partnership with this program will open doors financially where the Lord has already opened doors spiritually.
