​Visiting Homes and Slums to Win Souls

Three incredible stories about how a 69-year-old Uruguayan man brings people to Jesus.

By Andrew McChesney, adventistmission.org

Miguel Amaro Speranza is 69 and bursting with energy.

A few years ago, Miguel readily accepted an invitation from a friend, Yraldino “Dino” Fernandez, to lead Bible studies in Dino’s home in the impoverished La Teja district of Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo.

In addition to those Bible studies, Miguel traveled with Dino to various people’s homes for more Bible studies in the district, a place where the Seventh-day Adventist Church had no church building.

After a year, the Bible-study participants were invited to a Daniel and Revelation evangelistic series. Sixteen people were baptized.

“Following the meetings, we decided to plant a church,” Miguel said.

Miguel, several other church members, and the 16 new members rented a house and worshipped there every Sabbath. Church attendance grew as the Adventists reached out to the neighborhood with food and clothing. The rented space grew cramped, and church members looked for ways to expand the church building and their impact on the community.

The problem was solved when Adventists around the world helped La Teja Seventh-day Adventist Church purchase its own building and lifestyle center through a Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in 2016.

Miguel is thrilled about the new opportunities now available to the church.

“Our plan is to serve the people in the neighborhood, including the homeless,” he said in an interview in the church’s kitchen, where healthy cooking classes are held. “Many impoverished people live around here.”

Story Two

This wasn’t Miguel’s first time to win souls for Christ.

Earlier, he and a group of church members from El Prado Seventh-day Adventist Church traveled regularly to a squatter settlement comprised largely of crude cardboard-box shelters in a dangerous part of Montevideo.

“Five of us gave 25 Bible studies every Sabbath,” Miguel said. “We also brought food. We tried to reach the people and provide for their needs.”

Church members provided ongoing assistance to 47 adults and 90 children. They also constructed a house where people could find shelter from rising floodwater during heavy rain.

People from the settlement started coming to church. Some arrived by horse and cart.

“As a result of the work, we had 21 baptisms,” Miguel said.

Story Three

Miguel worked 27 years with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Uruguay, and one of his fondest memories is of Walter, a homeless man with no legs and diabetes who showed up at an ADRA center in Montevideo.

Walter had no food and no place to go, and Miguel became acquainted with him while cooking food at the center. He learned that Walter had a colorful past and at one time had been a celebrity for writing satirical songs to perform at Uruguayan Carnival, a major annual festival celebrated in Uruguay in January and February.

Miguel spoke about what Jesus meant in his life, and Walter showed interest.

One day after lunch, Walter said, “Why don’t you teach me about the Bible?”

At Walter’s request, the two men went to a leafy park and studied the Bible together under the warm Uruguayan sun.

“He was smart and learned quickly,” Miguel said. “He was willing to change, and he had a desire to change.”

He quit smoking and changed all his bad habits. At the ADRA center, he received healthy vegetarian food and started to like soy meat.

One day as Miguel was preparing a Sabbath sermon, Walter asked, “What are you going to preach about?”

Miguel explained that the inspiration for the sermon came from a picture posted on his refrigerator door. The picture showed a child fishing food from the garbage and posed the question, “What are you complaining about?”

Opening his Bible, Miguel read Luke 9:13, where Jesus told His disciples, “You give them something to eat” (NKJV). Jesus spoke shortly before the miracle of the multiplying five loaves and two fish.

Miguel returned to his cooking, and Walter busily wrote on a piece of paper. After a while, Walter finished and handed the paper to Miguel.

“If this is useful, I give this to you to use in the sermon,” he said.

Miguel read Walter’s words during the sermon. The church members were deeply moved, and several wept.

Walter had written from the perspective of Jesus, as if Jesus were writing to people. The message said, “You are complaining but look: All around you live people who are homeless, without food, and without clothing. You have a place to rest, food to eat, and clothing to wear.”

Walter then wrote about himself.

“Look at what I am now,” he said. “I used to have friends who drank with me, danced with me, and came to me because I was famous. But now they come to me to complain about their problems, and I say, “What are you complaining about? Look at me. I have no legs and diabetes.”

Several months later, Walter gave his heart to Jesus. As he came out of the baptismal waters, he shouted loudly, “Thank you, Jesus!”

Miguel said he still hears Walter’s triumphant shout today. A month and a half after the baptism, Walter passed away.

“I hope to see him again when our heavenly Father comes to take us home,” Miguel said. “I hope to reunite with him and with all the people God has given us the opportunity to share the gospel with. I want to see all of them in heaven.”

Thank you for your 2016 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering that helped La Teja Seventh-day Adventist Church acquire its own building and community center. Thank you for winning souls for Jesus by teaming up with missionaries like Miguel.