Untitled Document

Pastor Antonio Carlos Santos Testimony of Salvation:

On May 14,1995 , the Lord touched the heart of missionary Roger Crowder to accompany some of the folk from Igreja Batista Fundamental on a trip to Santa Maria for Mother´s day. Many of them had family in Santa Maria.

My brother, Alex Sandro, and my sister-in-law, Fabiane, were in that first group to visit with Pastor Roger. They, along with my Uncle Daniel, had invited Pastor Roger to hold services at my mother´s house in a villa (favela) where there was no water or electricity. There were 54 people present that night, but there was no way to read the Scriptures because of lack of light.

The Lord was merciful and His love reached the hearts of many present. Just about everyone in my family was saved that night, with the exception of me and my wife. My life was in shambles. Married for just over a year, I was already staying out all night, drinking, smoking, fighting with my wife and, worst of all, going my own way far away from God. I worked in a shoe factory and thought I had all I needed, but was being fooled by the Devil and was constructing my own destruction.

Two weeks later, Pastor Roger and Pastor Michael returned to Santa Maria. It was the 29 of May of 1995. I heard a message that I was a sinner (Ecclesiastes 7:20) and that I was lost (Romans 6:23) and that I could not save myself (Ephesians 2:8,9) and I understood that I had to receive Christ´s gift by faith ( John 3:16). That night I made the decision to be born-again Biblically ( John 3:3). God also greatly blessed me that night, because my wife also accepted Christ as her Savior. The Lord changed us and transformed our lives by His mercy and love. I am so grateful that He uses His servants to take the message; sowing the seed; falling in good soil and transforming lives.

Call to the Ministry- 1 Timothy 1:12

I would like to share with you how shortly after I was saved the Lord called me into the ministry. Shortly after I was saved on May 29th, 1995, things begin to change radically in my life. From the beginning, the Lord put a desire in my heart to study His Word. The desire intensified. Early in 1996, my wife and I were visiting my brother, Alex Sandro, and his family in Porto Alegre. We attended a preaching service at Igreja Batista Fundamental, in Tristeza and heard a message from Matthew 9:35-38. I saw the Lord charging me to "go preach the Word in the harvest". I was convicted from that night that the Lord wanted me in the ministry. He put a compassion in my heart for the lost souls of men. I spoke with my wife about the working of the Lord in my heart. I told her that I wanted to go to the Bible Institute at Igreja Batista Fundamental and prepare for the ministry. She listened patiently and then told me she, too, would like to be used of the Lord in His harvest. I saw how the Lord was molding her heart and was greatly encouraged by John 15:16 You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, that you might go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit might remain. After a few months of residing in Porto Alegre, in October of 1996 precisely, my wife and I felt a real burden to announce the good news of the gospel in Santa Maria.We also had a real desire to see the new converts edified in the Word. We prayerfully approached Pastor Roger and Pastor Michael about the possibility and they, too, agreed that the work was of the Lord. After several weeks of studying in Porto Alegre and traveling to Santa Maria (4 1/2 hours one way by car) for the weekends and returning to work on the construction of the church in Porto Alegre, my wife and I were weary physically. Lisiane, my wife, was five months pregnant with our second child, when we decided to pray the Lord would make it possible for us to live in Santa Maria. We felt that the funds being used to pay for our transportation could be best spent helping us stay full time with the new believers and that by being there we could reach more lost souls, too. But we decided to leave this matter in the Lord´s hands and not mention in to the missionaries. To our joy and surprise, Pastor Michael called me that very week and asked if I would consider going to Santa Maria full time! The Lord has given us a direct answer to prayer. From then, we have been laboring humbly and obediently in the work of the Lord. I ask that you remember us in prayer that we might always continue faithfully to serve the Lord unmovable in His work.