God is doing great things in the lives of Paco and Jennifer Morales. They graduated from Grace in May and are excited to see what God has in store for their lives as they serve Him.
Paco’s Background:
My parents migrated to Nevada from Mexico, and at the age of eight they started sending my brothers and me to Jackpot Baptist Church. As the months went by, the pastor took an interest in me and invited me to a week of Bible camp. Later that week I remember being in chapel service and getting an invitation to speak with a counselor on how to avoid hell. All I remember about the counselor’s message is that those rocks represented the sin in my life. If I received Christ as my personal Savior, he would wipe those rocks away. He led me in a prayer, and I walked away confident that I was “saved” from hell. Several years later, the summer before my senior year, another key conversation took place in that same camp. This time around, there was a guest speaker, a missionary to Panama named Randy Weets. He invited me for some coffee, but what he really wanted to do was challenge me to consider a Bible Institute in Argentina. The first semester of my senior year, I tried to brush off the invitation to Argentina. At the same time, God was tugging at my heart, and I was afraid. I was afraid of leaving the comfort of my plans, but greater was the fear of walking outside of God’s will. I submitted to God and grew a lot. The two most important lessons I learned were how to study the Word of God, and that my life was meant to be dedicated to God’s plans. After studying three years at Bible School, I flew to Nevada and enrolled in the University of Nevada Reno to study. Although I was serving and fellowshipping in a local church, I felt out of place studying computer science. Three semesters later with some family resistance, I flew to Panama on June 2007. Before the year was over, I got married and started serving in Iglesia Bíblica Amistad (Friendship Bible Church).
My parents migrated to Nevada from Mexico, and at the age of eight they started sending my brothers and me to Jackpot Baptist Church. As the months went by, the pastor took an interest in me and invited me to a week of Bible camp. Later that week I remember being in chapel service and getting an invitation to speak with a counselor on how to avoid hell. All I remember about the counselor’s message is that those rocks represented the sin in my life. If I received Christ as my personal Savior, he would wipe those rocks away. He led me in a prayer, and I walked away confident that I was “saved” from hell. Several years later, the summer before my senior year, another key conversation took place in that same camp. This time around, there was a guest speaker, a missionary to Panama named Randy Weets. He invited me for some coffee, but what he really wanted to do was challenge me to consider a Bible Institute in Argentina. The first semester of my senior year, I tried to brush off the invitation to Argentina. At the same time, God was tugging at my heart, and I was afraid. I was afraid of leaving the comfort of my plans, but greater was the fear of walking outside of God’s will. I submitted to God and grew a lot. The two most important lessons I learned were how to study the Word of God, and that my life was meant to be dedicated to God’s plans. After studying three years at Bible School, I flew to Nevada and enrolled in the University of Nevada Reno to study. Although I was serving and fellowshipping in a local church, I felt out of place studying computer science. Three semesters later with some family resistance, I flew to Panama on June 2007. Before the year was over, I got married and started serving in Iglesia Bíblica Amistad (Friendship Bible Church).
Jennifer’s Background:
I was raised in a Catholic Church in Panama. I always thought that I needed to do good deeds in order to go to heaven. When I was sixteen years old, I went to a summer camp where the counselor explained the gospel for the first time. I understood that Jesus came and died for my sins because it was impossible for me to get to heaven on my own. That night I asked Jesus to come into my heart and to clean it from all of my sins. I received Him as my personal Savior. From the age of 17 to 19, I wasn’t living for the Lord. When I was 20 years old, I consecrated my life to God and decided that I was going to go to Bible school for a year to learn more from His Word and to grow in my spiritual life. Before going to Bible school, I went to work as part of the staff at a summer camp. During a sharing time that they had at the end of the week, I heard a lot of testimonies of people that had problems with drugs and other serious things, and I got to hear all the amazing things that God did in their lives. There I realized that there was nothing better that I could do with my life, and that I wanted to be a part of God’s work in this world. So I went to Bible school for three years instead so I could become a missionary.
I was raised in a Catholic Church in Panama. I always thought that I needed to do good deeds in order to go to heaven. When I was sixteen years old, I went to a summer camp where the counselor explained the gospel for the first time. I understood that Jesus came and died for my sins because it was impossible for me to get to heaven on my own. That night I asked Jesus to come into my heart and to clean it from all of my sins. I received Him as my personal Savior. From the age of 17 to 19, I wasn’t living for the Lord. When I was 20 years old, I consecrated my life to God and decided that I was going to go to Bible school for a year to learn more from His Word and to grow in my spiritual life. Before going to Bible school, I went to work as part of the staff at a summer camp. During a sharing time that they had at the end of the week, I heard a lot of testimonies of people that had problems with drugs and other serious things, and I got to hear all the amazing things that God did in their lives. There I realized that there was nothing better that I could do with my life, and that I wanted to be a part of God’s work in this world. So I went to Bible school for three years instead so I could become a missionary.
What God Is Doing Now:
Jennifer and I have been married for eight years, have two awesome boys, and we’ve served God wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, after our time in Argentina, we received no degree because of Argentine government policies. There has always been a desire in our hearts to earn some kind of degree because of the opportunities a degree can open to serve. Two years ago, Dr. Fernando Abella visited our church and expressed his desire to open a Grace learning center here in Panama. Grace was God’s answer to our heart’s desire. The time we’ve spent studying the Word through Grace classes has been encouraging through the struggles of life, and classes have better prepared us to serve Christ with excellence. I [Jennifer] would like to pursue Christian education administration and a degree in Biblical Studies is a first step. I [Paco] plan to continue with a major through Grace to be better qualified for a church setting ministry. We are so grateful for God’s work and direction in our lives.
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