RGVBaptist.com - Independent Baptist Missionaries to the Hispanic people of the Rio Grande Valley, Texas

Growing up in an unreligious family, I had not attended church more than 1 or 2 times in my entire life. Although I was not a “bad” person, I also was lost. In my early teens I became acquainted with an individual, who through diligent, faithful witnessing, was able to show me my need for a personal savior. In February of 1991, at the age of 14, I finally made that decision to accept the free gift being offered to me through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for my sins. Although my life did not dramatically change at my conversion, it did set in place a series of events that have led me to where I am today. Despite the lack of obvious external evidence of my salvation at that time, looking back I know without a doubt that the decision I made that night was indeed, genuine.

Testimony of Salvation - Melissa Freeman

I experienced a very turbulent childhood, which resulted in my being out-of-control by age 15. It was at this point that my mother sent me to a Christian Children’s Home. Although I had attended church a few times and even was dunked in water, I was not truly a child of God. While at this home, the Lord opened my eyes and on Oct. 25, 1991, I trusted in Jesus’ finished work for the remission of my sin. Although I backslid shortly after this conversion, in my 20’s, I saw undeniably how faithful my Heavenly Father is, and in turn my faith grew. I love my dear Creator, Master, Father – the Most High God. He is my Strength and I know it to be a privilege to serve Him as His child.

Call to Missions/Ministry

In September of 2001, at the age of 25 I was laid off from work and thus a door was opened for me to attend a Youth Worker’s Conference at the Wilds in North Carolina. The Lord had already been preparing my heart by showing me the fruitlessness of my work and placing a burden within me to give my life to something that would have lasting value. During this conference I saw that God wanted me to serve Him with everything I had, not just in the volunteer positions I had been involved with. When I returned home from this conference, I spoke with my wife about this, and we prayed for wisdom. Having already surrendered her entire life to Christ as a teenager, she was already prepared for this calling on our lives. We also spoke with our Pastor and a deacon from our church to further evaluate this calling. All of us prayed and determined that this calling was indeed genuine and we immediately surrendered our lives to His service.

It had taken 25 years of my life for God to prepare me to accept a call into the ministry. It took another 4 years for Him to prepare me for a calling into missions. As I neared the completion of my Bible College training, I began the search for the ministry in which God would have us to serve. My wife and I have long been interested in living in Texas, so I began my search for a church there, while also evaluating possibilities in other areas. We did not want this to be a decision based on our desires, but we did not want to discard our natural inclinations either. We quickly became aware that although certain opportunities were available in existing churches, there are large sections of Southern Texas that have no fundamental Gospel preaching Independent Baptist church. Furthermore, there are very few Spanish-speaking ministries.

Having had the opportunity to participate in several short-term mission trips has given us a perspective on the life of a missionary. Our favorite part has always been the opportunity to reach out to people who have not had the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Combining this love for evangelism with a love for Texas and Mexican culture and a burden for an often neglected people group has led us to accept what we believe is God’s calling for us to serve as missionaries to the Hispanic people of Southern Texas.