Words of Gratitude:

I thank God for all the support Good News In Action has given us over the years, and it is our hope that this support will continue. May God bless you and enrich you for all you have done for us.

My Testimony:

My name is Rafael Antonio Bonilla Ventura . I was born on March 15, 1960 in the department of La Union, El Salvador. I came to know Christ as my Lord and Saviour in 1976 in the Central Baptist Church of San Miguel. At the age of 16 my life changed radically. I had come to Christ from a totally lost existence; my life had been filled with the vices of alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes since 8 years of age. My brother, Jose, was the first to come to know Christ in our family and he prayed a lot for me that I would be saved; the Lord answered his prayers. One year after my conversion, in January of 1977 my brother, who was 22 years old, suffered a very serious motorcycle accident. His testimony had such an impact upon my life that when he died I asked God to do a work in me just like He had done in my brother because I wanted to be just like him.

My Call to Full Time Ministry

I was baptized on February 6, 1977 and it was that same day that God called me to preach. God placed in my heart the desire to share that same message that had transformed my life with others. I preached in church for the very first time on November 28, 1978. The Lord called me to be a youth pastor in the same church where I was saved. Later, in 1980, the church sent me to the Chaparrastique Baptist Church in San Miguel as a youth pastor. While I was ministering there the Lord gave me much greater responsibilities. In 1983 I was married to a wonderful sister in Christ, Maria Vicente Perla; everyone calls her "Lely". She was a Sunday school teacher at that church. As the years have passed God blessed us with a wonderful family, we have 3 children, Juan Jose Bonilla Perla, Rafael Antonio Bonilla Perla and Keren Patricia Bonilla Perla. In November of 1986 I was ordained to the ministry and in 1988 named as the co-pastor of the Chaparrastique Baptist Church . The Lord later sent me out from that church to raise up a mission which has since become Abundant Life Baptist Church in San Miguel.

Rafael Antonio Bonilla

San Miguel

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My Actual Position.
I am the founding pastor of the Abundant Life Baptist Church in the eastern city of San Miguel in El Salvador . Currently the church is made up of about 300 adults and 200 children. I oversee and serve in all the following ministries: Evangelism, Discipleship, Sunday school, Home Bible Studies, Youth, Joy of Service, Prayer, Visitation, National Missions and the Bible Institute. As part of National Missions, Abundant Life Baptist Church has already established a mission in La Union (please read about this under the heading of “Antonio Estrada, La Union”) which has already been constituted as Grace Baptist Church more than a year ago. Brother Jose Antonio Estrada is pastoring this church along with his family. We have also established another mission in a small town called San Jose de La Fuente which is also in La Union. Brother Amilcar Navarro and his family are currently serving in this mission.

Our Vision for the next 5 to 10 years:
We desire to train up new leaders with the hope that God will call them some day to pastor. We desire that our church will continue to be Biblically sound and also be light fulfilling the ministry that God has given us. We hope to establish two more churches within 5 to 10 years. We are trusting God to provide a church building in San Jose de La Fuente. We are presently renting which as been very difficult. It has been very hard to find a place that the owners would be willing to rent to us for the purpose of studying God's Word. We have had to move from one place to another which has produced instability in the work. We are also praying that God will provide an ample piece of land for Abundant Life Baptist Church and a church building with a capacity of 800, we no longer fit in the facility we are currently using.

Prayer Requests:
Personal:
1. Please pray that my children, Juan José, Rafael Antonio y Keren Patricia never turn aside from God's path.
2. Please pray that God will sustain my wife as she is very important for my life and the life of the ministry.
3. Please pray for my health, I have a very serious renal problem. Please pray that God would either heal me or give me the grace to continue to serve Him. Due to instability in my health at times it is very difficult for me to preach as much as I should or would like.
4. Please pray that God will provide the necessary finances for my children's education and also for the purchase of medicines to help maintain my health.

Ministry:
1. Please pray that God will work in the lives of group of men I am working with so that the vision God has given me for this church will be transmitted to them.
2. Please pray that God will raise up two churches in the two towns where we want to begin to evangelize, one is Pasaquina, a border town to Honduras with 24,000 inhabitants, the other is Bolivar, both towns pertain to the department of La Union.

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