Testimony of Conversion
I had the privilege of growing up in a Christian home. My father was a pastor of an arminian Baptist Church. I made a profession of faith when I was only 5 years old, after praying the “Sinner’s Prayer” at a revival meeting, and shortly after I was baptized. However, my later years and the beginning of my teenage years revealed that there had been no genuine change in my heart. I learned well how to be the good pastor’s kid while indulging in the sinfulness of my heart with my friends.
In 2008, we had a very difficult time at the church where my dad was pastoring and it led him to a physical breakdown. There was an ugly division in the church and my dad was left broken. Exactly one week before the conflict got to its ugliest point, I “surrendered to the ministry” on the 14th of December. I did this thinking that since I was already saved because of praying the sinner’s prayer the conviction of sin that I was feeling was because of God calling me to ministry. Unfortunately, the true need of my soul was not met—true faith in the Gospel and repentance.
That next year, I began to read my Bible more and even led a Bible study with my classmates at school, but there was still no true understanding of the gospel and no genuine change, though there was external change. Also, due to my “surrendering to the ministry” I became closer with my dad as we began to study the Bible together. However, the conflict and division in the church led him to a deep spiritual battle that made him question what he had always preached and even to ask the question, “Why do so few of the Christians that I know look like the New Testament’s picture of a true Christian?”
These penetrating questions that led us to question a lot of what we had believed and taught led us providentially to online sermons by preachers like Paul Washer, Leonard Ravenhill, A.W. Tozer, and Paris Reidhead. Through their preaching, the Lord helped us to realize that the problem was a lack of true knowledge of the Gospel and a faith that was placed on our prayer and religious works and not on Christ. This was the root of the lack of change and was the key to it all.
As we began to study and realize that many of the things we had believed and taught were wrong, the Lord guided me through the study of His Word and reading good books to an understanding of the gospel, to realize my lost condition and how I was worthy of God’s wrath due to my sin and that Christ was the only hope that I had. So, in 2010, the Lord truly converted my soul and brought me to a genuine faith in the Gospel of Christ.
Through a series of providential circumstances, the Lord brought us into contact with Pastor Jeffrey Johnson, who was pastoring a small reformed church in our same city—Conway, AR. We begin to have fellowship together, have joint services, and he began to teach us more thoroughly the Doctrines of Grace, the history of the Church, and what it means to be a Reformed Baptist.
In this time, my desire to serve the Lord was renewed and I believe corrected. Now, it was not a desire to serve in a hypocritical way to calm the storm of my own conscience and follow the footsteps of my father, rather it was truly to submit to Christ and to have the privilege of sharing Him with others. I began to see that how God had rescued me and worked me, He could do the same in others and I wanted to be a part of that.
Ariel’s Testimony
I was born and raised in a Christian household. My dad was my pastor for most of my childhood, and preached the Doctrines of Grace. I remember first asking my parents how to be saved when I was 6. My dad would always tell me the same thing, “You must believe that the Lord Jesus died for your sins”. I remember thinking surely that cannot be all! I do believe that! Who wouldn’t? Not believing that Jesus died on the cross is like not believing in trees or the sky! So for the next few years I kept asking and praying.
One Sunday, when I was around 10, I was sitting in church and I felt the Holy Spirit impress upon my heart that I had a burden of sin. This was something I never had understood before even though I am sure my parents told me. It felt like I had a burden on my heart that I had to get rid of, and for the first time I realized that I had sinned against a holy God and that is why the Lord Jesus died. After church, I couldn’t play with my friends because I was so upset. I couldn’t do anything until the Lord lifted my burden and I had assurance that I was His child. I sat in the back of the church and prayed, tears rolling down my face, and asked God to forgive my sins. I saw that the Lord Jesus died for me and peace like I had never felt before flooded my soul. I knew I had been forgiven. I told my parents and they were hesitant to believe me because I had asked questions for so long and had told them that I had asked questions for so long and had told them that I had been saved, although very unsure myself, a few times. This time I was sure.
Involvement in Missions
Since Ariel and I became Christians, we have had the desire to serve the Lord through missions. We started our pursuit of missions as a couple shortly after we got married in 2014. We presented our desire to our church and presented a few of the places that we were considering at the time. I wanted them to examine me, guide us, and confirm my calling. Then, in November of 2014 one of our pastors, Jeffrey Johnson, went and taught a seminary module for the Marrow of Theology program in Bogotá, Colombia. It was there that he met a pastor from Ecuador, Jorge Rodríguez. Jorge and his family have since then become our partners and also some of our best friends.
We first met through a Skype call, and then began to talk regularly about the ministry of the Pastor School and other desires for pastoral training in the country. We planned our first trip to Ecuador to visit Jorge in 2015 and we got to see what God was doing and we got our first taste of the wonderful work of Reformation that God is doing all across Latin America. After that, we went every year for a few months to teach, preach, mentor, and serve in the local church. During this time, I was finishing my university and seminary studies and we were working on our visa status in Ecuador (which then limited us to 90 days per year).
Our partnership with Jorge has been used greatly by God to open up many opportunities there in Ecuador, but also many in other countries as well. Through Ecuador and the partnership with the local churches there, we are involved in training pastors with the purpose of strengthening local churches, raising up future pastors, and sending out men to plant churches. I have had the privilege of preaching and teaching in various countries in Latin America. One of the key needs that we have seen and where we have dedicated much of our efforts is in the local church’s ministry, the Pastor School. In the early years, I would teach week-long classes for the students and spend time with them throughout our trips.
Through these early years, the Lord began to give greater clarity on the particular needs in Ecuador and also the best ways to meet those needs. In this way, he led us to the current format of the Pastor School that we started with our official move to Ecuador to live and serve full-time on February 15, 2020. In March of 2020 we began a new class of the Pastor School. I served in teaching and discipleship of our three students throughout the program. I have the privilege of teaching the classes on the Bible and Church History.
Throughout our first two years here, we battled with the decision whether I should accept ordination as pastor of the church or no. Part of our hesitancy was the uncertainty of our future plans and the godly fear in the face of the high calling of being a pastor. However, through seeking godly counsel, examining my own conscience, and listening to the wisdom of God’s church, I had the privilege of being ordained as one of the elders of Iglesia Bautista Gracia Soberana on July 3, 2022.
Currently, the Lord has given me the great calling of serving in the local church as pastor and being committed to the important task of the pastoral ministry — training the next generation of church leaders.
We live in the city of Santo Domingo, Ecuador and we have four beautiful children: Lilah (2015), Liam (2017), Nina (2020), and August (2022).
Walls' Latin-American Mission 