Gustavo - Argentina

Nickname: Gus

Gus' testimony is in Spanish. The English translation follows the Spanish text.

Conocía al Señor y, en mi opiñión, mi vida y valores no necesitaban un reordenamiento…

Pregunta que me movió la estantería: “¿Cuánto de lo que estoy haciendo pemanecerá por la eternidad? ”

Como ser humano que soy, hago y seguiré haciendo muchas cosas que quizá no tengan una significación eterna; por ejemplo, disfruto mucho del arte, especialmente el literario y el musical.

A poco más de un año de mi nacimiento (soy argentino), mi familia emigró a Australia, lugar donde viví casi seis años de mi infancia . A tres años de nuestro regreso a Argentina, mi familia y quien escribe nos comenzamos a congregar en una iglesia evangélica eslava de Buenos Aires.

Si bien pasé toda mi adolescencia en la iglesia, recién conocí al Señor de forma personal a los 19. Meses más tarde empecé a debatirme entre mi pasión de entonces (y de ahora) que es el piano y la música y una nueva pasión: las almas perdidas.

Dios, en medio de fugas de Bach y preludios de Debussy, comenzaba a cimentar en mi un amor y carga especiales por aquellos que no lo conocen, y luego mas específicamente por aquellos que nunca han escuchado de El, los no alcanzados (Romans 15:20-21)

Fue en medio de todo esto cuando escuché la pregunta mencionada al principio. Estaba como en una encrucijada; Dios, no obstante, me animó a que aceptara que El es mayor que las paradojas de la vida cristiana, que está por encima de la tenaz dicotomía que asaltaba mi mente en aquel momento. Con esta convicción volví a Australia por tercera vez. Esta vez no con la sola intención de visitar parientes y amigos, sino para tomar un curso de discipulado y capacitación misionera. El curso constaba de dos fases, una teórica, y otra práctica. La fase práctica se llevó a cabo en Indonesia; esta fue mi primera experiencia transcultural. Pude regresar a Indonesia dos veces mas en los años que siguieron al primer viaje. La pasión que Dios me dio por los pueblos no alcanzados no ha disminuido, sino todo lo contrario. Sin duda, esto lo atribuyo principalmente a la pasión que Dios me dio por El, sin la cual no hay amor ni compromiso que puedan perdurar.

Hoy me encuentro en la India, donde realizo trabajos de investigación misionológica. El proyecto al que estuve abocado en los últimos tres años consistió en la traducción, revisión y adaptación del libro Unreached Mega Peoples of India - " Mega Etnias no Alcanzadas de la India". Actualmente estoy en tratativas para que una entidad transnacional se encargue de la reproducción y distribución de este material en Latinoamérica.

Juntos en el cumplimiento de la Gran Comisión.
Gus

God is moving powerfully in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a key time, a time in which the Latin American Church knows God deeply and is also beginning to make Him known to the nations. Thinking of those who have never heard the Gospel, the Apostle Paul said, "How can they preach unless they are sent"? My concern is, "How can they be sent unless the Church knows?"

First Steps

I was born in the city of Buenos Aires in Argentina, the second of two sons. My father and mother are of Russian and Italian descent respectively and married in 1972. Though Christians in theory, their faith was not very alive at that time. Shortly after my first birthday, my father decided to broaden our horizons and moved the family to Australia and we stayed there for six years.

My family, as most Catholics in Argentina, were nominal Christians. After years of patient work from one of our relatives, my brother and I joined the Sunday School at Asamblea de Dios Misionera (Slavic Evangelical Church). It was here that I first heard what the Bible really said about God’s love for us and this is my home-church to this day.

From an early age I learnt to play the trumpet and accordion, performing in church. Later in my teens, I developed a very deep appreciation for the arts, especially music and literature. My passion for art has never ceased and I eventually joined the National Conservatory of Music. Philosophy and the arts were absolutely everything to me, leaving my faith and church activities no more than religious duties - I discharged them almost automatically.

But God refused to let me go, and on the 15th of July 1996, I finally accepted the challenge to get serious with Him. From that time I found serving Him became a joyous task rather than a heavy load. In a moment, I realized I had missed the whole point of following Jesus. I had a revelation of God's grace and immediately began to tell others about Him.

After several months, my burden for evangelism became more specific - does anybody care about the unreached peoples of the world - those who never have had an opportunity to hear about Christ?

Near Past

My call to missions, and specifically Youth With A Mission (YWAM), was mainly to explore how I could impact the unreached peoples of the world. It was only after following God’s call that I realized God had an even greater agenda - He wanted me to know Him better. Not just better, but also in a more personal way. And yes, this included impacting the unreached world which is part of knowing Him.

YWAM offers a Discipleship Training School (DTS) and has an overriding motto to teach how to “know God and make Him known.” This school lasts for 6 months, split into three months of lecture-based Biblical training and three months of hands-on missionary work, normally overseas from the base.

After completing my DTS in 1999 in Adelaide, South Australia, I continued my commitment with the Adelaide base by becoming a small group leader for future DTS’. During that period, I also had the opportunity to participate in cross-cultural ministry in Indonesia.

YWAM’s motto accurately describes our responsibility to both know God, to grow in that knowledge and also to fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord. This, plus my conviction to do something that will last for eternity, led me to do what I did for the next three years.

Under YWAM’s banner I moved to Pune, India, to complete research into the people groups of the entire country and to inform the church worldwide. I have translated a book that describes the prayer needs and current organizations mobilized for reaching the unreached peoples of South Asia. This books contains profiles and photos of unreached peoples, and that´s how I first ventured into photography. And well, my dad used to be a freelance photographer so that was an inspiring factor to think I could develope my own skills in photography.

Future

My overall vision is to contribute to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. One of my dreams is to see self-multiplying indigenous churches amongst Buddhist Peoples. I long to see that the Gospel would be preached in both the totality of the Tibetan world and Theravada Buddhist groups found in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Another dream is to find ways to put art to the service of God, therefore making the message of Christ relevant to people who would otherwise miss it.

I do not know what God has for me for the immediate future, but I am waiting on Him for direction and am ready wherever He wants me.

Prayer Concerns

Please pray:
● For an ever increasing delight in knowing God, His character and His ways.
● For guidance in my ministry and decisions I need to make.
● For the Argetinian economic crisis, which has severely affected my finances.
● For my physical, spiritual and emotional protection.
● For the possibility of undertaking a M.A. degree at Fuller Theological Seminary.