Arnoldo Silva wanted to be a missionary; but his desire was denied.
Instead, he stayed in Greenville, planted Iglesia Refugio, and finds his purpose encouraging SCBaptist Hispanic churches to capture a missional vision.
Speaking of staying in Greenville, he said, “And I knew that that would upset some people, but sometimes you got to choose between, are you going to do the will or God or are you going to do the will of man? Because men do have wills for you.”
Silva had wanted to be a missionary since he was 14 years old and spent years doing theological education with that goal in mind. Originally from Paraguay, he tried three times to return to his home country as a missionary. At the time, he didn’t know about the International Mission Board, and he was an independent Baptist trying to raise support on his own. He was told it would take almost seven years to raise support. At about age 40, he took a trip to get away and be with the Lord and through several chapters in the books of Acts, God gave him peace to stay in Greenville.
Silva knew his decision to stay would frustrate people who saw great potential in him using his educational background in a place like Paraguay. He said, “In a way, I was a slave to those wishes of the good people that I love with my whole heart. But that wasn’t in the will of God for me. And so, the Lord showed me that this is the place to stay.”
But staying hasn’t dampened his passion to see the nations reached. In fact, to reach the nations, Silva mobilizes Hispanic evangelical churches to the task. Silva identified three issues with Hispanic churches across South Carolina.
- They don’t know about the International Mission Board.
- They’ve never met a missionary.
- And they don’t have a global view of missions — it’s often limited to reaching the Hispanic country that they’re from.
Silva said, “The people in the church, they do not know a missionary! And I thought, how can that be? How can we be part of ‘la missión mas grande en el mundo’ and people do not know a missionary?”
Because of this, Silva planned and hosted a mission conference in May of this year for Hispanic churches as a way to introduce them to some missionaries from the International Mission Board. He realized after the conference that it was time to do something else. So, he thought, “What if we take the pastors to the mission field?” So, this August he brought a few Hispanic pastors with him on a mission trip to Costa Rica.
Silva said, “I need to introduce the mission board to all the Hispanic churches in South Carolina. That is how everything started.”
While in Costa Rica they evangelized the lost at the University of Costa Rica, and led an evangelism training for a local Costa Rican church. They also encouraged International Mission Board missionary Matthew Irvin and his family by bringing them gifts. Though it was a one-week trip, the team left a lasting impact.
Part of Irvin’s job is connecting with local Costa Rican churches and encouraging leaders to evaluate the health of their church. One church said they wanted to improve in evangelism and missions. So, Silva and the other Hispanic pastors were able to train members on how to engage the community.
According to Irvin, the need in Costa Rica is big. Particularly in August, one can clearly see the spiritual darkness because over 2 million people participate in a 22 kilometer walk from downtown San Jose to Cartago to suffer, earn penance, and honor La Negrita, a statute of Mary holding baby Jesus.
Irvin said, “In my opinion, they’re walking to hell in an eternity without Jesus because they’re worshipping a false ideology and a false gospel. And they need to hear the truth of the gospel in a contextualized way that the Holy Spirit convicts their hearts.”
But Costa Rica isn’t the only place with need. Next year, Silva said he hopes to get a group to go to North Africa and possibly Central Asia.
“A hidden treasure, that is what the IMB is,” said Silva. “A hidden treasure. A blessing.”