“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” Psalm 138:8 NRSV
I begin my testimony with this verse for a good reason; through all that has occurred in my life until now, God’s hand has been present.
I am the oldest daughter of Angel and Cuyita. I have two sisters and three brothers. From the time I was little, my parents taught me to be a strong and hard-working woman. I remember that it was a tradition during vacations that my parents would take me to harvest coffee beans. In 1986 we got to be part of the harvesters in el Alto de Guadalupe. It was a beautiful morning, and we were hard at work. Suddenly I noticed a very beautiful place on the other side of the fence. I saw people walking and I loved seeing their happy faces. So I said to my mom, “Could I enroll to study at that place some day?” My dear mom said, “You are going to do it.” This day was different because it was the beginning of all the wonderful things that God began to do in my life.
Two years later, my family was going through a difficult time. I must say, my mom always taught us about God, she took us to Mass, and once every two weeks I accompanied her to Holy Hour. But never had I experienced God so near as one afternoon in the month of September 1988. On that day, one of our neighbors had noticed the financial difficulty and need that our family was going through, and three wonderful women arrived at our simple door. They were stewards of the Church of the Nazarene in Mozotal, and they surprised us with food, a beautiful prayer, and the best invitation we could have received, “Our church hopes to see you this next Sunday.” I was just a fourteen-year-old teenager. When I visited the Church of the Nazarene for the first time, the love, the fellowship, and the feeling of acceptance caused the roots to sprout and grow. There I found a place where they taught me, accompanied me, and above all, they believed in me. It always excited me to know more about the Word of God.
The Lord began to work in my life and filled me with his wonderful gifts. I was trained to be a children’s Sunday School teacher. That was the most beautiful class I ever had. With the passing of time, the children were growing, and I started to feel a great need to prepare myself for more because my beautiful students had already become adolescents. I remember one day I was talking with the pastor and told him about my concern. He told me that there was a place very close to us that could train me even more.
Incredibly in 1992, I was enrolled in that place I had seen in 1986 through the fence. Now I was one of those people who was beginning theological preparation in the Nazarene Seminary of the Americas. My purpose for enrolling was to be a better Sunday School teacher, but God’s plans always bring us to new challenges because partway through my studies at SENDAS, the Lord called me to ministry. Throughout this journey, God placed key people in my life, one of those being my husband Guido. He always supported me. My parents, other wonderful people, and pastors influenced me. In 2004 I was installed in pastoral ministry as lead pastor of the Mozotal Church of the Nazarene, now called “Los Angeles.”
The Lord permitted me to serve there for twelve years, and in 2016 I was elected as Costa Rica Central District Superintendent, where I serve today.
Every time I visit the Nazarene Seminary, I remember how God’s plan is fulfilled, that it is perfect, and He will never abandon it. My life is reliant on Him. Only He knows how to arrange the pieces to carry us toward his blessing. I thank and value the work of each servant of the Lord in the local church. Every bag of food not only stops the hunger of many children. It is also showing them a God who is close by. My life was impacted by 3 church stewards. They became instruments of the Lord in my life. Today my children are serving the Lord. My daughter has begun theological education, my husband works at SENDAS, and by God’s grace I am part of the Board of Trustees of the Association of the Nazarene Seminary of the Americas.
This is why my favorite verse is Psalm 138:8: “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me….”
By Rev. Sirlene Bustos Salazar, Costa Rica Central District Superintendent