Vitaliano Marrero

Vitaliano hated having a house church next door. He decided that when the songs of the saints floated up to his window, he would turn his radio full volume to rock music. That will teach them, he thought. If I disturb their meetings, they’ll find another place to meet, and I won’t have to deal with them in my neighborhood! He played loud music for several months, but the group continued meeting. No one complained. In fact, the few members of the church who knew Vitaliano were kinder than ever to him.

Alexey’s attendance at the Bible club awakened in Migdalia’s heart her lifelong desire to know God. She began reading the Bible and accepted Bible studies from Rosabel. Sometimes Migdalia read the Bible so much that she ignored her housework. When Vitaliano returned home and found the house a mess, he asked his mother what happened. Her response surprised him. “Your wife spends all day reading the Bible and doesn’t have time to clean the house.” Another time Vitaliano’s mother told him, “I think Migdalia is going to the house church on Saturday mornings.”

Vitaliano had suspected that his wife was attending church. “Are you going to become a Christian?” he demanded. “I do not want you to go to that church anymore!”

One day Vitaliano found Migdalia studying the Bible. Grabbing the Bible, he threatened to throw it into the fire. But when he opened the stove door to throw the Bible into the flames, fear gripped him. Will God punish me for burning the Bible? he wondered. He closed the door and threw the Bible into the bedroom.

A few days later he saw the Bible on a shelf. Opening it, his eyes fell on Malachi 3:17: “‘They will be mine,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘in the day when I make up my treasured possession.'” Vitaliano closed the Bible. He knew that God was telling him that his wife and son belonged to God. He became afraid to forbid them to attend the church.

A few days later the pastor’s son came to visit Vitaliano. The two had been friends for many years, even though Vitaliano hated God. “My friend,” the man said, “we are having a program this evening, and I’d like you to come.”

Vitaliano was putting in larger speakers for his stereo so he could disturb the religious meetings better. “Look, I’m wearing work clothes, I’m dirty.” But his friend offered to go with him, and Vitaliano reluctantly agreed.

The program contained a lot of music, and Vitaliano enjoyed it, so when his friend invited him again, Vitaliano went. Little by little, Vitaliano’s heart softened.

A few weeks later his friend invited him to study the Bible. Vitaliano agreed. He began attending worship services in the house church he had so often condemned and tried to disrupt.

Soon Vitaliano’s mother began attending the church, too. Now the whole family was attending church and studying the Bible together. A few months later Vitaliano, Migdalia, and Vitaliano’s mother were baptized.

At his baptism, Vitaliano testified, “It was my son whose example brought our family to the feet of Jesus.”

Vitaliano Marrero and his wife, Migdalia, are active lay workers in their home church in Holguín, Cuba.

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