The Carter Report presents,
00:00:08.94\00:00:10.61
"The Living
Word" around the world.
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Hello, friend, I'm John Carter.
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Welcome today to
the Carter Report.
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The topic today is,
"The Little Pastor."
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I'm going to tell you the story,
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an amazing story of
a man from El Salvador.
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Pastor Pacheco.
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We have a great
Pastor with us also today
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and that is the senior pastor
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of the Spanish
American Adventist Church
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in Los Angeles.
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And we want to welcome
today also, Pastor Acosta.
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This is going to
be a great program.
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Welcome to the Carter Report.
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Hi, I'm John Carter.
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My wife Beverly and I
were watching television
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the other night
watching the news,
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American News.
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They told us that the
church in North America
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is actually shrinking.
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They said that
atheism is the fastest growing
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religious movement
today in North America.
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And people are saying
what on earth can we do
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to save the church.
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Well, of course,
Christ died for the church,
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he saved the church.
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But what they mean is
how can we keep the church
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as a vibrant force in the
world today, in Australia,
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in America and in Europe
and in rest of the world.
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Let me tell you a little story.
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John Wesley was one
of the greatest preachers
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of the English
speaking world has ever heard.
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John Wesley came upon the
scene of the church in England
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a few hundred years ago
when the church was dying.
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Like the church today
it was a shrinking church.
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But the people in the church
were in a state of denial.
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They refused to
accept the reality
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that the church was dying.
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John Wesley did
something that other people said
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couldn't be done.
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He revived the church
through public evangelism.
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Did you hear that?
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He started to preach
Christ, he preached the Bible
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and he preached out
of doors and indoors.
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And the church was saved.
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Not only did he
save a lot of souls,
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the souls of sinners,
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he saved the
souls of the saints.
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Please join me, my
friend in evangelism.
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It's what Jesus did.
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Write to me, John
Carter, Post Office Box 1900,
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Thousand Oaks, California.
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In Australia, write to me
at the address on the screen
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at Terrigal, in New South Wales.
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Join me, my friend,
in preaching Christ.
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Join me in public
evangelism around the world.
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Thank you in Jesus' name.
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Welcome today to
the Carter Report.
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We're talking today
to a man whom I consider,
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is a real Christian hero
and he comes from El Salvador.
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Pastor Pacheco.
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Welcome today,
Pastor Pacheco. Gracias.
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And also we have with us
a very distinguished pastor,
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Pastor Acosta, who
is the senior pastor
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of the Spanish
American Adventist Church
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in Los Angeles.
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Thank you.
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And we're glad to have
you both with us today.
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Now before we start the story,
because we're going to tell
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the story of the Little Pastor,
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I just want to give
a little preamble here.
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El Salvador, I want
the audience to know
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a little bit about El Salvador.
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It's a Roman Catholic
country in Central America.
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It is a population of
just over six million.
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It is a land, my friend,
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that has seen
tremendous bloodshed
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between the militia and gangs,
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some 75,000 people
murdered on the streets
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of the cities of El
Salvador and Pastor Pacheco
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was right in the midst of it.
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That's the story he
is going to tell today.
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It is a land that is
seen also terrible devastation
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from hurricanes and
earthquakes and droughts.
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I've never heard anything
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quite like it
outside of the Bible.
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70,000 gang members
live in El Salvador,
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with 9,000 gang
members in prison.
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My friends, the Carter
Report conducted meetings
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in El Salvador
just a few months ago.
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We had the privilege of hiring
the National Football Stadium,
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the biggest football
stadium in Central America.
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We had tremendous success
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because we had the
tremendous blessing of God.
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We saw just on 5,000
people baptized in one day.
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The person who put it together
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was the hero of
our program today.
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And that's Pastor Pacheco.
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And we welcome him today
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and we welcome Pastor
Acosta to the Carter Report.
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Welcome, gentlemen.
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Thank you, sir,
happy to be here.
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So glad to have
you here, pastor.
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Thank you.
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You've come a long way today
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and we're glad
that you're with us.
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The first question
goes to you, Pastor Pacheco.
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We know that El Salvador
has seen a lot of bloodshed.
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What was it like growing
up as a boy in El Salvador?
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It was very, it was
quite difficult, Pastor.
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But in the middle of it all,
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we always had God's protection.
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And in the middle
of all these crisis
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and that bloodshed...
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One, as a young
person, had to decide
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whether be
faithful to Him or not.
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A young man of
14 years of age...
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His faith being tested...
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Whether to serve the Lord.
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I've seen a
movie on El Salvador.
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It told about both sides.
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The militia that was backed
by the right-wing government.
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And then you had
the rebels or the gangs.
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And so you
really had two armies.
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And tens of thousands
of people lost their lives.
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Did you as a boy...
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growing up in El Salvador.
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Did you actually see
violence and bloodshed?
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Yes, I did.
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As a young person, we
were preaching the gospel.
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You were preaching the
gospel as a young person?
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Yes, sir.
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And how old were you
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when you are
preaching the gospel?
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I was preaching at 10 years old.
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And you were
preaching the Bible?
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Giving Bible
studies, visiting homes...
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Bombs would explode,
you know, in our travels...
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They were gun fights...
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We had to hide...
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And then when all
that was over with...
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We kept on preaching.
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We're talking about a
boy of 10 years of age.
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And this is a boy
who has seen violence.
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There 75,000
people were murdered...
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by the government, militia,
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and by the gang members.
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And you saw the blood.
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Tell me how could
you ever as a boy of 10.
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How could you preach the Bible?
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Being in the church...
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we were instructed
by the church elders...
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I was born in a
Seventh Day Adventist home...
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My parents were already
members of the church...
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And they would take us
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with them to give Bible studies.
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And they thought me how
to relate to the people...
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to sing, to pray...
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And that helped me
as a young person...
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to give my life and
risk it even for the Lord...
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I was baptized
at 10 years old...
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And right after my
baptism at that age,
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I started to preach.
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My Pastor... Yes.
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would give me his sermons...
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and he would say, "Now
it's your turn to preach
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at the church."
00:09:29.83\00:09:31.23
And I would preach.
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And I would travel with
some elders of the church...
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We gave Bible studies.
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How many people were in
the church when you preached?
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About 100 or 150 people.
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And so they called
you, the Little Pastor.
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When they began to
call me the Little Pastor...
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Yes, the members began
to call me like that...
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My model was my father...
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He would wear his ties...
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And many times I
did not own a tie...
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I would grab my
parent, my dad's long socks.
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You wore a sock.
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And I would put it on as a tie.
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So in the neighborhood,
I was growing up in...
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I would gather
all the children...
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And I would tell
them, "I'm your Pastor."
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And I would preach to them...
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And so in the town
square, I used to sell...
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I used to sell bread
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and I used to
sell used clothes...
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And the ladies
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in the town square
of the little shops...
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I would go and pray for
each little shop there...
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As a little boy?
00:11:13.17\00:11:14.50
Those were people
who were not Adventist
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and at the marketplace, I
would go and pray for them.
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How dangerous was it there
in El Salvador at this time?
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When you were preaching...
00:11:29.78\00:11:31.82
When you were visiting
and praying with people,
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how dangerous was it?
00:11:34.09\00:11:35.62
The war was right, it was right
in the middle of the war...
00:11:37.99\00:11:40.73
And the two armies
were in the middle,
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you know, one
side and the other.
00:11:45.57\00:11:46.90
And so the guns were firing?
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So I was caught up many times
in the middle of a gun fight...
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Did you see people killed?
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Yes, I did.
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Many people?
00:12:11.43\00:12:13.13
Many.
00:12:13.16\00:12:14.60
Were you afraid
in your own heart?
00:12:14.63\00:12:17.43
He's a little boy and
he's caught up in a bloodbath,
00:12:17.47\00:12:22.24
fighting on both sides...
00:12:22.27\00:12:23.61
And he's out preaching the word.
00:12:26.11\00:12:27.58
I was scared,
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I used to cry...
00:12:31.61\00:12:32.95
But I also knew
what the word said...
00:12:35.75\00:12:38.02
of the wars that would happen,
00:12:41.02\00:12:43.09
the signs of...
00:12:43.12\00:12:44.59
And that it was a sign of
a prophecy being fulfilled...
00:12:45.66\00:12:48.53
Even at that age that I have...
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my trust was
deposited more on God.
00:12:55.07\00:12:57.31
This is quite amazing.
00:12:57.34\00:13:00.11
Let me ask you this.
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Did you see people
actually come to Christ
00:13:03.45\00:13:05.78
through your ministry?
00:13:05.81\00:13:07.15
Yes, I did.
00:13:11.55\00:13:12.89
Many people...
00:13:14.49\00:13:15.82
even though in the marketplace
00:13:18.46\00:13:19.79
where I would sell
in the town square...
00:13:19.83\00:13:21.50
the same people
that the owners...
00:13:25.53\00:13:27.84
One day in the
middle of it the army came
00:13:30.54\00:13:34.01
and they snatched me away...
00:13:34.04\00:13:36.24
And I was put on a
truck of the armies.
00:13:39.05\00:13:41.58
Just a moment, we're
going to have a little pause
00:13:41.62\00:13:44.89
and then we are going to
just have a little message
00:13:44.92\00:13:48.49
and then you are
going to tell the story
00:13:48.52\00:13:50.89
how you were
snatched by the army.
00:13:50.93\00:13:52.99
You're watching
The Carter Report
00:13:56.53\00:13:58.30
and our guest is Pastor Pacheco,
00:13:58.33\00:14:00.64
who is the leader
of the Adventist church
00:14:00.67\00:14:02.77
in El Salvador.
00:14:02.80\00:14:04.44
Don't go away, we'll be
back after this message.
00:14:04.47\00:14:08.51
God has His time and
His place for everything.
00:14:10.65\00:14:15.92
And the time and the place now
00:14:15.95\00:14:18.72
is Latin
America, including Cuba.
00:14:18.75\00:14:23.22
Time Magazine talks about
00:14:23.26\00:14:25.16
the Second
Protestant Reformation
00:14:25.19\00:14:28.06
and describes how
hundreds of thousands,
00:14:28.10\00:14:31.53
even millions of Latinos are
coming to the gospel of Christ.
00:14:31.57\00:14:38.07
I'm not an armchair theologian.
00:14:38.11\00:14:40.68
I'm speaking
according to experience.
00:14:40.71\00:14:43.41
I've seen it with my own eyes.
00:14:43.45\00:14:46.92
Recently, we went
down to El Salvador.
00:14:46.95\00:14:51.25
There I spoke in the
largest football stadium
00:14:51.29\00:14:54.49
in Central America
with the biggest crowd
00:14:54.52\00:14:57.66
that that football
stadium had ever, ever seen.
00:14:57.69\00:15:01.33
They came not to
see a football match,
00:15:01.36\00:15:04.33
but to hear about
the blood of Christ.
00:15:04.37\00:15:07.74
Millions are coming
to a knowledge of God
00:15:07.77\00:15:11.34
in Latin America.
00:15:11.37\00:15:13.54
Doors are opening in Cuba.
00:15:13.58\00:15:16.71
Who knows, we may
be going to Cuba soon.
00:15:16.75\00:15:20.55
As the doors open
by the grace of God,
00:15:20.58\00:15:23.92
we are going to
step through those doors.
00:15:23.95\00:15:27.09
And we want you to step
through those doors with us
00:15:27.12\00:15:31.39
and be part of our team
for such a time as this.
00:15:31.43\00:15:35.60
Please write to me, friend.
00:15:35.63\00:15:37.20
Don't put it off.
00:15:37.23\00:15:38.60
Write to me, John
Carter, Post Office Box 1900,
00:15:38.63\00:15:43.27
Thousand Oaks,
California, 91358.
00:15:43.30\00:15:47.14
In Australia, write to me
at Terrigal, New South Wales.
00:15:47.18\00:15:52.38
Be part of the
Second Reformation,
00:15:52.41\00:15:56.05
join us and see
the miracles of God.
00:15:56.08\00:16:00.69
Amen.
00:16:00.72\00:16:02.06
Welcome back to
the Carter Report.
00:16:11.13\00:16:13.10
My special guest today is a hero
00:16:13.13\00:16:15.77
from El Salvador, Pastor Pacheco
00:16:15.80\00:16:18.84
and our great
translator is Pastor Acosta,
00:16:18.87\00:16:22.08
who is the senior pastor
00:16:22.11\00:16:23.48
of the Spanish
American Adventist Church
00:16:23.51\00:16:26.95
in Los Angeles.
00:16:26.98\00:16:28.32
Pastor Pacheco,
00:16:28.35\00:16:29.78
you were brought
up in El Salvador...
00:16:29.82\00:16:31.29
in the midst of a civil war...
00:16:33.22\00:16:34.56
You saw people being
killed all around you...
00:16:35.92\00:16:38.49
Some nights you had
to go to the mountains...
00:16:40.86\00:16:42.86
Why did you flee
to the mountains?
00:16:45.13\00:16:46.47
Simply because I did not
want to belong to either side
00:16:54.74\00:16:57.51
that was fighting
with each other...
00:16:57.55\00:16:58.88
Because I was a son of God...
00:17:00.22\00:17:02.15
I was a Seventh Day Adventist...
00:17:03.72\00:17:05.12
And somehow I knew that
God had a purpose for me.
00:17:06.99\00:17:09.62
And as a little boy, just
listen to this, my friend.
00:17:09.66\00:17:13.09
'Cause this is sort of amazing.
00:17:13.13\00:17:15.80
As a little boy of 10
00:17:15.83\00:17:17.57
you were out
preaching in churches
00:17:17.60\00:17:20.00
and giving Bible studies?
00:17:20.04\00:17:21.37
Not only in my local church,
00:17:35.45\00:17:36.95
but in my neighborhood
and at the marketplace,
00:17:36.99\00:17:40.36
where I used to work.
00:17:40.39\00:17:41.72
And so I understand
00:17:41.76\00:17:43.49
you would go to the
little shops in the marketplace
00:17:43.53\00:17:46.16
and you would
pray for the people
00:17:46.19\00:17:47.80
who had their
little businesses there?
00:17:47.83\00:17:49.40
And I've been told
00:17:54.20\00:17:56.30
and you can
confirm, can confirm this...
00:17:56.34\00:17:58.44
that they called
you the Little Pastor.
00:18:00.18\00:18:02.34
And you were a Seventh-day
Adventist Christian...
00:18:04.51\00:18:08.55
And you saw people
being killed all around you...
00:18:10.82\00:18:12.95
And then one day
00:18:15.46\00:18:17.33
they came to steal you away...
00:18:17.36\00:18:19.69
Tell us the story.
00:18:23.06\00:18:24.40
When I was working
at the marketplace...
00:18:29.34\00:18:31.17
And I was praying
for each little shop...
00:18:35.21\00:18:38.85
People would call me
00:18:43.82\00:18:45.15
so that I can sing and
pray and bless their shop...
00:18:45.19\00:18:48.79
So they began to call
me their Little Pastor...
00:18:53.43\00:18:56.80
And that moment, as
I was doing my duty...
00:18:59.50\00:19:02.87
many times the
army, the government army
00:19:05.67\00:19:07.94
would come and
recruit young people...
00:19:07.98\00:19:10.91
for the army.
00:19:10.95\00:19:12.28
Just little boys?
00:19:12.31\00:19:13.65
10, 11, 12, 15...
00:19:17.09\00:19:18.42
So when they came to get you,
00:19:18.45\00:19:19.79
steal you away,
how old were you then?
00:19:19.82\00:19:22.12
I was about 14
years of age. Okay.
00:19:25.26\00:19:27.40
And I remember,
they snatched me,
00:19:31.17\00:19:32.67
they took me to the bus...
00:19:32.70\00:19:34.47
And they began to
cut my hair to bald me...
00:19:36.64\00:19:39.17
Oh.
00:19:39.21\00:19:40.54
When the shop
owners, especially ladies,
00:19:42.98\00:19:45.45
they came over to the
truck, the government truck...
00:19:45.48\00:19:48.45
and the colonel was there...
00:19:49.45\00:19:50.79
with the soldiers, they were
protecting or covering them...
00:19:51.95\00:19:56.32
These ladies, they
began to pull me from them...
00:19:58.73\00:20:02.60
and they said, "This
is our little pastor,
00:20:04.63\00:20:06.37
you cannot take him away."
00:20:06.40\00:20:07.87
And these ladies
were not from the church
00:20:13.07\00:20:15.74
but God used them to
protect me to save my life...
00:20:15.78\00:20:18.78
And the way I
had related to them
00:20:22.75\00:20:24.42
by singing and praying...
00:20:24.45\00:20:25.79
by giving them a
Spanish magazine,
00:20:27.12\00:20:29.22
they're called "Herald,
El Centinela Magazine"...
00:20:29.26\00:20:32.09
Opening the Scriptures...
00:20:32.13\00:20:33.46
That impressed
many of these ladies...
00:20:35.96\00:20:39.40
And they were
always protecting me.
00:20:39.43\00:20:41.30
So the ladies saved you?
00:20:41.34\00:20:42.67
When they came to take you away
00:20:45.11\00:20:46.88
and make you into
one of their soldiers...
00:20:46.91\00:20:49.21
Do you remember
what you were thinking?
00:20:51.85\00:20:53.88
Yes, I do.
00:20:56.75\00:20:58.09
I was telling
myself at that moment...
00:20:59.95\00:21:02.46
that somehow I knew that
00:21:05.19\00:21:06.53
God was going to save
me from this situation...
00:21:06.56\00:21:08.23
Because I knew that God
had a purpose for my life...
00:21:10.47\00:21:12.23
Not to be in the army
or with another faction...
00:21:14.64\00:21:17.67
but I knew that somehow I
belong to the Lord's army.
00:21:20.61\00:21:24.55
Were many young men and
boys killed in this war?
00:21:24.58\00:21:28.38
Yes.
00:21:33.05\00:21:34.39
So if you'd gone, quite
likely you would've been killed.
00:21:34.42\00:21:37.09
Yes, because many
times they recruited
00:21:46.37\00:21:47.84
from one faction or the other...
00:21:47.87\00:21:49.20
There were moments
00:21:52.51\00:21:54.84
were they would
confront each other...
00:21:54.88\00:21:57.51
and gun fights...
00:21:57.55\00:21:59.18
And between each
other, the bullets...
00:22:01.02\00:22:03.55
Many of my
friends were recruited...
00:22:06.15\00:22:08.79
They would lose their lives.
00:22:10.06\00:22:11.43
So the ladies
came and protected you?
00:22:11.46\00:22:14.30
What did the colonel say?
00:22:16.33\00:22:17.67
He could not stand against them.
00:22:20.04\00:22:22.54
The colonel couldn't
stand against the ladies.
00:22:22.57\00:22:25.21
He could not.
00:22:25.24\00:22:26.68
Because God is protecting you.
00:22:26.71\00:22:28.44
Did you sense the presence
of God on that occasion?
00:22:30.38\00:22:32.95
You know, I didn't see
00:22:41.49\00:22:43.59
how they were protecting
me but I saw something else.
00:22:43.63\00:22:48.33
I saw the presence of God
in the middle of all this.
00:22:53.23\00:22:56.40
How did you see
the presence of God?
00:22:56.44\00:22:58.21
In the midst of
this terrible situation?
00:23:00.11\00:23:02.34
In their intervention...
00:23:05.91\00:23:07.28
somehow they knew
and they would tell me
00:23:11.05\00:23:13.72
because they tried to recruit me
00:23:13.76\00:23:15.22
many other times...
00:23:15.26\00:23:16.59
Maybe I was at home.
00:23:18.16\00:23:19.49
So many other times,
this was not the only time?
00:23:19.53\00:23:21.66
Many times...
00:23:24.63\00:23:25.97
I was at school...
00:23:27.80\00:23:29.14
They would send me notes...
00:23:30.34\00:23:31.67
"Be careful, don't come
00:23:33.98\00:23:35.31
because they are
going to recruit today."
00:23:35.34\00:23:36.68
When I would go to church...
00:23:38.91\00:23:40.25
they would travel and
they would be my bodyguards
00:23:43.22\00:23:45.72
and go with me to church.
00:23:45.75\00:23:47.12
And many times they would,
00:23:51.36\00:23:53.03
I had to run and
they would hold them back
00:23:53.06\00:23:55.96
physically hold them back.
00:23:56.00\00:23:57.43
This is quite astounding.
00:23:57.47\00:23:59.83
So it didn't happen
once, it happened many times?
00:23:59.87\00:24:01.87
And not only with the army,
00:24:08.31\00:24:10.18
the government army
but also with the Gorillas.
00:24:10.21\00:24:12.41
So you were caught up
00:24:12.45\00:24:13.78
in the battle between
the left and the right?
00:24:13.82\00:24:15.62
Now we know today
00:24:20.42\00:24:22.86
and we think these
statistics probably accurate...
00:24:22.89\00:24:26.66
about 75,000 people from
El Salvador were murdered.
00:24:28.13\00:24:33.37
And you could have
been one of those people
00:24:35.67\00:24:37.81
who was killed.
00:24:37.84\00:24:39.17
Did you in your
heart on this occasion
00:24:43.61\00:24:47.58
believe that God had
something great in mind for you?
00:24:47.62\00:24:51.15
Did you believe that God
had a purpose for your life?
00:24:53.42\00:24:57.09
Yes, sir.
00:25:00.63\00:25:01.96
Why do you believe that God
had a purpose for your life?
00:25:02.00\00:25:04.53
Because when I saw a
lot of people dying...
00:25:12.84\00:25:15.54
when the same people would
let me know ahead of time...
00:25:18.01\00:25:21.55
One night, for
example, the Gorillas,
00:25:26.35\00:25:28.82
they came and they
recruited at night time.
00:25:28.86\00:25:31.16
They had around 40
young kids with them.
00:25:33.53\00:25:36.36
40 kids? 40 kids.
00:25:36.40\00:25:38.77
And they were after you also?
00:25:38.80\00:25:40.40
I was walking among those
40 that were recruited already.
00:25:43.34\00:25:46.98
They would recruit at night.
00:25:48.44\00:25:49.88
And they would take us
00:25:57.65\00:25:59.05
from this city to another
one as we were traveling...
00:25:59.09\00:26:02.42
to a place called Tierra Blanca.
00:26:04.26\00:26:07.86
There was a
helicopter waiting there...
00:26:09.36\00:26:11.17
to take us to Nicaragua...
00:26:13.37\00:26:14.80
and from there to Cuba.
00:26:16.71\00:26:18.44
Goodness!
00:26:18.47\00:26:19.81
To Cuba?
00:26:21.34\00:26:22.68
There would
train these children...
00:26:22.71\00:26:24.51
to come then and
fight in El Salvador
00:26:26.65\00:26:29.48
against the government forces.
00:26:29.52\00:26:31.02
And they were two
other Adventists...
00:26:34.59\00:26:36.73
As we were walking
nearing the helicopter...
00:26:38.56\00:26:42.30
we were praying...
00:26:42.33\00:26:43.67
and we told ourselves,
00:26:46.03\00:26:47.37
we are not going to
jump on that helicopter.
00:26:47.40\00:26:49.87
They said, "If
you don't go on it,
00:26:54.28\00:26:56.31
we are going to kill you."
00:26:56.34\00:26:57.88
And as we had decided
then, not to jump on this...
00:27:01.05\00:27:05.82
The army then comes...
00:27:05.85\00:27:08.02
Oh.
00:27:08.06\00:27:09.39
And so here the two factions
are now facing each other...
00:27:10.86\00:27:13.73
and now the gun fight begins.
00:27:14.86\00:27:16.70
And the 40 kids, we all
just dropped to the floor...
00:27:19.53\00:27:21.94
and we were praying to God.
00:27:23.77\00:27:25.11
Around 10 or 12
of them got killed.
00:27:29.31\00:27:31.15
But those who are Adventists,
the ones who were praying...
00:27:34.42\00:27:36.85
one way or another,
the Lord protected us
00:27:39.15\00:27:40.66
in a very special way...
00:27:40.69\00:27:42.02
And I'm here by God's grace.
00:27:42.69\00:27:44.03
So we believe that
God had His hand over you.
00:27:44.06\00:27:46.46
And God had in mind
something great for you.
00:27:48.70\00:27:50.47
And we saw that when
we went to El Salvador.
00:27:52.10\00:27:54.14
My friends, you are
watching The Carter Report.
00:27:56.60\00:28:00.08
Our guest today
is Pastor Pacheco,
00:28:00.11\00:28:02.78
a man who has been called by God
00:28:02.81\00:28:05.31
and preserved by God.
00:28:05.35\00:28:07.38
And we've been
listening also to Pastor Acosta.
00:28:07.42\00:28:10.19
Please write to me John
Carter, Post Office Box 1900,
00:28:10.22\00:28:14.36
Thousand Oaks,
California, 91358.
00:28:14.39\00:28:17.23
In Australia,
write to me at Terrigal.
00:28:17.26\00:28:20.73
The story today
tells us that God is alive
00:28:20.76\00:28:24.47
and God has a
plan for your life.
00:28:24.50\00:28:26.47
He cares for you.
00:28:26.50\00:28:27.84
Until next time, God bless you.
00:28:27.87\00:28:30.51