Unable to read, even in Spanish, newly arrived Mexican immigrant Vicente Cielo took whatever work he could find.
While working for a cleaning company, he was assigned to a Salvation Army church, the Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., Corps, where he noticed that the people there seemed special. When the corps began a Hispanic outreach ministry in October 2001, Vicente attended an evangelistic meeting and knelt at the mercy seat (altar) to pray. He soon started attending a Sunday morning class for new “recruits.”
One Sunday he woke early and couldn’t stop thinking about all the wrong decisions he’d made. “I wanted to get rid of the guilt and shame I was carrying but didn’t know how,” he says. The lesson that morning was on the Army’s seventh doctrine: repentance. The group joined hands as Vicente prayed and began a new life in Christ.
He sought reconciliation with his wife, Matilde, and his children: Ernesta, Carmen, Gerardo, and Vicente Jr. They left Mexico to join him and soon came to know the Lord themselves. Like Vicente, they were enrolled as soldiers (members) of The Salvation Army.
Vicente wanted to study God’s Word, but he had one big problem: He couldn’t read. He set out to learn. It was a painstaking process, but he persisted.
A year later Vicente volunteered to share his testimony and read Scripture in a Sunday morning service. His children were concerned. “Dad, you can’t read. How are you going to stand up there in front of all those people?” they asked.
But Vicente smoothly read from John 5, then gave his testimony. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. His four children were especially proud.
Vicente wants all his relatives to know the joy and peace he has found in Christ. He bought a van to bring them to the corps; sometimes, he has to make two trips to accommodate everyone.
“My vision is to see this chapel filled with my family,” says Vicente, who knows the miraculous power of prayer and has no doubt his vision will become a reality.
On Mother’s Day this year, Vicente saw his three oldest grandsons enrolled as junior soldiers, which makes them third–generation Salvationists. He and his wife were flagbearers for the ceremony.
In addition to talking about the Lord with his family, as maintenance manager at the corps, Vicente often witnesses to men who come to do court–ordered community service. He specifically asks the Lord to bring people with ready hearts to him, so he can share the Gospel with them. Not only do these men pay a debt to society, but thanks to Vicente, they also have an opportunity to hear about the love of Christ as well.
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