In this episode of the Evangelism Podcast, host Daniel King interviews Pastor Antonia Torres from Mindanao in the Philippine Islands. Pastor Torres shares how he went from being a gang leader who persecuted preachers to becoming a passionate evangelist himself after a miraculous healing and conversion experience. We discuss the challenges of ministering in Mindanao, which has a large Muslim population, and the importance of friendship evangelism and seeing God’s power through miracles.
Key Points:
- Antonio Torres grew up in a home with no godly influence, became the leader of a gang, and persecuted Christian preachers, throwing stones at them and telling them they were “crazy” [0:36] [1:20].
- However, when Torres became severely ill in 1978, he repented and cried out to God, who then miraculously healed him after three days [2:04].
- Since then, Torres has devoted his life to preaching the gospel, seeing people come to faith through experiencing signs, wonders, and miracles [4:09].
- Torres’ church focuses on training young people to share the gospel, using a friendship-based approach when reaching out to Muslims [4:42] [5:47].
- Torres was deeply moved by the message presented at the Billion Soul Harvest Conference, expressing a desire to see the same spiritual harvest in his own ministry [6:47].
Transcript:
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus today. I have a very special guest with me, Antonio, from Mindanao in the Philippine Islands. So brother, thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.
Pastor Antonia Torres (00:15):
Thank you. Matter of God, Daniel King.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:21):
Now let me ask you a question. You were just telling me your story, and you said that before you became a Christian, you used to make fun of the preachers. You would throw stones at them and you would persecute them. But then what happened? How did God change your heart?
Pastor Antonia Torres (00:36):
Yeah. I never dreamed to be a pastor, never dreamed to be a preacher, because I grew up in a, what we call an environment that there is no God. I don’t have a godly, what we call a parent, something like that, a godly father that never care of an us. And then I grew up in a, what we call a violin home away from God. And then I never knew about the gospel. We don’t have what we call a heritage or lineage of being a preacher. But one day I became a leader of the gang in our city making books in the society. You were the leader of a gang. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Then until one day, all the past and all the preachers that I saw on the streets in the city, I criticized them. I called them crazy, and I stone them, see, and I have seen the blockers that they put in front of them in their chest and said, bere it to die. I said, you’re crazy. I’m already dead because life has no meaning. Life has no value to me. But what the devil meant for evil, God turned it around for the good. Amen. God knows where to pick me up. And in his grace and mercy in 1978, in the month of November, I got sick, sick, and to death,
(02:13):
Flesh and bones, no friends, no relatives, no loved ones, no preachers that came, but every word that had been preached to me. But those preachers that I criticize and stone start coming in my mind, and I start to humble myself before God and repent and cry out to the God who I never knew. And I said, Lord, I know that I hurt you
(02:42):
Because I never knew you. I prayed that you will forgive me from all my sins, and if ever you will give me a chance to leave. I promise to you that I will serve you all the rest of my life. And when I pray that prayer, peace plotted down my soul. I know that I have been forgiven and washed by the blood of Jesus. And after three days of my prayer, the same Jesus that had been raised from the dead, he came into my room, touched my sick body, and I was gloriously, miraculously, instantly healed me. And since 1978 until now for almost 45 years, I never stopped preaching the gospel, telling the people that Jesus is alive.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:40):
Amen. He changes lives. Well, let’s talk about Mindanao. It is one of the more difficult areas of the Philippine Islands. There are many Muslims in Mindanao, even some communist groups that in times past have been very violent. So you’re ministering in a very difficult part of the world, but yet you’re seeing God do great things. Tell me, what are you seeing God do in Minal?
Pastor Antonia Torres (04:09):
One thing I saw when the people saw soul, the power of the gospel, when they saww signs and wonders and miracles, people start to believe that there is God. Amen. See? Yeah. Because I have seen even in the book of Acts that one miracle is equivalent to 1000 sermon.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:32):
So you’re praying for the sick, you’re praying for miracles to happen. And talk to me about evangelism. How does your church do evangelism?
Pastor Antonia Torres (04:42):
Okay. The first thing that we need right now is because of my passion and love for the loss, our city, we started to select and train young men and young women as a disciple ready to be sent off to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then we taught them also what we call princip evangelism and the power of Jude starting going out and sharing about the gospel of Jesus Christ, telling them to encourage them to preach the gospel on the school, in their job, in their businesses, wherever they are in whatever what we call works that they are in. And praise God, they’re excited.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:41):
And so you’re doing a lot of friendship evangelism one by one. And is that working? Are people coming to Jesus,
Pastor Antonia Torres (05:47):
Especially to the Muslim people? Wow. We never preach to the Muslim, the gospel right away. Just be a friend to them and then give them something. Jesus, give this two kind of bread. You mentioned about bread first, the bread for life and And the bread of life.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:12):
Amen. Yeah. So today I got to minister here at the Billion Soul Harvest Conference, and you were really moved. What was it that happened during my message that really touched you?
Pastor Antonia Torres (06:28):
Okay. One thing is I’m just observant to every, all preachers are good, but my passion is to see souls. Amen. Because after my conversion, I became a pole time evangelist. For almost five years, I have seen miracles that they’re miracles. And sometimes as the years go by, it subsides. Sure. But thank God I never knew about these billions of souls. But somebody invited me to come here, and this is my first time coming here. And when I saw the crowd, as you present it, my heart slip with joy. Amen. The hunger. I said, God, if you can do it to him, you can do it to me.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:18):
Amen. Well, I believe God will give you a great harvest of souls in Mindanao, in the Philippines. This is harvest time. Amen. All over the world, people are ready to give their lives to Jesus. Praise God. So brother, thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast. Oh, praise God. God bless
Pastor Antonia Torres (07:34):
You. God bless you. And it’s an honor to be a part of meeting the Man of God, evangelist Daniel King. And I believe that together we can make a difference to the nations.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:50):
Amen. God bless you.
