Ronnie Chavez’s Personal Testimony

I gave my life to the Lord when I was 18 years old in Maywood, CA on  May 27th 1984. I was so filled with rage, and anger and I never knew why?  When I gave my life to the Lord He began to do a work instantly in my life by delivering me from drugs instantly and alcohol.

I was raised with my mother who was a heroin addict and prostitute.

I never realized why my father left me and my sister until my mother told me that she had something so horrible to tell me that it would hurt me so bad.  So I prepared myself for whatever it was going to be or happen.  She began to tell me that my biological father raped her when she was just 14 years old and I was conceived on the train tracks behind Roosevelt Park.

Well now it all made sense to my question of why I had so much rage, and anger inside me.

However, it actually worked opposite, (what the devil meant for evil God turned to good), instead of being angry, I was released that day  from  years of pain, the truth had actually made sense to me and released me from the regret of such anger and rage. I never looked back.  I was instantly delivered from everything and I mean everything the day I got saved.  I thank God because it has been a gradual progressing in the work He has done in my life.  I met my wife Teri at a conference in 1985 and began to pray and fast for her and my destiny.  She never knew I was alive for 6 months then the Lord spoke to me and I began to date her and we got married 1 1/2 years later. We have been married 22 years now and have 4 beautiful God-fearing children;  Rosalie, Rochelle, Christian, Josiah.

After nine years of laboring under the ministry of Pastor Mike Neville, in 1993 we took over the Praise Chapel Chula Vista church and never looked back.

The first five years of our ministry we saw many salvations and miracles the church began to grow and I began to minister around the world. Then we lost our building and became known as “the church in the streets”.  However, God had a plan and we began to plant churches with no building. Our first plant was Raul and Edith Galvan to Chula Vista an all Spanish ministry in 1999. God has blessed them and in 2008 they planted a missionary in Michoacán Mexico.  in 2003 we planted Rosendo and Oralia Beltran to National City, and they opened up not one but two churches one in English and one in Spanish. Now they are getting ready to send out one of their disciples on short term missions to Central America, Jose Godinez.  In 2007 we sent out a church to Santa Cruz, California, Jimmy Joe and Aimee Wooldridge.  Jimmy Joe was the first real surfer in our Chula Vista Fellowship, (I don’t think he is surfing much anymore). In 2008 we sent out a church to the city of Newark, New Jersey; Frank and Tina Medina. God, through many trials and set-backs, is building our Praise Chapel of Chula Vista Fellowship and we are honored to welcome you to this conference.

There are 3 things the Lord has verbally spoken to me in 24 years of my salvation:

1.  He told me I would become a pastor

2 .  He told me Teri would be my wife

3.  He told me to pastor in Chula Vista

These three verbal words from the Lord has been an enduring foundation upon which God is building our ministry and influence in Chula Vista and around the world. Thank you and God bless you.

Ronnie Chavez