Oral history interview in which Velasquez describes his childhood in Peru, conversion, the work of the Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Lima, his education at Rio Grande Bible Institute and Columbia Bible College, his work as a SAM missionary in Bolivia and Peru, the BGEA's 1990 Mission World campaign in Paraguay.
Collection 469
[December 7, 1999]
Velasquez, Javier Gonzalo; 1959-
Interview; 1993
2 reels of audio tape
Restrictions: None
Biography
Full name: Javier Gonzalo Velasquez
Birth date: November 9, 1959
Family:
Conversion: At the age of 15 during an evangelistic rally at a Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Lima, Peru
Education:
Career:
Other significant information:
Deeply influenced by the conversion and witness of his brother Fernando. In 1980, Fernando, who was a South America Mission worker in Bolivia, suffered a serious motorcycle accident and was sent to the United States for medical care. Javier went to stay with him while he was recuperating. While in the United states, Javier enrolled in the Rio Grande Bible Institute.
Scope and Content
Javier Velasquez was interviewed by Robert Shuster on January 20, 1993, at the Billy Graham Center Archives. The events described in the interview cover the time period 1959-1992.
T1 (68 minutes). Parents; brothers and sister; his first watch as a child; religious influences on him as a child; desire to please God as a child; importance of soccer in his life when he was a boy; his parents' separation; effects of the physical malady in his leg; contact with a cult as a boy which believed in a superior race on another planet; the conversion to Christianity of his brother Fernando through the missionary Penny Storms; the effect of Fernando's faith on Javier; Javier's conversion at an evangelistic rally in a Christian and Missionary Alliance church; reaction of his family to his conversion and faith; the size, history and character of the C&MA church in Lima; the high view of the ministry he learned from his pastor, Alfredo Smith; unity and sacrifice among the church's pastors; the church's impact on Lima; characteristics of the church's ministry; serving as a counselor at the church's evangelistic meetings; social context of the revival in Peru; Peruvian missionaries to the United States; traveling to the United States in 1981 to be with his brother in the hospital; Javier's education in the United States; emphases at Rio Grande Bible Institute; comparison of church worship in Texas and Peru; meeting his wife, Anna Alicia; Columbia Bible College's influence on broadening his world view; serving as a pastor in a Hispanic church while attending Columbia; joining South America Mission; comparing churches in the United States and Latin America; debate within SAM about whether to open a mission work in Paraguay; SAM's vision of multiplying churches in Latin America; missions' move under William Ogden to urban work; Velasquez's first experience as a missionary in Bolivia; serving as a bridge between North Americans and Latin Americans; description of SAM's work in Bolivia; more on serving as a bridge
T2 (41 minutes). Characteristics of the SAM's churches in Bolivia; the need for mentoring in church leadership; size of the SAM church in Bolivia; difference between highland and lowland cultures in Bolivia; the development of a tradition of cooperation between Evangelical churches in Bolivia; description of a presidential prayer breakfast; learning what it is to be a missionary; raising a son in the mission field; adjustment of his wife to differences between Central American and South American culture; furlough in the United States; surveying the Christian community in Paraguay to prepare for planting new churches; working with Rodolpho Plett; cooperating with SIM in Paraguay; assisting in organizing the BGEA's Mission World (MissioMundo) program in Paraguay in 1991; serving as vice-coordinator of the program; influence of Mission World on the country and on Velasquez's work; growing unity in Paraguay among Evangelical leaders; weakness of using taped programs for evangelism in Latin America; cooperation between North and Latin Americans in Mission World; Fred Durston characteristics as a person and a leader; SAM's strategy for work in Paraguay; importance of the city of Ascension in Paraguay; importance of starting a church that reaches different levels of society and which is physically visible to the city; need for missionaries in Paraguay
Provenance
The materials in this collection were given to the Archives of the Billy Graham Center by Javier Velasquez in January 1993.
Accession: 93-4
December 7, 1999
Robert Shuster
LOCATION RECORD
Accession: 93-4
Type of Material: Audio Tapes
The following items are located in the AUDIO TAPE FILE:
T1 - Reel, 3/3-4 ips, 68 minutes on one side only. Interview of Javier Veslasquez by Robert Shuster, recorded on Janaury 20, 1993. The interview is concluded on T2.
T2 - Reel, 3/3-4 ips, 41 minutes on one side only. Interview of Javier Veslasquez by Robert Shuster, recorded on Janaury 20, 1993. The interview is continued from T1.