Brother Reymundo
I was born in San Jose, California on February 23, 1955. I was raised Catholic. I started working when I was seven years old. I would work in the fields picking prunes or whatever fruit was in season at the owner’s ranch in Morgan Hill, California. I have seven siblings plus my mother and father. When I was in grade school I worked after school.
All I knew was work, and to work hard. I had a good work ethic. We moved to Gilroy, California when I was in Junior High. I went to Brownall Junior High. Things were good while I was in Junior High. I had Catechism after school. I was still doing good and working hard. Once I was in High School in Gilroy, about my Sophomore year, I started indulging in alcohol. I would take my parents bottle of Vermouth and fill it up with water so they wouldn’t suspect any Vermouth was missing. I got a job at Knob Hill grocery store as a courtesy clerk and worked there from 1974 - 1978. I continued to drink alcohol. I was trying to be the life of the party. If you had money, you had friends.
During High School I played football and was on a wrestling team. I was having a good time, or so I thought. I started smoking marijuana and continued drinking. I never did graduate. Eventually my boss at Knob Hill gave me two choices. Get fired or quit. So, I quit. I had other jobs for the next 3-4 years. I was running a muck. I got tired of it all and joined the Army in 1979. I went in as an E-1 and came out as an E-4 (Corporal). While in the Army, I was in a convoy from Ft. Riley, Kansas to Ft. Irwin, California. It took two weeks to travel to Ft. Irwin. I was a 64 Charlie (driver). I drove for my commander, which happened to be a woman. During this convoy, someone in our ranks lost a 38 pistol. We drove around in the dark trying to find it and I drove over a live 106 round (rocket launcher). It didn’t go off. My commander acknowledged that a “higher power” was watching over us. I myself now know that God was watching after me and I didn’t even know it at the time.
Once we got to Ft. Irwin, I started going to church services. We were at Ft. Irwin for a month and I was able to make about three services before heading back to Ft. Riley in Kansas where I finished my time in the Army. I got out of the Army on September 13, 1982. I moved in with my sister in Denver, Colorado for about 6-8 months.
I eventually moved back to Gilroy, California. I had odd jobs and continued my drinking and smoking pot. I moved to Pismo Beach with a friend in 1988. I started working at Pismo Fish and Chips. I continued my partying life. I would go to Harry’s Cocktail Lounge and that was where I met my future wife, Noela Chancellor. We drank and partied together. We eventually moved in together and continued our partying lifestyle for approximately two years.
Two gentlemen, Ole Green and Doug Patoggi invited me to church. Noela didn’t want to go. I went with the men to church in Arroyo Grande. Bro. Larry Booker was the pastor there at the time. I thought church was okay. I got invited a second time. This second time I felt the presence of God. I still to this day remember I was in the third row tingling all over and shaking. I couldn’t move. It felt so good. After service was over, I went back home. After awhile Noela (Nonie) started going to church also.
In 1993 I moved to Gilroy, California, without Nonie, to find a job. Nonie arrived about five months later. I found a job at Gilroy Foods. I started going to a church in Morgan Hill pastored by Bro. Smeltzer. He was renting space from an Episcopalian church and there was no formal name for this newfound church. On October 24, 1993 I received the gift of the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in other tongues. Eventually the church found their own building and became “The Father’s House.” We attended there from 1993-1997. The church was starting to let worldly influences come in. We didn’t know what to do. Should we move South or North? We went North and visited Nonie’s brother’s church in Anderson, California. We stayed a couple of days and then went back home to Gilroy.
We decided to move to Anderson in July 1998. I remember perfectly what our first church service was that day. Bro. Klann preached “Are you my mother?” We knew that we had made the right decision to switch churches and come to Anderson because of what Bro. Klann preached. God had clearly spoken to us and confirmed our decision. We met a lot of good people in this church. During this time, I met the Baker Family and Mick was not actively coming to church. I would go to Mick’s house and try to talk him into coming to church. Mick told me if I came over and knocked on the door, if he didn’t answer, just to come on in and that he would be back in his workshop working. I did that one day and walked back to his workshop and talked with him a little bit. I told Mick that I was doing this for selfish reasons. That if I ever fell, that I would hope that he would come and get me and bring me back to church.
After awhile Mick started coming to church. We were having good church. I was working at Chatsworth on Airport Road. in Redding. It was closing. I quit coming to church in 2003. Nonie started living a double life in church. I got weak and fell in with my wife. I broke my ankle in 2004 while drunk. I lost my job in 2004 and my Uncle Bill passed away in 2004. This started messing with me and I started heavily partying again. This was when we lived out on Poplar in Olinda. Mick and I would run into each other every so often and Mick would try to encourage me to come back to church. I would tell Mick “I may be down, but don’t count me out.”
Around 2005 I got a job at Shasta Growers. That’s when I met a young man by the name of Raul Davis Romero. I told him what the truth was, even though I wasn’t going to church during that time. Raul kept on telling me I needed to go back to church. After a couple of years of talking with Raul I ended up going to Sis. Barbara’s house and told her that I was tired of doing this and would she pray for me. She prayed for me. She called a couple of people to get together with her and pray for me. The first couple didn’t answer their phone. The second couple didn’t answer their phone. So, Sis. Barbara put me in her car and took me to the Bakers’ home. She knocked on the back door and Mick answered the door, saw me, and gave me a huge hug and started crying. One of the couples that we were trying to get a hold of, was at the Bakers’ home. I was quite inebriated, and everyone laid hands on me and prayed for me. I totally sobered up during their prayers for me. Someone asked me that if I went back home, would I start drinking again. I said yes. That was when I moved into Randy and Kathy Mahler’s place and left my wife Nonie, eventually filing for divorce. I have been coming to church ever since. I chose church, Nonie chose the world.
I would listen to K-Love at work and sing Amazing Grace while pulling weeds at the nursery trying to get Raul to come to church. Raul loved the song “My Redeemer” when it played on K-Love. I told Raul that my niece could sing that song just like on the radio. So I talked to my niece, Rachel, on getting her to sing that song, so I could convince Raul to come to church and hear her sing it. Raul came to hear the song and started coming on a regular basis.
Through all these years God has kept His hand on me and because of His mercy, I have brought two people to the truth- Raul Davis and Peter Peters, who I used to work with at Walmart. I now have a steady job at Walmart and a loving church family. God is so good.
