Virginia Woman Leads 800 People to the Lord

Sayhils Fuentes (middle) poses with members of the Arlington church at the church's grand opening.

August 31, 2016 ∙ by vmbernard ∙ in Potomac Conference, This Month's Issue

Story by Ricardo Bacchus

Have you ever led someone to the Lord? How about five people or even 10? Saylis Fuentes, a member of the Fairfax church in Fairfax, Va., has introduced more than 800 people to God. She has made soul-winning her purpose in life.

Born Catholic in El Salvador, Fuentes’s parents got divorced when she was very young. She grew up holding deep anger and resentment in her heart. In 1981, in the midst of a civil war in El Salvador, her mother received an anonymous letter giving her 24 hours to vacate the country, forcing the family to migrate to the USA.

One Sabbath afternoon, shortly after arriving to the States, a little boy knocked on Fuentes’s door. He handed her a copy of El Centinela (Adventist magazine) and invited her family to attend church. They began studying the Bible and soon decided to get baptized.

The deep anger and resentment Fuentes held onto for most of her life slowly dissipated. Her newfound faith replaced her anxiety and despair with hope, happiness and a sense of security. She felt it paramount to tell others about the One who brought her this peace and love. She was determined to do something about it.

So she did. She took the little boy’s example, who planted a seed in her heart, by planting churches. Her strategy is to gather small groups of 25-30 members and actively involve them in their church and community. The activities include outreach seminars on health, family, and finances, volunteering at food banks, and evangelizing to all ages. Her main objective is to bring people to the foot of the cross.

Fuentes has already planted five Hispanic Seventh-day Adventist churches: Arlington, Vienna, Herndon, Fairfax, and Lorton, her newest church, where she currently volunteers much of her time.

“God has promised to give us the power of the Holy Spirit,” Fuentes explains. “Being filled with the Holy Spirit, we then embark in our mission to reach out to the community, as it is easier to attend an outreach activity than to attend a traditional church service.”

Strategies your local church can do for soul-winning

Saylis Fuentes, a member of the Fairfax church in Fairfax, Va., has introduced more than 800 people to God. She has made soul-winning her purpose in life. Here are her strategies for soul-winning:

1. Make a prayer list of family members, friends, or coworkers you want to reach.

2. Get to know them on a personal level.

3. Share your light in a Christlike manner.

4. Find the right opportunity to serve their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

5. Invite them to follow Jesus.

Read these articles from the September 2016 Visitor:

Feature: Guiding Girls to God