We don’t have to discover God’s call on our own. Sometimes God speaks to us through many people over a long period. Just ask Karlos Palacios.
Palacios is a church planter at Iglesia Comunidad de Fe Poinciana Christian Reformed Church, a Resonate Global Mission partner church plant in Poinciana, Fla.
Palacios said his calling to ministry started with service opportunities in his church, The New Horizon CRC (Paterson, N.J.). As he joined the choir and read Bible verses during services, people soon recognized his leadership abilities.
“Some of the elders constantly encouraged me to be a pastor,” Palacios said.
With that encouragement, Palacios began exploring a call to ministry by studying theology at Kuyper College and later through Calvin Theological Seminary’s (CTS) online program.
But he still wanted to make sure he was following God’s will for his life.
“I wasn’t sure, so I preferred to take my time and wait for God’s ultimate revelation,” he said.
After continuing to pray and seek God, he again heard a call to ministry, this time through a pastor who proposed he get involved with a type of ministry he’d never considered—starting a new Spanish-language church in Florida.
“That was the turning point,” said Palacios.
While one of Resonate’s purposes is to support church planters like Palacios during the planting process, a new partnership with CTS will allow potential church planters to explore their callings much earlier.
In the 2017-18 academic year, Resonate sponsored a two-semester church planting course at CTS. Students learned about various aspects of church planting, covering biblical foundations, theological concepts, practical strategies and skills, and spiritual disciplines.
“Not only did I form deep and lasting relationships with other peers and professors who were asking some of the same questions I was asking,” said one student after completing the class, “but it felt like we became more aware of what God’s Spirit was doing in and through each of our lives."
As he joyfully pastors his church plant in Poinciana, Palacios finally feels as if he’s where God wants him to be. He is grateful for all the people who have supported and guided him along the way and for his experience at CTS.
“I’ve seen God working in my call to ministry through the encouragement of other Reformed pastors, teaching me that since it is his church and ministry, he provides other servants to work together.”
