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The pain was staggering. He’d sunk so low his son didn’t even want to be around him. He remembered tying his mother to a bed in his determination to stop the cycle. Now it was repeating itself. A Cry for Help At 37, Sergio lived in a run-down trailer in El Paso. One day he stopped outside and looked up at the sky. Weary beyond words, he said, “God, I’m so tired. If there’s a chance for me to change my life, will You help me?” A few days later Sergio met a beautiful woman. When he asked her out, Yvette said, “Sergio, if you want a relationship with me you have to attend a church seminar for couples.” Yvette wouldn’t back down, so Sergio attended the seminar. Through his drug-induced fog, he remembered the joy he’d found in that little Pentecostal church. Soon after, Sergio joined the Abundant Life Faith Church in El Paso, rededicated his life to Jesus and began weaning himself off of drugs. His 20-year drug addiction didn’t disappear overnight. Sergio realized that to be free, his spirit had to grow stronger in the Word. And he had to resist the devil. “It’s very hard to get off of cocaine,” Sergio admits. “Those six to eight months were very difficult. I lay in bed suffering withdrawals, every cell in my body screaming for relief. I didn’t tie myself to my bed, but I wrapped myself in a huge blanket like a burrito and said, ‘I’m not moving!’ “I had to resist…and resist…and resist…and resist some more. If I saw drugs on TV my whole body shook. Certain sights and smells triggered the cravings. Finally, I was free. Free from drugs, free from the past and free to live my life.” God Had a Plan May 21, 2002, Sergio and Yvette married. Three years later, one of Sergio’s sons, and then his daughter, moved to Fort Worth. Hungry to rebuild his relationship with them, Sergio and Yvette moved there as well. Yvette went to work in the Partner Services Department at Kenneth Copeland Ministries. Later, Sergio joined her there. “I’d heard Jerry Savelle while we were in El Paso,” Sergio remembers, “but I’d only heard of Brother Copeland. I began paying attention to what he taught. The day I heard him say that we are the prophets of our own lives, I was forever changed. Then I learned about the authority of the believer! Message by message I began to grow in the Word of God.” To the Victor, the Spoils A few years ago when Sergio was in Venezuela with the KCM ministry team for the Victory Campaign there, he was asked to fill in for Brother Copeland’s translator for a meeting in the host’s church. He was also informed that he would be riding from the hotel to the church with Brother Copeland, so he could talk with him before the meeting. Holding a microphone for the first time in his life, Sergio ministered the word in Spanish as Brother Copeland preached. Now, as a member of the KCM ministry team, Sergio travels to meetings across the country—California, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin. Last August, at the 2013 Venezuela Victory Campaign, Brother Copeland invited Sergio to the platform to give his testimony. Before an audience of thousands, a humble Sergio Alvarado listened as Brother Copeland said, “I want to introduce you to my spiritual son.” His mother had rejected him. His father had abandoned him. Yet this man of God called him a son. Sergio knew it was THE BLESSING of God, restoring what had been lost. Back in March of last year, Sergio returned to Juárez with a burden for his people. He stood once again in the basketball stadium where, as a child, he sold potato chips and where his mother spent most of her time working in nearby bars. Instead of a sporting event, the stands were filled with people praising the Name of Jesus. At the Lord’s direction, Sergio had rented the stadium and hosted the Juárez Victory Campaign, bringing in pastors from Lima, Peru, and all across the U.S. “Juárez is considered one of the most dangerous cities on earth, which is why God wants us to make a difference there,” Sergio explains. In March of this year, Sergio will join with Courtney Copeland, Kenneth Copeland’s granddaughter, and minister during a special youth event called Reaction Tour. Then, in May, he has rented the same stadium for another Juárez Victory Campaign. Sergio also has been directed by God to purchase a piece of land in the area of Juárez where he used to live. “He told me to buy the land and build a word of faith church equipped with a large kitchen,” he said. “We are to feed those children with good food and with the Word of God. He is calling us to empower them. That’s a good picture of what partnership with KCM means to me. It’s like throwing a lifeline to hurting people around the world.” It’s been 13 years since Sergio Alvarado grabbed a lifeline from God and got off of cocaine. Not only has he reversed the curse in his own life, but his message of hope is a lifeline to a hurting world. V ******ADVERTISEMENT******* reactiontour.com Reaction Tour exists to empower kids around the world, through the display of God’s love, using the avenues of sports, discipleship, dance and music. Be a part of Reaction Tour today, as you pray for its success. visit today! ****************************** 26 : BVOV : MAR '14

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