English
Korean
Spanish
DALLAS—David Galvan, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida (New Life in Christ) in Dallas for 39 years, has seen many blessings through the transforming power of prayer. Early in his ministry, he realized that “the church needed to have a covering of prayer” to reach its community. That was 25 years ago.
On Feb. 1, 1996, a daily prayer meeting began from 6-7 a.m. Monday-Sunday at the church. They called it Morning Prayer, or Oración Matutina in Spanish. The bilingual group ran up to 12 participants on campus. But, to Galvan’s amazement, COVID opened an unexpected new door. Because of the shift from in-person meetings, Morning Prayer now draws a daily crowd averaging 55, with the highest virtual attendance at 63.
Nelson Fonseca, minister of evangelism at Nueva Vida, said Morning Prayer has impacted his own life since moving to the Dallas area two and half years ago. Both individual and corporate prayer are necessary for a healthy spiritual life, Fonseca said. Morning Prayer allows the church as a body of Christ to pray for one another and for missionaries who share the gospel daily.
“I set my alarm every day at 5:50 a.m., but I must admit that from time to time the Lord wakes me up earlier so I may start reading a portion of Scriptures,” Fonseca said, offering the following example of how God has worked in his life through Morning Prayer.
“Last year I started praying for the salvation of my brother Cesar who is a U.S. Marine. I specifically asked that God would open a door to start a conversation with him, especially that his heart will soften because he’s been going through some post traumatic disorder in war. He is also experiencing physical ailments.
“The Lord heard our prayers and even though Cesar has not made a profession of faith, he is now open to expressing how he feels and I am trusting the Lord that Cesar will surrender his life to Christ,” Fonseca said. “That type of intimacy is created … when the body of Christ comes as one and shares requests.”
The whole church benefits. “As a result of intercessory prayer, God gave us the location where we are at today, as an answer to prayer, debt-free,” Galvan said.
Galvan became Nueva Vida pastor in 1981. The congregation filled its Garland location, and he began praying whenever he drove past the old Second Baptist Church of Garland. After Second Baptist voted to disband in 1993, the Dallas Baptist Association facilitated the transfer of the property to Nueva Vida.
“If I prayed 13 years for that location, one of our deacons, Jesse Flores, prayed for 21 years,” Galvan said.
In 2009, in another answer to prayer, the growing church purchased its current campus from the former Casa View Baptist and paid for the balance through the sale of the Garland facility.
Bold to Evangelize conference May 8
The church’s upcoming evangelism conference, Bold to Evangelize, scheduled May 8 at Nueva Vida was born out of Morning Prayer. The free event will be in English and in
Spanish.
“There is definitely a connection between this conference and what we are already doing during morning prayer. For example, so far, we have had 40 professions of faith for the glory of God. One of those was my mother-in-law. These are answered prayers of people who are sharing Christ and others need to be equipped as well,” Fonseca said.
This conference will allow believers to overcome obstacles as they share the gospel. The event will be held in person and will also be available via YouTube live.
See newlifedallas.org for more information.
