Carl Alan Luepnitz

Testimony

I received Jesus as my personal savior and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1974 in Lutheran catechism classes in Copperas Cove, Texas. After these truths were taught in the class, I realized that even though I had been in contact with the gospel throughout my life, I had never made Jesus my Lord. The Lord clearly impacted every part of my life and taught me to be a witness in school.

In 1978 our family moved to Temple, Texas where the Lord continued educating me through deeper teaching in the Word at Trinity Church. In a short period of time the Lord begin to teach me His power as I learned to pray for the sick and witness to my friends with more confidence knowing that the Lord would do what His Word says.

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January 1, 1980 my parents left Temple to go on the mission field in Mexico with many reservations about leaving me alone in Temple, but the Lord told them that He would do the work in me and not to worry. As promised, the Lord matured me and taught me how to walk closer to Him. I continued in college at Temple Junior College and transferred to Baylor, graduating in 1984 with a BBA. During this time and after graduation I served in the youth ministry at Trinity Church of Temple. This was a great learning experience since I had the opportunity to teach the Word and my relationship with the youth compelled me to practice what I taught.

In 1984 I was nearing time to graduate and I prayed about the numerous opportunities to interview for jobs and the Lord every time indicated that I was not to. In my mind these were excellent jobs, but the Lord wanted me to stay in Temple. I continued working in Temple and received a phone call to interview in Dallas at a private accounting firm and I went. In the interview the owner of the firm offered me a job based on his checking out my references and them telling him I was 100% honest. The job was to be his assistant overseeing many experienced accountants and being in charge of operations when he was out of the office. The job and the money offered was far more than I could have imagined being offered as an entry level accountant. I told him I would answer him in a few days so I could pray about it.
On the way home I was praying and the Lord spoke to me in a clear voice and told me “I did not tell you to go to this interview, now you have a problem.” Of course I knew what the Lord meant and turned down the offer. This is an important part of my testimony because in this decision the Lord made me make a choice whether to follow His voice in everything or just when I wanted to.

During these years, I visited my parents on the mission field many times and cared for some of the administrative responsibilities while living in Temple. I had not considered the possibility that the Lord was going to call me to Mexico. In January of 1988, while on vacation with a friend in Colorado, the Lord spoke to me while on a ski lift talking to my friend about skiing. With the same clear voice He told me “When you get back to Temple, prepare to go to Mexico.” So I took a crash course in Spanish, begin to take weekend trips to Saltillo, and by June I was living in Saltillo full time.

Marina and I met for the first time in 1982 at my parents apartment in Saltillo. Because of the language barrier we could not communicate, but in most of my visits after that we saw each other. During the weekend visits we began to date which was facilitated greatly by Marina having learned English when she worked at an English institute for one year. We were married in December of that same year and she has been a great blessing in my life. An added benefit was that this was a great way to learn things about Mexican culture that many missionaries may never experience.

Over the years the Lord has manifested His presence and calling in our lives repeatedly. As we pray for the sick, preach the gospel and see the results we are constantly amazed at the place God has allowed us to be in, being used by him in marvelous ways.

I heard it stated that “God does what he can with the available clay.” I thank God that he has allowed me to be in this place and see Him work. It is not because I am special but just because I am available. This is my desire is to remain pliable and be the vessel that is useful for His work.