Personal Testimony Of Evangelist Luz Gonzales
Curious private press made at a time when an English speaking Mexican Evangelist touring the country in a Mariachi costume must have been a real spectacle.
The Spanish American Christian Crusades was located in Springfield, Ohio. The First Church Of God, Benton, Illinois donated the Chevy Van as pictured on the cover to Gonzales to aid him in his ministry.
Mark, you made my day. This crazy Mexican evangelist is my father. I remember when this testimony was recorded, the evening FCOG in Benton donated and even visting Queen City Records with my dad when he went to proof the master before the pressings began. He order LP's, cassettes and, of course, that era-defining audio format - the 8-track tape. The SACC ministry team consisted of my dad, Luz, the singer, Simon Avila (the one with the mustache) and the pianist Rick (whose last name escapes me). My dad was, and is, a dynamic and humorous speaker and this recording was a great take to capture his testimony. He's still as sharp as a tack at age 86 and looks great thanks to his lifelong love of running (he was a 2-time state track champion in high school) and healthy eating habits he and my mother established years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe way that I came upon your blog post is that I have been pulling together some family memorabilia for a Christmas presentation this year. For his section I wanted to highlight this recording because he was very proud, not just because the recording was great but because many came to know Christ as a result of this testimony.
Dad no longer had a copy of this recording so I went Google-diving to see what I could come up with and that's how I found you.Dad no longer had a copy of this recording so I went Google-diving to see what I could come up with and that's how I found you. But I wonder if I might be able to pursuade you to record it and send me the audio file. I would be willing to compensate you for your time and effort. Let me know if you'd willing to take on this task.
Once again, thanks for making my day!!
Warmest regards,
Ron Gonzales
p.s. BTW, you can look me up on FB. I have lots of pics of my crazy Mexican evangelist dad (without his mariachi garb, alas).
https://www.facebook.com/sherpablogger
Hi Ron: I hope you found the LP you were looking for. I just noticed a copy available now on Ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Evangelist-Luz-Gonzales-When-God-Spoke-Spanish-Gospel-LP-Album-Springfield-OH-/381189404715?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58c0a8b82b
DeleteThank you for your memories Ron! The high point of collecting and blogging are the days a family member leaves a comment. I will see what I can do about digitizing the album. Finding any one record here can be a bit of a challenge for me as records can be buried a box and again in a stack of boxes. So I will need to find a day when I can do some digging. Thanks again. Mark
ReplyDeleteI remember Simon Avila when I was a small child living in Michigan, I have my dad's old albums and think there is one of Simons..I wondered what ever happend to him
ReplyDelete