Spreading Revival by Building Houses – Manny Rosa’s Story

Spreading revival isn’t always about standing on the street corner and preaching to whoever will listen. In fact, people who are living for God in their everyday jobs are spreading revival. For Manny, his call comes in the form of building houses for people who couldn’t afford them otherwise. Read about how Manny is doing his part in spreading revival  below.

I grew up in Bridgeport Connecticut raise by a mom and dad that cared for me well, they were hard workers my father worked in factories and my mom worked in nursing for 35 years both of them were Of Catholics faith, so as a child I grew up attending catholic church, not ever week but on special events.

At the age of five years old my mom and dad enrolled me in Catholic school were I had my first encounter with spirituality, at about the age of eight I was ready to receive My holy communion, that was an awesome feeling to know I could partake in the sharing in The Lord’s supper, the first time I partook in the sacrament it felt supernatural, from that day on I felt a relationship with Jesus but didn’t know my place in Christ. So I continue in school my grades were marginal at best and the only subject I had received an A in was religion I was interested in the things of God but I had no guiding or encouragement from my parents or friends. So at that point, I continued in school till I graduated from eighth grade. My high school years were about to start, I did not attend a Christian school I attended a vocational technician school there I learned the skill of carpentry I was not required to attend religion classes at that point I went along with what everybody else was doing smoking, drinking, and involved in all kind of lauded acts living for the word, my goals were worldly not godly. At this time I meet a girl named Denise in my junior year of high school and fell in love with her after graduating from high school I went on to work as a carpenter but living the same worldly way, around that time my big plan was to get married and move to Puerto Rico going there on vacation I fell in love with the place my dad wanted to move back when he retired, so I got married to Denise, and I planned to move to Puerto Rico as soon as my father’s home was sold and it sold. Denise and I had a son, I moved with my dad to build a home for him and my mom who was an awesome mom in Puerto Rico, I went with my son’s godfather Fred we had a lot in common at that point the plan was to open a restaurant, it was an awesome plan. Six months in the building of the home was the first let down. My dad had stopped drinking for some years after promising me he would not. He started up again that changed the plans and I finished the house in 14 months and move back to Bridgeport Connecticut, and started over my Son started to attend Catholic school as I did and we started to attend also, It felt good to attend. At this time, we bought a home in Connecticut and settled in, then Denise’s
Job was talking about moving to North Carolina I knew nothing about this place but God had a plan So we moved to North Carolina there I started working in the carpentry field my wife Denise was settling in her job. After a while, I decided to work on my own opening a remodeling company things were going well.

I was working in a client’s home, we were adding a room to her home the Client’s name was Star and she was in the process of adopting some children Russian, there was something different about her she began to talk to me about Christ in a way that I had never heard but I liked what I was hearing, it was all about a personal relationship with Jesus and then I began to understand how blessed I really was, Star invited me to her church at that time my son was in a Baptist school so we decided to visit Star’s church and then I began to grow in my relationship with God, we became member of the church and served in the prayer ministry I lead it for four years we also lead small groups for years, I witness to my sister, brother-in-law, nieces, nephew, son and saw them Baptized, and people in our small group. I was being Used by God in a big way. Now when I worked in people’s homes I needed to know if they were saved. Some of my clients gave their lives to the Lord. From that point I discovered that my time on this earth was to tell other about the Lord Jesus and I loved it. At this point in time we decided to have another child, so working so many hours was not going to allow that to happen so Denise and I had a conversation about it, and she wanted me to work some place steady where I would have set hours.

So Denise was on the computer one day and found a housing ministry that was looking for a site supervisor the ministry was Habitat for Humanity. I knew nothing about habitat but soon loved the ministry. The Christian principles are awesome: prayer every morning, and home dedication that is always Christ-centered. I love working with volunteer and encouraging groups and homebuyers. I have had the opportunity to be part of spreading revival by inviting volunteer and coworkers to our church. I was promoted to construction manager.

When our executive director is not available to perform the home blessing he calls on me to officiate the event. I have been working there for thirteen years, my ride into work has been an hour long one way in that time I listen to pastor sermons one pastor that has helped shape my life has been pastor John piper.

From John piper I have heard over a thousand hours of teaching, since 1998 I have never stopped going to church I love the things of our Lord and savior, I am so Blessed to have found CLI this is an opportunity for me to gain knowledge and credentials that are much needed to be a good pastor. Remember all things done with faith love and dedication.

If you’re part of God’s church and want to take part in spreading revival through the world, Christian Leaders Institute offers a variety of classes to train you to do just that. Click here to enroll in classes and become a part of spreading revival worldwide!