The Story of a Servant of God
Pastor José Luis Soto
Born in the Republic of Cuba on May 14, 1936, in a small town called Limonar, in the province of Matanzas. His first job during his childhood was to shine shoes on the streets to help his very poor family...
The book that narrates the experiences, trials, lessons, and success stories of Pastor Jose Luis Soto.
After a long struggle to obtain primary education, at the age of ten he had to drop out of school to dedicate himself as a shoe shiner on the streets, due to the precarious situation in which he lived. He learned auto mechanics, and at the age of 23 he came to know Jesus Christ and accepted him as his personal Savior. Immediately, God called him to the holy ministry, for which he entered as a student of the Pentecostal Evangelical Institute of the Assemblies of God, in Manacas, Las Villas Cuba, where in addition to his studies, he founded a church.
In 1962, miraculously, he was able to leave his country with his wife Alma del Carmen Soto, for the United States. Since his arrival in dreamland, he took up the pastorate in Compton, CA where he began his glorious apostolate as a planter of churches, radios, colleges, Bible institutes among various other ministries.
Six years later, in 1968, Pastor Soto founded a ministry to assist immigrants in need, the Evangelical Refugee Center in Huntington Park, CA.
Twelve years after his arrival in the United States, in 1974 he was elected as a priest of the Los Angeles section of the Assemblies of God, which he organized because there was no registry or recognized ministerial organization.
In 1977 he started what is now the glorious Maranatha World Mission, with his wife Carmita in a family group in South Gate, CA. They were 7 years of pilgrimage without a fixed place, until in 1983 they bought, with their own capital, the building located at 8500 Long beach Blvd., South Gate, CA. From that 70 foot by 30 wide chapel, he came out everything that exists today in Maranatha World Mission, now located in Bellflower, CA.
Since September 28, 1985, which began in the new chapel, there have been decades of victory in confrontation with Satan and his hosts, but our God has supported the servant in all the battles presented and has helped him and has always emerged triumphant. .
In the congregation that God gave, many have been impacted by the vision and the Holy Spirit has sown the necessary love in them for the activities they produce, the necessary means to maintain the great missionary work that has been sustained in different countries.
In 1986 he started the radio program "A Date With God" and the power of God was manifested through that glorious program through which thousands were healed both in the U.S. as in foreign countries and thousands of others have accepted the son of God as his personal savior. He has been on the air in many Hispanic countries, including Spain until today.
In 1990, he founded what is today "World Mission Maranatha University" where beautiful groups of new workers of the Lord graduate each year.
In 1992, he founded what is today the Colegio Una Cita Con Dios in Managua, Nicaragua where thousands of marginalized boys and girls have been transformed by giving them their physical support but even more the necessary education up to "Bachelor" and a systematic Christian evangelization for glory. of God.
In 1993 he inaugurated the glorious Radio Maranatha in the National Stadium of Managua, Nicaragua. It has been the only Evangelical Radio station on planet earth that has managed to get the first place and stay in it, above all the secular stations.
On January 28, 1995, the second station founded by Pastor Soto “Radio Eben-Ezer” launched its beautiful ethereal waves into the air, filling the entire Nicaraguan people with joy and enthusiasm in a ceremony that took place in the theater. Ruben Dario in Managua, Nicaragua.
Also that same year 1995, in Los Angeles, California, he started the television ministry "An appointment with God" which continues to this day preaching the sound doctrine of the word of God.
In 2001 in El Salvador, Central America founded another ministry “Una Cita Con Dios” and the prison ministry in maximum security prisons where in the last 10 years more than ten thousand souls have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior.
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Within his charismatic ministry, more than 10,000,000 plates of food have been provided, 25,000 thousand children educated, more than 160,000 prisoners have received help and evangelization, and millions of people have received the message of Christ through his television ministry "Una Cita Con Dios" and Radio Maranatha ministry.
In 2017, Pastor Soto released his book, "THE VERTICAL CHURCH", sharing his experiences, and personal reflections with the sole purpose of biblically guiding and inspiring throughout his 55 years of pastoring.
In total, there are 7 churches founded under his ministry, and in short, he also founded “World Mission Maranatha University, a theological university.
Pastor Soto has always been careful to clarify in his testimonies that only God is the one who has done everything throughout his life and has emphasized that he is a ZERO, in the conquests that God has made for him allowed to achieve.
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In all this that God has allowed him to do, he is always careful to say loudly that the glory belongs only to God who, through his human uselessness, our Lord Jesus Christ wanted to use it so that all the glory and honor were for the one who shed his blood on the cross of Calvary for us all.
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Pastor Jose Luis Soto has his Divinity Doctorate from American Divinity School.
In his personal time, Pastor Jose Luis loves to follow boxing, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and spend time with his wife, three children, and seven grandchildren.