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John 3:16 A Church is Born

A HUMBLE BEGINNING

It was in the year 1935 that Rev. Fernando Gutierrez saw the need for a Spanish church in the borough of the Bronx, NY for a spiritual guidance of the puertorican population of the City that resided in that area. The population was not great but he felt a distinct need and in a small store front at 802 Westchester Avenue, under the name Christian Church John 3:16, Rev. Gutierrez started a small church. He put his life into this little mission but was taken to be with the Lord. After his death, many were the pastors that came to take the pastorship of this small congregation. Some of them the following: Rev. Julio Cancel, Rev. Pedro Serrano, Rev. Max Padovani, Rev. Antonio R. Caquias and Rev. Ramon Rodriguez. Due to the small Spanish population, the pastors saw very little growth in the church. One by one gave up on it; one because of the lake of growth, another because of the lack of vision, another because of the lack of a sincere desire to really work at it. One of the main contributing factors to all these lacks was the fact that this was during the great depression and it was very difficult for one of theses men to work long hours at job and then come home to work the mission. By 1943 the small church was located at 750 Hewitt Place and was down only to thirteen members. In the mean time it was back in the year 1932 when, for the first time, Mr. Ricardo Tanon heard the preaching of the Word of God on the street corner in Manhattan. He had lived a life that was not very becoming and it was on that street corner that he decided to change his way of life and accept the new way that was being offered to him. That night he went to a little mission pastored by Rev. & Mrs. Eleuterio Paz. This consecrated man and woman became the first spiritual leaders for this man, whom without this knowledge, was being prepared for the time when he would be called to take over the mission which as yet had not been founded. On the following day once again visited the mission, this time taking his wife with him. In just one day, Mrs. Tanon could already see the great change that had taken place in her husband so she too decided that this was the answer for their lives. Mr. Tanon, his wife and their small daughter Lydia continued to attend the church but now their lives were completely changed. They had become new people and were living in peace with themselves. By 1939 the family had grown to include another daughter Anna and a son Richard Kenneth. That same year a small Spanish speaking evening Bible School was stared and Mr. Tanon became one of it's first students. The books used were all in English but in every session the teacher would hand out several pages of the book which had been translated into Spanish. From these translated pages the students learned their lessons and by the grace of God in 1939, three years later, the first class was graduating. Frank Negron, Ricardo Tanon, Ramon Ramos, Manuel Lopez, Manolin Jordan, Ramon Reyes Hernandez, Julio Rodriguez and Jose Cruz. In 1937 the Tanon family moved to the Bronx and continued to serve the Lord at the Christian Church of the Valley. For six years Mr. Tanon was member of this church and by the end of the six years he had became Superintendent of their Sunday School Department. Many people urged him to take a pastorship but he always refused because of poor academic preparation.

A HEEDED CALL

But in the year 1943. the small mission started by Rev. Fernando Gutierrez was left without a pastor, Rev. Antonio Caquias, the outgoing pastor, called on Mr. Tanon suggesting that he take this mission. as in other times; Mr. Tanon refused, but after much persuasion he agreed to take it until they could find a permanent pastor. One of the contributing factors to Mr. Tanon's agreement was the fact that he was told that if he did not take the mission it would be closed and thirteen member that it had at the time would be sent to other churches. Mr. Tanon could not bear to see this church closed so he agreed to take it. Without much ado, he was installed as a pastor but it seemed that some of the members were not too happy about having this new pastor because after the first preaching the first sermon, two couple left the church leaving only nine members. The remaining nine members consisted of seven woman and two men; Mr. & Mrs. James Farreas. Mr. & Mrs. Jose Alamo, Mrs. Dolores Arroyo, Mrs. Amparo Ramos, Mrs.Felicia Cantares, Mrs. Luz Maria Gutierrez ans Mrs. Ana Hernadez. To the original nine members you add approximately twenty children and you will have an entire congregation. Being that one of the contributing factors to the lack of success of previous pastors was that the pastors had to work for their support, about one year after taking the church, Mr. Tanon had a talk with his wife and they agreed that she would go out to work for their support of the family and he, who at that time was salad chef at one of the big New York hotels earning $24.00 weekly, would dedicate all his time to the mission. While Mrs. Tanon worked, Mr. Tanon, sincerely believes that a great part of his success at this mission is due to this one big decision to sacrifice himself for the good of the Lord, Mrs. Tanon supported the family for approximately six years. For the first couple of months not one new convert was added to the church and Mr. Tanon felt quite discouraged. Every night he would go home and pray for hours asking the Lord to give hime at least one covert. There was a woman that visited the mission but hard as he tried, he could not convince her. For six months Mr. Tanon prayed that the Lord would touch the heart of this woman so that she would become a christian. Every night he prayed for just one convert. He was upset about the lack of growth and decided that, if within six months he still did not have one convert, he would leave the church and go back to his job. As things turned out, it seems that the Lord wanted to prove his faith because the six months were almost up when something happen. One cold night, the woman that had been visiting the church went to him requesting that he pray for her conversion. To Mr. Tanon's surprise, Mrs. Tanon simply rolled over in bed and told him that he had no faith.