Charles & Brenda Arnold

Charles Arnold was saved June 16, 1963, at Beverly Hills Baptist Church in Anderson, South Carolina, and was enrolled in Tennessee Temple Schools in September of that same year. He was baptized and became a member of Highland Park Baptist Church and was later ordained there.

At a soul winning lecture, the speaker asked how many would go out and witness for Christ that afternoon. He made a commitment to God at that time to go every Saturday as long as he was able because soul winning door-to-door is one of the gifts that God has given him. He graduated from the four-year Bible School at Tennessee Temple in 1969.

During his time at Tennessee Temple, he had the opportunity to take a missions trip to the Bahama Islands to witness for Christ through door-to-door visitation. He and his friend, Herb Capen, visited Nassau, where the Lord gave them many decisions for Christ. From there they went by a mail boat to Andres Island, which took them all night. God also gave them many decisions for Christ. On a Saturday afternoon he met and witnessed to a drunk and told him he would be preaching in "that church up there on the hill," and invited him. In spite of Charles being new at both soul winning and preaching with stuttering and stammering, God gave fruit and everyone in the choir came down to the altar, including the man who was previously drunk. By that time, Charles knew what God had called him to do and realized that it was the truth of not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD.

Because of circumstances at home, Brenda began her search for the Lord's peace as a very small child. Around the third grade, she stopped on the way home from school from time to time at a Christian Science Reading Room, trying to wade through the big Bibles and other literature but understanding very little. But God saw "that little girl" and chose her to serve Him on the mission field. Brenda was saved at the age of 15. She was so happy when a high school friend told her of God's marvelous grace and one day in May 1955 in her own living room alone, she kneeled and did what her friend had instructed her to do—ask Christ to save her. She had various opportunities to serve the Lord, teaching Sunday school and attending two years at Tennessee Temple College. She transferred to Bob Jones University where she majored in Spanish and accepted God's call to the mission field during a missionary conference. Her first contact with the mission field was in 1963 when she went on a missions trip to Mexico.

In 1968 Charles and Brenda met at Tennessee Temple and were married July 8, 1969. They were accepted by BIMI one week later and left for Spanish language school in Guadalajara, Mexico, four weeks after the birth of their first son, Charles S. Arnold. Another son, Stephen K. Arnold, came almost four years later and was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. They are thankful that their two sons are Christians and following the Lord in their lives. They also are thankful for their grandchildren and their love for the Lord. After finishing language school in May 1972, they drove up through Central America to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. God spoke to both their hearts during this trip that that was the place where He wanted them to begin the work of planting churches. This is where they have been serving the Lord for the past 43 years.

Their desire was to take the Gospel to where Christ was not known or preached. They discovered there was no church in Colonia San Francisco in the town of Comayaguela, a suburb of Tegucigalpa. Charles and Brenda began their ministry by having a campaign in which there were 110 professions of faith made in Christ. Even so, it was pioneer territory and the work did not take off immediately. In fact, it was only after a couple of revival meetings that there were any to follow Christ in baptism. This church became Calvary Baptist Church. Out of this church there were two young men whom God called to preach: Daniel Flores and Alfonzo Murillo.

There was also another area called Colonia La Pena across town that had great need of a soul winning outreach and a Gospel-preaching church. Brother Bob Dayton came down and set up a soul winning campaign, and there were 80 professions of faith in Christ with nine following Christ in baptism. This became La Iglesia Bautista de Horeb, and Daniel Flores became its pastor.

Three months later they went over into the neighboring area Colonia Popular and used the same system in this colonia with also about 80 professions of faith in Christ and eight or nine also following Christ in baptism. It became the Good Samaritan Baptist Church and Alfonzo Murillo became the pastor there. He and Daniel Flores have both been preaching about 36 years.

Out of the Good Samaritan Baptist Church came a young man by the name of Santos Ortiz. He was from a village way out of town in the southwest part of Honduras by the name of Garrobo. He said that there were only two Christians in that village and he would like for the Arnolds to go there to have church services. Brother Alfonzo Murillo went with them into that area and declared the Good News. Many were saved and baptized and there began the Canaan Baptist Church. Santos Ortiz became the pastor.

A brother by the name of Emeldo came out of that church and went down to a little farming section, which is mostly Catholic, and started a church there. He named it the Eternal Spring Baptist Church.

Santos Ortiz went from his church in Garrobo and also started a church in a village by the name of Tablon. These six churches were raised from the ground up and are all still standing with pastors who are married with families.

Due to the aging process, Charles and Brenda do not have the stamina they once had but are thankful for the health and strength God still gives them to go back and forth to Honduras to win souls to Christ, to help in building repairs, to encourage churches, pastors, Sunday school teachers, and to begin new ministries as He leads.

Three of the ministries most recently started are the seminary, the Gospel outreach into the public schools of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and the puppet ministry in the children's classes. In the States they are also involved in door-to-door visitation and soul winning. There are presently seven students in the seminary in the capital city Tegucigalpa and four students in the village of Nacaomi in the South, taught by Pastor Daniel Flores. Last year seven students graduated from the seminary in the church in La Colonia Popular, which was taught by Pastor Alfonso Murillo.

The new thrust is to start up this seminary again in the Colonia Popular Church in August, using the seminary graduates to do the teaching to the new young people and older people also coming who desire to prepare for God's work. Pray God will lay on the hearts of these seminary graduates to use their training for this training of new people, and pray that God will send the people He wants to be trained.

There are now two from the church in La Pena and one from the church in La Popular teaching and evangelizing children in the public schools. They are trusting the Lord that several more will become involved with this presentation of the Gospel in public schools. In Honduras the government allows the Bible to be taught and even invitations to be extended for children to accept Christ as Savior. Many children have made professions of faith through this ministry. The Arnolds’ desire is to take advantage of this freedom for as long as it lasts.

Charles and Brenda have now joined the ARM Personnel ministry of BIMI. Their desire is to serve the Lord as He opens doors and as He enables them.

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