Chester & Maria Sheren
ARM Missionary — Chester Sheren
Chester Sheren was saved as a young child and at the age of eight the Lord called him to be a missionary. When he was 13 years old, he became the teacher of the Adult Sunday School Class because he asked and answered so many questions.
Brother Sheren attended Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music (GRSBM) and graduated on June 2, 1965. He and his wife, Violet, met while attending GRSBM. The Sherens moved to Chicago where he was involved with AWANA for five years. Later the Lord opened the door for Chester to become superintendent of the City Rescue Mission in Lansing, Michigan, where they had the opportunity to work with Mexican children for 10 years.
In 1975 God called Chester and Violet Sheren to serve with BIMI as missionaries in Honduras. Brother Sheren started The Peace of God Baptist Church in the city of La Paz. Later they moved to Comayagua, Honduras, and served as a pastor in that city for 10 years. The Lord directed their paths back to La Paz to serve once again at their first church and they remained there until October 2014.
Violet went Home to be with the Lord in October 2014. After Violet passed away, hundreds of people expressed gratitude for the love that she and Chester had shown for each other and the Honduran people. A doctor said it best: “What you and Violet did for us in 36 years, no Honduran has ever done.”
The Lord blessed Chester Sheren’s ministry mightily. Two strong churches were established during the 37 years Chester labored in Honduras. There have been 1,466 recorded salvations over 16 years of ministry in their school. A three-year Bible institute was established in which Brother Sheren wrote the curriculum and taught. Over his many years of serving the Lord, thousands have been saved and scores have surrendered for full-time service.
Brother Sheren was instrumental in raising $10,000 in three months for an international Spanish Sword Conference. This sparked the starting of seven more international Sword Conferences, which were organized in Central America and Mexico.
On February 26, 2016, Chester Sheren and Cristina Flores were married. She had been a pastor’s widow for 12 years. Cristina loves the Lord and soul winning. She speaks to ladies’ groups in Honduras.
Chester is busy writing down about 2,000 illustrated sermons that he has prepared for Hispanic pastors. He has written a three-year correspondence Bible institute curriculum and is preparing it to send out by email to Spanish-speaking pastors. Brother Sheren has also written his autobiography in English and Spanish.
In the future Chester Sheren plans to fill in for missionaries who are on furlough or are out of the pulpit because of illness. He is available also to hold evangelistic services. It is his desire to be used of the Lord in the Spanish-speaking world here or on the foreign field. He currently plans to give out tracts to 30+ villages in Libertad Valley, Honduras. His goal is to establish a church in this area of Honduras.