This Week in AG History -- Jan. 3, 1965

José Gustavo Galdámez, a bright young man in El Salvador, was born in 1903 to a devout Catholic family. He studied for the priesthood, but a series of disappointments and poor choices caused his life to spiral out of control. A powerful encounter with God, however, set his life on a new trajectory and he ultimately became a leading Assemblies of God pastor and educator in El Salvador. Assemblies of God missionary Melvin Hodges shared Galdámez’s story in a Jan. 3, 1965, article in the Pentecostal Evangel.

At a young age, Galdámez was dedicated to the Lord by his parents, who desired that he become a Catholic priest. They sent him to parochial school, where the priests kept him under their watchful eyes and helped to form him spiritually and scholastically. The young Galdámez, sincere in his faith and possessing high ideals, entered Colegio Salesiano, a school for priests in training.

The very priests who were supposed to care for the young man ended up shattering his faith. According to Hodges, Galdámez experienced “grievous disappointment” when he saw the priests not living up to their ideals. Hodges did not provide details about what Galdámez witnessed, but it was enough to cause the young man to reject religion, which he concluded was synonymous with business.

Galdámez, who left the school with several other disillusioned students, was spiritually and morally adrift. He left his sheltered environment, found employment as a teacher, and in Hodges’ words, was “soon lost in the whirlwind of sinful pleasure.”

Fearing for their son, Galdámez’s parents arranged for him to be married to another teacher, Virginia. They hoped that family responsibilities would cause Galdámez to settle down. He arrived at the church for his wedding so inebriated that the priest took him aside and lectured him.

The young husband’s drunken and sinful ways continued unabated, in part due to the bad influence of his friends. Galdámez’s parents staged another intervention and found teaching jobs for the young couple in Guatemala, where the parents hoped they could start afresh and away from the influence of bad friends.

Galdámez simply found new bad friends in his new country, and his life careened out of control. In a state of drunken hopelessness and self-pity, he pointed the barrel of a loaded shotgun at his head and pulled the trigger. The shell was blank.

To make matters worse, Virginia had become bedridden with a tumor. Virginia prayed to the Virgin Mary asking for healing, but to no avail. A kind Protestant neighbor began visiting Virginia, shared the gospel, and encouraged her to pray directly to God, the Great Physician. Eventually, after many visits with her neighbor, Virginia placed her faith in Christ. She wanted to share her newfound faith with her husband, but she was scared. He was stubborn and wanted nothing to do with religion.

However, Galdámez saw that Virginia was beginning to get better, and that she credited God with her healing. Galdámez went to a priest for advice and consolation, but the priest ended up scolding his wife for associating with Protestants. Disgusted, Galdámez decided that he should do research into the Protestant faith. He ended up giving his life to Christ, and his soul began to heal even as his wife’s body was healing.

Galdámez went on to become a Pentecostal pioneer in El Salvador, pastoring one of the largest Assemblies of God churches in the nation (Templo Betel in Santa Ana) and serving as a professor at a ministerial training school. He served as general superintendent from 1957 until 1967. In 1971, the Instituto Cultural Reverendo José Gustavo Galdámez, an accredited higher education institution in San Salvador offering bachelors and masters degrees, was founded and named in his honor.

When José Gustavo Galdámez was a young man training for the Catholic priesthood, he could not have imagined that he would instead become an Assemblies of God pioneer in El Salvador. As a young man he witnessed hypocrisy that caused him reject religion, but he later witnessed his wife’s healing, which became a catalyst that brought him to true faith in Christ.

Read Melvin Hodges’ article, “Quest for Peace,” on pages 2-3 of the Jan. 3, 1965, issue of The Pentecostal Evangel.

Also featured in this issue:

• “Tongues as of Fire,” by J. Robert Ashcroft

• “Bringing Korean Deaf to Christ,” by Chey Sung Man

And many more!

Click here to read this issue now.

Pentecostal Evangel archived editions courtesy of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center.