Meet the GrottonsAllow us to introduce ourselves. We are David and Danielle Grotton. Along with our sons, Jacob and Elijah, we are missionaries with Mission to the World (MTW) - the missions agency for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). We live in Concón, Chile. We serve in a ministry to the vision impaired in the Greater Valparaiso region, as well as a Presbyterian church plant in Concón. Please continue to read below and on other pages for our personal testimonies and a more detailed description of the ministry. We are members of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, CT. |
Our Personal Testimonies
|
David's testimony
Over twenty years ago, my former pastor, Russell Buisch, while he was getting a new church plant started, began part-time employment where I was working at that time. I was less than thrilled at the news I would be working with a pastor. Although at first I was very skeptical about this whole Christianity "thing", after working with him and seeing how he conducted his life, I was intrigued and started asking questions. I was intrigued enough to go and buy a Bible in which I began reading the New Testament, specifically the book of Matthew. When football player Reggie White (my favorite player) was seriously injured, he only missed one game. The next week on the field, he dominated the defensive line. After the game, he testified that the Lord healed him. I believed what he said. But I was still not a Christian. Shortly after these events, while driving home one night from work, I was thinking about all that had been happening and all I had come to believe, when I felt the Holy Spirit come alive in me from head to toe. Looking back, I know that it was at this point I became saved. I began regularly attending church and have been to this day. The Lord has made incredible changes in my life and continues to do so each day. He also gave me the very strong desire and calling to work in cross-cultural missions work. Danielle's testimony
In September 2003 in Vina del Mar, Chile, I called out to the Lord in a desperate plea for Him to save me. I had been studying Sociology and Spanish abroad since February 2003. While I was a student in Viña del Mar, I was interested in trying new and different things in Chilean culture. That included drinking in clubs, traveling by bus across the country and even attending church. Even with all the fun new experiences, there was a still this large gap in my life. Enter my friend, Meri. We met at the college I was attending and I assumed she was just another American student like myself. I soon realized that she was actually working in the international student department and taught a class on Chilean culture. She and I became friends and she invited me to a Bible study she held in her apartment off campus. Something else I didn't realize right away was that Meri was a missionary with MTW. She introduced me to the other MTW missionaries in the area who quickly took me in and showed me Christ's love. After months of conversations with them and with local Christians who I had been attending church with, I could no longer resist Christ's call on my life. As I have grown in my relationship with Christ, I have become more aware of the needs of those around me. I am more patient and forgiving, and at the same time, I know that God is still working in my life. I am also now bold in sharing my faith with others. |
How God Brought
|
Danielle and David met at Ellington Baptist Church in Ellington, CT. David had a call to work as a missionary shortly after becoming a Christian. He had made a few attempts to pursue this call on his life but all the doors were closed at that time, for among other reasons large personal debt that David had wracked up as a materialistic non-believer. We shall pause here for a moment to tell Danielle's story. Danielle also felt the call on her life to be a missionary shortly after her conversion. She made attempts to go back to Chile with MTW, but they counselled her to slow down a bit and get discipled and join a church. She did this and joined Ellington Baptist Church. In God's providence, He kept Danielle and David on different but parallel paths. While Danielle was busy pursuing a return to Chile as a single missionary with no intention of marrying; David was enrolling in a debt reduction program. This is where their paths intersected once again. They both became leaders in their church's newly launched Teen Bible Group. Eventually, they began having conversations with each other and the week before they went on their first date David made the last payment on his debt. God had kicked the door wide open on the possibility for them to eventually get married and pursue cross-cultural missions as a couple.
|