Country of Origin: Costa Rica
Country of Mission: Costa Rica
Age: 47 years young
Position: Translator/Short-Term Teams Director
On the side: Lead singer of Christian Rock band Sin Paredes (Without Walls) (Who is currently beginning work on a brand-new album)
I had the opportunity to sit down with Carlos Mestayer and talk to him about his adventures being in a Christian Spanish hard rock band, his ministry, and the ways those two overlap.
About the band
It’s been a great adventure with the band. We’ve gone to so many places, and we’ve been able to spend so much time with kids and pray with them, encourage them, even disciple some of them. That’s the joy of ministry. People ask us sometimes when we have the opportunities to have interviews...whether we want to be famous or not. We are reaching a point where we are telling them, "Well, are like dinosaurs now - we are getting old - but yes, we want to be famous. Just because we want to hear the Word of God spread." The more people hear about us will hear about the Lord. We would really like to tell kids, especially in the Spanish-speaking world, that there is hope, there is healing. More than ever this generation is broken, needs role models.
[In particular] there is such sexual brokenness. Sexual brokenness at this particular point has reached epidemic levels all over the world. There is so much need for guidance, for loving, for healing for the kids. And that is what we want to do for years to come. I don’t know how many more years we have to be relevant, culturally, as musicians, but we want to let people know that there is hope. Whenever God opens the door, we will use it. We would love to go and do some damage wherever we go.
About the new album with a new recording label
It is one of the things that the Lord has for us, and I am excited about it. I am not extremely excited. Probably back in the day I would have been crazy about it, but at this particular point it’s, "Yeah, it’s going to be fun. Let’s see where the Lord takes all of this."
About working with the short-term missions department
It’s really exciting, especially when you start seeing how God orchestrates things, how God has been moving and how God uses little details and the willingness of people to just go and do His work. Something I usually tell people when they want to go on a short-term mission trip is that they don’t need to be Bible scholars, they don’t need to be mission professionals, or experts in cross-cultural experiences; all God needs is available people. People that are willing to live simply and live dangerously in the hands of God. God will provide the words, even the skills at particular moments. And if people have natural skills, I usually encourage them to use them to bless other people. It’s something that I have been doing for 14 years now, and I am not tired of it. It’s just wonderful to be there as a facilitator and get to see and hear transformation taking place, not only in the lives of locals but also in the lives of short-termers going to serve. They go back home richer, with a different type of wealth that you don’t get to see often int he United States. It’s kingdom wealth, spiritual wealth, it’s growth. It is the result of living for a while out of your comfort zone and adventuring to do what God wants you to do. It’s really cool.
Interview Conducted and Written by: John Michael Den Hartog
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