HIStory
When Juan Gualberto visited All Nations Church in Winter 2008, he was greeted with Sylvie's beautiful smile and her kind words. After only a short conversation, he knew that they had clicked. However, it wasn't until he noticed Sylvie's Spanish bible that he knew they had something going on! As their friendship grew he realized that on that day they had merely begun to scratch the surface of all the things they had in common: they both shared a love for languages, they both had a soft spot for Latin America, they were both alumni of the University of Ottawa and most importantly, they both shared a passion for God and a heart for the wonderful plans he has for the world.HERstory
For many years, I had been believing that God would bring a good man my way. In fact, there was a very specific list of things I was looking for in a man and I prayed that once I met him I would clearly know that it was him. Juan Gualberto and I actually met in 2005 but lost contact for a few years. At the time, I thought nothing of it, though I remember thinking that he seemed like a nice guy. Little did we know what the future would hold the next time we would meet. In early 2008, I saw Berto again at a Sunday morning church service. I tried to remember what “that guy with the different Spanish name” was called so I could say hi and make him feel welcomed. Thankfully I eventually did remember, was able to say hi and was pleasantly surprised that he remembered me as well. Within a few weeks of getting to know him, I was shocked to discover how he had many things on my list! Being cautious by nature though, it was several months before I even admitted to myself that I was interested. J As our friendship grew, I was pretty sure that I had met my husband. First and foremost, Gualberto loves God and has made Him his priority in life. He has a heart for people and seeing them come to understand the deep and rich love God has for them personally. We both want to see God’s love change people and change this world. We both love CBC Radio, Shakespeare plays, and reading stories out loud to each other (especially Vinyl Café). We have a similar sense of humour and can talk about anything. He is fluent in Spanish, French and English and knows the difference between translation and interpretation!
