Testimony of Transformation: Horacio Nervegna and Celia Hourquibie
By Andrea Infante de Palmitano
In 2005, after many attempts at resolving the problem of violence in his high school, Prinicipal Horacio Nervegna resolved to ask the ministry of No More Violence, A Message from God for help as a last resort.
It was then that, through his need, No More Violence went to work at Escuela Media #7 of the city of Moreno, Buenos Aires, Argentina. We went to work intensely with many of the grades in the school, giving priority to the ones with the most conflict. This school is in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of the city. We were always focused on the youth, and never thought the program would reach even farther.
After working hard with the students for the first year, we rallied together over 600 students in a sports activity, and there was not one act of violence, not even insults. Horacio, unbelieving and somewhat pesimistic from so many failed attempts, said, “This must come from God.”
At the end of the second year, Horacio accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. It goes without mentioning that many youth accepted Christ in this time. Not only Horacio, but the secretary of the school also, Celia Hourquibie. Not long after, both of them were baptized and began to walk in the way of the Lord.
They have both loved the youth, but before they did it with their love and their strength. Now retired, they serve faithfully as volunteers in the ministry of No More Violence, A Message from God, and continue to help many young people, but now they do it with the love of God and the strength that He gives them every day.
I sent a message to Horacio letting him know that I wanted to share his story, and I asked him, “What did NMV do in your life or how did it affect you? And he answered:
Hello Andrea. Now being a Sunday school teacher, I’ve learned why the Lord used me to bring No More Violence to Moreno. My faith was dead and He used me like Rahab the prostitute of Jericho, so that His Word would reach the students of those schools. My life changed, I have a desire to prepare clases and for Sunday to come. God has made me feel useful, and I owe myself to Him. I am sorry I’m not healthier, if so I’d be going on missions or working more time for NMV. I will never forget the Sunday that the message of NMV reached me through the newspaper.
