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Giovanny Martinez knows music. As a drummer, he
knows the importance of rhythm – the steady
percussive beat that unites the performers and paces
a song to capture the intended mood.
But for all of Giovanny’s natural
ability as a musician, his rhythm did not translate
to his personal life. Ups and downs, hurts and
heartache were among his earliest childhood
memories. In time, they produced a driving rhythm of
turmoil that raced faster and faster.
At five years of age, Giovanny’s
world turned upside down when his parents divorced.
For the next several years he was bounced around to
various family members. His father mistreated him
and his mother’s new husband did not want him
around. Eventually, he was sent off to his
grandmother who lived in a small village. But that
too was short lived. By age 11 he was back in Quito,
Ecuador with his father.
“When I came back,” says Giovanny,
“I discovered that my father had become a Christian.
Yet at that point he was just a new Christian and so
life was not necessarily easy. He still hadn’t
changed much in the way he treated me.”
A Calling from God
Nevertheless, it was not long before
young Giovanny placed his faith in Jesus Christ too.
A short time later, he was riding a bus and
whistling a popular Spanish worship song. As he
whistled, he set the song to his own unique style
and arrangement.
“In that moment, God put in my heart
a feeling that I would one day record this kind of
music for Him,” says Giovanny.
Walking to a Different Drumbeat
But in the years that followed, the
fallout of his childhood instability began to
manifest itself. By the time he was a teenager,
Giovanny was living a lifestyle completely out of
sync from God.
“I became involved with many women
and began to drink and smoke. I found myself getting
into fights with other people because of the turmoil
I felt inside.”
Through it all Giovanny knew what he
should be doing. Like a steady drumbeat he sensed
God calling to him, but he continued to live life by
his own terms and at his own pace.
His love of music led him toward a
career as a professional musician. Not long
afterward, while traveling with several band mates,
tragedy struck. Three of his friends lost their
lives in a car wreck. Giovanny miraculously
survived. One of the friends that died was sitting
in the seat that Giovanny typically occupied.
In time Giovanny met and married
Cristina. The next year their first daughter,
Bernarda, was born. Six years later their second,
Martina, arrived. But the inner turmoil in
Giovanny’s life carried over into his marriage.
Giovanny was not following Christ and Cristina was
not a believer.
“My wife suffered a great deal,”
Giovanny remembers with sadness. “We were married,
but I was still living like I was single. As a
professional musician I was playing in bars and
night clubs and all my life was in turmoil.”
Searching for a Different Tempo
In 1999, this turmoil drove Giovanny
back to church. He first visited El Batán– the
original Encounter with God church in Quito––but
rather than staying, he jumped around to various
other churches. He was back in church, but his
lifestyle was no different.
“I was committing the same sins over
and over again. Cristina had no interest in
Christianity because she didn’t see a good testimony
in my life.”
On one hand Giovanny sensed the call
to return to Christ. On the other he was drawn over
and over to his rebellious lifestyle.
“I was caught up in terrible sins.
Sins for which I still pay the consequences for
today,” Giovanny recalls.
Finding the Right Rhythm
Finally, after two years more of
trying to live life at his own tempo, Giovanny
surrendered to Christ.
¨During my life I knew in my mind
the right thing to do, but I didn’t know it as a
reality in my life. I thought God had abandoned me,
but I began to realize that I was the one that
abandoned Him.”
“A friend gave me a bible as a gift
and told me that God has a purpose for my life. I
always felt that way, but never truly believed it.
The feeling of being in the world, of giving in to
the flesh––to the women and to the parties––was
always stronger in me. But the Lord began to make me
feel His power and grabbed me by the ear and brought
me back to His flock.”
“When I asked forgiveness for my
sins my life began to change. I felt like a new
man.”
In the process of his
transformation, Giovanny came back to the El Batán
Church. Soon thereafter he and Cristina attended one
of Batán’s Marriage Encounter retreats.
“That retreat changed our way of
thinking and living. I told my wife many things that
I never told her before and we began the process of
healing.”
Best of all, the retreat led
Cristina to place her faith in Jesus Christ.
“Our family relationships changed
completely because God was in the center. Our
daughters now understand what a true father is. And
then there is me – totally happy.”
Singing a New Song
Today, Giovanny and Cristina
participate in a variety of ministries at the
church. Giovanny serves in leadership roles and on
the church’s worship team.
And through the communications
company that he founded, God is enabling Giovanny to
fulfill the calling He placed on his heart when he
was 11 years old. He is writing and producing
worship music – including an album developed for the
El Batán Church.
“God has opened the doors again to
let me do what I was always called to do,” says
Giovanny.
It required a long and tumultuous
journey, but Giovanny finally has found steadiness
for life by syncing with the rhythm of God.
EQ Spring 2007
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