My wife Kimberly and I recently attended the Regional Leaders’ Gathering in Houston in March. We were fortunate enough to have three Sisters from the Disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ attend this conference with us (Sister Joan, Sister Louisa and Sister Clara).

Although we are both charismatic, we have just become active in the Renewal in the past year. We had already attended the National Leadership Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We knew that we were in for a wonderful weekend.

We started Saturday morning off with breakfast at the hotel and were fortunate enough to meet up with Chuck Hornsby, his wife, Peggy and Walter Matthews. It gave us a chance to sit with them and discuss the many things past, present and also the future of the Renewal. The three of them are such wonderful witnesses of God’s love. I would like to thank them publicly for all of the time and effort that they spend doing the work of the Holy Spirit. It was truly a time my wife and I will always treasure.

Later when we arrived at the center it was so wonderful to be welcomed with such warmth, there was so much excitement in the air. I can say with all honesty that as wonderful as the National Leaders’ Conference was, this regional gathering was even more. The fact that fewer people were there became an apparent blessing. The smaller regional meetings give the participants plenty of time to ask questions, seek spiritual advice and enjoy all of the wonderful teachings in an extremely intimate setting.

As a couple who have not been in leadership very long, my wife and I are extremely inquisitive about many aspects of the Charismatic Renewal. It was so wonderful to be able to learn so much in such a short time span. At one part of the conference was a prayer meeting held for the specific purpose of prayer for receiving Gifts from the Holy Spirit, and did we ever. Although I personally have experienced so many blessings, many of the gifts that I received that night were a first for me.

The conference ended with a beautiful Mass in the Charismatic Center’s Worship Facility on Sunday. We would attend another in a heartbeat, but we would change one thing - we would invite more people to join in, it was great!

In closing let me say, that when we returned to our prayer group and shared the events that took place at the Leaders’ Gathering, we were led by the Holy Spirit to re-enact the prayerful reception of Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Our newly formed prayer group (6 months old) experienced our own our-pouring of the Gifts of the Spirit. It has changed our prayer group drastically. We have also recently started a Life in the Spirit Seminar, with the things that we learned from the National Service Committee, we have grown in a short time from a group of 6 to a group of 65 brothers and sisters in Christ, HE is amazing.

Thanks to all of you who have been so faithful.

In Christ,
Greg & Kimberly Gutierrez

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