In 1900, Axel Botolf Ost (A.B. Ost) migrated from Sweden to the United States, where he lived on a farm in rural Minnesota. After studying for the ministry in Chicago, he pastored several churches before being called to the work of an evangelist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rev. Ost traveled and preached at conferences and evangelistic campaigns reaching the lost. Three major themes emerged in his early ministry that bore fruit in the founding of the Mexican denomination Comunión de Creyentes, and the missionary organization that supported this work, Christian Fellowship Union:

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1. A high esteem for the Bible as the inspired and infallible Word of God, the one and only authority for the Church and the Christian life.

2. A burden for lost souls. This was at the heart of the tent revivals and evangelistic campaigns.

3. A burden for unreached cities, nations and peoples.

 

In the summer of 1943, Rev. Ost was invited to speak at a family camp along with a Cuban minister, Brother Lebastida. This was a life-changing interaction, as A.B. Ost’s passion for lost souls refocused on the Spanish-speaking world. The next few years, Rev. Ost made two or three trips to the Caribbean, and in 1945, Rev. Ost made his first trip to Mexico, commenting, “as soon as I crossed the border into Mexico, I was flooded with a love for the Mexican people.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A.B. Ost later wrote, “From the first moment of that conversation, a vision of this work had burst into flame, as though this great work which came to be was planned in the mind of God.”

 

The work among the migrant workers in North Dakota and Minnesota provided a vibrant link between A.B. Ost’s evangelistic work in the U.S. and his new work evangelizing and planting churches throughout Mexico. As early as 1946, a new church was planted in San Juan, Texas and Rev. Ost held several campaigns in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. 

 

In the next few years, the first Iglesia Bíblica was constructed in McAllen, Texas, and the first conference of the Comunión de Creyentes  was held in Mexico City. The participants signed a Confession of Faith that served as the beginning of a great work of God in Mexico, and that today has a greater field of harvest, fulfilling the vision set by founder A.B. Ost when he wrote in April of 1950:

This is the work of the Lord, and not the work of any man. Currently, the Comunión de Creyentes is dedicating all of its time and effort to the Mexican people. But this is not to say that the Comunión de Creyentes is limited to this field. The vision of the Comunión de Creyentes is worldwide. Its future is not limited. It is God’s work. Amen.