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Pastor Carlos Olivar from Winnipeg's Table of Encounter church has experienced God's protection over himself and his family since an early age, which has deepened his faith and strengthened his leadership in ministry.
"I was born in Mexico City and only a couple of months into this world, a person came to our home dressed as a doctor," he said. "They knew my name, my mother's name, my father's name, and my auntie's name who was sponsoring us from here in Canada. They knew my grandmother's name and all the details."
Olivar says that the man was actually disguised as a doctor, and attempted to kidnap him. He says that while they were trying to kidnap him, the Lord protected him. "Thanks to the Lord, I was spared from that from the very beginning of my life and I got to come here to Winnipeg and I grew up in the church."
Now ministering to the community as part of Table of Encounter Ministries, the building holds fond memories for him. "We are a Spanish congregation, and I grew up in that church. My mother's been there for the 36 years since we landed and growing up in church, I got to learn about God."
He admits that the tough situations he went through as a child caused some questions about God and his faith. "With the divorce and separation of my parents as a child, I couldn't comprehend at such a young age why bad things could happen to good people, especially God-fearing people who went to church. I guess in my mind, I thought that we wouldn't see these things happen. So then, because of this, instead it built an anger and hate towards God, and I blamed Him for my father."
During the years when he did not speak to his father, Olivar says his life took a twisted turn of events. "We already came into poverty so when my father left, it became even worse. It showed me that other people got to have what I didn't have, at least that's how I understood it."
Knowing that he wanted to become independent, he began to sell drugs. "I fell into drug dealing. I fell into that lifestyle and I grew up in it becoming someone very important in that field."
He eventually became a musical artist and travelled around Europe on tour, but sensed that God was convicting him of his lifestyle.
"I was trying all methods possible and strength to quit using drugs and to quit drinking and living the way that I was living. But it didn't mean that I was trying to accept Christ. I just wanted to stop. But God's plan was better than mine."
Police ended up coming to Carlos' home, charged him and put him under house arrest. "I was working with a psychology group that dealt with men who were ex-convicts, ex-cons, literally every type of life that has been broken and fathers who lost their children. I was working with these men and I was invited to come speak and encourage them to a better life."
Based on working with these men, Carlos said, "He [God] told me you need to make a decision because you're going here and encouraging these men. There's a better way, but you're being a hypocrite because everything that I was encouraging them not to do, I was still doing. He told me you need to decide whether you're going to change or whether you're going to truly help them. In that moment I knew, OK, I found purpose in this place. What the enemy had intended for evil, I turned for good."
Carlos said, "I was able to stop drinking and using drugs. Two weeks later, the Lord spoke to me again and He told me to find a place for me to preach His Word, and that He'll take care of the rest."
The opportunity to come to Table of Encounter Ministries came shortly after. "My pastor's wife called me and said 'The Lord has given the confirmation. You can start whenever you're ready.' So from this came the Ministry of the Table of Encounters. We've been active for a year and a half now. And truly, when the Lord says that He'll take care of everything, He has been, He's opened the doors. Even for me, being here is all thanks to Him."
Table of Encounter has different programs that include outreach work at the Health Science Centre. "Right in front of the hospital, we just go and pray for people. Complete strangers. But the way I look at it is that they're only strangers because we haven't met them. The Word of God says that they're our brothers and our sisters. We've been doing that for over a year now and we've seen miracles, deliverances, we've seen lives come to Christ, and it's just been such a wonderful experience."
Table of Encounter is located at 1415 Main Street in Downtown Winnipeg.
