Yiye Avila

Jose Joaquin Avila (born 1929 in Camuy, Puerto Rico), better known as Yiye Avila, is one of the most famous and respected evangelists in Latin America and a former Mr. World (the wrestling contest).

Early life

Yiye Avila was born in Camuy, Puerto Rico. His parents were respected schoolteachers, and he eventually followed in their footsteps. Surprisingly though, upon enrolling at Universidad Interamericana De Puerto Rico in San German, his plans had been to study medicine. He obtained a Bachelors degree in natural sciences, and from there he completed his pre-med studies. In spite of this success, he chose to return to his hometown of Camuy, and teach chemistry and biology at the local high school for 23 years. Eventually, however, a change of careers would come that would take him to 128 nations. [http://www.yiyeavila.org/biografia.php]

porting life

He began playing baseball in the Double A level and training as a bodybuilding. In 1952, he competed and won the Mr. Puerto Rico bodybuilding contest and would go on to win the title of Mr. North America in 1954. [http://www.musclememory.com/show.php?a=Avila,+Jose]

While training for the summer Olympic Games of 1956, Avila experienced terrible pain in parts of his body and, after various tests, was diagnosed with chronic arthritis by his doctors. This prevented him from participating in the Olympics or in any other future sporting event. The pain was so intense, that Avila suffered limited mobility and could not even perform everyday chores. As a consequence of his health problems, Avila turned to Christianity and began praying, seeking divine intervention for his situation. He received divine revelation through the reading and study of God's word he received healing from God, out of gratitude and greatfullnes of God's mercy and Grace He from that time on, he dedicated himself to ministry.

Evangelism

Although Yiye Avila was always deeply interested in Christianity, he reportedly was convinced to dedicate all his life and work to evangelism after watching a Christian television show hosted by Oral Roberts, an American tele-evangelist in the early 1960s. In 1967, Ávila retired after 21 years as a teacher and began to concentrate on Christian work instead. He became a full-time preacher and, in 1972, he invited several friends, family, and neighbors to form the "Escuadron Relampago Cristo Viene" (“Christ Is Coming Lightning Squadron”), which would congregate constantly in a small room in his house to discuss the Bible, salvation, Christianity, and the Apocalypse. Eventually, his ministry and followers increased dramatically, and a new three story building near the PR # 2 state road was built to accommodate the attending public. His preaching was followed by various church groups and many Latin American evangelists invited him to preach to their local communities and churches. This demand prompted Yiye to create a radio and, eventually, a television network called "Cadena Del Milagro" ("Miracle Network") so that his preaching could reach those same communities that he visited. The network and his ministry has grown considerably over the years, expanding to magazines, books, audio tapes, videos and televised scheduled programming. The three story building which he and his close followers originally built now serves as the headquarters for Yiye’s ministry and his television network.

Since the 1970s, Yiye has been a laborious evangelist, visiting almost all Latin American countries, many North American cities, and parts of Europe at one time or another. He appears daily on his morning telecast preaching selected verses from the Bible and receiving prayer petitions from viewers. He also appears every Saturday night on the network’s flagship show, "Campaña Por TV" (Campaigning Through TV), where he preaches selected verses of the New Testament, presents Christian music groups, and invites viewers to convert to Christianity. In his shows he encourages viewers to constantly congregate by going to Christian churches and to form Christian groups to discuss the Bible and current events. These shows and many other programs are broadcasted in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, and are transmitted via satellite to Latin America, the continental United States and certain parts of Europe.

In addition to his television shows and public preaching, Yiye Avila is a prolific writer, publishing numerous works throughout his ministry years. Furthermore, many of his public preachings have been recorded and published in tapes and compact discs.

Personal life

Yiye Avila is married to Carmen Delia Talavera and has three daughters: Noemí, Doris, and Carmen Ilia (deceased). [http://www.elorador.com/articulo_detalle.asp?ArticleID=468] Although his ministry has expanded across three continents and he has become a household name among Christian families in Latin America, he still lives a humble life, reportedly living in the same house he owned and in the same conditions before his ministry began.Yiye Avila has been the role model to a great number of famous evangelist like Randy Island,Jay Anderson,Jose Diaz,Jorge Raschke and others.

Literary works

External links

* [http://www.yiyeavila.org La Cadena del Milagro (Miracle Network) Official Page] es icon
* [http://www.yiyeavila.org/biografia.php Yiye Avila's Biography on his Official Website]

ee also

* Evangelism
* Bob Graham
* List of famous Puerto Ricans