About Our Pastor
From Darkness to Light: My Walk in Christ
My name is Edgard Guzman, and it’s a profound honor to share my walk of faith with you. My wife, Carmen, and I were recently announced to take over the pastorate here in Bridgeport on May 4, 2025, a calling we officially accepted at the Southeast Bible Conference on March 28, 2025. This transition is deeply meaningful to us, especially as we take over the work from the Catalas, who are now serving in Santiago, Chile.
My early life was marked by immense struggle. Growing up in a single-parent home, I was surrounded by drugs, violence, and immorality. I carried deep rejection and anger, which manifested in self-harm and, tragically, three suicide attempts. One night, after taking a handful of pills, I lay on a hotel floor, vomiting what looked like tar. By the grace of God, I never went to the hospital. Another time, after drunkenly crashing a friend’s car, I tried to plunge a knife into my gut, desperate to escape the consequences. Again, God’s grace intervened, and I heard a voice asking, “Is it really worth it?” My final attempt involved trying to drown myself while being chased by military police and Navy ship security. Trapped, I jumped into the water, sinking into the dark. Then, a voice spoke, “Do you know where you’re going to wake up?” Overwhelmed by the fear of the unknown, I swam back up, and my chief jumped in to save me. Years later, in my salvation, God revealed to me that just as my chief, who didn’t know me, risked his life out of compassion, so too did Jesus, who knew me intimately, give His life to rescue mine.
My conversion happened on June 4, 2007, during a healing crusade held in the Bronx Poe Park by my mother church in the Bronx, led by Pastor Dave Szczepanski. I was eating a McChicken sandwich when I heard the preacher’s call: “Does anyone want to be touched by God?” I raised my hand and told my girlfriend, “Let’s go up.” She refused, saying, “No, you go up.” In that moment, I heard God speak clearly: “When you die, it’s going to be Me and you and judgment, not you and her.” I knew I had to respond. As I started to walk forward, a vivid memory flashed before me—a Sunday school lesson from my childhood about Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot’s wife looking back. God showed me this story quickly, and I affirmed, “I’m not going to go back, because God, You’re going to destroy that old life.” This childhood seed of faith gave me the courage to move forward. As I approached the altar, the preacher looked at me and said, “I was waiting for you.” In that prayer of surrender and repentance, God healed my heart, and I was born again. I told my girlfriend, “Let’s get married,” but she said no. The Lord Jesus spoke to me again, “I love you more than she does.” This gave me the courage to walk away from that immoral relationship.
By God’s amazing grace, Carmen and I are now married. We met at a revival meeting where her pastor at the time preached for my church. As I heard her share her testimony over the bullhorn, I prayed, “God, I’d love to marry a woman like that.” God gave me what I asked for: a woman of God who loves Him more than me. She, too, came from a broken home with divorced parents, experiencing night terrors and self-harm. God worked an absolute miracle in her life, saving her at the age of 17. We were saved in the same fellowship; she got saved in the Victory Chapel of Spring Lake, North Carolina. Pastor Torry Williams, who is now assisting in Chandler, Arizona, married us. It was only through her pastor at the time chasing my pastor into a restroom during a marriage seminar that we were able to connect. We honored God by courting cleanly, never kissing or holding hands until our wedding day. Today, we are blessed with four handsome boys: Jessiah (14), Andrew (9), Aiden (6), and Josiah (2).
I was discipled in my home church, raised up in ministry, leading worship and evangelistic outreaches. Prior to the Catalas planting the work in Bridgeport, I had been praying and contending for this city. In my last service covering for the Bridgeport congregation, God spoke to me that I would be here. I had no idea how, but God knew and had a plan. He truly worked all things together for His glory, and we are thrilled to serve Him here in Bridgeport.
