Yiye Avila
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Jose Joaquin Avila (born 1929 in Camuy, Puerto Rico), better known as Yiye Avila, is one of the most respect evangelist in Latin America and a former Mr. Universe as well.
Avila went to college at the Universidad Interamericana De Puerto Rico's at San German , to study to become a teacher, and one of the requisites was to take a class about the Bible.
He returned to Camuy after graduating and began teaching at the high school level, but he also began playing baseball in the double A level and winning Mr. Puerto Rico as a bodybuilder in 1952. He would later win the title of Mr. Universe.
While training for the Olympic Games of 1956, Avila suffered terrible pain and was diagnosed with chronic arthritis by his doctors. This prevented him from participating in any further sporting events. The pain was so intense that Avila could not do everyday chores. As consequence of his health problem Avila begun praying and seeking divine intervention in his situation. His convertion to evangelicalism came after watching a tv show conducted by a north american preacher.
In 1967 Ávila retired from the magistery after 21 years as a teacher and began to concentrate on his work as a Christian instead. He became a preacher, and in 1972, he formed his Escuadron Relampago Cristo Viene in a small room in his house.
Eventually his ministry grew too large for that small room and a new facility had to be built somewhere else in Camuy to accommodate all of the attending public.
Avila's preaching network eventually kept on growing and now has reached all of Latin America as well as Europe and the United States.
Nowadays, Avila is the head of a television channel in Puerto Rico, named Cadena Del Milagro (Miracle Network). Reportedly, it reaches all of Puerto Rico and some nearby countries in the Caribbean.