About Us

Who We Are

We are a non profit ministry dedicated to glorifying God and His Son, Jesus Christ, through the preaching and teaching of the scriptures. While we are committed to disseminating biblical truth through the avenues of writing, our principle expression is found in the public teaching ministry of our founder, Marcelo Tolopilo and his wife Valorie.

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The founder and president of Walking In The Promises is Bible teacher Marcelo Tolopilo. Born in Argentina to European immigrants, Marcelo’s family moved to the U.S. where he grew up in Southern CA. He received his education at Biola University (B.A.) and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.). Marcelo has served in the pastorate as well as with two international missions agencies.

Marcelo’s passion for scripture led him to launch the Bible teaching ministry of Walking In The Promises in 1992. Since then he has traveled throughout the country speaking with passion and conviction to a variety of Christian audiences from the timeless truths of God’s word.

Marcelo married the love of his life Valorie in 1983. Three years later God began to bless their home with the first of four children (Joshua, Rebekah, Josiah, & Aaron). Marcelo firmly believes he has the four most wonderful children in the world and if you don’t believe him you can ask their grandparents.

The Tolopilo’s make their home in Southern California just north of San Diego. It is also widely known that Marcelo has remained an avid and faithful Rams fan throughout their 21 year dispersion in St. Louis (His sheep are finally back home in L.A!). He is also an extremely poor golfer, looks terrible in a clerical collar but not so bad in an embroidered yamulke!

Valorie Tolopilo

Valorie Tolopilo, though Wyoming born, grew up primarily in southern California. She received her education at Cal State University Long Beach and Purdue University (B.A. & M.S. in Speech Pathology). She married the love of her life, Marcelo, in 1983. Once their first child was born, Val joyfully focused on being a full time mom at home. Joshua, Rebekah, Josiah, & Aaron were homeschooled over a period of 20 years. Though her kids are grown, Valorie continues to support the local homeschool community by teaching High School Chemistry to homeschooled students.

Valorie’s passion is to mentor women one-on-one and speak to groups, encouraging women to know and love Christ more deeply, and nurture their families spiritually. She does this through Walking In The Promises, the ministry she and her husband began 30 years ago (www.witp.org).

Val’s unique life journey has not only included full time ministry and homeschooling, but also caring for elderly parents in her home, a battle with breast cancer, and caring for a child with serious chronic illness. In response to those trials she created a blog/website (www.godofallcomfort.com) with the desire to embolden the suffering soul to trust more deeply that Man of sorrows acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3).

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What We Believe

  1. The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are the inspired word of God without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men, and the divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life.
  2. There is one God – Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  3. Jesus Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary; He died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. Further, He arose bodily from the dead and ascended into heaven, where at the right hand of the Majesty on High He is now our High Priest and Advocate.
  4. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and, during this age, to convict men of sin, regenerate the believing sinner, indwell, guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly living and service.
  5. Man was created in the image of God but fell into sin and is therefore lost. Only through regeneration by the Holy Spirit can salvation and spiritual life be obtained.
  6. The shed blood of Jesus Christ and His resurrection provides the only ground for the justification and salvation for all who believe, and only such as receive Jesus Christ by faith are born of the Holy Spirit and thus become the children of God.
  7. The personal, premillenial, and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ is our “blessed hope” and has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.
  8. There will be a bodily resurrection of all the dead: of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord and of the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment.
  9. The true church is composed of all such persons, who through saving faith in Jesus Christ, have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the body of Christ of which He is the Head.
  10. Water baptism by immersion soon after accepting Christ as personal Savior is a testimony of death to sin and resurrection to a new life, and the Lord's Supper is a memorial service setting forth in sacred and symbolic manner the death of the Lord Jesus Christ; all true believers and only believers should share in it.