“Stop!” commanded a stern voice from the darkness. Suddenly, two more border patrolmen appeared from nowhere. Miguel’s dark eyes looked wildly for an escape route, but he feared losing consciousness if he made a run for it. He glanced down to see blood flowing from his hand. Just moments before, he had tried jumping a tall barbed-wire fence. The tear that resulted left a part of his hand flapping.
The guards began closing in on all sides and he knew it was useless to run. In seconds he had been arrested. Caught again! he thought in frustration as he was transported to the nearest hospital.
After getting his hand taken care of, he spent a few days in jail, waiting to get his papers processed at the Border Patrol Station. Once that was done, he was released in Mexico and allowed to return to his sister’s house.
Not being one to easily give up, he quickly made plans to attempt another crossing, this time through the desert. Of course, there were always the rumors of those terrible desert trips, which included tales of women and children getting left behind to die of starvation if they were too weak to go on. But Miguel was a strong man. He knew he could make it. He had to make it, to reunite with his wife and son who had crossed a week ahead of him.
He thought of his son, José, only nine at the time. He remembered the conversation he had had with him by phone only a few days after his arrest. It was clear by the tone of his voice that José was frightened. And his father didn’t blame him.
Just days before, the boy had been put into the back of a 15-passenger van and been given careful instructions as to what to say when they arrived at the border crossing. “When the patrolman calls out this name,” he had been told, “you just say ‘Here.’” And that was the very first word José ever learned in English. “Here,” was the word he had used to cross into the United States of America with his cousin’s documents. The next week passed like a nightmare for José. He was scared. He was lonely. He wanted to go home. He wanted to be far from his relatives’ alcoholism. And more than anything, he wanted his parents.
Finally, his mother came. Then, after nearly a month of waiting, his dad was able to reunite with the family. Unfortunately, that reunion was far from a happy one. José feared his parents’ conversations, knowing they would most likely end in an argument. School was almost worse. The bullies decided to pick on him, and more than once, fights broke out, bringing the cops to the school premises. There was no peace at home or at school. In spite of this, José considered himself a pretty good kid.
However, when the family decided to move from California to Oregon, a big change came over him. A friend of his from Mexico moved to Oregon as well. This friend became José’s role model. His language was foul and his conduct contemptible. And that’s who José became. Now instead of being bullied, he was the bully. He became even more daring than his friends in the hope of trying to impress them.
At the same time, life at home became almost unbearable. His parents’ fighting continued, and although it was miserable to witness, José could only think of his own pain and hardship. He was uninterested in his parents’ trouble, believing it was their problem.
All this changed one day when José arrived home and found his dad’s things gone. “Where’s dad?” He asked his mother. Tears flowed freely as she explained he would no longer be with them. José could feel the anger rise within him. The resentment and bitterness he felt towards his dad manifested itself against his mom.
José and his buddies resorted to alcohol as their new companion. They would skip classes and drink to their hearts’ content. He tried anything he thought would bring him happiness. He immersed himself in violent video games, he had girlfriends, he became as popular as he could. But still, nothing could fill the emptiness he felt inside. His anger toward his mom became so strong that he would do things, just to spite her.
“Listen, Josefina, what you really need is to know Christ!” Lupita urged José’s mother, who had been her childhood friend from Patzcuaro, Mexico. “Well, maybe.” Josefina remarked dubiously. To tell the truth, she didn’t know what to think about all this religious stuff. She knew she needed something, but she wasn’t sure where to start.
Where she ended up starting was with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Through that experience, she began to think it was very hard to know which of all the religions in the world was the right one. Lupita encouraged her that all she needed to believe was the Bible. She invited her to come to some Bible studies in Cannon Beach where they both lived. And so, Josefina cautiously went to Lupita’s church. Soon she was encouraging José to join her, explaining that there were some young men his age she wanted him to meet at this church. José was indifferent to her request, stating that he had his own friends and didn’t need more.
It was Halloween and going for a drive seemed so much more thrilling than sitting through a boring art class. Besides, people would be expecting kids to arrive at their doors for candy. After sneaking away with Ale and a couple other friends, José rode in the back of the car down the busy highway toward a McDonalds where they left off Ale. On their way back, a car suddenly sped past them on the highway. They instantly recognized the driver and accepted his action as a challenge. “He’s wanting to race us!” exclaimed José’s friend with a mischievous grin. “Take him on!” the others urged. Soon their driver, whom they called “Burro” took a sharp right turn into a neighborhood. The co-pilot, Jorge, cautioned Burro to take it easy with all the narrow streets and sharp turns, but José prompted him to step on it even harder. Not a minute had passed when Burro came to a turn in the road which he tried to make but instead, drove directly into a nearby swamp. The boys were unhurt but very wet and a bit embarrassed.
The next day, just as José was beginning to think no one knew what had happened, he was pulled out of school and escorted to the principal’s office where Jorge sat behind a long desk speaking to a police chief. Oh no. thought José. Now we’re really in for it. When the policeman was finished questioning Jorge, José queried, “What did they ask you?” “They just asked me about it.” Jorge replied. “And what did you tell them?” “The truth.” Jorge said without emotion. “Uh! And what should I say?” José asked fretfully. “Just tell them the truth.” Jorge answered plainly.
“Yes, sir,” said José adding nervously, “We skipped class.” “Alright,” the police chief said dryly. “Well, I’m asking you all this because you and your other friends are underage, and your driver friend was endangering your lives. So, he’s going to jail.”
“Oh! I didn’t realize that.” gulped José. “Yes,” added the chief slowly, “You know, you should really rethink who your friends are, young man. Because witnesses say that at the speed you were going, if you had driven into something else, such as a tree or a building, you wouldn’t be here right now.”
This sobering realization hit José like a ton of bricks. The police officer was totally right, and it was a miracle that José was here to hear his advice. The next Sunday, when his mom requested his company to go to church, José gave no excuses.
BUT THEN CAME JESUS…
And after his first Sunday, he had to admit, the boys his mom had told him about were great kids. They were kind to him. They invited him to play and treated him with respect. These were the kind of kids he wanted to be like now, and he concluded that this church was just the thing he needed to become a better person. Not that he was such a bad guy, but maybe just a little lacking to get to Heaven, he thought.
Sometime later, Lupita’s husband showed a movie at the church. It was called “The Encounter.” That particular day, José hadn’t gone to church with his mom, but she told him what a great movie they had watched. After hearing about it, José was curious and looked it up. The story was about five strangers, who found themselves all at the same diner during a thunderstorm. The man serving at the diner was Jesus. He began telling each of them their life stories, explaining that He had something better for them if they’d believe in Him. As the story of one of the young ladies at the diner unfolded, José, paid close attention. She had been abused by her stepfather and had tried to take her life and the life of her stepfather, only to find that the gun didn’t work. Because of this, she had run away from home, which was why she then found herself in this diner in the middle of nowhere. Jesus told her that He wanted her to forgive her stepfather and go back to her home. He told her that no bitterness should abide in her heart. This young lady looked up in shock, saying, “How could You ask me to forgive him after all he’s done to me?” Jesus then showed her His nail-pierced hands and said, “Look what he’s done to Me. I paid a heavy price for your stepfather’s sins, and it’s the same price I paid for your sins.”
As he saw the wounds in this man’s hands, José came under conviction. With tears in his eyes he whispered, “I am a terrible person!” His sin was before him–all the times he had bullied other kids, all the times he had broken his mother’s heart were so vivid he couldn’t deny any of it. And to think that an innocent man was crucified so that I could go free… he thought to himself amidst sobs. It was all so amazing. In that moment, he saw his need for a Savior, and realized, I must respond to His salvation, I cannot just stay like this. “This is true” José exclaimed. “I accept Christ into my heart!”
Just then, his mother came into his room to see if everything was ok. José’s sobs increased as he cried out, “Mom, I am so sorry for everything. I am a sinner, and Jesus died for me. I understand it now.” Josefina’s own tears flowed as mother and son embraced.
The love of his new-found Savior never stopped amazing José, and many times, he would marvel, “I can’t believe Jesus would want to take my sin upon Himself, knowing how terrible I am.”
Epilogue: Ever since that day, José has been a changed man. Instead of becoming the high school dropout everyone expected him to be, José went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Pure Mathematics and a master’s degree in Mathematics Education. He faithfully serves at the Cannon Beach Bible church, teaching and discipling others. He has become an invaluable asset to the ministry. Recently he married Norma, a lovely Christian girl from Wisconsin.
Author’s note: Lupita, who first shared Christ with Josefina, is the aunt of Sofi, my sister-in-law!