As Chava made his way down the narrow street, dimly lit by a bent light post, he felt a strange apprehension. ‘Everything is fine.’ he assured himself. He regularly arrived home from school around 9:00 p.m. But tonight something just didn’t seem right. His mother always came part way to meet him, but her absence on this cold night caused a slight unease to settle over the 13-year-old. He quickly brushed away the countless, unpleasant possibilities that invaded his mind and decided she must have a good reason for not coming. However, upon opening the door of their humble dwelling, Chava’s hopes were shattered, just like everything else in the room. After surveying the disaster, he slowly made his way over broken pieces of wood and glass which had once been their dining room table and dish wear. The acrid smell of smoke penetrated the entire house. When he peered into the living room he could see his alcoholic father bent over a desk, burning birth certificates, documents and pictures. Chava stood there transfixed by what he saw. After a moment his thoughts returned to his mother. Where had she gone? Where were his brothers? Had they all fled and abandoned him to his violent father? He did not know how much time elapsed before he heard footsteps outside. Delia, his older sister appeared in the doorway along with her husband, Jesús. As if in a dream, he felt his sister’s hand on his shoulder gently leading him to his bedroom where he was instructed to pack a few changes of clothes and anything else he could fit into a suitcase and backpack. He was then taken away from his home, away from the life he knew, and most importantly, away from his father.
3 years earlier…
10-year-old Chava lurked behind the schoolhouse waiting impatiently for his victim to appear. He had enough sense to know that if you want to get anywhere in life, you have to fight your way up. He gripped the pocketknife firmly in one hand as he waited, ready to pounce. Just as planned, his bait had worked and the unsuspecting prey walked right past Chava’s hiding place. As far as he was concerned, Jorgito was fair game.
Right as the younger boy passed, Chava sprang into action. Placing his knife up to Jorgito’s throat, he used his free hand to twist his arm behind his back. The terrified boy looked around wildly trying to wriggle free of his oppressor’s strong grip. But Chava was older than him and had much more experience in the art of self-defense. Jorgito finally went limp, realizing the uselessness of trying to get away from the bully. In total surrender, he awaited his fate. Upon sensing his victim’s submission, Chava loosened his grip and brusquely turned the boy around to face him. A sneer curled his lips, as he looked at the weaker boy with scorn.
“Look at you, you mama’s boy,” he began with disdain. “You don’t even put up a good fight.” Jorgito dropped his head, trying to avoid eye contact with the bully. Chava walked around him, looking the boy up and down as he went. “I could use that,” he said, pointing at Jorgito’s brand new wristwatch. “And that.” he demanded, motioning to his cap. He had been admiring it for days. The younger boy meekly took off all the items Chava coveted and handed them over, thus ensuring a quick retreat. The bully took no notice, as he gleefully tried on his new trinkets. He had obtained what he was out to get and had no more use for the boy.
As Chava arrived home that day, he noticed one of his brothers had a new scar running the length of his face. This did not evoke much concern or curiosity on the part of the young boy as his older brothers often came home with bruises and scars from their incessant fights and bickerings with anyone who disagreed with them. Every one of them had been shot at once or more in their life, and one of them had terrible burns across half his body. They were heavy drug consumers and were infamous in the neighborhood for thuggish behavior. The police were constantly coming to Chava’s house to arrest one of his brothers on charges of theft or violence of some kind. The family was run out of one community due to their notoriously criminal lifestyle.
As for their family life, there was rarely peace at home. His father drank for months on end. Chava’s mother had gotten together with his father after two previous marriages and Chava had many half siblings from both sides.
When Chava turned 10 he started his own career in sin, trying as hard as he could to fit into the family mold. Although he had seen the grave consequences of his brothers’ actions, he simply accepted the roll of being bad because it was who his family was; it represented their identity. In Junior High he began trying drugs and having girlfriends.
One day he was surprised to find his father sober and dressed in one of his nicer shirts, clean-shaven with his hair combed neatly back. What could possibly have prompted such a rare occurrence? He walked through the house which looked cleaner than usual and went into the kitchen to inquire of his mother what all the fuss was about.
“Someone is going to come teach us the Bible.” was the quick reply. “Huhhhh?” Chava was confused. Who in his whole household had any inclination toward religion?
“Your father met them at the plaza. They were giving out little pamphlets about the Bible. He’s so desperate to leave his addictions, he asked them to come give us a study.
Surely his mother was joking. This did not sound at all like something his dad would get into. But, true to their word, Elias and Pedro showed up at the door 30 minutes later, with a black book tucked under their arm. And thus, the family began studying the Bible.
On one occasion the two men showed an old black and white film on the 10 commandments in the neighborhood. Chava remembered very little of what the Christians taught, but he did remember their kindness. This was the first time Chava had seen God’s goodness toward underserving sinners. He could not understand why these men would be good to him and his family as bad as they were. However, Elias even brought him a bike for Christmas. Chava’s older sister Delia, and her husband also began attending the weekly Bible studies and soon became the first in the family to place their faith in the Lord Jesus for salvation.
Unfortunately, the studies did not last long as Chava’s father once again fell back into his old habits and sins. However, a seed had been planted in Chava’s heart.
BUT THEN CAME JESUS…
‘I hate rules.’ Chava thought sulkily to himself as he walked back to the room he now shared with his nephew Chucho. His sister had just sat him down for a 15-minute talk on all the house rules he would have to abide by if he was going to live under her roof.
Good grades in school, 2. Help clean the house, 3. Attend the weekly study with Armando. 4. Go to church on Sundays…Chava went indignantly over the list in his head. To be honest, they were not hard things for Chava to comply with, it was just the fact that they were rules that bothered him. He was not used to being told what to do. Mulling over his predicament, he considered going back to his old house. But when he thought of his father, he quickly reconsidered. Now that his mother had fled to the States, escaping from her drunken, abusive husband, Chava knew home was not a safe place for anyone to live. His mother had given Delia instructions to look after her youngest, knowing that he would be well taken care of with her. Finally Chava resigned himself to the fact that this was his only option for the time being.
By this time, Chava had become so embittered at God, he even doubted His existence. ‘If He really does exist,’ he speculated, ‘I must have done something horrible to end up in the family I’m in. He had previously accompanied Jesús and Delia to church, but he always had a bad attitude. It made him mad to see how happy the people were and it nearly drove him crazy when the youth approached him and tried to be friendly.
However, he had to admit that his sister’s home was unlike anything he had ever seen. There was peace in this place. As he lay beside his nephew Chucho at night, with the light on, since Chucho was scared of the dark, Chava would marvel at the awkward, peaceful stillness around him. No shouts or thuds. No wild music or shattering of glass. Just peace, tranquility—calm. His whole life he had felt like a storm-tossed sailor, hurled here and there by the winds of change, flung around by the cruel repercussions of sin—always groping in the darkness yet never finding the haven of rest his soul yearned for. But now, for the first time in his life, he felt peace. A peace he only thought was possible in movies.
As the days went on, Chava noticed even more things that amazed him. The harmony he saw between his brother-in-law, Jesús, and Jesús’ brothers, who were also Christians, was astounding. They actually treated each other with respect and brotherly love. ‘Maybe there is something to what they’re telling me about God after all.’ Chava thought to himself.
One more thing surprised yet frustrated Chava. Every week, Armando would come to give the family a personal Bible study, which Chava was forced to sit through. Rain or shine, he would always come. One time in particular, Chava watched in consternation as Armando came trudging through the muddy mass their dirt road had turned into, due to the downpour. Chava was sure the rain would keep him away, but this dedicated servant of God would not be put down. He removed his shoes, placed them in a plastic bag he had brought along, and waded barefoot through the thick, gooey mess. He then put his shoes back on, and proceeded to enter the family’s home, leaving no footprints on the clean floor.
Something else changed inside Chava during those early days at his sister’s house. He stopped viewing himself as a victim of other people’s sin. Yes, he always knew that what he was doing was wrong, but he blamed it on his family for raising him to sin. Then he read Romans 3, “There is none righteous, not even one…There is none who does good…with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps in under their lips…destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Chava knew that verse was talking about him. He was that person! There was no fear of God before his eyes and he did not know the path of peace.
Slowly, he came to understand that Jesus offered him a new life, not only in eternity but starting now, as he could clearly observe in his sister’s family. However, his desire to sin was greater than his desire to have new life, thus he resisted the urge to come to Jesus just yet. He knew by now that if he died he would go to Hell, but he assured himself that that was still a good long way down the road for him, and that there would be time enough to get right with God when he was old. There were too many fun things to enjoy in his youth to deal with his sin now. He wanted to enjoy parties, women and alcohol, and knew this would not happen if he became a Christian.
Then one day, tragedy struck the family. Two of Chava’s brothers had been traveling by train to the border to join their mother in the States. Chava never found out the whole of what happened on that train ride, but he did find out that his brothers had been on drugs and had argued with the soldiers who had gotten on the train to carry out a military checkup. A little while later, Delia received a call informing her that their brother Omar, was in the hospital seriously injured. Someone had found Omar laying by the train tracks, his body a mass of bruises. He died in the hospital before anyone could get to him. No one ever found out what happened.
Omar’s premature death shook Chava to the core. He was so young. Too young to die. This tragic event opened Chava’s eyes to the fact that no one had assurance of waking up tomorrow. ‘If I die right now,’ he reasoned, ‘I will have lived a miserable life here, and there will be an even more miserable life awaiting me there.’
That Sunday during the Lord’s supper, Chava heard the invitation he had heard for weeks. The man leading the service urged anyone who had not trusted in Christ as their Savior to do it now. In that moment the Holy Spirit touched Chava’s heart and right then and there he confessed his sin to God and asked Him to forgive him through Jesus. What Chava felt when he accepted the Savior that day, is best described in Psalm 107:29-30 which says, “He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed…so He guided them to their desired haven.”
The changes in Chava’s life were apparent to everyone. He began having an insatiable hunger for the Word of God. At school, when he tried using bad language or doing the things he was accustomed to doing, he no longer felt comfortable doing them. Something inside bothered him every time he sinned. He stopped having the desire to consume drugs, to use bad language and to skip classes. Yes, there were times when he fell back into his old ways, but every time, there was that still, small voice, correcting him and showing him the way out.
Another huge change was that he now enjoyed spending time with the young people at church, whose friendliness had once bothered him so much.
But perhaps the clearest sign that Chava was indeed a new creation, came when he went to his father and asked him to forgive him for something he had done in revenge over his ill-treatment of his mother.
Many years passed. Chava married a beautiful Christian girl and fathered three children. One day as he reflected on 2 Samuel 7:18, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?” he thought back to where the Lord had rescued him from. He could relate to King David in feeling totally underserving of what he now had in Christ. He was a first-hand witness to the truth of John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Epilogue:
Chava is now an English teacher in a university in Irapuato, Mexico.
The Lord put in Chava’s heart the desire to study His Word more deeply, to then teach others when the opportunity arises. His desire is to give God all the glory through this testimony.
He studied the Bible with his father for a time, in hopes that he too would find the peace and new life his son has found in Jesus, but sadly, he remained unreceptive toward the gospel. Three years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer. Chava would take his father every weekend to his chemotherapy treatments. However, after two years it became apparent that the cancer had spread and there was nothing more the doctors could do. During his final 6 months of life, he was bedridden. Chava lovingly cared for him and faithfully shared the good news of Jesus Christ with his father to his dying moment. Only God knows if perhaps in the end he placed his faith in the Savior.