The Story of Juan by Rick Chalker
In August of 2007, I led a small mission team on a nine day trip to Cartagena, Columbia to hold a pastoral seminar and to visit and minister at several local churches. We also visited a refugee area named Villa Hermosa where Cristiano’s En Accion has built a medical clinic. It was there that we met a young Doctor from Connecticut by the name of Dr. Navid Mahooti. He is Iranian born, but raised in the United States. Dr. Mahooti is volunteering his time to work at the clinic in Villa Hermosa for three weeks.
One of our places to visit was an Afro-Columbian village called Palenque. It was founded in 1604 by a runaway slave who had fled from the Spanish rule and established an African colony in Columbia. His hatred towards his Spanish captors was so great that he told all of his followers that if they even so much as spoke to a Spaniard, they would be killed. Unfortunately, his own daughter was in love with a Spanish soldier, and when he found out, he killed her and cut her body in pieces, spreading the parts throughout the village as a warning to all!
Palenque was never defeated by the Spanish. It stands to this day as an African style village, with African customs, music, homes and lifestyle. Cristiano’s En Accion has established a missionary training center there for trainees that will be going to African Nations as missionaries. It was in Palenque that the story of Juan was told to our team.
Here is the story…………
Juan is a thirty five year old man now, but his story began when he was only seventeen.
In one tragic night, he turned from being a normal, loving son to becoming a raging violent, uncontrollable lunatic. No one really knows what happened, but his mother thought he had been demon possessed, so in fear for her own safety and the safety of her other children, she locked him in a nine by nine foot concrete shed in her back yard.
Ashamed to tell anyone what happened to her son, or what she had done, she kept it a secret. There he remained, secretly locked away in a hot, lonely concrete prison for the last eighteen years! No bed, no chair, nothing but those four bare walls. Sleeping in his own filth year after terrible year. His mother would feed him through a slot in the door, and often, he would throw the food back at her.
Three months ago, Juan’s mother became a Christian. She still didn’t have the nerve to tell anyone about the horrible secret she kept hidden, but God was working to bring it to the surface…………
A young man that had been a childhood friend of Juan had recently moved back to Palenque from another town, and he moved into the house next door to where Juan was being held captive. During the night, a few weeks ago, he heard howling and crying coming from the shed next door. He took his flashlight, and sneaked into the yard to look in the shed. There, he found his old childhood friend, Juan! The next day, he told the pastor of the Christian church what he had found, and the church began to investigate the situation.
Juan was still in his cage, but at least now, the secret was out. When our team arrived to minister at the church in Palenque, we were told about Juan and his situation. We were asked if we would go and pray with Juan. We jumped at the opportunity to minister to this young man. Juan's mother and brother cleaned up the cage and put fresh clothes on him prior to our arriving at the house, so when our team walked there from the church, we were taken to the back yard, where his mother opened the barred door and swung the corrugated inner door open.
We entered to find Juan cowering in a corner, frightened and totally incoherent. He had his eyes shut, and refused to look at us. We began to minister deliverance to him, pleading the blood, commanding the evil spirits to leave in the name of Jesus Christ. The longer we prayed, the hotter the room became. It was as though we were standing in a hot oven with the burners on, as the temperature continued to climb. It finally became so unbearably hot that we decided to leave, but when we did, we brought Juan out with us.
At that point, Doctor Mahooti asked us to bring Juan into the house and lay him on a bed, so he could be examined. After a complete medical examination, Dr. Mahooti reported that Juan was malnourished, but in good physical condition. It seemed as though the love, compassion and tender care were beginning to have a profound effect on both Juan and his distressed mother. She began to sob and cry, begging Juan to forgive her for the horrible thing she had done. Much of the fear and torment began to leave Juan’s face as he received the love of our team.
Please keep Juan in your prayers as he continues to heal from this terrible ordeal. When we left him, he still had a long way to go. The family has no money to get him the care he needs, and the church is trying to get a medical card for him from the government of Columbia. Pray they are successful very soon!
Yours in the Harvest, Rick Chalker,
Director of Missions, EAMA