About a month ago I woke up out of a sound sleep and was unable to fall asleep again. I turned on the television expecting to find nothing interesting but a program caught my attention immediately. It was the testimony of a man whose life started off on the wrong foot almost from the very beginning of his life. I only caught the last ten minutes of the program. I didn't even get the man's name. However, his life was radically changed by the power of Jesus and today he pastor's a church. I went back to bed so impressed with what I had witnessed that I asked the Lord to allow me to meet that pastor someday.
The next day I shared that moment with a Christian friend who is a hairstylist. She was impressed with the partial story that I told her. Less than two weeks later she calls me to tell me that she had shared with one of her customers about the testimony that I had seen on T.V. The customer, she said, went to that pastor's church. I went to the salon to speak to the customer. At the time the pastor was out of town. But I found out where his church was. It was only about 5 minutes from my house. I didn't even know that the pastor lived in Juarez. I thought he lived in another city. The day that he returned to the pulpit was the day that I met Pastor Martin Nuñez. God had answered my prayer about meeting this pastor. His nickname is El Gatito, or the Little Cat.
Pastor Nuñez is about 37 years old. His wife's name is Leti. Their humble church has a rehabilitation center for drug and alcohol addicts. They recently bought property right next to the church to start another ministry focusing on troubled youth. They have been interviewed by news people from practically all over the world. I want to share their story.
Martin's mother stabbed her husband when Martin was only two years old. She received a sentence of 10 years in a Mexican prison. It's hard to believe and understand but here you can bring your kids to prison with you. So Martin's mother took him along for the ten years. While in prison she had two more kids. Again, it is unthinkable but jailers here make a lot of profit by selling the female inmates to the male inmate population. For a certain amount of money a woman is dragged out of her cell and placed in a cell with men where she is repeatedly raped. Hours later the women are returned to their cells, often beat up, bruised, bleeding...
Martin was used by the inmates to carry concealed drugs from one cell to the next and return the payments to the drug dealers inside the jail. By the age of 12 Martin knew all about drugs. He knew how to sell them, and he knew how to use them. When the veins in his arms were no longer useful he would inject his neck. When he got out at 12 he had a job waiting outside.
When he got caught and was sent to prison, to him it was like being sent home. Prison was where he was raised.
By the age of 16 he had already committed murder. He stabbed one man about seven times and, if that wasn't enough, he took a concrete block and in a rage destroyed the man's head. He was also arrested and put in jail for car theft. Martin was so out of control that he was in solitary for 4 years. Martin's grandparents, parents, and practically all his family were all drug dealers and users. In this world Martin didn't stand a chance.
Martin wanted to end his life. He stabbed himself but he survived. He cut his arms at the bend of the elbow, he cut his throat, all to no avail. He would meet with a counselor who often told him that if he continues his life in that way that it's going that he would be reincarnated as a cow or a donkey. Martin didn't care.
Finally a glimpse of hope arrived, although Martin didn't appreciate it. A preacher came to see Martin. He told Martin that Jesus loved him. Martin cursed him and threw him out. But the power of those simple words penetrated his very being. The words would not stop echoing in Martin's heart. He would cover his ears with blankets to try and stop the sound of the words which had taken root in his spirit. But the roots of those powerful words kept growing.
Finally, in a moment of complete hopelessness, young Martin cried out to God and begged Him to change his life. Immediately he felt God's soothing presence. At 22 he was born again. Martin had found a new home!!
Martin asked to see the Prison director. He wanted to see the preacher again and apologize for the way he spoke to him that day. He also asked him for prison liberties. Martin wanted a job but with his reputation no one wanted him. Not even in prison. He was finally given a job where for the first time in his life he began to appreciate God's creation. Martin was actually taking the time to look UP and see God's handiwork.
Within three months of his conversion experience Martin was preaching in prison. It was there that he met Leti. She was a drug dealer. Eventually they got permission and were married in prison. Before long his prison ministry was attracting from 400 to 500 inmates. Many were saved. The day came when they both walked out of prison free. Totally and radically free!!Today, Martin and Leti continue to reach out to the lost. Their church is located in the same building where Leti used to deal drugs. Martin is a very gifted and anointed speaker. I have been very impressed with his knowledge of the scriptures. At the front of the church a man, who was once a drug addict, can be seen dancing and rejoicing because he has finally received his own personal copy of the Bible. The excitement that is felt inside that church is the contagious. It is a place of hope where the captives, like it's pastors, are being set free.
Daniel Torres
11985 Pellicano
Ste. G, Box 169
El Paso, Texas 79936
d_torres53@yahoo.com
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