Amazon Heroes
Consuelos’s story:
“My two-year-old son stopped struggling. He looked up at me as I wept. With his little hands, he wiped the tears away from my eyes. Then he laid his head on my shoulder and passed into eternity.”
Consuelo shared with me that she also lost a daughter just two weeks before her little boy’s death. Her beautiful princess died in her arms, hours after her birth.
Watching her two babies slip away from her was too much for the then 34-year-old woman. She lost her sanity for three years. She cried out night and day. She wandered around the streets, looking for little ones the age of the ones she lost. In her mental delirium she hoped that she might find them again, in the company of other playmates.
Consuelo’s physical health failed as well. She went blind and was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Her strength extinguished, she could barely even walk. Her husband Pedro at that time did not yet know Jesus. He decided to leave. “I can’t stand you. I will not return here until you are dead” he growled, and deserted her.
It might be hard for you or I to imagine the amount of pain Consuelo was experiencing. Can you picture her, lying there on the floor of her house, calling out in anguish? At her lowest point, a friend literally dragged her to church. She soon went to the altar to receive Jesus as her Savior.
In that instant, she fell down as if dead under the power of God. When she stood up, she could walk and see! She was also immediately cured of cancer. And even better, the Lord healed her emotions of the deep pain she had been carrying inside.
You can imagine Consuelo's joy! She sent a letter to Pedro telling him of her restoration. He came back to see if it could possibly be true. Finding her perfectly well, he too decided that very day to surrender to the Lord.
The couple has ever since traveled about the jungle preaching the good news of Jesus. Sometimes they travel two weeks into the depths of the Amazon by boat just to get to remote, primitive areas where most people have no desire or ability to go. Consuelo speaks five languages, enabling them to evangelize areas where the gospel has not yet been proclaimed.
*Names changed for anonymity.
Pedro's story:
Pedro was a despairing alcoholic back in the days before he met Jesus. The Lord has completely turned his life around.
Your heart would thrill to hear Pedro share his testimony. He related to me, “I was completely lost. I had immoral relationships with woman after woman, trying to fill the void inside of me.” Pedro was violent with his wife and children. Fidelity to his marriage was low on his list of priorities.
When his wife lost her sanity due to an overload of suffering and grief, he left her. He fully intended to wait until she died to come back around to their home. There was no doubt that her death was impending. Pedro, miles away, was sure he would receive a report of her passing within months, or less.
Instead, he received that letter written by Consuelo herself—formerly insane and dying Consuelo—stating that she was completely healed and in her right mind!
Pedro could hardly believe it. He rushed home and found a completely renewed woman waiting for him. And as you know, he received Jesus as Lord immediately.
Pedro’s transformation was thorough. Soon after his conversion, the couple began an itinerate preaching ministry. For nearly a decade, they traveled through the deep jungles, sharing the good news that had filled them with hope. They planted nearly 10 churches. They then felt the need to receive more training and impartation.
Pedro and Consuelo became the oldest students in our church planters’ institute in 2004. Two years later, they completed the program. Immediately, they purchased a plot of land in a Nuevo San Lorenzo to build their next church on. This is a jungle town of around 5,000 with no previous church presence. Pedro, Consuelo, and several other of our Pastors’ School graduates working in the area have since planted 40 more churches! Which brings the total number of ASIEL churches in that region up to the seventies.
Through the generosity of many, we were able to provide a tuition-free training program for this couple. A program that they would not have been able to afford otherwise. What a powerful investment, with eternal returns! Today, it is a joy to watch Pedro and Consuelo together. They are always holding hands, full of love for each other. At ages 58 and 55, they feel that life is just beginning!