DEMETRIO WAS a sergeant in the Bolivian Army during the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay. As a soldier, Demetrio was a man of courage, but he was also a thoroughly ungodly fellow and he and his friends spent much of their spare time dancing and drinking.
One day the Bolivian troops were ordered to fix bayonets and storm a Paraguayan fort. A fierce battle ensued and Demetrio fell badly wounded with six bullets in his body. Taken out of action to a field hospital behind the lines, he was given blood transfusions which saved his life.
From there he was sent to the main hospital in Potosi, the capital, and thanks to the care of the surgeons who attended him, after considerable time he was able to walk again.
The doors of the hospital were heavily guarded, but one night, Demetrio, along with some other wounded soldiers, weary of confinement, climbed over the walls, bent on a night’s pleasure. They passed the hours in bar rooms and other places of wickedness. Then returning to the hospital drunk, they were severely reprimanded by the doctor for their bad behavior.
A little later, desiring a change from hospital life, the men again escaped over the walls. But this time Demetrio refused to accompany his mates in their visits to bar rooms and dance halls. He preferred on this occasion to be quiet and alone.
Walking slowly down Junin street, he was surprised to hear singing, and stopped to listen. He found himself outside a building with a sign over the door, “Local Evangelico” (Gospel Hall). It wasn’t the singing that attracted his attention so much as the words he heard, “Busca a Dios” that is, “Seek God.” Demetrio had never heard such words, nor had he ever read a Book called the Bible; never had he read a tract so he stepped inside the door to listen. A gentleman requested him to take a seat, but he refused.
After the singing, a man stood up, opened a Book, and began to speak. He spoke of the “judgment of God,” and stressed the fact that there was only one way to escape this judgment; that was by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, who came from heaven and who died on the cross of Calvary to save lost sinners. He went on to say that we were all lost sinners and that if we refused to accept Christ as our Saviour, we would not escape the judgment of God, but eternal punishment would be our sentence.
The speaker, who was a missionary, said he had seen so many soldiers who were afraid to die because they were sinners. Demetrio thought to himself, Well I’m not afraid of death! Why be afraid? Had he not been a soldier, a proud fighter, wounded, but still not afraid of death?
Still the thought lingered in his mind what the speaker had said: “You cannot escape the judgment of God unless you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
That night Demetrio went home to his parents at 9:15 p.m., and told them what he had heard. Never had he done such a thing as that before, and then he returned to the hospital. That was on a Wednesday night. There was another meeting on Friday night and Demetrio was present. The people sang another hymn, “Paz Cor Dios busque janarla,” that is, “Peace with God, I sought to gain.” This peace Demetrio did not have, but he desired it, so after the meeting he went to the speaker and talked to him. He told Demetrio again: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. He has made peace through the blood of His cross on Calvary.” Demetrio suddenly understood that the Lord Jesus had been seeking him. He got down on his knees, and asked God to save him; and God did save him that night.
The next day all noticed the great change in his behavior. The doctors remarked that if he continued as he was doing, he would be well again. They even changed his medication, ordered him a new suit, and informed the hospital director to allow Demetrio to attend the gospel meetings.
He got to know the missionary who had led him to Christ and looked up to him as his spiritual father and guide in his earthly pilgrimage. That was 40 years ago and Demetrio has gone on faithfully ever since.
ML-07/25/1976