Beyond divining dogs and the evil eye, God affects his plan

Felix, now 83 years old and almost deaf, grew up on a desert farm in southwest Peru near the Nazca lines. An oddly dressed European lady occasionally walked through his village by herself headed for the hills and carrying a broom. The kids called her the witch, and couldn't imagine what she was up to. Only later, as an adult, did he recognize her as Maria Reiche, the German mathematician who was largely responsible for mapping and describing the Nazca lines. These immense pictures of animals, etched into the flat planes, are a composite of shallow troughs that eventually fill with windblown sand, and only by sweeping the sand from them with her broom could their character be clearly seen. JOHN BUERER

He was only two years old when a man rode through his village on a horse. His mind full of  black-and-white cowboy films, he jumped in front of the horse, his forefingers pointing like sixshooters, and shouted "stick'um up!" Then he realized that the horseman gave him the "evil eye!" Sure enough, he began to get sick. His worried parents took him to a healer who rubbed a cur dog all over his body, then killed and opened the dog to divine how to release Felix from this curse (a guinea pig is typically used for this instead of a dog). He eventually recovered.

Now his family was entertaining the Proclaim International team for dinner, during a week of events in and around the towns of Ica and Cañete, Peru. We laughed into the evening as he regaled us with stories of his life, but I got the impression that cur dogs were never really safe around him. Archeology was the first undergraduate degree earned by Daniel Calle, the evangelical pastor and team evangelist in the room, but he couldn't help laughing along with the rest as Felix described interesting experiences robbing ancient grave sites as a young man. (There are so many real and potential archeological sites in Peru that only a fraction are investigated.)

Yet far greater things were taking place in Felix's life. God was dealing with him, and at 50 years of age he surrendered his life to follow Jesus Christ. He began to pray that his family would also come to repent before God and receive the free gift of salvation. He prayed for years; none of his family responded. As he grew weary praying, his congregation encouraged him on, and joined him in prayer. Still no one in the family came to Christ. He prayed for 32 years.

Then last year his son-in-law Moisés attended a Wednesday night prayer meeting and afterward asked to speak with Pastor José Cárdenas. But José was out of town that day, José's mother informed him, and she invited him to return. When he visited again the next week, he told José he wanted what he saw in the life of his father-in-law. José showed him the path of salvation and Moisés came to the Lord, the first of Felix's family to be redeemed.

When Moisés told his wife what happened, she was hard hearted and not interested. Yet she saw such a change in her husband that in a short time she also came to the Lord, as did his sister, Roxana. They began attending church meetings as a family with their son Fabricio, fourteen, who soon came to the Lord, and he brought his cousins, since they lived in the same large house.

His cousin Guillermo, eleven, came to the Lord, in church. Next his cousin Alejandro, thirteen, was one of two young men who responded to the gospel when I preached to that congregation. Later he led his five-year-old cousin, Rodrigo, to the Lord.

Pastor José began discipling not only Moisés, but these boys of his family. Guillermo and Alejandro wanted to be baptized during the annual baptism in January, but José told them they would need authorization by their mothers, and suggested they arrange for their mothers to see him individually.

José explained to each mother what baptism and the gospel was about, and led them both to the Lord.

The Holy Spirit has claimed this family. For Pastor Cárdenas, this is harvest time. Within a year, all nine people living in the house with Felix have come to the Lord. The family is filled with joy knowing their Savior, and happiest of all is Felix, who has seen the results of his 32 years of prayer.