Oscar’s story

This morning I interviewed Oscar Gutiérrez. He grew up
in a world of soccer, parties, and girls and his life has been changed through the
ministry of Vida Joven (VJ – In English, Young Life), a ministry we have been
heavily involved with here in Granada.
Now soccer is a tool for him to invite kids to VJ, he is preparing to be a
leader in the program, and he is continuing his education in the university that he withdrew
from three years ago. This is his story…

Before
VJ, before I knew anything about it, my life was completely dedicated to
partying. I toyed with the emotions of girls and smoked a lot. When I started
partying, I wasn’t necessarily smoking and into many vices, but the more I got
into it, my life started spiraling downward. I got into marijuana a few
times. This whole scene lasted about eight months, and looking back, I felt
like my life had no meaning.

In
September of 2008, I met a girl. When I met her, she didn’t tell me anything
about VJ. She was hanging out with a couple of other girls who wanted us to go
to VJ’s club, so I went with them. In the club, we watched a video about a guy
named Nick, who should have been incapacitated, but functioned very well
considering his circumstances. I saw in this video that nothing was impossible.

Shortly
thereafter I had the opportunity to go to my first VJ sports camp. At the camp
they took us to a labyrinth and taught us about listening to God’s voice. I
tried it out, but it was very difficult for me to hear him. The camp was good
because, while they were somewhat restrictive, but they weren’t legalistic.
They made me not want to do the things I had been doing.

Following
this I was invited on another VJ camp. When we were there, we had a time of
worshiping God. Something moved me to tears during the singing. I was closing
my eyes, and when I opened them, I looked down at the floor and I saw the face
of Jesus. I sobbed uncontrollably as I felt the Lord calling me. I felt him
intimately; I knew then that he cared for me. This motivated me to give my
testimony about my life and what I was still doing to the others that were with
me. They were people from my city that knew me or knew of me before. Before I
started talking, I didn’t feel like I’d have the words to speak because I was
embarrassed, but my heart compelled me. I wanted to express that yes, I can change and others can too.

My
next camp was a follow-up camp. There we went on a walk of faith. They
blind-folded us and had us walk around. It reminded me of Catholic tradition we
do here in Granada
in which they blind-fold a statue of Jesus and parade around the street
carrying him on their shoulders. They do this a lot the day before his death.
It’s called a procession of silence. The idea is that Jesus is walking through
the crowd – the world, but he’s blind to it, he’s not of it. During this walk
we were put thru a barrage of tests.

In
one of them, they had me grab onto a rope and to imagine two worlds – this
world and the one Jesus calls us to. The devil started speaking to me then,
reminding me things of my past. I remember a moment when that was all I could
focus on. I felt pretty confused and I cried because I didn’t know what to do.
I felt very alone. But I kept walking and tried to focus on God’s voice alone.
Then he spoke to me. He told me he’s the way and the truth and the life. After
this, the things that the enemy was saying to me didn’t matter at all. As I
continued walking, I felt closer and closer to God. Later, we were given the
opportunity to go to the labyrinth again and invited into intimacy with the
Lord; to hear his voice personally. This moved me a lot. I felt great meaning and
purpose in this relationship I was introduced to. It was one of the most
impacting experiences of my life.

By
the fourth camp I was playing soccer and stepping into leadership. I felt
incredibly incapable and ill prepared, but every time we had a meeting or I was
pushed into something, God gave me the words to say to the kids there. These
kids were into drugs and after a number of activities, we encouraged them to
cry and let their emotions out. I said then, “Lord, I want you to change these
kids’ lives. I know that they need you and I know that you’re the only one who
can touch their hearts. You’re the only one who can change them.”

When
we got back, I followed up with these kids. I saw that they truly desired God
and this brought me great joy. True joy. It brought meaning into my life.