This month we were serving with a ministry on a boat that goes on trips to bring medical attention to communities that can’t easily be seen by a doctor or dentist. The boat’s crew was a delight, especially Capitán Raphael (Manolo/Cappy). He’s a 73 yr old man that just last year flipped off the top of the boat from a handstand to the amazement of everyone watching. He”s a hoot and he had some interesting stories to share…
Abandoned by His Mother
When Cappy was 8 or 9 yrs he was dropped off at his grandmothers house far from where he lived. He never saw her again and said he wonders what he did to make her not want him. Two years later his grandma passed away so he was left by himself. He said he started working on boats and anything he could to get money for food. Then from there he learned about navigation and learned about boats in general. He said before being dropped off his father asked his mother to take him to La Paz to get him schooled and take care of him but she refused so he never went to school.
His Father Almost Shot by His Mother
He said that his father was an Arabic man he thinks from Lebanon. He also says that he was a womanizer so one day he was kissing another woman at a club and someone told his mother. She went back to the club with a revolver and shot him but it went over the top of his head so she missed his head by four fingers.
Fishing For Piranha With a Jaguar
He used to work on a tourist boat for 18 years. He said during a season they didn’t have too many piranhas but a gringa (white person) wanted a piranha head for a souvenir. He said someone found a head for her and put it on the side of the boat for him to clean later. During the day it was accidentally tossed overboard by somebody cleaning the boat but the girl was leaving the next day. The next morning he decided to get up before the sun came up and try fishing for a piranha at a nearby lagoon. He said he goes there with the tourist often and they see jaguar footprints all the time but they are usually old and caked into the sand. This morning when he came to the shore he saw footprints as well but they were fresh. He usually brings his revolver but this time all he had was his hook. He still walked to the shore and started to walk to his fishing spot. As he was walking he saw a jaguar staring at him and standing still. He said he proceeded to continue walking to his fishing spot stopping and telling the jaguar if he tried anything he would break its tail as he kept an eye on it. He said he started fishing one, two, three, four piranhas and the jaguar didn’t blink just watching him at a relatively close distance. Finally the jaguar goes into the trees and that’s when Cappy says he was worried. He was worried he would circle around and try getting him from behind. So he said he kept an eye on his back waiting for any trace of the trees moving or something all the while making a plan of how he would take this jaguar on were he to jump at him. His plan was to jump in the water and while the jaguar jumped too he would dive down and come up when the jaguar dove down and then his plan was to break the Jaguars tail. He said he never did see the jaguar again.
Daughters Healing
We asked Cappy about how he became a believer and somehow the convo turned into how his daughter became a believer.
He said his daughter was a lawyer and one day she came into town on business from where she lives in La Paz. She had surgery scheduled for when she went back. As she visited with Cappy he told her he wanted her to go to church and accept the gift of salvation. He said she agreed and didn’t put up a fight like other people tend to do. He asked his boss for four days off but it was summer time so he refused saying it was peak season. Cappy threatened to quit and was given three days. He went to his daughters home and went to church with her but nothing really happened. About 20 or so days later however he received a call from his daughter. She told him that she accepted the Lord and not only that but that she had just returned from the doctor and she was healed and didn’t need surgery anymore. He said that she now dedicates her life fully to the Lord and is also a pastor now.
An Almost Stolen Motorcycle
Cappy has told this story various times, I think he’s kinda proud.
The story goes that one day as he went inside a store to buy groceries he returned to find that his bike was not there anymore. He said he had been gone maybe five minutes. When he was looking around he noticed a woman was fidgeting and biting her nails in a corner. He says he politely approached and asked if she knew anything about his motorcycle. She responded angrily and insulted he would accuse her of stealing his bike. He says he tried a couple more times to ask nicely and even offered money and kept getting hostile replies. Finally he pulled out his revolver and stuck it to her side. He says that he pretended to get the gun ready but really he just had the barrel open and it wasn’t ready to shoot. That got her talking though and she pointed to the way the thief and bike had gone. He says he made her take him to where it went. When they got there he told her that wherever the man who stole the bike was and if he was watching from any hiding place that they better not follow him that day or the next or the next or he would send a bullet through them. She ended up telling him he was some Colombian man and he even lectured her how she might end up dead hanging with sketchy people. He said he gave her some money and told her she didn’t deserve it and went on his way. He laughed and said that he wouldn’t even kill a fly but that now he still has his beloved red moto.
At the end of our story time he smiled big and laughed and said he probably lied to us at some point. He said when he was little he had some type of head trauma and has not always been all there. But, he says, he’s a heck of a pilot.
