MY PAST

Some people take a long time to learn from their own bitter experiences. I was like that. I was born and raised in Barcelona, the second-largest city in Spain. My family lived in an area called Somorrostro, which occupied a large section of the city’s beachfront. Somorrostro had a reputation for crime and drug dealing.

My parents had nine children, and I was the eldest. Because we were very poor, my father sent me to work as a ball boy at a local tennis club. I was ten years old and worked for ten hours each day. As a result, I could not go to school like most children my age. When I was 14, I began working as a machinist at a metal shop.

In 1975, I was called up for military service, which was mandatory in Spain. I wanted to do something adventurous with my life, so I volunteered to join the Spanish Foreign Legion in Melilla, a Spanish enclave in North Africa. During that time, I plunged into the sordid world of drug and alcohol abuse.

When I left the Legion, I returned to Barcelona and formed a gang. We stole anything we could lay our hands on. We would then sell the stolen items for money to finance our drug addiction. I started taking LSD and amphetamines, and I immersed myself in a life of sex, alcohol, and gambling. This destructive lifestyle led me to become more and more violent. I always carried a knife, an ax, or a machete, and I was never afraid to use one of them if it seemed necessary.

On one occasion, my gang and I stole a car and were chased by the police. It was like a scene out of a movie. We drove the stolen vehicle for about 30 kilometers (20 mi), until the police started shooting at us. Finally, our driver crashed the car, and we all ran from the scene. When my father found out, he understandably threw me out of the house.

For the next five years, the streets became my home. I slept in doorways, in trucks, on park benches, and in graveyards. I even lived for a while in a cave. My life had no purpose whatsoever, and I felt that it did not matter whether I was alive or dead. I remember cutting my wrists and arms under the influence of drugs. I retain the scars to this day.

HOW THE BIBLE CHANGED MY LIFE

When I was 28, my mother came looking for me and asked me to return home. I agreed and promised her that I would straighten out my life, but it took me a while to fulfill that promise.

One afternoon, two of Jehovah’s Witnesses called at our door. As I was listening to them, my father yelled from inside the house that I should shut the door in their faces. As I never liked taking orders, I decided to ignore him. They offered me three small books, which I gladly accepted. I asked them where their meeting place was, and a few days later, I turned up outside the Kingdom Hall.

The first thing I noticed was how neatly dressed everybody was. In contrast, I had long hair, a scruffy beard, and shabby clothes. It was evident I did not fit in, so I remained outside the hall. But to my surprise, I recognized a former associate and gang member named Juan, dressed in a suit. I later learned that he had become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses just a year earlier. His presence gave me the confidence I needed to go inside and attend the meeting. That was where it all started to change for me.

I accepted an offer to study the Bible and quickly realized that if I wanted God’s approval, I needed to change my aggressive nature and immoral lifestyle. Making those changes was not easy. I learned that to please Jehovah God, I needed to “be transformed by making [my] mind over.” (Romans 12:2) I was deeply touched by God’s mercy. Despite all my mistakes, I sensed that he was giving me the chance to begin again. What I learned about Jehovah God sank deep into my heart. It became clear to me that there was a Creator who cared for me.​—1 Peter 5:6, 7.

This moved me to start making changes. For example, when the subject of tobacco came up during my Bible study, I said to myself, ‘If Jehovah God wants me to remain clean and undefiled in every sense, then these cigarettes will simply have to go!’ (2 Corinthians 7:1) And into the garbage bin they went!

I also needed to stop using and selling drugs. That took a little more time and effort. To achieve that goal, I knew I had to cut ties with my former associates. Their influence was not helping me to progress spiritually. In time, however, I began to rely more on God and on the help of my new friends in the congregation. Their love for and interest in me as a person was something I had never experienced before. As the months went by, I was finally able to break free from drugs and “put on the new personality,” which would help me to have God’s approval. (Ephesians 4:​24) In August 1985, I was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

HOW I HAVE BENEFITED

The Bible gave me a new lease on life. It freed me from a damaging lifestyle that was destroying my body and my dignity. In fact, more than 30 of my former associates died at a young age from AIDS or other drug-related illnesses. How grateful I am that by applying Bible principles, I was able to avoid the same tragic consequences.

The knives and axes that I used to carry as a violent young man are now a thing of the past. I never imagined that one day I would instead be carrying a Bible and using it to help people. Today, my wife and I both serve as full-time ministers of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

My parents never became Jehovah’s Witnesses, but they appreciated the benefits I received because I studied the Bible. In fact, my father even defended the Witnesses in front of all his colleagues. It was clear to him that my newfound faith had brought about a remarkable change for the better. My mother often said that I should have studied the Bible sooner. I could not agree with her more!

My experiences in life have taught me how senseless it is to seek satisfaction in drugs and other vices. I now get true satisfaction from introducing others to the teachings found in God’s Word—teachings that truly saved my life.

MY PAST

I was born in San Juan Chancalaito, a small town in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. My family belongs to the Chol people, an ethnic group of Maya descent. My parents had 12 children, of whom I was the fifth. When I was a child, my siblings and I studied the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Sadly, I did not apply the Bible’s counsel in my younger years.

By the time I was 13 years old, I was taking drugs and stealing from others. At that age I left home and drifted from place to place. When I was 16, I started working on a marijuana plantation. I was there for about a year when one night, while we were transporting a large shipment of marijuana by boat, heavily armed men from a rival drug cartel attacked us. I escaped their gunfire by diving into the river and coming out far downstream. Thereafter, I fled to the United States.

In the States, I continued trafficking in drugs and got into more trouble. At age 19, I was arrested and sentenced to prison under charges of robbery and attempted homicide. In prison, I joined a gang and committed additional violent acts. As a result, the authorities transferred me to a high-security penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

In the Lewisburg prison, my conduct went from bad to worse. Since I already bore gang tattoos, I easily joined up with the same gang in this penitentiary. I became even more violent, getting into one brawl after another. On one occasion I was involved in a gang fight in the prison yard. We fought fiercely, using baseball bats and exercise weights. To break up the fight, the penitentiary guards used tear gas. After that, the prison authorities placed me in the special management unit for dangerous inmates. I had an explosive temper and used insolent speech. It was easy for me to beat people up. In fact, I enjoyed it. I felt no remorse for my behavior.

HOW THE BIBLE CHANGED MY LIFE

In the special management unit, I was confined to my cell most of the day, so I started reading the Bible to pass the time. Later, a guard gave me a copy of the book You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth.a As I read this Bible study aid, I remembered many of the things I had learned as a child when I studied the Bible with the Witnesses. Thereafter, I reflected on just how low I had sunk because of my violent personality. I also thought about my family. Since two of my sisters had become Jehovah’s Witnesses, the thought occurred to me, ‘They are going to live forever.’ Then I asked myself, ‘Why can’t I?’ It was then that I firmly resolved to change.

However, I knew that I needed help in order to change. So, first, I prayed to Jehovah God and begged him to help me. Next, I wrote to the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States and asked for a Bible study. The branch office arranged for a nearby congregation to contact me. At the time, I was not allowed to have nonfamily visitors, so a Witness from the congregation started mailing me encouraging letters and Bible literature, which deepened my desire to change.

I made a major step forward when I decided to leave the gang that I had belonged to for many years. The gang leader was also in the special management unit, so I approached him during one of our recreation periods and told him that I wanted to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. To my surprise, he said to me: “If you’re serious, do it. I can’t interfere with God. But if you just want out of the gang, you know the consequences.”

Over the next two years, the prison staff noticed changes in my personality. As a result, they were more considerate to me. For example, the guards stopped handcuffing me when escorting me out of my cell to bathe. One of the guards even approached me and encouraged me to keep up the changes I was making. In fact, the prison authorities transferred me to a minimum-security satellite camp close to the main prison for my last year in the penitentiary. In 2004, after I had been incarcerated for ten years, I was released and deported to Mexico on a prison bus.

Soon after arriving in Mexico, I located a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I attended my first meeting wearing my prison uniform​—the only decent clothing I had. Despite my appearance, the Witnesses warmly welcomed me. When I saw their kindness, I felt that I was among true Christians. (John 13:35) At that meeting the congregation elders arranged for me to have a formal Bible study. I was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses one year later, on September 3, 2005.

In January 2007, I began serving as a full-time minister, spending 70 hours each month teaching the Bible to others. In 2011, I graduated from the Bible School for Single Brothers (now called the School for Kingdom Evangelizers). This school was a great aid in helping me to fulfill my responsibilities in the congregation.

In 2013, I married my dear wife, Pilar. She says with a touch of humor that she finds it hard to believe the things I tell her about my past. I have never slipped back into my former ways. Both my wife and I believe that the person I am today testifies to the transforming power of the Bible.​—Romans 12:2.

HOW I HAVE BENEFITED

I feel that Jesus’ words at Luke 19:10 apply to me. There he said: “[I] came to seek and to save what was lost.” I no longer feel lost in life. Nor do I go around hurting people anymore. Thanks to the Bible, I enjoy having the noblest purpose in life, peaceful dealings with others and, most important, a good relationship with my Creator, Jehovah.