Trial of Grace

CBN.com While a high school student, Chito became disillusioned with the Mexican government. "There had been a massive killing in Mexico in 1968. More than 4,000 students and their families died. That was when I began to protest against the Mexican government," he says.

Chito joined the guerilla forces and developed a thirst for vengeance and a deep hatred for his enemies.

"We did some really bad things like kidnapping, assaults, and some other things I cant share," he says. "The truth is that you think youre doing something right because the people that youre talking to are, in a way, brainwashing you. They said we had to kill, kill, kill. After a while I said, 'This can't go on.' After I left the organization, they came to kill my wife and kill me, so we left the city."

Ironically, after years of fighting against the government, Chito decided to join them. Once inside, he discovered a group of police who would push drugs across the Mexican border into the United States. This was right up Chitos alley. Before long, Chito was a major player dealing millions of dollars worth of heroine and cocaine into the U.S.

"A brother of mine who had never been involved with drugs wanted to get into the group. I told him, 'Find yourself a buyer and Ill get you the drugs.' His buyer was an informant for the United States DEA. We were arrested and taken to a prison in the U.S. The judge was considering me for 90 years in prison."

Chito was advised to do whatever it took to get the judge to see that he was a changed man. Chito's lawyers suggested he get involved in the jail church. Chito took it one step further. He not only "claimed" to be a Christian, he even pretended to be a minister.

"I would preach the Word. I would speak the Word. I would call people to Christs feet. But I didnt believe in Christ back then. I quit smoking and I stopped saying bad words, but all that was part of my plan to get a letter to the prison judge," Chito admits.

Ironically, while Chito was playing the role of a changed person, Chitos wife had become one. A former guerilla herself, Lydia was taught not to believe in any God or any religion. But one day she realized that everything she once believed in had failed her. She needed to find the truth.

"My wife received the Lord and got to know Him," says Chito. "Then she started to pray for a miracle."

"Three months I prayed day and night for the Lord to grant me a miracle: 'Please erase all proofs against my husband, Lord,' Lydia explains. "I would go to court, but I wouldnt go in. I would go to the bathrooms and I would lift my hands up and say, 'Please, Lord, make my miracle happen. Erase all proofs and let my husband be innocent.' Since theyd told him that he was going to serve 90 years, my husband wanted us to separate. I would say, 'No, no, you dont understand. When your trial is over, youre going to come out not guilty!' He thought Id gone crazy out of desperation, but it wasnt like that. It was that God had planted the seed of faith in me. I knew that when the trail was over, he was going to come out innocent."

Could a wifes faith change the unchangeable? The jury had already found Chito guilty of drug trafficking and possession. And with his violent history, luck was not on his side. But there was still one thing that the courts didnt take into consideration: the fervent prayers of Chitos wife.

As Chito explains, "When I was in court, and the people who arrested me were on the stand, they would ask the first guy, 'Do you know this man?' He said, 'No, Ive never seen him before.' Im with my lawyers and I said to them, 'What does he mean he doesn't know me?' Then the federal agents who arrested me walk up and they say they have never seen me before. One of my wifes prayers was to confuse the thoughts of the federal agents and to erase the evidence against me. Anyway, when the informant walks in, the judge asks him, 'Who is that man sitting there?' He says, 'I dont know.' 'Look at this man clearly. Youve never seen him?' 'No.' The judge asked him, 'Who was the man selling drugs to you?' 'It was another man. It wasnt this one.' "So then the judge calls for a recess and he asks to see the evidence, the recordings. My voice was no longer on the tapes. I was no longer in the pictures. The judge says, 'You are an acceptable person for the United States.' He dismissed the court, and I went free. I said, 'I have a lucky star and I have good luck in my life!' My wife started to cry and cry. She said, 'Dont say that, because God has gotten you out.' Since I left the prison, there was so much hate, so much vengeance, that I couldnt sleep. At night I would sleep for an hour or two at the most, and I would spend the rest of the night pacing, planning how I was going to kill this man, the informant, and his mother."

But while Chito was planning a death, someone else was planning to show Chito life. A family friend who was also a former guerrilla had become a Christian. Every week without fail, she would visit Chitos home and share the Word of God with him.

"I would say, This woman is crazy. I dont know how much time went by, but this woman said to me, 'This is the last time Im coming to your house to visit you.' Deep inside I thought, Thats great. Im so glad youre not coming anymore. She said, 'I only want you to do one thing for me.' I said, 'Whatever you want.' She said, 'I want you to open your heart to Christ Jesus.'

"I cant receive something that I dont believe in, but I said, 'If you want me to do it, Ill do it,'" Chito recalls. "When I started to pray, asking God to forgive my sins and confessing in front of God, I started to feel something in my body, something funny. I felt like I wanted to scream, like I wanted to cry. I went in my room, closed the door, threw myself on the bed completely dressed, and started to cry. I couldnt stop. I couldnt stop. I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up, I saw my wife and two people. I said to them, 'Sweetheart, God exists, and we are going to serve Him from now on.'"

Its been almost 20 years since Chito accepted Jesus into his heart. The once vengeful guerilla is now one of Mexicos most well respected and loved ministers. In fact, Chito has taken his promise to serve to extraordinary heights.

"The day after I accepted Christ into my heart, the Lord started speaking to me," says Chito. "The Lord said, 'I have brought you ministry where you are going to work with people. Youre going to help the people, and you will only cry out to me when you are in need. I will supply and bring people to you.' And weve seen this."

Chito and Lydia have done more in two decades than most people will ever do in a lifetime. Theyve started four churches, several weekly feeding programs, a free medical clinic, a counseling center, a school, and countless street ministries.

"The Chito from before was a proud and arrogant Chito who thought the world belonged to him," says Lydia. "Now he is a humble Chito, a Chito who is dependent on God."

"I was able to thank God," says Chito. "I said, 'Thank You for that person who turned me into the government,' because it was the way that God chose for me to get to know Him. I dont think that I would have ever gotten to know God if He wouldnt have taken this to the extreme of putting me in a prison."

What has Chito learned from his life experiences? His answer is simple: "Love God with all your heart, serve God, and know that God is the one and only true God."