When you hear a man across the street every night slapping his legs so hard that it keeps you awake, not so much because of the noise he makes, but because of the idea of the torments he must go through in his deranged mind.  You’d have to be made out of cork not to experience deep feelings of sympathy.

The people call him “El Loco”, but we have renamed him “Little John of the Neighborhood”.  He is famous for running and high-kicking people and for his violence.  They call him “The Crazy Roadrunner”.

Ruthie would look at me as if she was saying: “Aren’t you going to do something?”  But no one would dare to get close to him.  Even though I was not afraid of him, I was more concerned to know what was the right thing to do without making a fool of myself and making weak use of the power of God, which we have in the name of Jesus, our Lord.

After much agony and prayer, I confronted him in the Name of Jesus and rebuked the evil spirit…telling him to leave Juan alone.  I heard him grunt, and for a moment we made eye contact.  My Ruthie, whether under the syndrome of cheerleading for her husband or just being an encourager, says, “That was a turning point in Juanitos’ life.

He quieted down and has adopted us as his neighbors and has forced all of our neighborhood to adopt him too.  So we all feed him and care for him as best we can.

I was praying and hoping to have the Lord use this man to certify us before the people of Huanta to cause some sort of revival of which we are badly in need because of the immorality scandal that tore our church apart.

But God does not answer prayer in the exact way you want.  He always does a better job, and I think He smiles as He surprises us with His answers.

The cold spells, the floods and landslides all over the world and Peru provided an opportunity to become involved in a relief effort among the needy here in Huanta; and the mayor and other authorities publicly acknowledged our deeds before the media.  It was our privilege to provide food for 244 people who lost their homes to the floods.  Every day women would come to our house to turn in their expense report from the previous day to Ruthie and then take their allowance for that day, go to the market to buy food and then cook in big pots under a big tree in three different locations for the refugees.

Some afternoons, I would pick up 60 some kids with our 25-year-old small bus and take them to our church grounds where our young people would teach them songs, games and memorization of the Ten Commandments.  Then, as a reward, they would have barbecued chicken.  It was so much fun to see smiles coming back on their faces.

Even though our church was flooded, there are no serious damages.  In a time of need, peoples’ eyes and ears are open.  There was no secret about our bread distributions in the morning or about the bottled water distributions at noon or the distribution of blankets to those who had lost theirs.

But Juanito, “El Loco” was still across the street…sitting through nights of rain or days of hot, scorching sun.  We found favor in the eyes of our mayor, the governor and the judges, and we asked for permission to give Juanito a real clean-up and to change his filthy garments from head to toe.  They gladly accepted, and with the help of the nurse to sedate him and people from the city hall along with our young people, we overhauled him.

You should have seen the results,  It took me an hour to shave his face and head.  Altogether, there were 12 of us working on Juanito.  Now he sits on his spot across the street on a black chair in new clothing with a new blanket; and he caresses the blanket with his fingers.  Then he touches his clean face and seems to enjoy the fragrance of the cologne that we applied to him.

We are hoping to send him to Lima to a sanatorium to be treated.  Meanwhile, the local TV has put Juan in center stage in the news, and as you may have guessed, the Lord has certified us through Juanito regarding what we are all about.

And this morning, as a result of the change in “El Loco”, 20 of the top leaders of the town will be gathering here at our place for a prayer breakfast, and in two hours, I will be speaking about how easy it is to put new clothing on an old man – but how the real challenge is to put a new man into old clothing.

Only Jesus can do that, and we will talk about Paul, who was tackled by God on the road to Damascus and was turned around to serve God.  I will use the “wrong Way Rigles” story about the man, who in his excitement to catch a fumbled ball in a football game…runs the wrong way till a teammate tackled him near their own goal line.  At half-time in the locker room, Rigles, miserable and with angry teammates, is told by the coach. “Rigles, it is only half-time.  We still have another half to go.  You are starting.”  Rigles played the last half as he never had played in his life.

While we are still alive, it is only half-time.  We still have another opportunity to undo many things by doing and going the right way with God in Jesus.

Gerardo (Gerry) Gutierrez

March 6, 2010

PS. We had a great Prayer Breakfast and better attendance to church today Sunday [3/7]. (full house)