You may remember us telling you about Armando Enrique a few years ago (February 2011 newsletter), how the police had arrested him for selling drugs and threw him in jail. On the way to jail Armando prayed, “Lord Jesus, please help me. Help me.” He also asked Father Thomas to intercede for him, “Father Thomas, you were my teacher. You taught me to believe. Please help me now.”
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Armando Enrique, freed from drug addiction
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Armando was put in a cell, trembling and shaking from the cold, so he started making the sign of the Cross saying, “I belong to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,” over and over again. He felt someone touch his back, but no one was around. Suddenly all the cold left him and warmth flooded his body.
They transferred him to the federal prison, a rough and scary place, but Armando kept singing praises to God. His cellmates said, “You know a lot of songs. Teach us some.” So they all sang songs of praise to God from their jail cells. One song they sang repeatedly was, “I have decided to follow Jesus…no turning back, no turning back.” Tears streamed down Armando’s face as he sang and begged God in his heart, “Help me not go back to drugs. Free me from my drug addiction.”
When he got released from prison, Armando returned to the Food Bank and shared with the community, “I confess I was a drug addict, smoking marijuana often. But I say to all of you – no more. God has healed me, and with His grace I will stay free from drugs. I don’t want to return to the life I was living.”
Many people were cynical of his conversion at the time since he had lived such a bad and wild life. But we are happy to report that Armando remains free from drugs, has gotten a job and shares his story with whomever will listen.
“My life is so different since I stopped using marijuana,” he recently told us. “I give my testimony to many people. When I got out of jail, my old friends, who I used to do drugs with, asked me, ‘What happened to you?’ I told them, ‘I quit, with God’s help – and He can help you too if you ask Him.’ Two of those friends did that, and they quit doing drugs also. Glory to God!”
Next month we are going to share with you about how God answered Armando’s prayer for a new roof for his house. It’s another wonderful testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness.
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Armando’s house where 3 families live crowded together.
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Stay tuned….