Joel Sandoval

Joel realized it was Sabbath. His parents would be in church, praying for him. In the midst of the chaos in the house and outside, Joel knelt in a corner and prayed. He was sure that death was near. He opened the New Testament to the book of Psalms and began reading. Joel again prayed, “Lord, You rescued David from his enemies. If you get me out of this situation alive, I will give my life to You and tell others what You have done for me. Please save me, God!”

One of the locals saw Joel kneeling in the corner, praying and reading his little book. He thought Joel was performing some sort of witchcraft and became frightened. Meanwhile, the youth searched for a way to convince their captors that they were not guilty. One of them remembered the name of the man on whose property they had slept the night before. He told the guard at the door the man’s name. “Please find him! He will tell you where we were last night!” Soon the men returned with the man who could verify their story. Within minutes the youth were set free.

One man told Joel, “We would have killed you hours ago, but when we saw you kneeling in the corner doing magic, we became afraid.” For a moment Joel was confused. Then he realized that God had used his tears of repentance and his Bible reading to strike fear in the men’s hearts and eventually set them free.

The youth left the village, but they were later caught by Mexican authorities and returned to the border of Guatemala. When Joel arrived home, he told his parents what had happened. He learned that on the day he was captured, his mother had sensed a special need and had spent the day in earnest prayer for him.

That night Joel lay awake thinking about everything. He couldn’t believe that he had survived. Then he remembered all the other times he should have died but had been rescued. He knew that God had been by his side, even when he rejected God’s influence in his life.

Joel kept his promise to God and returned to church. He shared his testimony with the church and asked the members for forgiveness. A few months later he was baptized.

Although he didn’t go back to his gang, he did meet some gang members from time to time. When they commented on how he had changed, Joel shared how Christ had saved his life and set him free from drugs, hatred, and Satan’s hold. Now he leads a small group in his church and serves as a deacon. He loves to give Bible studies and to share his testimony.

“One thing I wish I could change,” Joel says. “I wish I could take off the tattoos that mark my body. But when Jesus comes, He will make my body new and pure and clean. I regret the years I wasted honoring Satan instead of Christ. I want to spend the rest of my life redeeming that time and influencing others to turn to Jesus, who saved my life more than once. He turned my life around, totally around.”

Joel Sandoval lives with his parents in northern Honduras. He works in a clothing factory and spends his free time sharing his faith with others.

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