It was in that most unlikely location that he had another encounter with the faith - and the Word of God - that he had almost forgotten.

“When I was a kid, my parents were Christians,” he remembers, “but when I was seven or eight they lost their faith. When I was 12, they divorced and I dropped out of school. I still had a respect for the Lord and considered myself a Christian, though I never really made a commitment.

He found out what was in it when police stopped the vehicle. The seven people on the bus all said the bag belonged to Juan, and when the police opened it, they found three kilos (6.6 pounds) of cocaine inside.

“Since I was innocent, I was completely calm, and when they put handcuffs on me, I just asked why they were doing that to me.”

At his trial, Juan was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison - and began to suffer a crisis in faith.

“When I was put in jail I began to feel completely alone,” he says. “I felt that I shouldn’t be here or else that God could not really exist. I was about to go into drugs - my life was going downhill fast.”

Church services

In prison, Juan had a Christian friend who would invite him to the church services, and he would go - “but with no feeling,” he says. “I went just for him. I didn’t trust anybody. I received a Bible cassette from Maria Saracho, [See Special Report 29/3] but even when I was listening to it I refused to believe what it said. My heart was hard.”

But the words of the Scripture began to soften Juan’s heart.

“The cassette was about the loneliness you feel inside,” he says, “and that was what I was feeling. That was when my heart started to change little by little.

“I didn’t value the message at the time. I was looking for my brother and Maria to give me support. I was still getting depressed, but I would listen to the Bible verses and they would always get me out of it.”

Eventually, the words of the Scripture and the ministry of Ms Saracho broke through completely, and today Juan is a leader in the small prison church.

“I have no Bible or New Testament, but I’m still working to help build God’s church,” he says. “I never thought about being a leader of any kind, but now I’m a leader in his church.

Dream

“Well, as a kid I dreamed about being a pastor or missionary, but that was as a child. Now I am just thinking, ‘Lord, whatever you want me to be, that is what I will be.’”

And unlike most inmates, Juan is not overly concerned about when he will be released.

“It is the Lord’s will for me to be here, maybe because there is something worse for me on the outside. So I will wait for him. That’s why I don’t worry about when I will get out. I don’t worry about anything. I put my trust in the Lord.”