n Nelson Gómez first used the pages of the Bible for marijuana cigarettes. Today, he is Vice-Director of the Fundación El Pacto (Covenant Foundation), the rehabilitation ministry that helped him recover from drugs and life on the streets. Bogotá, Colombia. Photo: UBS/Larry Jerden (COL01DJ-21)

From using Bible pages to ‘roll up’, to sharing the Word: an escape story

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Nelson Gómez clearly remembers the first time he saw a Bible – and how on that occasion he was not interested in reading it.

“The first Bible I ever saw belonged to my parents,” he says. “I used to take pages out of it and use the paper to make marijuana cigarettes.”

Mr Gómez, 33, started using drugs when he was 12 and continued for the next 12 years. He left home at 16 and has been in jail three times.

“I came to the Lord while I was in jail,” he says. “For three years after that I still drifted in and out of the Christian life, but I was baptised in 1992 and then I felt I could not go back and forth.”

Living on the streets was still difficult, even as a Christian. “I was shot several times,” Mr Gómez explains. “For a while I was in a wheelchair. After that I was in so much pain that I went back to drugs.”

Finding himself returning to the life he had once escaped, he admitted himself to the Fundación El Pacto (Covenant Foundation) in 1994.

“It was very difficult for me to submit to the rules,” he admits. “But finally, I went on my knees before God and told him that if he would help me, I would abide by them.

“From that point I began to improve and today I am the vice-director of the Foundation.”

Mr Gómez says the Bible played a critical role in his conversion and his escape from drugs.

“During the three years that I was going back and forth as a Christian I began to read the Bible. That is really when my life began to change. God was after me, but I kept running. Finally, when I was baptised, my life changed for ever.”

His experience with the Bible has carried over into his work with the Foundation.

“We use Bible Society materials very extensively,” Mr Gómez explains. “We have Bible study for two hours each day, using materials supplied by the Bible Society.

“The main things we use are the Bibles, but we also use graded materials – the New Reader Portions.”

Traditionally the Foundation only worked with men, but last year it began to work with women as well. And with both groups, Bible Society Scriptures are making a difference.

“Some of the people cannot read, so we’re helping them learn by using the Scripture materials. We have special teachers who teach people how to read from the Bible. For many it is slow, and some of them only read the Bible, because they learned to read using the Bible.”