A precious gift called Sebastián

PARAGUAY — On the morning of Sunday, August 1, 2004, Juan Sebastián Pereira, 13, went on an errand to the supermarket a few hundred yards from his home and never came back.

The blaze that swept through the Ycuá Bolaños supermarket, in a working-class suburb of Asunción, began when a gas tank exploded near a food court. Deaths multiplied after managers reportedly ordered staff to lock the doors to prevent looting. As the whole country plunged into mourning, the death toll rose to more than 400. Dozens of bodies have remained unidentified: as far as many families are concerned, their loved ones simply disappeared.

Horrifying news

The Pereiras are one such family. Sebastián’s parents, Ruben and Teresa, and his brother and sister, Isaac and Ana, returned from church that morning to find horrifying news awaiting them. Nevertheless, looking back, they can see how God’s special love was with them. It took many forms: people helping them in their search for Sebastián… others simply staying with and trying to encourage them… still others helping with domestic tasks or with legal paperwork.

Clung to their faith

The Paraguayan Bible Society was also there, providing Scripture materials – not just for the family but the many people who flocked to the house to show support for them. And throughout the ensuing months they have clung staunchly to the rock of their faith.

“I have never doubted that God wants the best for us,” says Teresa. “If he decided that we were to suffer this, it was because he had a plan, and he will be revealing that plan to us in the days to come… What has happened has been terrible and it must be for some good, for something that God wants to say to the whole country.

“I don’t think there has ever been – and there will never be again – such an appropriate time for all the people of influence to turn to God, asking him what his plan for them might be. We are wondering this as a family and we are sure that God has a plan [in it].”

Sebastián’s father, Ruben, for his part, says that the greatest consolation for Sebastián’s death has come directly from God’s Word.

He cites Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you,’” and the words of Paul in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (NIV).

“And,” he adds, “Job’s experience helped us a lot: knowing that he was able to face a crisis, that he survived and came out of it with flying colours. If we had not trusted God’s promises in texts like these, I don’t know what we’d be like today.”

Thanks to God

Some days after the fire, to the surprise of many people, the Pereira family held a meeting in their home to give thanks to God.

“We felt in our hearts we should ask the friends who stood with us, to join us in a service of worship,” says Teresa. “What inspired us was that God gave us a precious gift called Sebastián. We wanted to thank him for all these years that he allowed us to live with him, to teach him God’s Word and to give him that fear of God and that love that we could see in his eyes.”

No bitterness

“We wanted to show God that we have no bitterness or anger; we just wanted to throw ourselves into his arms and say,‘Lord, even though we are in this pain, and although you have determined this for us, we love you.’ He gave us Sebastián as a gift – lent him to us. We could not be so selfish as not to give him back to God to enjoy him as we did.”

Their astonishing peace of mind does not mark the end of Sebastián’s story, however. There are other signs that God has turned his death to good account. “We miss him and grieve over his absence every day,” says his father, “but we can be proud that his death has not been in vain. We found out that his whole department at school have given their hearts to God! We are also seeing tremendous changes in our wider family. So there is a seed which fell to the earth, died, and is now bearing fruit.”

The Pereiras lost Sebastián under tragic circumstances, but by God’s grace, the 13-year-old has left them a living legacy. (WR 394/6 - 07.05)