“It hurts a lot, my son,” Papa Rafael exclaimed.
Papa Rafael’s trembling voice echoed in the silence of his humble home as he struggled to hold his legs. I helplessly watched him, trying to hide my own emotions. He was a strong man, but time, loneliness and pain had taken their toll.
Papa Rafael was a man marked by time. Born in a fishing village in 1942, he had been shaped by the sea. From an early age, he accompanied his father into the salt waters, learning to cast nets and experience what the ocean had to offer. School was never an option; survival came first.
Years later, he married a friend of his sister and started a family, having three children. For a while, life seemed promising, but like the sea itself, life also had its storms. First came the loss of his wife, taken by an illness no doctor could cure. Then, his children left in search of a better life in South Africa. Contact gradually lessened until it disappeared completely. For more than ten years, Papa Rafael did not even know if they were alive.
Over time, loneliness became his only companion. The hard work of fishing also took its toll: he developed a serious illness that affected his legs. After surgery, he lost some movement and felt excruciating pain when walking. His sister, the last person close to him, came to take care of him, but she, too, was already old.
During this time, a missionary couple, David and Edileuza Hicks, crossed his path (see their April 2023 Adventist Frontiers article). They helped rebuild the small house that someone had given them and supported them with food.
Later, Papa Rafael spoke to us, and we continued to regularly visit him, bringing food and planting a small garden at his house with cassava, sweet potatoes and beans. Yet, more than this material assistance, we continued what the Hicks had begun before they returned to the States, bringing something that would change Papa Rafael’s life forever: the word of God and the hope of a different future.
Then his sister passed, and Papa Rafael seemed more dejected than ever. He listened to the Bible readings, but the pain in his soul was deep. Papa Rafael was left alone again, trapped in a routine of loneliness and suffering.
One day, while visiting, I said, “Papa Rafael, today I brought something special to share with you.”
He looked at me expectantly for something new to brighten his day.
“What would it be, Mr. Pastor?” he asked.
I smiled, holding my Bible tightly, then opened it to John 14:1-3. “I want to tell you about a promise made by Someone who never abandons us.”
Intrigued, he sighed, settling into the plastic chair he had received from the Hicks.
“This promise comes from Jesus, Papa Rafael. He said: ‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.’”
Those words penetrated deep into Papa Rafael’s heart, bringing an unexpected peace. For the first time in years, he felt something different: hope.
“Is that true, my son?” Papa Rafael asked, his eyes brimming with tears. “Does Jesus have a place for me? A man so old . . . so broken?”
I held his calloused hands, marked by time and fishing nets, and with a gentle smile, I replied:
“Yes, Papa Rafael, Jesus is no respecter of persons. He came for the tired, the broken, the forgotten. Jesus promised, and He never fails. He wants you with Him. Just accept Him as your Savior and be baptized.”
Silence fell. For a moment, it seemed as if time had stopped. Then, with a choked voice, he replied, “I want. . . . I accept Jesus. I want to give my life to Him.”
The preparation for his baptism was exciting. With each Bible study, his faith grew, and a new light appeared in his eyes.
When the big day arrived, the church was in celebration. Papa Rafael, now 82 years old, slowly descended into the baptismal pool, his weakened body supported by four other brothers due to physical pain. But when he emerged from the water, he looked like a different man. No longer just old and tired. Reborn!
“Now I am a new man in Christ!” he exclaimed. The joy on his weather-beaten face shined brighter than the sun.
There was joy among the brothers and jubilation in heaven. Even toward the end of his life, Papa Rafael found true hope, the one that transcends pain, loneliness and time. He found the beginning of eternity.
This is Papa Rafael’s story, but it can be yours, too. It is never too late to accept Jesus’ call:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).
He offers the promise of a renewed heart and an eternal home.
Jesus is waiting for you.
