A Story of Fire and Salvation

By Dan Wooding - ANS

TIJUANA, MEXICO

As flames poured out of his two-story house in the Tijuana community of Colina de Cortez, at 3:00 PM on November 19, 2002, a desperate father rushed into the inferno to try and rescue Jesus, his four-year-old son. But it was too late for his young boy had already been burned alive, and he suffered life-threatening burns.

 As Salvador Cortez lay in the hospital bed, his life hanging by a thread and wracked with pain and the horror of losing his boy, a miracle happened in the form of two American Christians who came to visit him. (pictured, Salvador Cortez, Mark Dean and Salvador's two surviving sons)

Mark and Margie Dean, members of Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego, California, had been visiting the run-down community in Tijuana for 13 years. Each month, they brought food for the local people and conducted a Bible study right across the street from Salvador's home. "Salvador would never come to the Bible study, but his wife Rosa and their children always came," said Mark Dean in an interview during the recent Festival de Vida (Festival of Life) in Rosarito Beach. "The family was always very kind to us and would allow us to store some of our equipment in their home."

"When we got terrible news about the fire, we went straight across the border and we shocked to see that their home and the store next door where Salvador worked were totally destroyed and had been reduced to a pile of rubble."

Mark and Margie immediately went to the hospital where Salvador was and found him close to death. "People told us that he had no chance of surviving his terrible burn injuries," said Mark. "I had never seen a burn victim before, but I could see that he was in terrible shape."

Mark said that as he and Margie sat at his bedside, he began flipping through his Bible to try and find a verse to bring him encouragement. "As I was searching my Bible, Margie had been talking with him and she suddenly said, 'Salvador wants to accept the Lord.' He knew we were Ambassadors for Jesus and in his weakened condition, he whispered that he knew that his life wasn't right with God and he said, 'I need to make it right.' So there and then he prayed and accepted the Lord in his hospital bed."

Then, Mark said that he realized that there was such an urgent need for practical help for the family. "I had a strong conviction from the Lord that we just couldn't come do our Bible study with the devastation that had happened right across the street, so I shut down our regular ministry and began our construction ministry instead. A team of us from Horizon shortly afterwards showed up with a few shovels and picks to start removing the rubble. One of the guys with us who was from the Horizon School of Evangelism in San Diego said, 'There is no way we are going to clear this site in a day with our equipment.' There were six of us and so we started to pray and as soon as we had finished praying a guy showed up with a bulldozer and within two hours we had the entire lot bulldozed."

Now, after hours of work, the house has almost been completely been rebuilt by Mark and his team.

"The Festival of Life has contributed the largest donation to this project - $2,500 - which will help us put the roof on the house," said Mark. "Right now, Salvador and Rosa and their surviving two boys, Salvador, 11 and Pedro, 13, are living in a trailer which is two doors down from his property and as soon as it is finished, they are going to move into their new house. It has been a real privilege to have been able to serve them in this way. Salvador has really been growing in the Lord. He has found a Christian church in Tijuana and is growing in the Lord. He is really excited about God and is sharing his testimony wherever he goes. It's been a real blessing to get to know him and his family and during the past year."

 With tears in his eyes, Salvador then told me, "I met Christ through Mark and Margie. Ever since the accident, they have been taking care of me. They saw me the second day after the fire and saw my injuries and they have continued to see how God has been healing me. They explained to me about Christ and prayed for me. Through them I have been learning the Word of God and that's why I am in Christ now."

Salvador then turned to Mark and said, "I am very thankful from the bottom of my heart for what you and Margie have done. I will always have you both inside of my heart and be thankful for what you have done for me and my family. My wife and I talk about the Lord all time because of you and we are very thankful to you for their great love that they have shown us."