8/8/2019 Gustavo's Musings (3 of 10) - "In the Aftermath of the Supermarket Fire - A Testimony of Hope..."

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/gustavos-musings-3-of-10-in-the-aftermath-of-the-supermarket-fire 1/2

Gustavo’s Musings #3 of 10

September 2004

“In the Aftermath of the Supermarket Fire – A Testimony of Hope” 

This article was written one month after our deployment to the mission field in Asunción,

 Paraguay when the country suffered one of the worst tragedies in its history on August 1, 2004. Known as the Supermarket Fire, it claimed the lives of over 500 people (many of them children)and injured an even greater number.

The fire began in a vent near the food court and quickly spread throughout the supermarket. The owners, in their haste, locked the doors of the supermarket to prevent looting,

thinking that the small, localized fire, could be quickly contained and put out. They were dead wrong, as hundreds of people became trapped and perished in a cruel blaze.

This testimony was given by Cesar Scappini at a worship service on the Sunday after the

 fire. Cesar is a member of the Lambaré Methodist Church in Paraguay. He is also a member of 

the youth group as well as the church’s worship team. Listen to his testimony of hope...

On the Friday before the tragic fire, I was coming home from a dinner party very late at

night, and I ran into Marcos [not his real name], a long-time friend from the neighborhood whomI had not seen in quite a while. He and I had run in the same circles, getting into trouble as kids,though we had sort of gone our separate ways, especially after I had became a Christian.

Marcos knew that I was into music, and he asked me to come over to his house to showme some equipment he had in his room. I was very tired from work and from the dinner party, but I went along with him since I had not seen him in a while.

During our time together he inquired as to why my musical repertoire only included

church songs. This gave me an opportunity to share my faith and talk about how God hadchanged my life. Marcos seemed very interested, but in the end, he said he would have to "think about it some more," before he made any decisions.

Only two days later, on the Sunday following my visit, Marcos was trapped in the

Supermarket Fire that killed so many in our country. He suffered burns all over his body and wasrushed to the hospital where he lay in intensive care fighting for his life. He passed away thatSunday night.

I was distraught. I had just seen him that Friday, and had tried to share with him aboutJesus and the difference that Christ had made in my life, but he did not respond. Now I feltterrible.

* * * * *

Two days later, I received a call from a woman who identified herself as Marcos'

mother. She indicated she had spoken to my father earlier, asking him if he was the person whohad spoken to her son about God. He said, "No, you must be talking about my son, he's into allthat church stuff."

When she called me she said that on the night of the fire, she was at her son's bedside

8/8/2019 Gustavo's Musings (3 of 10) - "In the Aftermath of the Supermarket Fire - A Testimony of Hope..."

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/gustavos-musings-3-of-10-in-the-aftermath-of-the-supermarket-fire 2/2

as he was dying. As he lay in pain, her son (my friend) said to her, "Mom, don't worry about me,I'm going to be all right. I accepted Jesus into my heart. Scappini told me about him. I'm going to be in heaven. I'll be all right." With that, her son passed away.

When I heard this I was overjoyed. I had lost a friend, but he was now part of God'skingdom. Marcos’ mom asked if I could come over to her house to pray with her and her other 

son. And the amazing thing is that both she and her son placed their faith in Jesus Christ thatvery night. What a blessing this has been amidst the sadness and heaviness we all feel.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Gustavo Karakey was born in Durango, Mexico and grew up in Southern California.Currently, he lives in Boston with his wife and three children.

From 2004-2008, he served as a missionary to Paraguay, South America teaching at theMethodist Bible Institute just outside of Asunción.

In 2011, Gustavo and his family will be moving to Medellín, Colombia, where Gustavowill serve as a professor of New Testament at the Biblical Seminary of Colombia

(www.fusbc.edu.co).Gustavo’s passion is to help develop pastors and leaders for the church in Colombia and

Latin America as well as to prepare missionaries from Colombia for the unfinished task of global

missions. 

* * * * *

To learn more about this exciting ministry in Colombia visit: http://www.karakey.com 

To sample or purchase a copy of Gustavo’s book “Making Sense of the Bible” which provides a

step-by-step method to better understand the Scriptures visit:http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/22475