A Tragedy Opens the Door to the Truth | Maranatha Medical Ministries

Let me tell you a very sad, but very encouraging story.

It’s the story of Fredy and Danelia, a very special couple, members of the La Zona House of Prayer. Many have often wondered how in the world these two got together, because they have two completely different personalities.

Fredy is a quiet, deep-thinking business minded person, while Danelia is a quick, fast thinking and moving person. They are different in characters, but they love each other very much.

They attended several prophecy seminars and observed how this church conducted its worship services, and one day decided that they wanted to live a truly Christian life.

They became officially married, and after completing the Bible studies, they decided that they wanted to be baptized and become members of the La Zona House of Prayer.

Right from the start, Fredy and Danelia became active members. Fredy not only did the accounting for the Restaurante La Canasta de Vida; he also assisted much in the work being done in his home village of San Manuel.

Fredy was instrumental in helping the people in the community of San Manuel; whether by assisting with cooking classes, promoting the agriculture programs, or weekly church activities… Fredy was always there to help. Fredy was known and well loved by many throughout the communities of Santa Barbara. He was always involved in projects that would benefit the communities.

He now has two beautiful young daughters, Danielita and Phoebe. On Thursday, August 1, 2019, just four days ago as I write this newsletter, there was a very unfortunate accident.

Fredy was riding on the back bed of a pick-up truck when the truck’s breaks failed and the truck hit a wall of rocks, throwing Fredy off of the truck, and slamming him into the wall of rocks head first. He suffered multiple severe head injuries, rendering him unconscious and unable to breathe on his own.

An ambulance came and rushed Fredy to a hospital in San Pedro Sula, a major city nearby. There, he was placed on 3rd world life support… the best they could offer in Honduras.

Three of our church members sat by Fredy’s bedside, administering oxygen to him through an Ambu bag, or BVM (Bag Valve Mask) which administers oxygen to the patient as you manually press the bag to deflate. Doing this manually, for more than 36 hours, was very tiring, but it was a labor of love. All through the ordeal they kept requesting prayer as they watched Fredy’s condition worsening.

At first, there was a ray of hope, because Fredy’s vital signs were stable. However, his head injuries were extensive and could not be repaired. There was swelling and bleeding in and around the brain. Doctors, surgeons, and neurologists all said there was nothing that could be done to save his life. Within only a few hours, Fredy’s vital signs began to fail. Soon, he was considered brain dead.

On Friday afternoon, all life support measures stopped. And Friday evening, just as the Sabbath hours entered, Fredy began his sleep in the Lord.

Once Fredy’s body was removed from the hospital, his father insisted that the body would only be allowed to go to La Zona for just a couple of hours and then it would be taken to San Manuel with him.

The body arrived at about 9 p.m. to an awaiting crowd of friends and family. With all those people there, the lateness of the hour and the fact that it was raining heavily, one would have thought that the father would change his mind about taking him to San Manuel, but no, he stubbornly insisted in spite of the pleas from his granddaughter and friends.

After a bit of arguing with Danelia, Fredy’s wife, the father was allowed to take Fredy’s body at 11 p.m.. Many people in La Zona were upset, knowing that it wasn’t right for the father to take the body of his son away from his own wife, but Danelia didn’t want to cause a scene, so she kept her peace. The father may think that he won this round, but little does he know that God is in control of this situation.

The following day, the church folk from La Zona gathered together and headed to San Manuel for the funeral. When they arrived, they realized that Fredy’s father and mother were having the funeral service in the Catholic Church, with full mass services.

Still, Danelia and the church group from La Zona didn’t want to stir up or cause any trouble. But then, something happened that caused the members of our La Zona House of Prayer to sense a feeling of righteous indignation.

The priest stood up and began telling the congregation that Fredy was a leader and member of the Catholic Church, that he had taught catechism classes to the youth there in the Catholic Church and etc… Well, dear friends, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Suddenly from the front row, stood up a brave but humble woman named Tana, who lives in San Manuel and who is taking Bible studies from us. She boldly yet respectfully rebuked the priest as hundreds of people looked on in amazement and disbelief.

Tana began to tell the congregation the real truth, stating that Fredy had been a member of that church at one time, but he had heard the truth and had come out of that ignorance and idolatry to keep God’s ten commandments and had been baptized into the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, keeping God’s seventh-day Sabbath, according to the scriptures, and she began quoting all the Sabbath texts.

There was utter silence throughout the crowd, for no one could contest the truth that had been told. Soon the crowd dispersed to go to the burial sight, but God was not finished yet… As hundreds of people headed over to the burial sight, there was a mixture of emotions felt by the La Zona church members. They were laying one of their brethren in the ground–somone they would miss terribly.

But, they also saw hundreds of souls around them. And now it was time to appeal to the living, and that they did. Serbio, one of our young members, gathered the courage to speak words of truth to the hearts of all there as they sang the beautiful advent hymns of hope that brought peace and hope to all around. But, the surprise came when Danelia, Freddy’s wife, rose up to give thanks to God for being her strength.

In calm and strong tones she testified of what God had done in Freddy’s life when Fredy accepted God’s truth which transformed his life. In loud tones she asked what day it was, and everyone answered “Sabado”. She said, “My husband is now resting in the Lord on His Sabbath day, a day He has left for all to keep.” She appealed to all to be obedient to God’s ten commandments and to seek God instead of the things of this world. She then requested that the church members sing a Sabbath song.

Yes dear friends, this was a tragic and unexpected event, for a young man to lose his life in such a terrible way, leaving behind a wife and two young daughters. Some may say this was God’s providence, but no dear friends, this was the enemy trying to snuff out a young man’s life, knowing that he would be instrumental in winning many souls to the kingdom. God did not cause this to happen, but He did intervene to thwart the efforts of the enemy to end a soul-winning work throughout several villages.

In the end, God used the tragic death of Fredy, to reach hundreds of souls who may never would have had the opportunity to hear the truth about a loving God and the truth about His Sabbath day. We thank God for Fredy, his life and his death.

M.M.M. asks that you keep his wife Danelia and his daughters, Danielita and Phoebe, in your prayers.