An Unlikely Leader

November 24, 1993, dawned cloudy and gray over Chicago, Illinois. As Jose Chavez rushed down Lakeshore Drive to his job on the north side of Chicago, he had a bad feeling. It had already been a bad week for him. The Saturday before, he had been tossed in jail in Calumet City, Illinois, for fighting with his neighbor. He had missed work on Tuesday because of drinking and partying. Late Monday night a van load of rival gang members--Jose was a member of the notorious Latin Kings--had driven past his apartment several times.

Now, as he tried to make it to work, he felt like every car that came alongside was someone out to get him. He made it to his job site, but before he got out of his car, he dropped his head to the steering wheel and said, “God, what is going to happen to me? Please help me.”

At the age of 17, Jose had moved to Chicago to live with an older brother. He then joined the Latin Kings gang and began to push drugs. He met a young white girl named Doreen. They lived together for a while and would later marry. Their relationship was stormy to say the best. Doreen often left Jose, but he would find her and promise to do better. He never kept his promise. Life was one big party for Jose. He spent his time drinking and gang-banging. Jose's older brother kept trying to get him to settle down. He even helped Jose find a job with a company that tuck-pointed the old brick buildings that are so common in Chicago.

He started off as a laborer, but when he found out that the men working on the scaffolding were paid more money, he quickly began to work the scaffolds. It was a dangerous job, but Jose's lifestyle demanded as much money as he could make.

As Jose walked from his car on that fateful November day to the 29-story apartment building where his crew was working, he could tell his boss was upset with him. After scolding Jose for missing the previous day of work, his boss said, “And another thing, you should spend more time with your family. Quit running around and living like a wild man.” Jose said nothing. His boss told him that he wanted Jose to go with him to check some of the work that had been done the previous day. They rode the elevator to the twenty-ninth floor of the building, then climbed onto the scaffolding.

Since they were only checking yesterday's work, they did not hook up their safety harnesses. A moment later a cable broke and sent Jose and his boss plunging the 29 floors down. Jose's only thought as he began to fall was, “I'm dead!”

Jose's boss was killed upon impact, but amazingly Jose was alive and conscious after the fall. When the paramedics arrived, they did not rush, but Jose could hear them talking. “This guy will be dead in a few minutes,” were their comments. When they got him to the hospital, Jose had a crushed ankle and lots of scrapes and bruises, but he was alive!

When Doreen arrived at the hospital room, he told her, “Honey, I am going to change. I am not going to live this way anymore.” She didn't believe him; she had heard this story before. A friend brought Jose a tape of Gospel music. Lying there flat on his back, he listened to the tape over and over again.

Amazingly, five days later Jose left the hospital. He was on crutches due to his badly broken ankle, but he was alive! To this day, no one knows how he could possibly have survived such a fall.

When Jose got back to his apartment, he poured out all the liquor he had. His sister brought him a Bible, and for the first time in his life, he began to read God's Word. He remembers saying over and over, “Lord, save me; Lord, help me; Lord, I don't want to live like this anymore.” A friend invited Jose to go to church with him. It was a small Pentecostal church. He went to church looking for help anywhere he could find it. He continued reading the Bible and praying. He felt like he was searching and groping in the dark. He wanted to do right; he wanted to change, but he did not know how.

One day Jose's aunt came to visit. She told him that she had been attending the First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana. She asked him to go to church with her. Jose told his aunt that he had a church he was attending, but his aunt kept insisting. A few weeks later Jose hobbled into the First Baptist Church Spanish Department on his crutches. As he heard the music, saw the people, and listened to the preaching, he thought, “This is what I have been looking for.”

During the service, someone said, “You should come to soul winning next Saturday morning.” Jose did not know what soul winning was, but he showed up on his crutches and with long hair to his shoulders. After a few weeks, he cut his hair and bought some white shirts and ties. His wife was still skeptical, and she would not come to church with him; however, Jose continued coming. He began attending the Wednesday night service with Brother Hyles and even signed up to take classes at Hyles- Anderson College.

Jose finally persuaded his wife to attend a Sunday morning service in the English-speaking service with Brother Hyles. She came and fell in love with Brother Hyles' folksy preaching. A few weeks later she was saved and baptized. Jose enrolled his children in Hammond Baptist Schools. He talked several of his relatives into enrolling their children, and soon he was bringing a van load of children to Hammond Baptist Schools every day. Jose's family was the typical large Mexican family, and one by one, he began to get his brothers and sisters into First Baptist Church. Today, because of his leadership, over 40 of his relatives attend First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana.