Mexican immigrant Juan Cruz lost both his legs when he was run over by a train after making his way to California. However, the loss of his legs doesn't mean much to him now because he found "something better": Jesus Christ.
Juan admitted that he was a mean-spirited man in his younger days in Toluca, Mexico. "I wasn't going to any church. I was a gangster since I was 13. I grew up in that circle of drugs and alcohol and stealing," he was quoted as saying in God Reports.
One day he and his brother Alvaro decided to try their luck in America. They succeeded in crossing the border into California and later decided to catch a freight train headed to Los Angeles.
However, their plans got derailed when Juan was accidentally run over by the train.
Rescuers rushed him to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery on his crushed legs. When he woke up the next day, he saw he had no more legs. He started screaming, saying he'd rather die than live as an invalid.
When a priest visited his room and told him that he was bringing the body of Christ to him, Juan shook his head, saying, "I don't want Christ."
The priest, Father Juanote, returned a few days later, but Juan again told him to go away. "I hated God and I hated church," Juan recalls saying.
One day, he saw the priest on his knees, crying. He asked why he was doing that when he already told him to go away.
The priest answered: "Because you are my little brother and you are a son of God and I would like to share this suffering with you if you let me be your friend. God loves you so much that he sent me here to share this suffering."
Shocked, Juan embraced the priest and started crying.
Father Juanote invited Juan to stay at his home after his hospital confinement. A family from Father Juanote's church later adopted Juan and took care of him.
One day, the family invited Juan to attend a church retreat. At first Juan refused, saying "No way. I don't believe in God."
However, he was eventually persuaded to join the retreat. It was there when he had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.
"I heard his voice talking to me by my name. He told me, 'Juan, it is me talking to you, Jesus.'"
Juan could not believe at first.
"It is not your thoughts. I love you so much. My love is all you need to be happy. I have a mission for you," Jesus told him.
And then Juan's resistance began to melt, softening his heart.
"Jesus showed me he is a real person," Juan says as he began confessing his sins.
"I want to give you my life. I want to follow you," the born-again Juan told Jesus. "I want you to be the Lord of my life and I want to live in you."
That happened 26 years ago, and now Juan lives happily with his wife Elizabeth, who he married 15 years ago. They have four children.
"Jesus came into my life and I found real meaning," he says. "This is what gives me the strength. Now I live because I found His love."
