Life story ABRAHAM’S LAST FLIGHT

ABRAHAM’S LAST FLIGHT LIFE STORY

Abraham loved money and pleasure. To afford his lifestyle he became part of the world of drug trafficking and dealing and began to smuggle drugs. However, one day everything changed for him.

Abraham Roggeband Herkt’s life was marked by heartbreak and neglect since his birth. His father, Abraham, was a Dutchman living in Italy; his mother, Cecilia, was from Ecuador. They fell deeply in love, but the relationship did not last long due to the constant fights.

After the couple divorced, Cecilia went back to Ecuador with her son. Abraham spent his childhood in the province of Esmeralda amid the wealth of his maternal grandparents, owners of extensive banana plantations.

As a child, his family was too preoccupied with the farm to look after him, so Abraham was taken care of by the family’s housemaids, who mistreated him. One day, one of the young servants sneaked into his bedroom and sexually abused him. He was too afraid to ask for help and kept the secret for many years, until he eventually spoke up.

Abraham, who was now a very sturdy teenager, nested much hatred against the man who had raped him. Revenge was his only thought and would not let him live in peace. He never got revenge, but overwhelmed by anger, he turned to alcohol. Despite his young age, he was always allowed in local pubs and bars because of his height.

While he was still very young, he moved to Quito to pursue a career. There, his lifestyle was even more dissolute. He would drink every day with his friends from college until the early hours and more than once he was taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. His mother advised him to change, but it was in vain.

Some time later, the family and the banana business went bankrupt. Abraham’s family made the decision to send the young student abroad, to the Netherlands. He did not want to leave, mainly because he had met a beautiful girl in one of those wild nights out.

At the insistence of his family, he agreed to move to the Netherlands. Abraham promised the girl to send for her in a couple of years. However, far from having a romantic love story, he had no peace of mind as he was constantly bombarded with gossip that she was not being faithful.

Abraham tried several times to end the increasingly toxic long-distance relationship, but he always found himself unable to do it. He learned later that the girl had cast a love spell on him. He eventually managed to break the curse, but alcohol was still a blemish in his life.

THE FALL Abraham made friends with young people who smuggled drugs into different countries of America and Europe and thus became part of the world of drugs. As his

mother and grandparents were working hard to make their lands produce, he had no one to turn to for moral advise and became a drug mule.

On his first trip, he smuggled ecstasy into the Dominican Republic under his underwear. Although he was nervous, he left the airport in Amsterdam without any problem. However, he had a layover in Paris, and when he went through the metal detector, the warning signal rang. It looked like he had been discovered.

He was set aside for a more thorough inspection.

Abraham no tenía a nadie cerca que le aconsejara y sucumbió al abismo de las drogas. Su madre, junto a sus abuelos, se esforzaban por sacar adelante sus tierras y en Ecuador y no podían darle apoyo moral. En la soledad y la decepción amorosa aceptó ser pasante de drogas.

After one week in the Dominican Republic, and with the drugs delivered to its recipients, took the flight back. Once in the Netherlands, the young man would proudly boast about how he successfully passed the controls. He wasted the money in prostitution, parties, alcohol and drugs. LIFE STORY As soon as he boarded the plane back to his homeland, tears shed his eyes. God was giving him a chance to rebuild his life. He cried for several hours, and when he managed to pull himself together, he began to preach the Word during the flight and tell wonders of his Savior.

He asked God for help. The police asked him to spread out his legs and lift his shirt to check him up. Abraham obeyed without resistance, resigned to his fate. However, the drug was not discovered and the officers let him go.

Upon arriving in the Dominican Republic, things became more dangerous. In immigration control, his passport was rejected by the machine. The migrations lady consulted with her supervisor and after several minutes, Abraham was allowed in the Caribbean country. “Thank you, Lord, for helping me,” Abraham said to himself.

After one week in the Dominican Republic, and with the drugs delivered to its recipients, took the flight back. Once in the Netherlands, the young man would proudly boast about how he successfully passed the controls. He wasted the money in prostitution, parties, alcohol and drugs.

A few months later, he was informed that his next trip would be to Curaçao. While the shipment was being prepared, he spent his time going to clubs to get drunk and sell drugs.

ENCOUNTER WITH GOD One afternoon, Abraham and a friend of his went to the beach. They had drinks with some women, and when they took the tram back, an old woman went up at one of the stops and, began to preach about God. She invited the listeners to the meetings that were held in a nearby Christian church.

Both young men listened carefully and felt as if something was changing inside of them. They decided to go to the church. The atmosphere in the temple made their hearts happy. However, as soon as they left, they went back to their old ways. Sin was stronger then. After a few days, the Peruvian mother of another friend also began to preach the Word to Abraham. Whenever he went to visit his friend, the woman would take the opportunity to tell him about God.

The day came when he had to travel to Curaçao. He got up early and began to swallow the drug capsules that he would carry in the stomach. Things went smoothly as usual, but deep down he felt a lot of fear. His accomplices accompanied him to the airport to board him. Deep fear haunted him during the flight. He thought that perhaps one of the drug bags could burst in his stomach or he could be stopped by the police.

Finally, he boarded the plane and embarked on the long journey. He began to feel a kind of regret. On the way to Curaçao, he began to pray to God, asking Him for protection and for a miracle that would prevent him from accomplishing his mission.

Upon his arrival at the airport, immigration agents asked him to explain how he would cover his travel expenses. As he had no money for his stay, he was immediately denied entrance in Curaçao. He was put in a flight back to the Netherlands with no right to complain.

As soon as he boarded the plane back to his homeland, tears shed from his eyes. God was giving him a chance to rebuild his life. He cried for several hours, and when he managed to pull himself together, he began to preach the Word during the flight and tell wonders of his Savior.

From that day on, Abraham gave up bad friendships and drugs. The trip to Curaçao was his last flight as a drug mule and he started a new life, far from sin. Three months later, God baptized him in the Holy Spirit and one year and a half later he met a young Christian woman and they got married.

He currently serves God with his wife, Rosanna Marte Herasme, and their children in the church of Rotterdam, Netherlands. God taught him to love the Work of God and the needy.