FORMER ADDICT OPENS DRUG REHAB CLINIC IN PERU
By Eron Henry
He is the son of missionaries and, for the past several years, has been a missionary for the Brazilian Baptist Convention.
Though still relatively young, his life has taken various unexpected turns.
Marcos Andre Pena Ramos was, for several years, a drug addict – imbibing crack cocaine, cocaine mixed with kerosene,
marijuana, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. He became hooked while only 13 years old when, according to him, young girls close
to his age introduced him to drugs while attending a party in Arequipa, the city of 1.2 million in southern Peru where his
parents served as Brazilian missionaries.
According to Ramos, Arequipa has one of the highest incidences of drug addiction in Peru, and perhaps in Latin America.
It is estimated that 100,000 adult women – those 18 and over – are addicts. The figures for young girls 17 and under are not
known, but Ramos estimates, based on his knowledge and experience, that the numbers are very high.
The reasons for such high addiction? Drugs are cheap, as little as 30 American cents for a shot of cocaine, and lots of
parties are held where drugs are easily available and accessible. “It is easy to get and use drugs,” Ramos said.
His road to recovery was not easy. By the time he was 17, he was in rehab for the third time. In desperation, his parents
decided to move back home to Brazil to help their young son, but were persuaded by Brazilian missionary leaders to stay in
Peru and instead send him to Brazil.
Ramos was in rehab for two years where he went through a comprehensive recovery program. Part of that recovery
was a commitment of his life to Christ, and, it was while in rehab that he felt the call of God on his life to work with other
persons struggling with drug addiction.
The result of that sense of call is the formation of a drug rehabilitation clinic in Arequipa. He took on this arduous
challenge when only 19 years old, right out of rehab. The young man, now 26 and claiming to be fully recovered from his
addictions, said he felt the need to make some kind of restitution, to help make right some of the wrongs that he did. He is
helping others, he said, because while he was an addict, he inveigled others into the lifestyle.
It was for that reason he returned to Arequipa. He identified a three story building and, with the help of his father, was able
to rent the property, using their personal finances and other funds that they were able to raise on their own. After six months,
Waldemiro Tymchak, the late executive director of the World Mission Board (WMB) of the Brazilian Baptist Convention,
his parents’ direct employers, gave enthusiastic support by allowing the mission board to assist with the payment of rent.
After one year, the program needed more space. A tract of land of 25,000 square meters, or roughly six acres, was
identified. Although the land was going for only US$1 per square meter, there were no funds to make the purchase.
Fortuitously, Ramos, at 21, had returned to Brazil to attend South Brazil Baptist Theological Seminary in Rio de
Janeiro, completing the
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