The Story of Lucho - Out of the Fire, Into Deliverance

God delivered Lucho out of the fiery flames.

People knew him as Lucho, but his official name was Luis Agüero Agüero. Born around 1920, he was the son of a wealthy Peruvian landowner, his child through an affair with a poor Indian girl. To deal with the stigma of his birth and the taunts he received, Lucho became tough.

When missionary Bob Whatley (now emeritus) met him, Lucho was the foreman of a work gang for a large company putting in a jungle road. Bob said that Lucho was not above ranting and raving or planting a heavy boot into a negligent worker’s pants to get his point across.

One night in the late 1960s, God providentially caused Bob to arrive at Lucho’s worksite in the jungle town of Pilcopata. Just then Bob heard an explosion at a building; Lucho ran out, covered in flames, yelling, “Me muero! me muero!” (I am dying! I am dying!) Lucho’s kerosene lantern had caused a 55-gallon drum of gasoline to explode.

Bob managed to pull Lucho into a rain barrel, but Lucho was burned from head to toe. His prognosis was not good. When Bob visited him in the hospital six days later, he had not slept a wink because of excruciating pain. Bob explained the gospel to this hardened man, showing him that Christ died to pay for his sins, was buried, and was raised the third day, according to 1 Corinthians 15: 3, 4.  Bob showed him John 6: 47 where Christ said, “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”  Lucho readily believed and passed from death to life. When Bob visited him the next day, before he was transferred to a burn center in Lima, Lucho said he had slept like a log the whole night!

At the burn center, within Lucho’s hearing, the doctors callously made bets that he would not survive. But he did. It took a whole year, and Lucho made it back to his old job, this time as a new creation in Christ. After his retirement, the BMM missionaries at the Urubamba Bible college hired Lucho. They needed a trusted person as a jack-of-all-trades on campus.

When Lucho Agüero was converted by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he was a changed person.  He became a faithful man, going further than many in faithfulness toward people.  Once, Bob had to intervene when Lucho felt that Bob was being threatened and he raised his cane to strike the person. Bob said, “I have no doubt that Lucho would have laid down his life for either Betty [Bob’s wife] or me.  I would have done the same for him.”

Lucho entered Heaven in 2011, where he now enjoys his eternal reward from the Lord and Master who saved him and spared his life so that he could serve Him another 40 years, faithfully. 

We had the wonderful opportunity to know Lucho during our first trips to Peru!
The ministry misses him greatly!

Lucho's Story on Baptist Mid-Mission's Website