In June 2020, physician Daniel Quispe Mamani arrived in Peru’s capital city of Lima on an emergency flight from the southern city of Juliaca. He was one of the health-care workers in that South American nation infected with COVID-19. In Quispe’s case, he believes he was infected while working as an emergency doctor at an ambulance service.
After spending 15 days on a ventilator and thinking he would not survive, Quispe began to slowly but steadily recover. But while his body seemed to fight back against the virus, he said his mental state was different altogether.
“I was depressed, and I felt despondent,” Quispe said.
It was in those dark days that he received a package from his brother. The package included a Bible and a cell phone.
“I was overwhelmed with emotion as I visited the Radio Nuevo Tiempo Peru Facebook page,” Quispe said. “I was in desperate need of finding peace.”
Quispe shared that he began to listen to the Adventist radio station programs regularly.
“Every one of them was like a balm to my heart,” he said. “It was a rough patch, but I can see now that God worked through the radio. I was able to find peace and hope, which was, above anything else, what I was looking for.”
As tears rolled down his cheeks, Quispe explained the role he thinks the Adventist radio station had in his life.
“Every time I needed words of encouragement, Nuevo Tiempo Radio was there,” he said. “I know that in those moments, God was holding me in His arms. And if I forgot that God was with me, Nuevo Tiempo Radio would be there once more to remind me of it.”
Quispe was discharged from the hospital and is going through rehabilitation sessions in search of full recovery from his ordeal. Every day, he emphasized, is a new reason to be grateful to God for the chance to live.
“I am a physician, and I know all the protocols and processes,” Quispe explained. “I know my recovery is not the result of mere chance.”
For Quispe, the best way of showing gratitude is supporting the mission of Nuevo Tiempo radio so the Adventist station can keep sharing peace amid so much pain.
“I want to be an angel of hope, because I want Nuevo Tiempo Radio to keep helping more people, just like it helped me,” he said.
The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Spanish-language news site.
