“Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say.” Exodus 4:12.
On November 1, 2023, I lost a “Treasure”.
I am not talking about gold or silver or the stock market tumbling. I don’t mean property devastated by a storm. No insurance claims can be filed for the loss of this treasure because it was simply another man. Enrique Cepeda was nine years older than me- like a big brother.
Yes, angels rejoice when a sinner repents (Luke 15:10), but how could they not also rejoice with the November 1st appearance of our dear friend from Mexico, whose smile lit up every room.
I met Enrique in 1996. I was starting my adventure with CBMC full-time and he was the Latin America director for CBMC (called CPEC in Spanish speaking countries). CBMC President Roger Erickson gets the credit for finding this treasure, Enrique. He knew that he had a kindred spirit for discipling men. He had his man for Latin America!
No one keeps score of who does what, but it seemed like Enrique started more new CBMC groups and discipled more men than anyone in CBMC’s sphere. And it was all bathed in a deep prayer life, spending hours on his knees praying for the men who the Lord gave him. He lived what he preached. Not to mention- a model husband for Lidia, and wonderful father for his three talented daughters.
Enrique escorted me all over Latin America on too many trips to count between 1996 and 2003. He invited me often and I said “Yes” every time. Mexico, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador and more. He was my translator. He heard all my stories too often and told them better than me. He knew the punch lines and couldn’t wait to get there. Most importantly, hundreds came to the Lord through the gatherings that he organized. He was the ‘closer’, praying for them to come to the foot of the cross and meet Jesus.
He was always smiling, even laughing most of the time. “Praise the Lord, Amigo” was Enrique’s normal response for everything.
He moved to Oklahoma City when Mid-American Christian University recruited him to be director of a Discipleship Training program for the Spanish-speaking world. He continued his role in CBMC but now was a major influence beyond CBMC, training young people in Oklahoma as well as Latin America.
He invited me to speak at the MACU graduation in 2016. Enrique guaranteed the school President, who I am sure had never heard of me, that I would be okay. I told the school that day that Enrique was a “treasure” in their midst. Click here for the 22-minute message in 2016 at M.A.C.U.
That was the last time I saw my friend until this past August at the 2023 CBMC world convention in South Korea. At age 81, he looked older, but it was the same smile and the same “Praise the Lord”. He told me that a recent illness had slowed him down. We chatted about getting older.
My final moment with Enrique takes some time to explain, so hang in there with me.
I was scheduled to speak on Thursday morning, August 17, at the convention on Korea’s “Prayer Mountain” near Seoul. Early that morning (2:36 AM to be exact), I was awakened by a text message. My friend Hubertus “Hubs” von Bachmayr in France was on his deathbed. I had prayed for his salvation for 47 years. Enrique would have heard me tell the story of Hubs many times over the years. I was in great distress over Hubs, not sure if heaven or hell was his home. Like any good lawyer, I could make a good case in either direction. He had not confessed that Jesus is Lord, and I was not sure he believed that God raised Jesus from the dead. (Romans 10:9-10). At best, Hubs was a ‘doubting Thomas’. My own doubts were overwhelming my faith and hope. And so, weeping out loud took over in my hotel room. My entire message to the crowd at 9am had to be changed based on the late breaking and urgent news about Hubs.
I arrived early to the auditorium. The morning’s singer was a young Korean man named Chun. He was practicing “Amazing Grace”, which is awesome in English but even better in Korean. I don’t speak in tongues, but I love the sound of praise music in foreign tongues. English is not needed when the heavenly music gets going.
The song was so appropriate for the ending of my message, where I planned to ask 2,000+ Koreans and CBMCers from around the world to pray for my dying friend- hoping that the Amazing Grace of God would save even my doubting Hubs! So, I approached Chun and asked him to sing Amazing Grace at the end of my message, not just the beginning. His English was spotty, but he understood his assignment. He then asked me to pray for him. He spontaneously knelt as I laid hands on him for anointing. I was praying for Chun but weeping for my friend Hubs. Poor Chun must have thought I was quite the ‘crier’. It was a memory.
And then the program got started. I was scheduled as the first speaker following the music. I turned on my phone’s Voice Memo to audio record the singing. The audio lasted about 5 minutes- and when I later went back to listen, I heard me sobbing (which I honestly did not remember). God was breaking me with the news about Hubs.
And then, in the final 40 seconds, the voice of my friend Enrique Cepeda came on the recording!!!
He had come to the front row where I was standing and prayed for me. Just like the old days of travelling in Latin America! His prayer ended with: “Exodus 4:12”. I had to look it up later- “Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say.” Enrique had surely given that advice to hundreds of his disciples.
I recognized him to the crowd that day as a man who had been a model of the CBMC process- prayer for the lost, evangelism, and discipleship. Click here for the full message in Korea. The session was tearful but exhilarating as thousands of Koreans on “Prayer Mountain” prayed for my friend Hubs. And dear Enrique, a prayer warrior supreme, was in the middle of it all. It would be the last time I saw him.
The next day, while checking emails from an airport, I heard the sad news that Enrique had collapsed with internal bleeding. He would be in surgery for several hours in a Seoul hospital. He might not make it. Much of his colon would be removed. He was given 12 liters of Korean blood— the blood of Korean prayer warriors!!!
Twelve days later he was still in the hospital when my flight back to the USA from India was scheduled for a plane change in Seoul. When the flight from Seoul to Dallas was cancelled, my first thought was “Maybe the Lord wants me to see Enrique again.” That thought stopped me from all angst and worry about the cancelled flight and the extra night at a Korean airport hotel. I sent a WhatsApp to Enrique’s daughter Liz, who had flown into Korea to be with her dad. Maybe the Lord stopped an airplane so I could see my friend?
But… the doctors were not allowing visitors. Even Liz, who was at the hospital, was limited in her times to see her dad. Instead, Liz organized a Face-Time WhatsApp. And sure enough, the timing worked, and I was able to see his smile one more time. He could not speak but he smiled. Even though his voice was too weak to hear, he was, as usual, trying to say, “Praise the Lord”.
The world was praying for Enrique but after 76 days in the Seoul hospital, the Lord took Enrique to his final Home. I am sure some stories will come from those final days about Enrique leading someone to Jesus during those 76 days. It was who he was- sharing the love of Christ with everyone, no matter what and no matter where.
So for the grand finale——— I am especially smiling today as I envision a meeting in heaven.
My friend Hubs died on August 19, just two days after my message in Seoul where 2,000 Koreans joined me in praying for Hubs’ soul on Prayer Mountain. Boldly leading the prayers that morning was Enrique! He loved to pray for lost souls. It was always with passion and faith. It was not his first time to pray for Hubs. He would have remembered the story well.
And now, with eyes of faith, I see a re-union of Enrique and Hubs in the heavenly realm. A saint from Mexico and a doubting German.
Enrique starts the conversation with a smile on November 1, 2023: “Hello, Hubs. I am so happy to see you. I am just one of thousands of people who prayed for you in Seoul. Thanks to your friend Philpot, I’ve heard your story for many years.” Enrique would be almost laughing, not just smiling.
My German friend responds with a smile, “Thank you dear brother Enrique. It was the prayer of saints like you that opened the doors of faith for me and let me know in my spirit that Jesus’ sacrifice made eternal life possible for me. Like the thief on the cross, paradise was open for me thanks to Jesus’ mercy and your prayers. Thank you!”
They hugged. They smiled. They prayed. They interceded for those of us left behind. Amen.