Die Jagd nach dem Glück

Louis Torres was born into a poor family in Puerto Rico. He had five siblings. His father left the family for another woman. His mother soon moved to New York with her children. They hoped for a better life there. There he grew up in the slums. As a Puerto Rican, he didn't have it easy in New York. He was seen as a second-class person. He felt like nothing, but he desperately wanted to count for something. He looked for ways to find fulfilment. He wanted to be better than others. He saw many opportunities for this in the slums of New York.

Louis tried everything to become the best and thought he would then be satisfied. Then he would finally find fulfilment. And so he tried his hand at roller skating and got to the point where he could show off with all kinds of stunts (sensational tricks), only to realise that this didn't fulfil him either.

At 14 or 15, he became a member of a gang. And the rule there was: if you're tough and strong, then you're somebody. Louis didn't like these fights, but he kept getting into them. He never lost a single fight. That brought him prestige, but it didn't fill the void in his heart.

He sought fulfilment in material values, activities, achievements and relationships. But he didn't find it there. Then he thought: “If only I could become famous, then I would be happy.” That's how he got into the music scene. It was the time of Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and the Beatles. He founded the band „Dawnie and the Twilights“ with friends. And they were successful. They got their manager, who got them brand new cars and customised suits. But with success in show business came other things: drugs and immorality. After a while, their singer died of an overdose. That was a big shock for Louis.

But he didn't want to give up his dream and so he formed a new band, the Vampires. Soon he was recognised as the best bass player in New York, while the Vampires were voted the best band in New York. At the time, their poster was displayed on the Broadway Building in Time Square. But when Louis reached this peak, he realised that show business was not taking him in the right direction.

He expected nothing from the Christian faith. As a child, he had had to go to the Catholic church because his mother wanted him to. He associated many bad experiences with the church and wanted nothing to do with it. He felt a longing, but didn't know how to satisfy it. And so he continued on his path in show business. They had an exciting life at the shows. Everyone admired them, the girls screamed and swooned. But at the end of the night, when the day began, boredom set in. Again and again, in quiet moments, Louis felt that something was missing. And he didn't know how he could ever find it.

Once he and his band were at a drug party with a motorbike gang in Jersey City. When they were all on drugs, one of them asked: „Who is God?“ They talked about it all night and came up with the craziest ideas. But in the end, Louis thought, „I hope there is no God. Because if there is a God, then I have a problem.“ That was a terrible thought for him. He knew that his life could not please God. He suppressed this thought and continued to wear his cheerful mask.

Shortly before a world tour in which Louis and the band Bill Haley and the Comets were to compete with the Beatles, he took a two-week holiday and went home to his mother. He had not expected what awaited him there. His brother knelt on the floor and prayed out loud for him. Then he didn't want to stop telling him about Jesus Christ. That had never happened to him before. Louis shouted at him: „Shut up or you'll get a thrashing!“ Then his eldest brother came into the house, for whom he had great respect. And he said exactly the same thing. Louis could hardly believe it. His brothers were talking about God? But he couldn't deny that there was something different about them. They radiated peace. Louis thought: „They have peace when they read the Bible, and I stand on my head to find such peace?

His older brother invited him to a church service where he and his wife were to be baptised. Louis went there in his best show outfit and felt totally out of place. He sat in the back row and watched what was happening. His brother's wife was being baptised. When she came out of the water, she cried. „Stupid woman“, thought Louis, „she's crying over nothing“. Then his brother was baptised and he cried too. That was a problem for Louis! He had never seen his brother cry before. He had been a tough bloke and a bully who was afraid of nothing and nobody. Louis couldn't understand what was going on. And then the thought suddenly occurred to him: „Is it possible that he has found God?“ This thought scared him because he thought, „If there really is a God, then I have a problem.“ He resisted these thoughts, but they wouldn't let him go. He just wanted to get away. He realised that he would lose everything he had if he went his brother's way. No more career, no more world tour, no more competition with the Beatles to come. He wanted to get back to his work. But just as he was about to set off, he got a phone call: the tour and the competition with the Beatles had been postponed.

Louis continued to run away from God. He went to a party where people were jumping around on the dance floor like animals. He was used to it and joined in himself. When he took a break and surveyed the whole thing, he was suddenly overcome with disgust. „These people are behaving like animals,“ he thought. God showed him how He saw it all. Louis looked up and prayed, „God, if you are there, then change me!“ He was simply fed up with living in this artificial world and searching in vain for peace and fulfilment.

He went home. His whole life stood before his eyes. He felt so guilty, so overwhelmed by the thought that he was lost. But he didn't want to be lost. He wanted the peace that his brothers had. He fell to his knees and wrestled with God. „Change me!“ And as he knelt there and prayed, tears suddenly streamed down his face and he felt a strange warmth in his heart. He had never experienced that before. And God helped. Louis became a new man who loved Jesus and was determined to live with him and for him. The tears became tears of joy. He felt how God took away the burden of guilt and how peace came over him. For the first time in his life, he experienced the presence of God. He prayed for deliverance from drugs, cigarettes and alcohol. He got up from that prayer and was free. He never had a desire for these things again. In Jesus he found the fulfilment he had been searching for in vain for so long. Louis burned all his bridges and started a new life.

He became a pastor and evangelist. Many people have come to know Jesus through his ministry and have found fulfilment in Him. Today, Louis Torres is Director of Training for Personal and Public Evangelism for ASI-North America and Director of the Black Hills Missionary School for Evangelism.

He has already trained hundreds of young people there who are an immeasurable blessing as Bible workers, evangelists or simply lay people who are enthusiastic about missions. How much good can come from a young person giving themselves completely to God!