Jesus put me on the boat of faith: how Walter Oyarce found hope in God after the death of his son

September 24, 2011 marked the life of Walter Oyarce Delgado forever. That day, his 24-year-old son, Walter Oyarce Domínguez, was murdered by a group of barristas after a soccer game at the Monumental Stadium in Lima.

What for many would be the beginning of a life of hatred and hopelessness, for Oyarce Sr. became, by the grace of God, the starting point of a profound spiritual transformation.

“That Saturday, September 24, 2011, was a garden. We were going to the stadium to enjoy a Peruvian soccer classic. I never imagined that it would be the last hug I would give my son,” she said when recounting her testimony of conversion at the National Prayer Breakfast (DNO), held on Wednesday, October 22 in Lima.

From the garden to the desert

Walter Oyarce Delgado, born in Huaraz in 1956, is a graduate of the Naval School of Peru, MBA from CISAM and with extensive experience in human and economic resources management in the public and private sectors. He served as councilor of Lima between 2019 and 2022 and leads the Esperanza Partú social project.

In his testimony he compared his experience with three scenarios that Jesus taught: the desert, the boat and the garden.

“When I saw my son lying on the floor, I knew I had entered the desert. But even in the midst of the deepest pain, I heard a voice inside me that told me: ‘It is not possible to bring a corpse back to life. Control yourself, your family is watching you’. Without knowing it, Jesus put me on the boat of faith and saved me from despair,” he said.

The son who died defending

Shortly afterward she learned the truth about her son’s last moments. Two women who were in the neighboring box approached him at the funeral and said: “His son died defending usWalter had tried to protect women and children from the violent attack that broke out in the stands.

Walter Oyarce Domínguez, a fan of the Alianza Lima club, was murdered in 2011 at the Monumental Stadium in Lima during a Peruvian soccer classic between Universitario de Deportes and Alianza Lima.

During a fight between baristas in one of the stands, he was thrown from a box on the second floor, falling into the void and dying instantly due to the impact. He was 23 years old.

“Knowing that his death was not due to violent behavior gave me peace of mind and firmness to achieve justice. My son did not die because of a fight, he died out of love for his neighbor. And that gave me strength,” she said.

Oyarce recognizes that her mother, a humble woman of unwavering Catholic faith, was key in her inner process. “She talked to me about Heaven, but I doubted eternal life. That disbelief was broken on September 25, 2011, the day after the murder of my son. That day I knew that there is another life, eternity with Jesus,” he confessed.

Suffering led him to understand that faith is also an experience lived in the midst of pain. “The desert is where one meets God, where hope is renewed and faith is strengthened,” he reflected.

From the boat to the garden

Years later, Walter Oyarce found serenity. Despite having faced the loss of his son and his father in the same month, and the family wounds that the pain leaves, he assures that today he lives from a different peace.

“Jesus taught me to navigate the boat of faith. When I understood that suffering could have meaning, my life changed. The garden is not the place where everything is fine, but where one learns to enjoy the good things that God gives us after having gone through the storm,” he said.

Today, at 68 years old, Oyarce continues to share his testimony in spaces of training and dialogue. Through Esperanza Partú, it promotes social projects aimed at reconciliation, education in values ​​and the construction of a peaceful society.

“Forgiveness does not erase the memory, but it heals the heart,” he states calmly. “Pain does not disappear, but when one encounters Christ, that pain becomes a mission. I chose to transform my suffering into hope for others.”