Jose Pereira was looking forward to a well earned retirement from his position of executive of an oil and gas company when he received a phone call to make one last business trip to Venezuela. It was a routine trip and he was looking forward to have it done and dealt with. Never in a million years did he imagine that it would lead to him being held captive as hostage by the government in a politic row between Venezuela and the USA.
When Jose finally came back from those five years of hell, he became aware that his case was actually not that unusual and that there was a community of people in the US whose loved ones were held captive in various parts of the world like Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, China, Syria and Cuba to name a few. He felt the urge to connect with these families and they created a Bring Our Family Home Campaign. Within a month, he was invited to Washington where a big mural with his picture was created. This was the start of his advocating career.
It’s not just US citizens, though. Citizens from all over the world are held hostages in countries that use them as bargaining chips in their diplomatic relationships with Western countries. How they become hostages vary. Sometimes they go to someone’s wedding, or on holidays, or on a business trip like Jose. Journalists, of course. Environmentalists. Human rights advocates. None of them ever imagined that it would end this way. Nothing prepares you for this. And most people think it’s never going to happen to them. And sadly, these people have become a global family around these terrible events. What did they do to deserve that? They held the wrong passport at the wrong place.
So why have I invited Jose to my podcast about spirituality? Because I wanted to find out if his extreme experience had deepened his spirituality but above all, I wanted to understand how he kept the faith, regardless of whether he considered himself spiritual or religious. I also wanted Jose to share whatever nuggets of wisdom that he had, as I felt his experience could help people in different circumstances.
As Jose’s wife so pertinently said to him a few weeks ago: “Adversity always comes with a phone call.” You receive a phone call from the doctor that you have cancer. In my case, I received a phone call that my father died. Or you receive a phone call that your son has had a car crash. Nothing prepares you for this. First, you deny this. Then you begin to accept the situation. And then you need to make a decision. You decide how you are going to overcome it.
Jose had always been a positive guy and although the first year was horrid, after that first year, he began to make a choice about how he would experience the ordeal. Leaning back into his positive mindset is what Jose believe saved him. Jose believes that in life, if you have a positive mindset, you cope with challenges a lot better.
Before he was held hostage, Jose wasn’t particularly religious. And as mentioned before, in the first year, he questioned why this was happening to him. He wondered what he had done wrong. He even wondered if he had called this situation to himself because a week before the trip, he was in a car on his way to work and he reflected on what a wonderful life he had had, and said to himself the only thing you need in life is something bad happening to you.
There was a turning point for Jose when he realised that he had to find a meaning for this experience. And luckily at that point, he and his inmates were allowed access to books. And the book that changed everything for Jose was Man’s Search for Meaning: The Classic Tribute to Hope from the Holocaust by Viktor Frankl. This book boosted Jose’ faith to the point that at the first opportunity, he started a Bible study group with the other hostages. This was kind of ironic, as Jose had driven many times past churches in Texas, where he lives, and looked at these churches and wondered why people attended Bible studies. To him, back then, it sounded ridiculous. So this whole experience, instead of making Jose bitter, deepened his faith. And when he read the Bible with the other hostages, he really felt that God was besides him.
But it wasn’t just faith in God. It was faith in life and faith in humanity.
This only happened because Jose was willing to look for the gold in the experience. And of course, it is not something you can do right away. But it is what people call a growth mindset.
Jose is launching his first memoir called From Hero to Villain on Publishizer. To support his crowdfunding campaign, click here. He already has the plan to write two more memoirs. To listen to the episode in your favourite app, click here.