Being in
Ghana is amazing! I truly feel like we are doing the work of God
here every day! We have been given the opportunity to do “Film
Evangelism.” Every night we leave the house around 5:30pm to show
films in local villages. Our typical day looks like this:
8:00am-
Wake up and get going
8:30am-
Eat breakfast with the team
9:30am-
Pray for our day with the team and the pastors
12:00pm-
Eat Lunch
4:30pm-
Pray for the night
5:30pm-
Leave for the film showing
6:00pm-
Arrive at the venue and pray for the night
9:30pm-
Tear it down and come home
We were
told at training camp that every time we preached the Gospel in
Africa that most of the people would come forward to give their lives
to Jesus. It says in the bible that for lack of knowledge my people
perish. In Ghana the majority of the people are “Christians”
much like in America. In Ghana, businesses have Christian names,
everyone says God bless you, and the people attend church. Sadly,
there is a great majority of people that know of God but do not know
God. As we preach we do our best to explain to them that salvation
is not just a one time choice but a change of lifestyle. We are
trying to help them understand that Jesus did not only die to save
them. Jesus died so that He could have an intimate relationship with
them. It is our hearts desire to lead people into intimate
relationships with the Savior. However, at times it is difficult to
test the fruit that is being birthed. In Ghana, many people speak
English and many people speak tribal languages. Every time we preach
we have a translator that accompanies us. I would say that he helps
us, but it is hard to know how much things translate directly.
Nonetheless, we trust that God is doing the work not us. Although we
may plant a seed or we may harvest a crop only God can give the
increase. The first few nights of ministry were mildly discouraging
for me. We would preach and every person would run to the altar to
give their life Christ. As I mentioned earlier it was difficult to
know the sincerity of the hearts of the people. I earnestly begged
God that He would show me a sign to help me keep an attitude of
expectation and faith. As expected, God was faithful to show me His
hand was moving in Ghana.
The next
night we were showing a film in Gargania, Ghana. Nicole gave a very
compelling message after the film. God gave us wisdom to begin
calling people up in groups and to different areas. We had an area
for those committing their lives to Jesus, and an area for general
prayer. I was hanging our in the general prayer area praying for a
multitude of people. Yes, I just said multitude because I think it
is a fancy word. You can judge me if you want, but it was a
multitude. Anyway, I would ask each person what their name was, what
their prayer needs were, they would tell me and then I would pray for
them. I came to a young man named Vastooth.
Vastooth
is aroung the age of 14 and I could tell by looking at him that
something was wrong with him. He was hunched over, soft spoken, and
his eyes were recessed in his skull. I asked him how I could pray
for him. He told me I want to receive Jesus in my heart. I was
pretty excited for this kid! But I wanted to make sure he understood
the commitment he was making. I explained to him that Jesus did not
just want him to pray one time, rather; Jesus wanted to talk to him
all day long about everything. I also encouraged him to write down
the date when he got home. I told him, “when you get home you
write down todays date and that Jesus saved you.” Excitedly, he
smiled and said, “Yes sir.” I prayed for him for few minutes
and then we said goodbye. I was excited because I knew in that
moment that he truly gave his life to Jesus. That night made this
whole year worth it! I went home with praises in my heart because of
what God had done!
The
next night we went to show another film in a different area. We
watched the film then Erika gave a message about the love of God and
called people to the front again. As usual, almost everyone under
the canopy of stars wanted prayer. Again, I was praying for a
multitude of people. We had prayed for almost every person there and
then guess who came and found me? Vastooth!
I asked him how he was doing. He said, “I am so happy. When I
got home last night I did what you told me to. I wrote down that
Jesus saved me. I read it over and over today and I am just so
happy.” As we were talking I noticed that his countenance was
much brighter, his smile was bigger, and he was standing up much
straighter. I could tell that this boy had a genuine encounter with
the Lord! As we were talking God began to reveal to me that Vastooth
had
a lot of fear in his life. Vastooth
began
to tell me he lived with his mother and his father had died when he
was very young. God was showing me that this boy was plagued with
nightmares and night terrors. So I asked him if he was scared a lot.
He said, “yes.” I asked him, “Do you have bad dreams often?”
He said, “Yes, almost every night.” I asked him if Nicole and I
could pray that God would protect his dreams. We explained to him
that satan is bad but God is good and God said, “no weapon formed
against you can prosper. If you resist the devil he will flee from
you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” We prayed
for him and then we went home.
The
next night ad expected we went back for the film showing. As soon as
I jumped out of the truck guess who was there? That is correct, my
friend Vastooth.
I was so happy to see him! He is like my little roadie, everywhere
I go there he is! It makes me feel really good to know that I have
impacted his life in such a way that he follows me everywhere. I
noticed again that his face was brighter than the day before and he
was standing taller than the day before. He looked almost two years
older than the day before. I gave him a big hug and we talked for a
few minutes. I asked him if if he had any bad dreams and he said no!
He said that was one of the first times he had not had a bad dream
in months. God has been so faithful to change this boy in the time
we were here! I was so excited for him and also to see God moving in
such a mighty in his life. We did the film showing that night and as
usual prayed for a multitude of people. Before I left Vastooth
found me to say goodbye. This was the last night of film evangelism
in his town. We did not know if we would ever see each other again
on this side of heaven. So I told him how proud of him I was and
just spoke the promises of God over his life. In the purest way you
could fathom he said Amen. We said goodbye and we went our separate
ways.
