I Recently met a man named Wes. I met Wes in downtown Huntington, WV. I was with my mother and my cousin Brian. When we met Wes he had his head down and he looked as if he was ready to give up.
Wes walked by my mother as she smiled at him and said hello. With a puzzled look, Wes turned around and asked if he knew us. My mother said no I am just a friendly person, and Wes replied with I’m glad someone is. After contact, Wes began to ask for money to get back to Charleston where he lived. My mother asked him how much and if he was really going to use it for a bus ride, which Wes replied with a troubled yes.
I love what my mom did next she pulled out a $5 dollar bill and before giving it to him she hugged him and would not let go until she prayed over his life. During my mothers prayer Wes began to weep and cry. You see Wes was addicted to heroin mostly, but he would use whatever he could get his hands on. He had been addicted to HARDCORE drugs for 20 years he told us, and he said he couldn’t do it anymore. Wes pulled back his coat sleeve and showed us a fresh knife wound that cut horizontally across his wrist! He said he was ready to take his life because he had no reason to live. He told us that he had to stop looking in the mirror because all he could see was hate and pain.
Wes was in need of some serious help from God, so we all prayed for him downtown, Huntington and then asked if he would like help from a minister. He told us that he had been through 15 drug rehabilitations and none of them worked because the key element (Jesus) was not incorporated in the programs; he agreed and we drove to my church. There Wes was able to talk with one of our care pastors and share his heart. Wes told us that he was ready to give it all to God and he was ready for his life to change forever. This all happened on a Wednesday so we had church in a couple of hours. We took Wes out to lunch and then headed to church.
The entire service Wes weeped and cried out to God for mercy and forgiveness. It was a beautiful sight. When it came to the alter call Wes ran to the front and began to scream out his addictions and confessed that he had been suicidal. The whole church as a body of Christ prayed for him and you could see years of his life begin to come back to his droopy eyes. He began to smile for the first time and even laugh. He was released from the drugs he was coming of of, and even asked to be baptized. He didn’t know what it was all about but he knew he wanted to do everything right. We baptized Wes and he came out of the water a new man in Christ Jesus.
After service Wes was greeted by many who had been saved from everything he was coming off of. There was so much love and encouragement that he was overwhelmed! We took Wes out to dinner and celebrated his new beginning. Wes took our phone numbers down and promised to keep in contact with us.
Although we have not heard from him yet we know that a seed was planted and it is up to him now to make healthy decisions. We are his support team now and I am blessed to know him. He told us he was coming to church on Sunday and he was bringing his Grandmother with him. (:
All of this started with a smile and a simple hello. You never know who you can impact with a simple smile. God is love and so we must be love to the world. We could have given Wes money and walked away but we prayed and ministered to him, we gave him hope, we gave him Jesus!
here is a link to watch him get baptized: http://qik.ly/DVaGG
I just wanted to share my heart with you. I so thankful that God is first in my life. Since camp I have lived a new life. I have my declarations and I pray to God that I continue to decrease so he can increase in my life.
Much love.
Philip C.
