I love debriefs…having the entire squad together brings me such joy and life. There are divine appointments, hugs, tears, laughter, and the Holy Spirit in every moment.
Then I turned around and saw him…the man with the Neon sign over his head in which Jesus inscribed “I am after this man’. I hesitated for a moment….I could see right away that this would be no quick encounter…but the sign was there…loud and clear.
At first glance, the grey hair, shaky hands, and the walker in front of him told me he was old, but only through conversation could I learn the rest of his story. A story told through thickly slurred speech that was the result of being thoroughly drunk, and paralyzed on half of his body since a car accident at the age of 24.
It didn’t take long before it came up that I am a Christian, to which he proudly pulled up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo of satan he announced as the object of his worship. I smiled and told him that Jesus still loved him and continued on the conversation. A few seconds later he looked confused as he said that every time he meets a Christian, he pulls that stunt with showing his tattoo, but I was the first person he has done that too that didn’t get all riled up about it. As we continued talking, it turns out he is atheist and doesn’t believe in anything, God or the devil but just likes to get a rise out of the Christians that have tried to convert him over the years.
At one point, when he realized there were about 120 missionaries all around him, he said ‘Wouldn’t it be crazy if you all said Hallelujah at once’ and laughed. I smiled and said ‘You know Burns, we just might’ to which he exclaimed ‘NNNNOOOOO! Don’t do that!’ with a surprised look on his face.
The next night, during worship, I knew the time had come. So as we worshiped around the bonfire, with bongos and guitars and dancing, I loudly told Burns story. The story of a man who since the age of 24 has been alone, with no family, being cared for by people he pays out of his insurance settlement. A man who lives for nothing but booze and cigarettes. A man full of stories that happened more than 30 years ago ‘before the accident’, with emptiness facing his every day. A man with no hope, no purpose, no Jesus. A man with chains that rattle to the core and a void, hopeless and deep as a black hole. So, in a divine moment in which I believe something shifted in the Spiritual atmosphere…. About 120 crazy missionaries shouted ‘Hallelujah’ and worshipped the God who breaks chains, and sets the captives free.
Nothing monumental happened in the conversations I had with Burns over the few days we were there, but I believe something happened in the Spirit. Before we left, someone had the idea that a bunch of us could write Burns a note, so I passed out note cards and left behind a stack of notes from people speaking truth and life and prayers over this man….the man with the neon sign that reads ‘I am after this man’.
Please pray for Burns to know Jesus and the abundant life He brings.
