One of the coolest things about the Race is hearing all the amazing stories of how people have come to Christ. Every follower of Christ has a beautiful story that brings glory to God and it’s been so awesome seeing how God has transformed lives and brought them into the work of His Kingdom. And this month in Romania has been filled with crazy stories of how God has brought people out of death and brought them into life. I want to share one of these stories with the sole purpose of giving God glory and acknowledging the work He’s done in the lives of these people. It just makes me love my God that much more.
There are so many stories that I’ve come across here in Romania that I could share but my personal favorite is from one of the ministry contacts here named “J”. We met “J” the second day we were here and we didn’t get to know him really well since he doesn’t speak too much English and he seemed a little more shy than the other ministry contacts. As a result, I never really got to know him those first couple days even though he was constantly around us. He was just that mysterious guy who helped out Raul. But then I was able to hear his testimony and my perspective of him drastically changed. He came from just being this random guy who tagged along with us to becoming just a beautiful example of how God redeems fallen people and transforms their lives. The following is from an excerpt in the introductory packet that we received on the ministry here in Draganesti when we first arrived here.
In 2000, Raul and two other missionaries wanted to reach out to the town of Lisa by showing the Jesus film. They went around town and distributed invitations to everyone they met, speaking with them about Jesus along the way. They had no idea that while they were forming relationships with the people of Lisa, the Orthodox priests in the area were meeting in secret. Threatened by the idea that Raul and his missionaries were influencing the townspeople, they decided they would stop at nothing to prevent the Repenters from spreading the gospel in their town. They made plans to trap Raul by asking him questions about false prophets and then accusing him of being one, which would give them an excuse to beat him.
The priest chosen to start the conversation with Raul was “J”, a man known throughout Lisa for being the town bully. “J” was a man with a quick temper who drank a lot, beat his family and was feared by everyone in Lisa.
The movie was shown in a park and Raul stood in the back to pray for the crowd that had gathered. While he was praying, a small group of men were standing near him, watching him as they prepared to lay the trap that would allow them to rid Raul and his gospel message from the town forever.
When “J” approached Raul, Raul greeted him with excitement, as he was a potential ministry opportunity. “J” asked, “The Bible says that there will be false prophets who will come to earth?” hoping that Raul would deny it and thus implicate himself as a false prophet. Completely unaware of “J’s” plan, Raul thought to himself, “Jesus has called us to be fishers of men and this man is my fish!” “Yes, the Bible does warn us about false prophets,” Raul said. “And if you like, I can show you in Matthew what they would look like.”
Not sure of how to respond to this unexpected answer and not at all curious to learn more about the Bible, “J” balked and tried to walk away. Raul stopped him and pleaded with him to listen, but “J” refused. So Raul asked if he would tell him where he lived so that Raul could visit him later and resume the conversation. “J”, completely flustered at this point and anxious to get away from Raul, ran away without saying another word.
After a little investigation, Raul found out where “J” lived and visited him a week later in hopes on continuing their conversation. Through the bay window in his living room, “J” saw Raul walking toward his house and promptly ran to his bedroom to hide, threatening his wife into telling Raul that he wasn’t home.
This went on for a few weeks: Raul would stop by “J’s” house and “J” would go and hide. Until one day, Raul came to “J”’s house and found him drunk in the living room. Not deterred by “J’s” condition, Raul began to pray with him, that the Lord would touch his heart, that he would know the truth and the truth would set him free.
As Raul prayed, John began to feel something working inside of him. It was the Spirit of the Lord speaking to his heart, wooing him away from his life of hatred and alcohol. Over the next few weeks, Raul and “J” met and prayed together. Soon, “J” repented and accepted Jesus and he became a new man.
The change in “J” was so drastic that no one recognized him anymore. He was kind and gentile, full of love and warmth. He stopped drinking, stopped abusing his family and stopped intimidating the townspeople. His wife was so surprised and fearful of the complete change in her husband that she asked Raul what he had done to him. Raul told her about Jesus and she ended up receiving Him into her life as well. Now “J” is working with Raul into bringing the Kingdom here in southern Oltania. And what used to be him persecuting the Church is now he himself experiencing that same persecution from his companions in the Orthodox faith.
I love this story because it just shows how cool God is!! God can just come into even the hardest of hearts replace it with a heart of flesh: a heart open to the Spirit of God. Because when God saves someone, he doesn’t just improve you…he creates a new person.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Cor. 5:17
I’ve been to “J’s” church the last two weeks and each time I see him, I can’t help but praise my God for His amazing grace and love and power. I see a man who loves the Lord with such passion as few I’ve ever met. I see how he loves his wife (the same one that he beat for so many years) and the restored relationship that they now have. I see a man who has a joy that is unshakeable as it’s founded on the Solid Rock. And even though I know about his past and the many terrible things he did, I don’t see him as that anymore because that old self is dead and gone. I see the new creation…I see Jesus. And just like “J”, we are all, as followers of Christ, made into new creations and reflect the image of our Savior. And that’s an amazingly beautiful truth to dwell on.
