Not all stories are clean cut and peachy, some are rough around the edges. This is a story about a man I have met hear in Botswana who shall be called John (for privacy reasons). I met John near the end of our first week here. John is a 33 year old man who lives with his wife and two kids, and is the neighbor to the CRU office in which we are staying. One night he just walked over needing/panicking to use a phone. While waiting on his wife to call him back we talked for over an hour on the porch. I found out he was a Christian and had received Jesus several years ago. However, he also explained how he had really been struggling the past two years.
[Side note 1: Once you receive Christ, you are not perfect. You are saved from your sins by a perfect savior, but still face temptations and struggles if not even more so than others. How many Christians genuinely have a personal relationship with Christ but it is not evident because it is buried under tons of problems, mistakes, and disobedience to God?]
He reluctantly begin to admit that he had been hooked on crack-cocaine for over a year now, and had tried to quit several times but never could. He went on to explain how this addiction had caused so many problems in his family; it robbed all of his time from his kids and wife. He admitted that it had changed him and he was not the person that his wife had met long ago. He admitted how he was ashamed of where he was at in life. Lastly, and I think hardest of all, John admitted how he had caught his wife cheating on him twice over the past year and he suspected it being worse than what he knew. Needless to say, John was broken that night.
John knew the bible well. Although he did not receive Jesus until 2015, he grew up going to church, reading his bible, and having Christian parents.
[Side note 2: Like John, how many people in America and around the world grow up learning about God in church, Sunday school, and by other means but actually have no relationship? There’s a huge difference between knowing Jesus in your brain, and having him in your heart. I wonder how many people actually think they are a ‘Christian’, but have never personally received him and enter into the salvation and relationship that he offers.]
I was amazed at how much scripture John knew, and just how intelligent and level headed he was. I can honestly say, I did not expect that from a person who had just admitted he was hooked on crack and looked as if he was about to have a panic attack. It just caught me completely off guard, but I knew this was a divine appointment and immediately my heart was burdened for this man.
The more we began to talk about the Lord the more life just started to come back into John. He seemed to almost even get excited despite the position that he was in. He reminisced in almost a giddy way about the joy and peace he had found in the Lord when he was pursuing Jesus with his whole heart. He continued to talk about the lack of community he had, but how there was such a need for Godly men in this community. He wished he could be in a place where he could lead by example. The Lord was getting John’s attention, I knew it and he knew it but his circumstances alone had John feeling powerless.
Not knowing what ‘magical advice’ or wisdom to give, I just asked him if we could pray together. We took turns praying and John began to cry. It seemed like It was the first time he had actually spoken to the Lord on a real level in such a long time. After praying together for some time, we wanted to make a gameplan of how we could encourage each other and how he could make it out of this valley.
Since that day, John became like my brother here in Botswana and he tried to join us every chance he could. A few evenings he joined us when we played basketball at the University. Granted he wasn’t very good, comical more times than not, but it was the community he needed. He would pop by the house at all hours to see what we were doing or if i was able to talk. And most importantly, we made a promise to pray for each other and with each other everyday that I was going to be here in Botswana. Although we missed some days, most every morning and night we met up to pray together in the street between houses.
I wish this story had an ending where I could say that his marriage was back on track, he hasn’t touched a drug since, and he is currently full of joy. But I cannot, because that is not the truth. It is our last day here, John and I just prayed for the last time together in person. He has had a couple of relapses in the last 21 days since I met him, but overall has made huge progress compared to previously. At one point this month it got so bad between he and his wife he almost moved back to his mom’s house. But this past weekend both families (parents included) had a little ‘come to Jesus meeting’ about the whole situation with their marriage.
[Side note 3: doesn’t it suck how when we try to surrender things back to the Lord, at first it usually always gets harder before it gets better? I think that’s the enemies way of trying his best to dig his claws in so you can’t break free.]
John looked at me this morning and had a big smile on his face. The first genuine smile maybe I have seen from him this whole month. He elaborated about the dream he had last night. “Ethan, I had a dream and I just saw that I was being held down by 5 different demons and then all of a sudden a light came and they just fled desperately. Ethan I know I will break free from this and I know the Lord is not done with me yet.” If it would not have been so early in the morning I probably would have teared up hearing that news.
I do not know what the future holds for John, but he has become a brother that is fighting his heart out to surrender everything back to the Lord. He has gotten involved with church again, has stopped hanging out with the friends that were influencing him to do drugs, and made progress with his wife in the aspect that now they are atl east communicating in a healthy way. We shared a heartfelt goodbye right after John said I know God has good plans for me even though it feels like I’m stuck right now.
And then John quoted Jeremiah 29:11- “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
