The stories. The sweet sweet stories. Listening. Listening to the sweet stories of the Belizean people. Their struggle, their processing, their seeking, their falling, their assets, their hope, and then eventually their finding in Jesus Christ and how their whole lives transformed for the good has been so touching and inspiring. They wanted me to share their stories.
Have you ever met someone who was so passionate, confident, and strong spoken about Jesus Christ that they actually came off intimidating and you actually didn’t want to engage with them? I have many times in my lifetime. I’m not just talking about people who judge and condemn others – that’s actually not Christ-like. I’m talking about the people who speak with adoration and love for Jesus. It’s difficult to talk to someone who is so confident in something you don’t know you really believe in or maybe you don’t feel you’re at the same level as them. So I used to always stray away from people like that, but I learned something this week about why someone may be so confident in this area. Let me share.
I talked to three different men that had astounding backgrounds. With their permission, they said I can share their stories. Since I’m not them, I can’t quite give the detail or the passion they provided when telling me, but I’ll do my best to express the light they gave in the conversations I had with them. I will share one story below, and the other two I will share in a different blog.
Sobhi is a man who now works for the church of Belmopan Church of Nazarene. He picked us up and drove us to a building where we are helping to fix, clean, paint and refurbish this building. This building will be a new safe place to house men from their program called Freedom House. Freedom House is a place where ex-felons and those who suffer from substance abuse find healing and hope. They are reformed prisoners who found Jesus and Freedom House facilitates re-entry into society. So Hedges, this new building, will be a rehab center and home for those who are part of the program.
On our way to Hedges, my team and Sobhi somehow got on the topic of the past, and I took notes. Sobhi says, “we can’t live in the past, think of the past or dwell in the past. The past is called the past for a reason, and we can’t change it. I did some things in my past that I’m not proud of, but I am a new person because God gave me a second chance and forgave me from my past, and has now given my life a new sense of purpose. No one else can define my new change. Only God, Jesus Christ. Once I surrendered my ways to him, my ways of thinking, my selfish acts, and learned to follow him, hear his voice and give back to the world – my life was changed. I like to think of it as this song: “I’ll give myself away so you can use me”- by William McDowell. Then he beautifully started singing the song to me.
When I listened to Sobhi speak about God, I perceived him to be someone who is very passionate, bold, and almost extreme. If I didn’t know him, I’d say he would come off intimidating with how confident he proclaims these facts about how God has changed his life. I have met many people like him in my lifetime, and usually when I have met them, I used to get intimidated and I didn’t usually want to get close to them at first for fear that they will judge me because I didn’t have a similar encounter with God as they did.
When I asked him him about this topic, he said, “If I can be an extremist for the enemy, then why can’t I be an extremist for God?”
That hit me. Here I was judging people because they were so confident in their encounter with God, but I didn’t realize that their confidence stems from so much struggle, pain, brokenness and loss that I have not endured. Sobhi said he used to be an extremist for the enemy. He may not have told me exactly what he did that was so extreme in the past, but one can only imagine what that may be like. However, now he’s found God in Jesus who saved him and who has freed him from his identity in his past. He experienced an entire transformation of who he was and who he is now. The reasoning for being so extreme actually made sense to me. If he had the capacity to serve something evil that caused so much pain to himself and to others, then he knows with confidence that he has the capacity and power to serve something good that provides so much love, grace, and purpose – not just for himself but to others. He and the many men I met had said they plan to use their ability to be passionate into something good, who is God, and not harmful for society.
Some other words of wisdom he shared: “If I’m in a church for 10 years, there has to be someone we are investing in, because life is not about us. We can’t just go to church, but we have to be the church. We can’t just believe, but we have to do. We are on this earth to do our Father’s will – not our own thing. I had to learn the hard way. Also, there’s more to life than building a house and having a car. Nothing belongs to us. God loaned us the car so he can use it for our will. In the Bible, the book of Matthew chapter 6:33, it says “What you should want most is to seek God first and doing what he wants you to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need.” It’s also important to speak life into people by encouraging others then back it up by asking how are they doing. Then encourage them to seek God.”
He also says it was a blessing to have us there and serve others through this ministry of refurbishing this building for Hedges. He says the impact we made in just one day, in two weeks, was a gift toward their organization. He says not many people in Belize have the time, resources, or money to volunteer, and the time we served made a huge impact to make sure the building is complete before November 4th. The sooner it is complete, the sooner they can start moving in men.
I know not everyone believes in God, and that’s totally okay. I just thought it is interesting to share what I have learned: that before we judge a believer, it is good to understand why they believe in God and how God has impacted their lives for the good. It was such a great experience getting to listen to Sobhi’s story. I want to thank him for being so brave, so bold and so vulnerable as he shared his story with us. He’s such an inspiration on the many ways he is serving his community and helping people through the process to heal from their past as well. It was an honor to be a part of the change he and his church wants to create in their community. Thank you for giving us that opportunity.
Sobhi and I.
Painting the inside of the nonprofit – Hedges – the new housing for Freedom House.
Marcus and I. He cut down the coconut and drank straight from it during break time.
He cut it with machete!! How cool!
Thank you all for reading this blog post. Let me know if you have any questions or comments.
With just one week left in Belize, please consider donating toward the rest of this fundraiser. I have to reach $3,000 before the end of November. More blog posts coming soon! The people of Belize are amazing!
With love, Jasmine Jaurigue
