As part of our ministry, we spend Friday nights at a little outdoor summer terrace, which is what we call it, even though the sign outside says “Beer Garden” …but anyway, the first night we went to the “Terrace” for a “Youth Meeting,” Christian and I walked in behind Pastor Zsombor and expected the “youth” to be there waiting for us. This is not America, though, and it’s not a youth group or a Young Life club or campaigners. Evidently, “youth” means “not geriatric,” which Christian and I learned as we followed the Pastor to a table and sat down across from two men in their late 40s.
About 30 minutes later, he came in. This boy who is glowing, but who has clearly been injured. A pink scar, no doubt the result of a tracheotomy or some time on life support sits right above his sternum glistening, as scar tissue does. His face is a little unsymmetrical in a way that can’t be natural, but his eyes glow, and his smile follows suit.
He sat down next to Christian, and began telling us his story through Pastor Zsombor, who proceeded to play the role of translator for the next two hours as I was engulfed in this beautiful boy’s story. I was fixated and couldn’t stop asking questions and trying to really communicate with this person who spoke no English, while I speak no Romanian. After fighting a language barrier through a translator who was distracted by two other conversations simultaneously, this is what I learned:
His name is Zoltan, he is 20 years old, and he should be dead.
me, Zoltan, and Pastor Zsombor.
About a year and a half ago, Zoltan fell four stories off a balcony after a rough night involving way too much alcohol. He broke both his legs, a few ribs, at least one of his arms (distracted translator…), and his face in seven places. He spent 3 days in a coma, 2 months in the hospital, and several months after that in a wheelchair while trying to finish his degree. He went through three surgeries per week for the entire 2 months he was in the hospital. He said that while he was in the hospital, he wanted to die, but he couldn’t.
A while into our conversation, he showed me his student ID from before the accident, and I can’t communicate how handsome he was before his face was crushed; but the eyes in the photo I saw were absolutely lifeless. After showing me that photo, Zoltan began to tell me (through the Pastor serving as our translator) that God had told him he had to be positive, because there was a reason his life had been spared, and the reason was good. His life was spared so that he could tell his story of God’s goodness, he’s a walking miracle and he knows it. 18 months after his accident, Zoltan has a degree, and is not only no longer in physical therapy – but he’s a personal trainer.
He knows he has a second chance at life, and he’s using it to broadcast the joy and perseverance that are characteristic of children of God. Life shines out of him, and it’s far more beautiful than the degree of “handsome” he’d been born with was.
Zoltan’s understanding of a compassionate, all-powerful God is well intact, but his understanding of the Gospel is still a little shaky. He did come to church last Saturday after I invited him at the Terrace, but please join me in praying for him to really see himself the way Jesus sees him, which can only happen once he really sees Jesus. Please also pray for the residual pain in the joints of his legs and his back, he can’t stand or sit for long periods of time still, but God’s chasing hard after him and it was definitely incredible to see how true it is that when one of His flock goes astray, the Shepherd will follow after him and carry him back.
