This is a story I have been meaning to write for quite some time. There are moments throughout this year that help define why I choose a life that seeks the Face of God. There are a lot of days that I don’t get to see the fruit of what I do and say in my everyday interactions, but there are some incredible days that boldly remind me why I pursue a life of love. This is a story from a few months ago in Malaysia, my seventh month in the Race. This story is about a man named Reuben and the God of the Universe who sought Him out just to give him what he had been looking for.
My team and I were staying in the city of Kuala Lumpur for a few days before heading out to our more permanent destination for ministry that month. We had been praying over our ministry for the month called “Ask the Lord” (ATL), which is basically what it sounds like: we didn’t have a set contact, schedule, or place to stay for the month. We would simply ask the Lord where He wanted us to be that month and then be obedient. We were excited to get started and see what adventures Holy Spirit had for us.
During those few days in KL, we really wanted to find a church service to attend. After some research, we discovered an awesome local church called Kingdom City that looked like they were doing some incredible things for the Kingdom in their community. We attended 2 services in one day because we liked it so much, and quickly made some wonderful friends who treated us to lunch. My kind of people! As we sat and talked with them, they invited us the next day to join them in their weekly street outreach. We eagerly said YES and looked forward to the next night.
We showed up Monday night at a small Lutheran church, where they meet for worship and prayer before splitting into teams for the night. The Spirit of the Lord was present as we sang together as one Church, praising God for Who He is. Then we divided ourselves and started out in different directions all over the area. I was teamed up with my old buddy Paul from my first team, and two older women who come to these outreaches very regularly. I was immediately drawn to the one who was leading our group, Aly, a confident Welsh woman with a trendy haircut and a fire in her eyes. She had a loving gentleness in her spirit and speech that made it obvious she spent a lot of time with Jesus.
Our first stop was down an alley that looked like someplace you would not want to wander alone at night, but Aly walked right up to the first group of men we saw who were working on something mechanical in the shadows. They seemed to know her as she lovingly called each one “uncle” and greeted them with a hug. We talked only briefly as it seemed she was catching up from last week, and eventually asked if there was anything we could pray for. The men readily offered up their pains and ailments for prayer and we laid hands on them to pray. All of them felt better at the end of our prayers and were immediately filled with a fresh joy! Woohoo Jesus! Talk about a great start to our night…
We continued to walk, listening to the Holy Spirit for where to turn, who to stop and spend more time with. We walked down a street lined with little restaurants, the kind that only the locals would hang out at. We stopped and prayed healing for a kind oldvman who was sitting on the sidewalk with an inhaler. He wasn’t healed right before our eyes, but said he felt better than before and was in awe that we would stop to pray for him. We soon moved on and stopped in a restaurant only a few doors down. That was where we met my middle-aged Indian friend named Reuben.
Reuben was hungry for something that night. We made small talk with the owners of the shop while Reuben introduced himself, but he wasn’t much interested in small talk. He told us that he saw us speaking with the man down the street with the inhaler and thought that was a beautiful thing. We talked for a bit about what exactly we were doing, then Aly asked him if he had any pain in his body we could pray for. Reuben is a golfer on the weekends and said he just has the normal back and shoulder pain that comes with it, that’s all. Aly said, “My brother, pain doesn’t have to be normal. Not in God’s Kingdom.” It didn’t sound like a religious thing to say- she was completely serious and he responded with the most innocent-sounding, “Really?” As he looked at each of us with this sort of wonder in his eyes, he obliged to let us pray for him. The first time we prayed the wonder turned to shock as his eyes got wide and he asked, “What did you do??” He had definitely felt something! We prayed two more times for all the pain to be completely gone and for the first time in Reuben’s life he experienced a total hands-on healing touch from the Lord! We were excited for him as he tried to decipher just what was going on inside of him. He wanted to know more, so we invited him to sit and talk, ask questions, and tell us his story.
Earlier that night, before heading out to ministry, the Lord simply dropped the word “peace” into my spirit. Of course it’s a great thing to pray for when you’re out doing street ministry, but it was such a clear word, so I asked the Lord if there was something specific about “peace” for this night. He just told me someone needed it this night so be ready to give it away. I even wrote the simple word on my hand so I would remember to keep my eyes and ears open for whoever needed some peace.
As we sat with Reuben, he began to open up with his questions about God and what that meant to us as Christians. We talked about the difference between religion and relationship, you know, all that good stuff, but most of all just told him how much Jesus loves him and it’s really as simple as that. At one point in the conversation, I felt a tugging on my heart to ask Reuben what this word of peace meant to him in his own life. He had told a little bit about himself, but not much yet. So I asked him, “Reuben, I feel compelled to ask you this. Have you been searching for peace in your life for quite some time?” He looked at me with those wide eyes and said, “Yes. For a long time.” There was a sadness that came over him and I knew he was about to divulge something.
Reuben went on to tell us that he was going through a very painful divorce with his wife. He had a daughter who they were fighting for custody over and his wife’s family hated him and had spoken many harsh words over who he was for many years. He had become so hopeless and depressed as of late that only 3 months earlier he tried to commit suicide. He said that he had made all the preparations to do it, but when the time came, he knew something was telling him not to give up. To hold on to hope for a little while longer. From there he went into how he knew it was something divine, how he knew there was always some higher power at work, but never really identified it as anything. He was only sure in that moment that there was a reason he didn’t take his own life that night.
As my heart was breaking for the sadness that Reuben had experienced in his life, I also came alive at the realization that Reuben was ready to know Jesus. Everything he had been saying throughout our conversation and the way he had lit up at the prospect of there being a real God who REALLY heals led into the life-changing prayer that Reuben prayed that night. We explained what Jesus did for him on the cross, a story he’d heard before, but this time it was personal. Jesus died for Reuben’s depression; He died for the hopelessness and the guilt that he had been carrying for so many years. He took that upon himself so that Reuben could have freedom, could have real PEACE. We began to share with him how Jesus had preserved his life because He really, REALLY wants him to know Him. When we asked Reuben what he wanted to do, He said, “I want to know Jesus.” AHHH JESUS! What incredible JOY fills the heavens when one person says those words! We prayed with Reuben that night to receive Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior, and I know that he will never be the same.
I was walking on clouds the rest of the night. When we came back together as a group at the end of the night to share, I couldn’t contain my excitement! I was skipping the whole way back and doing all kinds of crazy high-kicks with some ridiculous grin plastered on my face. Who knows how silly I looked, I was just full of joy that Reuben gets to know the Jesus that I know! What love is this, that Jesus would lay down His own life for His friends? That we might be called sons and daughters of God?? His love changes lives every day. His kindness is what leads us to repentance. His joy and promise of life more abundantly sets us FREE. Reuben knows this now. He knows the God Who healed his golf injuries, Who sent strangers to talk to him in a restaurant, Who gave him a hope and a purpose. The same God who will continue to lavish His love upon him and remind him every day that he was set apart for the Lord’s glory. Reuben’s changed life will bring peace to many others in the name of Jesus because he is not the same Reuben he once was. Amen!
