Nova
Zamky, Slovakia
I
am now in Nova Zamky, Slovakia. On Thursday nights, the team here
goes to a youth meeting, called ACET. The focus this
past Thursday was “Drugs and False Idols,� led by a 35 year old
man named Noro. Noro has one heck of a past and he humbly shared it
with about 40 teenagers. And, now I will share it with you:
Noro
grew up living with him father and step mother, who he had always
thought was his real mom- until the day his father kicked him out to
go live with his biological mother. His mother was a pretty abusive
woman; she would beat him until he bled, and with no remorse. She
would kick him out oh the house time and time again. There were
Christmas’s he spent on the streets and times his sister would sneak
food to him up in the attic.
Noro
felt like he needed something to take away the hurt and the pain-
something to help him cope with everything going on. He started with
cigarettes. It wasn’t enough.
He tried alcohol. It
wasn’t enough.
Then onto marijuana and
ecstasy. It still
wasn’t enough. Then
he tried pervatin (which is a drug made in the Czech Republic)…
that did the trick. It gave him the high he desired. It gave it
confidence.
After
about a month, he was hooked. The desire grew in him and he just HAD
to have it. Nothing was going to stand in his way. He would beat
people up for money, steal, and he would even sell himself for
prostitution. He would do anything. Sometime after becoming a dealer,
he was caught by the law.
One
day, as he was sitting in a temporary prison, peace overwhelmed him.
He couldn’t explain it, except for that it was the Presence of the
Lord. He had heard about Jesus before, but it became REAL to him that
day in the prison and He accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. The
next 2 years in prison were his best years with the Lord. He didn’t
do any drugs. He said it was a miracle
and that Jesus HEALED
him.
After
sharing his story, he did an activity with the students. He gave them
4 small pieces of paper and asked them to write on the first 3 sheets
the most important things in their lives… one per sheet. Then, he
had them pick one of those 3 sheets to give up, to crumble up and
throw on the floor- this was to symbolize the first thing to go if
they ever got addicted to drugs. He had them do it a 2nd
time saying, “you have to throw it away, you’re addicted.â€� He did
it again the 3rd
time saying the same thing.
Some
of the things on those pieces of paper were:
friends
family
education
health
He challenged them
to think about what it would be like to give up these things. To give
up friends, family, hopes, dreams, and future. It will take
away everything real- even your emotions and the love you accepted
from people.
In
that moment, I was overcome with thankfulness. Thankful that I only smoked
marijuana a handful of times. Thankful that I didn’t get hooked on
speed after only trying it once. Thankful that Jesus pulled me out
of that before it overtook my life.
THANK YOU JESUS!
