No, it was not my boyfriend. No, we did not go out on a date. No, I was not alone with this man.
Now that that’s out of the way, let me introduce you to this man. His name is Matthew. He is 23 years old.
So it was Valentine’s Day. Some friends and I made plans with a woman we’ve become very close to here in India. We went to meet her at her house at 1 and were told she wouldn’t be there until 1:30. So, we all decided to wait in this grassy area beside a gazebo, which none of us have priorly desired to sit here(total God thing amiright!). We all noticed this person laying down on the hill a little further away from us. The man eventually approached us after about 10 minutes.
“Today was not my day” he tells us. Through many questions, we learned a lot about Matthew. He graduated from a 6 month program at Agape(Christian rehabilitation program) this past November. Since then, he relapsed a couple times because all of his friends do drugs. He has tried to commit suicide multiple times in many different ways, through knowledge he gained on the internet. “I used to internet the wrong way” he explains. His parents say they are Muslim, but he says they are more like atheists. His neighbor mocks and disrespects him constantly due to his past with drugs. He suffers from insomnia and thinks it’s possibly due to a demonic presence. He is struggling to know his purpose in this world. Ultimately, he was thoroughly distraught and struggling to see God’s hand on his life.
With all of this going on in his life, this morning his parents gave him some money and asked him to not some back.
We prayed over Matthew a couple times and spoke life into his situation. He asked us to walk him home. We told him that we would go, as long as he knows that whether or not we are with him, that God is with him and is in control. After assuring us that he is putting his faith in God and not us, we agreed to go.
We then went back to our friends house, an hour later than planned. She recommended that we don’t accompany Matthew home, so we didn’t out of respect for her. We were disappointed, but surprisingly at peace with the situation. Before saying goodbye, my friend made Matthew promise that he would come to youth group the next day.
HE CAME to youth group! Well, not exactly. There was a missionary from Cambodia sharing his testimony at the Bible college right next to church and he accidentally came there. I was there and saw him in the doorway. I was so excited to see him! He looked different; like a weight was lifted off his shoulders and was replaced with joy and peace!
After the service, he told us all that happened after we said goodbye yesterday. He went to prayer mountain to pray for a while. He then walked to the street by his house and just sat there. While sitting, one of his drug-free friends saw him and invited him to stay the night. This friend, Thomas, greatly encouraged him and brought him to the decision to check himself back into rehabilitation. Matthew encouraged us and gave the glory to God. He told us that if we had walked him home, then he would have never had that encounter with his friend. He also talked things over with his parents and was not met with hate.
Matthew was so encouraged by the speaker. He told us that he would love to be like him one day, sharing his testimony of all that God’s done in his life to bring encouragement to others.
The next day, we were able to join Matthew, his friend and his father to bring him to Agape. Matthew pulled us aside and sincerely thanked us for talking with him and pointing him back to God. We told him that it was ALL thanks to God; we are just His broken vessels!
God answered so many prayers and was so faithful in this whole situation! I am completely blown away by all that He did! From bringing conviction to Matthew to be completely honest with us to answering such a specific prayer asking provision for Matthew to lay his head down to rest in a home that is drug-free. He worked in all the little details and revealed Himself so mightily to Matthew and us!
I am so thankful that God allowed me to be a small part of Matthew’s story and I am so excited to see where the Lord takes him. I am also very thankful that there are places like Agape here in India that are able to aid people struggling with addiction, while also sharing with them the hope and redemption that is found in Jesus Christ!
