Month 6 in Ghana was my toughest month by far. I was under heavy spiritual attack, to the point where I even went a week without talking. I spoke a few words here and there, but I felt spiritually constricted. I couldn’t pray, read my bible or even smile. Despite my lack of motivation to serve and share Jesus, God was still able to use me.
While in Ghana I made an unhealthy choice to cope with my feelings by drinking a coke every night. Around the same time each night I’d go to a nearby store to get an ice cold treat.
One night in a dim lit alley, I met Jose. Jose was a local probably in his 40’s, who came home from work around the same time I went to the store each night. The night I met him, he was drunk and spent 5 minuets; complaining about his life, laughing at his drunkenness, and begging me to take him to America.
I struggled to listen to him as we stood in that dusty alley under the West African night sky. I could smell the alcohol on his breath and asked if he was drunk. He said yes, and continued with his drunken rant. I really didn’t want to talk to him anymore, but I felt it on my heart to share how God rescued me from my alcohol problem. I was so annoyed that God put this on my heart, but I shared my testimony and halfheartedly prayed for him. Then we parted ways and I was thankful that moment was over. I walked away with one of my teammates, full of hope that he’d leave me alone moving forward. He didn’t.
As the month continued I became more and more spiritually dry, and Jose annoyed me more every night we crossed paths. He constantly begged for me to get him to America, and his repetitive drunken rants became a symphony of screeching irritation to my ears.
One night as I sat drinking my coke in the alley under the lone street light, I saw him stumbling my way. I decided to just put my head down and ignore Him.
BUT GOD, God had other plans that night.
In an instant I was no longer spiritually dry! God manifested Himself inside of me as I stood up and and walked towards my unsought company. He began his usual drunken chant, begging me to take him to America, so he could have a better life.
I still had no idea what was happening in me! I looked Jose straight in the eyes and began to righteously put this man in his place. I raised my voice, and said…
“You want a better life?!”
With an astonished look on his face he replied with a timid, “yes”.
I continued…
“It’s not in America! It’s right here in Ghana where God has placed you. If you want a better life stop coming home drunk every night! Go home early and love your wife and kids. You are a grown man acting like a child and it’s time to stop! Your family needs you to be a man, and you can’t do that if you are drinking your life away. Those children in that house need a father, and you can’t be that if you keep living this way. Your wife needs a strong husband to love and care for her. A real man serves his family and you can’t do that if you’re always gone or passed out. I’ve had enough Jose, it’s time to put this life behind you. Following Jesus is the only way you will find the life you’re searching for, not drinking or running away to America.”
There was a brief pause in the conversation, and He had a completely different aura about him. It was almost as if those words sobered him up. He told me that he could not stop drinking, and that he wouldn’t come to God unless he had a dream. I called a few of my teammates over who were sitting at a distance, and we prayed for him then sent him home.
A week later I saw Jose again. He was sober and I didn’t recognize him until my teammate pointed it out to me. He walked straight by us without a word. I chased him down in that same dark and dusty alley, and asked what was going on. He looked at me with terror in his eyes. It was a look that made me feel as if I was a dangerous man. It was a look that almost broke my heart. I was confused. Why was this man scared of me? He said he couldn’t talk to me anymore. I asked why and all he said was,
“I can’t drink anymore. I had a dream and I can’t drink anymore.”
I tried my best to keep the conversation going but he was truly terrified of me. He just kept repeating,
“I won’t drink just let me go home, I won’t drink anymore.”
He quickly got away from me and went home.
After that encounter I was determined to share the gospel with him, and witness this man give his life to Christ. I began to develop a genuine, brotherly love for this man who I once loathed. I went back to that dusty alley the next 3 nights and waited for him. I prayed each day that I could see him again, but it didn’t happen. I never saw him again.
I still think about Jose often. I will never forget that look of terror in his eyes that pierced my heart, and I can only hope that the fear he had that night meant God did something big. I trust God with every ounce of my being. I know that Jose is fully known, loved and pursued by our gracious Father.
I pray that his fear turned into faith.
This is a moment I’ll never forget. A moment that proves God is surely alive! A moment that proves God can use you even if you’ve been struggling spiritually. God can use you, even if you have a terrible attitude. Jose annoyed me, and I wanted nothing to do with him, but God is bigger than that. God proved His sovereignty as He chose to use me, a spiritually dry man, to fulfill His will. God was pursuing Jose, and He chose to speak through me, regardless of my current spiritual condition. Not only did He use me, but He gave me a genuine brotherly love for this man. A love that I still have inside of me 5 months later. I am deeply humbled that God would choose to use me. He doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
I can’t make this stuff up, God is alive and He is able. I hope that this testimony demonstrates the sovereignty of God to all who read it. Jesus died on a cross for our sins. He even paid the price for a drunk man in west Africa named Jose. I don’t know if Jose ever gave his life to Christ, but if he did he too will be forgiven and adopted into the kingdom of God. He will no longer be a sinner, but a child of the living God. He will be NOT GUILTY! Jesus is for everyone!
Jesus Saves.
