A young man's struggle to live out his faith
It is
interesting how as humans, sometimes we have to hit rock bottom before we are
actually willing to make a change in our lives. About a year ago, I was taken custody
for one of the boys that I work with, who was accused of stealing. Unfortunately,
shortly after that incident he had fallen again and was taken to prison and was
there for three months.
This last
January, he appeared again in Jarabacoa after being released, seeking me out.
He told me some things that had happened while he was in prison and told me
that he didn’t want to die in the streets, but wanted to die in the church. In
that time I presented to him the Gospel and asked him if He wanted to pray to
accept Jesus into his heart. He accepted, and we prayed together. I have to be
completely honest, I had been manipulated by this guy so many times before that
as we were praying, I didn’t think it was completely genuine, but I felt like
God had arranged the situation to pray for him in this area; so I was just
being obedient. However, what was to happen in the next few months was proof
that there was some authentic change.
That same
night that he prayed the Prayer of Salvation, he was pursued by the police and
they tried to kill him. He managed to get away, and that very next day he came
and found me again with great fear. I tried to encourage him and told him that
unfortunately, even though we decide to follow Christ, there are still consequences
for our sins. I had heard so much talk in the streets about the police’s desire
“to be done with him.” So I encouraged him to try starting his life over in a
different town and then maybe when things cool down he could come back. So I
encouraged him with some Bible verses, and prayed for him. I prayed that God
would bless his life and that He could start over with God being the center of
it. I also prayed that if it was God’s will to start his life over again here
in Jarabacoa that he would do that. However, knowing the danger that he was in,
I encouraged him to leave town and sent him on his way. The plan was to leave
right after our meeting. At that point, I felt like that was going to be the
last time that I would see this guy again.
Much to my
surprise, the very next day I am working and he shows up again. I asked him
what was he doing here?! He told me that as he was on his way out of town, he
was picked up by the police and he spent the night in jail. The head officer
then talked with him and sensed that there was something different about him.
He told him that he wants him to start his life over right, and doesn’t want to
have any problems with him. He decided to take the warrant off of his head and
help him find a job. When he finally got
a job he was working there for a little while when the manager saw that he
looked rather sickly. He sent him to go get checked out. Through a blood test
that he had, he tested positive for HIV, and consequently lost his job because
of it. It had appeared that the last time he was in prison he had contracted it
there and found out a couple of months afterwards. This was another struggle
that he went through. He even confessed to me that when he found out he even attempted
to hang himself, but just as he was about to throw himself off of the roof of
the abandoned, half-constructed house where he was staying, he stopped and said
to himself, this is not what God wants for my life.
When I found out that he had HIV, God shortly
put someone in our path someone who is a missionary doctor and has a passion
for HIV and AIDS patients. Through her, God provided the opportunity to get
free treatment. Shortly after starting the process of receiving the treatment,
he found out that his mom had died back in Haiti, and wanted to go back to
Haiti for the funeral of his mom. However, because of his condition, he was not
able to do any kind of long travel or exert a lot of energy until he was on
treatment. He had all of the reasons to steal to meet his needs: food,
clothing, shelter, and now to be there for his mom’s funeral and even with all
of those things, he decided not to steal and stayed and missed his mother’s
funeral. Through these events, I could see that God had been working on the
heart of this young man.
I began meeting with him on a very regular
basis and we began working on things such as spiritual growth, character
development, hygiene, and as well as health things with the doctor for the HIV.
He began to be more encouraged and began to find hope in life again. He was
able to get another job, and start working some.
Now, it’s
been 2 weeks that he hasn’t come to the meetings and no one has seen him. He
still hasn’t received his treatment. Please pray for him that everything that
we have been teaching him can remain in his heart and wherever he is at, that
God can continue to encourage him and work on his heart. Also, please be
praying for the doctor and myself because we were struggling because we were
seeing his discouragement over time, and this also has discouraged us. Please
pray for wisdom and direction and may God himself be the one that brings hope.
May God guard my emotions and give me peace.
I know that I did what God wanted me to do, and I realize that there is
a work that is mine, a work that is God’s and a work that is this young man’s. The
only one who can make this work grow in the life of this young man is God.
"As the Lord has assigned to each his task.
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but
God has been making it grow. So
neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God,
who makes things grow.”
1 Corinthians 3:5b-7
