Monday, July 31, 2017

Overcoming Struggles

Man, this is it. We have made it to the end of our journey and we are so blessed that God gave us this opportunity to be here. However, we wanted to go back to the first village that we visited at the beginning of the trip. 

We went back to G village this past week and reconnected with all our friends we made earlier in the summer. It was a great time seeing all our friends we made and saw how much they'd change since we left last time. 

From our last time there, on the second to last day before we left, we met this guy named B. He loved hanging out with us and he wanted us to come back the next time we come to the village. So, when we came back, we reconnected with him. He was excited for us to be there. We hung out the whole time there, but God was with us and him one of our nights together. We were hanging out in the bungalow where we were staying & our translator told us that B was starting to reveal some things in life that he was struggling with. Turns out, B has been struggling with homosexuality for almost over a decade now and has always wanted to change, but couldn’t because his flesh said one thing. It got to the point where he wasn’t interested looking at girls anymore. We knew the enemy had a stronghold in his life, and he knew that was a sin before God. 

From that, we got to share the gospel with him and show him what God says in the Bible about homosexuality. We asked him if we could pray in the name of Jesus for him... that God will convict his heart for what he's doing is wrong and help him realize that there is power in the name of Jesus. We also prayed that the Holy Spirit may dwell within him and help him see that he needs a Savior in his life. 

As we were praying, he started breaking down in tears knowing that he is a sinner and wanted to change so badly that it hurts in his heart. Our friend A was there & came over and prayed with us. He was also in tears because he was praying for his friend who he knew that he has struggled with. We told him that if you pray in the name of Jesus, He can make it happen if you truly believe that he is God of this universe. He agreed and didn’t make a decision at the moment, but we have confidence that the Holy Spirit is convicting his heart right now. 

After praying, we told him that we will be continue praying for him and we would love to pray for him before we leave, so he can have the strength to move on forward. It broke our hearts how much he was hurting, but we still loved him so much that the stuff doesn’t bother us at all. We need to love all people like God did when he went up on that cross to die for our sins. 

Pray for B that God will give him the strength to overcome his struggles, and pray for the whole village of G that God will start to dwell on that place by revealing His Holy Spirit through the people there.


-Johann M.