Stories from our field
Set free from isolation and despair
Sam lives in the United States. He had been to church a few times in his youth, but that was a long time ago. He lives with his disabled mother whom he takes care of, but hardly had any contacts with anyone else. He felt so hopeless that he had contemplated suicide. Then he started searching for God on the internet.
After he had seen a film on YouTube about the life of Jesus, he left a reply that the film had touched him. Sam: “I don’t speak to anyone else about religious matters. So it was a big step for me to even click on the link. The first thing I did was investigate where this link might lead me. I finally realised that I had to do it. After much prayer I clicked on the link and started the course.
Huge barrier
Sam completed the course in two months. He asked his mentor many questions and arrived at this testimony: “ I will never forget Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Through His blood our sins are forgiven.” He clearly had a strong desire to live with Jesus, but had to overcome a huge barrier before making contact with other Christians.
Transportation
His mentor encouraged him to go to church. Sam answered: “You’ve told me how important it is to go to church and have contact with other Christians – who am I to deny that? For a follower of Jesus Christ, this is an assignment to trust and obey. I will take my mother to church this Sunday, although I don’t yet know how we will get here. But I trust that God will provide
what we need.
Active member
Sam did what he had said. He went to church. And not only that, the next week he reported that he had taken his brother and nephew to church, too! In the meantime, Sam has done more courses from GlobalRize. In the evaluation form at the end of the next course, he clicked “I am an active member of a church that proclaims the Gospel of Jesus.”
Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash
