|
A life of crime and misery
I grew up in the Church, but turned away—and in doing
so rejected much of the moral teaching. Drinking became my
addiction. I craved alcohol so badly that if I didn’t
have any around, I would resort to drinking petrol. It is by
the grace of God I did not die from poisoning myself.
I also sought pleasure in hunting. One day I came across two
cattle rustlers, and I was so angry at what they were doing
that I shot them both dead. I was never prosecuted for this
crime because my uncle was the governor of that province.
I became desperate for money, and I even
sunk so low, I actually forged my parents’ signatures to withdraw their money
from the bank to use on my vices. My want for money became
a lust. I knew I could not get plenty of money from honest
work, so I turned to crime. The quickest way to get money was
to beat up people to make them hand over their money. To progress
in my life of crime, I joined a gang of criminals and soon
became the leader. Due to my uncle’s influence, I escaped
arrest again and again.
Jesus filled the void
There I was, having some power and plenty of money, and yet
I was so miserable. I was far away from God—I felt
helpless and alone.
The nephew of my wife was a pastor in this
city, and being in a desperate state—in both body and
mind—I went to see him. I felt God could not forgive me for
what I was and had done. It seemed hopeless—for surely
I was a man condemned before God.
He was kind to me and listened patiently.
He took the time to open his Bible to show me appropriate
verses. The Word of God is powerful—penetrating where it needs to—and
so the Word of God penetrated my cruel heart. With the help
of the pastor, I opened my heart to Christ. There flooded into
my being a peace—the like which I can’t describe.
God was making me clean as He washed me with the blood of Christ.
The next day I began to read the Bible. I could not stop crying
from the sense of the relief from being forgiven by God. Over
the weeks, the Lord took out all the vices in my life. He replaced
them with the desire to read and study His Word, to pray, to
witness, to attend church, and to worship Him. Five months
after my conversion, I was baptized.
How God is using me
In 1998, there came to me an intense desire to place Bibles
in my village. I prayed about the matter. Two weeks later
there was a knock at my door—and there was a man from
the Bible League. He had arrived with a van packed with Bibles,
and he had come to ask me to help place them. I was astonished
at how the Lord had answered my prayer! I used Bible League
materials to lead a small Bible study group. Eventually,
from this group, a church was established.
The Bible League invited me to attend their Church Planting
Institute, and so far, God has enabled me to establish nine
churches. One of them has grown to 400 people!
-Billy, Bible League-trained
Church Planter-
|
To learn more about the work of God in the Philippines, click
here.
“She asked, ‘Who are you? Why are you helping me?’ We
replied, ‘We are children of God; the Lord’s grace
has come to your house today ...’” Read more
|
From
criminal to church planter