Why I'm Here...

Seems that quite often I have these moments in Masi where I simply sit back and say..."ah, that is why I moved across the world...this is why I'm here!"  Sunday, I had one of those moments.

We were gathered for church Sunday morning with a group of guys.  Several of us on the bed, several on the floor of one small room.  While sharing about our week, one of the guys (Shawn, who we thought was Muslim) says this:

When I met you guys, it was like I was locked in a dark room.  I feel like you all took a stick and poked a hole in the roof and I could see a little bit of light shining through.  Then, you gave me the stick to hold myself.  And for the last few months, I have been working on the hole and making it even bigger, and now my life is full of light.  I think that the stick and the light are Jesus. Ever since I gave my body and my spirit to Jesus, my life has totally changed! 

There just are not words to explain the joy I feel when I see a changed life like this. This is not the first time that I have heard a profession of faith like this.  It is so stinking cool when people surrender to Jesus and share out of that surrender instead of us walking them through a "sinner's prayer".  This is the best type of sinner's prayer ever--one that flows out of their real experience. These men are finding Jesus and He's showing up and showing off in their lives. 

It's moments like these when I know...THIS is why I'm here.  Pray for Shawn.  He's the one in the picture next to me with his hands folded.  I meet alone with him Thursday night to start to walk with him in a deeper way.