Dear Phyllis,
Last week I promised you that
I had another great story to tell you. Indeed it is a good one.
A week ago last Wednesday my
friend Scott Noble told me that he had met a man from Nepal
The first year Rosemary and I
were married, we had a little Nepalese boy live with us almost like a foster
son. Ritu’s father was a medical doctor in Kiryu, about an hour and a half from
Karuizawa. We had a children’s school in Karuizawa that his parents wanted him
to attend, but he needed someone to live with. Through that contact we met the
Rhais and developed an intense interest in Nepal Nepal Japan Nepal
When Tre (pronounced tree) came
to meet us at the Mae Jo cafeteria, I immediately liked him. He is 35 years
old, with streaks of grey hair, married with two children in Nepal Nepal
He told about how he had a
friend who became a Christian 15 years ago. There was such a profound change in
this man that Tre wondered what had made him so different. His friend gave him
a New Testament which he read from cover to cover in one week. That was the
first time he had seen the Word of God. He was greatly attracted, and became a
seeker. He loved the teaching of Christ, and was convinced that this was the greatest
teaching on earth. He also had a copy Hindu scripture which he admired and frequently
read. Though he was a great admirer of Jesus, he still considered himself a
Hindu. In his quest for spiritual truth he had attended several churches in
various places. He had gone to a house church in Nepal India Thailand
As we sat there in the cafeteria
I asked him to get out his English Bible and read John 3. For the next half
hour it was like we were reliving that night when Jesus spoke with Nicodemus.
Tragically, the Pentecostal
church where Tre was going is the most upside-down church as I know in Chiang
Mai. Through other friends I was very familial with that church and knew it was
a spiritual disaster zone. Tre was a regular attender there but was turned off.
He was interested in learning about the Gospel but no one had spent any time teaching
him, and he was confused by the irreverent type of worship. He told Scott that
he just didn’t think that was the way we should worship God.
When we began to read John 3
together I asked him if he had ever read this before. With a serious look on
his face he replied, “Never”. Of course, he had covered it in general Bible
reading but what we were looking at was a first time experience for him. He had
background enough in Bible knowledge to know who the Pharisees were, and he was
slam on the mark when I asked him why Nicodemus came at night. But when we read
that a man must be born-again in order to see the Kingdom of God – and unless a
man is born-again he CANNOT enter the Kingdom of God – it was like that blew
his mind. I asked Tre, “Have you ever heard this before?” “Never!” He had the most strained, perplexed,
look on his face and pleaded with me, “How is it possible for a man to be
born-again?” I felt just like Jesus talking to Nicodemus. I explained to him “that
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit”.
I told him that there must be a spiritual birth before a man can understand the
things of the Spirit of God. We ran out of time so I invited him to come to my
house Saturday night.
The next night he came at 6:00 PM . We went out to get some pizza. After supper we
opened the Word again at John 3. It was wonderful! Every word seemed to just
come alive and come off the page at us. Seldom have I experienced such enabling
of the Holy Spirit to take His Word and make it come alive to us. When we got
down to verse 14, we read, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness
even so must the Son of man be lifted up”. I took him back to Num. 21:4-9 to
explain that story to him. I asked Tre, “When was it that Jesus was lifted up?”
He replied, “Oh, that must have been when he came back to life or when He went
back to heaven.” I told him, “No. ‘Even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up’. Moses made a brass
serpent and put it on a pole. Then he lifted it up. Jesus was nailed to a
Cross. Then He was lifted up in the air.” I explained this to him and showed
him how “Jesus was made to be sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21 ).On the Cross Jesus took upon Himself the
responsibility and wrath of God against sin that we might be free. The night
before the crucifixion the Romans had made three crosses. The third cross was
for a fellow named Barabbas. The Jews asked that Barabbas be released and to
crucify Jesus. So that afternoon, Barabbas was walking free around town while
another Man took his place on the Cross (Mt. 27:15-26).
Then I took Tre back to John 1:12 – “but as many as received Him, to them gave He power
to become sons of God.” When I asked Tre if he wanted to accept Jesus, that was
like asking a drowning man if he wanted to get in the life boat. I asked Tre how
he would like to pray. “Would you like to pray by yourself or would you prefer to
have me lead you?” He requested that I lead him. We knelt together on the floor
and I led him in prayer to receive Jesus as his savior. But this was unique.
When I would say a phrase ‘Lord Jesus, I am a sinner’; rather than repeating
exactly what I said, first he would emphasize it by saying, “YES”, and then add
more depth to it than my simple statement. When we finished our prayer I looked
over at him. It was an awesome moment. Tre was kneeling on the floor with his
eyes closed but his arms and face lifted to heaven. It was several minutes
before we spoke.
Shortly after that he went
home. But thirty minutes later I had a phone call. The man on the other end was
like he was going out of his mind with joy. He kept raving, “I WILL NEVER FORGET
THIS DAY! THIS IS THE FIRST DAY OF MY LIFE!” The day before he had asked me
with deep perplexity, “How can a man be born-again?” Now he knew he was and
knew that that was the first day of his life.
The Mennonites have an
excellent Bible school, IGO (Institute for Global Opportunities), in the southern
part of Chiang Mai. I go there once a month. I’m sure I have told you about it.
Scott had been bugging me to take him to that service. The next morning Tre was
over and we all went to IGO for church. It was excellent! After the service Tre
kept raving, “I’M SO HAPPY! I’M SO HAPPY!” He sure was. Later that day he told
Scott, “I wasted two years going to the wrong church.” Scott’s wife Khae replied,
“Don’t worry. I wasted ten years before I got saved.”
After our Bible study I
suggested that we have a time of prayer. Again I was unprepared for what
happened. I prayed first. When Tre tried to pray the struggle was terrible.
Then he wailed, “I’m such a bad man!” I don’t know if I have ever seen such
brokenness in my life. Obviously he was having another intense time in the
Spirit. He didn’t have a handkerchief, so while he was praying, I went down
stairs to get a roll of toilet paper for him to blow his nose.
Only time will tell how he
turns out. But the amazing evidence of the Holy Spirit in his life leads me to believe
he is one rare jewel. Times like this don’t come along very often. But when
they do, it makes you just get on your knees and thank God for the awesome
privilege of allowing you to see the might working of God in the lives of
others.
Thank You Jesus!
bill
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