“Hungry for God”
by an Alliance International Workers in Asia
Just as Wednesday evening prayer meeting was about to start, Manao’s face lit up as she checked her phone. “Can we wait a few minutes to start? A friend is on his way.” Beam, a young man Manao’s age, came a few minutes later, having jogged about half a kilometer to get to church. We went around the small group gathered there and introduced ourselves. This was the first time Beam had ever been inside a church building!” I want to know God,” Beam said. He came to the right place!
Beam had seen a few testimonies of Christians on YouTube. The one that really gave him hope was of a man who had been into drugs and served time in prison. Now that man is a strong Christian, God has turned his life around and he even has a ministry to people currently in prison. One thing the man shares on YouTube was his amazement that God would love everybody, the “good” people and the “bad” people like himself.
Beam’s own dad has been in and out of prison Beam’s entire life, so Beam doesn’t know him that well. His mom, who gave birth to him at only 17, abandoned him at birth, so he has no relationship with her. He was raised by his dad’s mom and an aunt. “I did okay in elementary school,” he shared. He was in the same grade as Manao. Then he went to high school in a larger neighboring city. That’s when he got into the wrong crowds and dropped out of school in the middle of eighth grade.
Now 17 himself, he has a good job at a local store and is living on his own in a small apartment. He was making plans to study for his high school equivalency. He figured there has to be more to life than just working. He started seeking to know God. He connected with Manao on Facebook when he saw that she was a Christian now. They hadn’t seen each other since elementary school. Manao invited him to church.
He participated fully in the meeting as we sang, shared from the Bible and prayed.
As we ate fruit and had some fellowship after the prayer meeting, it was obvious this young man was ripe for harvest. Bale, another teenager in our church, started to share the Gospel with Beam. He was ready to ask Jesus into his life! Praise God.
The next day, my husband Edmet with Beam for discipleship Bible study. Beam had already started reading the Bible on the app he had downloaded and had watched about half of the Jesus video that is also on the app. “Beam is so hungry for God’s Word. He’s like a baby bird with his mouth open wide saying “feed me”. What a delight to teach him!” Beam had even asked Ed for some more Gospel tracts, like the ones we gave him after prayer meeting, so he can give them to his friends.
Sunday, Beam came in time for Sunday school. His face was “beaming” as he took it all in. Everyone welcomed him to the family. He shared with Ed later that he was so thankful for the warm fellowship that he experienced at church. It is something that had been missing in his life.
Please pray for this new disciple of Jesus, that he will grow strong in his faith. He has been telling everyone he is a Christian now. His girlfriend is a university student living about an hour away. Pray that she comes to faith too.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)