Introducing the New Pipen

If you have followed my blog over time you will realize that I have named the national team of guys I work with Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pipen. Frodo and Merry have their own ministries now and Sam alone is working with me from the original team. Over the years however, Pipen has been a changing position rather than a single person. About a month ago we hired a new Pipen. He was recommended to us by a national friend who said that he had been a believer for about a year. Ok, so he is young but I gave him a shot. After all, I needed a unique kind of guy for the team. The team is digging wells which is hard work and they are sharing the Gospel in a fundamentalist area which is harder work. Not just anyone can share passionately and work physically hard. (Come on Pastors you know its true!)

The first night down in the village I ask him about his testimony. I wondered what this guy might say to his prospective boss. The first words out of his mouth were that he had been a despicable person. After getting out of high school he got married, beat his wife mercilessly and was full of anger and hatred. Eventually his wife left him and he ran into some trouble with a group of guys in his neighborhood. He didn't really believe in God even though he considered himself a Muslim so, he prayed to God to help him kill these men as a way of testing if God were real. He was not able to kill the men which was such a disappointment to him that he considered killing himself. Then he remembered that he had some classmates who worked with our team up in Cair Andros. He decided he had nothing to lose so he went and visited them. They shared their faith with him and he was amazed at the way everyone on the team treated each other with love and respect. Eventually he accepted Jesus as his Lord and his life has taken a radical turn for the better.

I couldn't believe he was so honest with me! He totally opened up in front of me and the others there what a terrible person he was. I thought, 'Wow what a great testimony to the saving work of God!' This is why I love Jesus so much. He takes broken, bound, evil people and makes them kings. His story is a powerful testimony in this culture that has so little hope. Don't settle for laws, for social clubs, for religion of any kind. Seek Jesus and find the miraculous today.