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 Nicholas and his translator preaching |
 Nicholas, Vincent and the translator |
It only takes a spark.
July 21 2006 / ShareHim in Benin, Jun. 2 - Jun. 17 '06 #37by Nicholas Snell
Personal Testimony of Nicholas Snell.
Night after long night of preaching regardless of how I felt, I was looking for someone. Sometimes I felt like I had nothing left to give before I even got up to preach because the daily grind was such a draining experience.
As God reminded me that it isn’t about my feelings or my strength just as Zechariah 4:6 proclaims, “Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty, found renewed strength from the Spirit of God. His strength was made known in my weakness and night after night I found that someone - this man who was keenly interested in what was being said. He always brought with him a light brown leather binder just darker than his skin so he could attentively record key texts and powerful points.
He was very noticeable from the platform as his skin was lighter that all the rest but more than that the fascination he had in his eyes as the truth was reveled to his hungry soul. The Holy Spirit had been working in his heart ever since the meetings that were held in the area the year before that had caught his interest and this time around reeled him in.
He was an evangelist at a nearby church of a separate denomination but just as any person seeking the truth he was led back to these meetings night after night. Because of his obvious interest and his constant leadership in response to the call’s, I thought He was a strong church member. When I asked who had been baptized he was quick to raise his hand but I also noticed that he did not stay after the meetings and pray with the rest of the church members. Then one night after the message of the Sabbath I learned from my translator that he had for the first time accepted the Sabbath and my heart was filled with joy and I saw him at church on Sabbath two days later. He made an educated decision to leave the church he had been leading and come to the Seventh-day Adventist church. He has decided to leave his church but just as anyone who catches the fire of the joy of the gospel, he didn’t want to leave his church in the dark but would like to have some meetings to let his old church know why he is leaving. He wasn’t leaving because of them but because he found the trail of truth and it led in a different direction to which he invites them to follow.
He is not only making plans to live the truth sometime in the future but requested the sermon notes about the loss and recovery of truth over the centuries so he could share it in a radio broadcast two days after the meetings end.
It is an inspiration to my soul to see the diligence of study and the quick response that Vincent the evangelist accepted the truth as soon as he saw it.
I praise God for him because though I know I must go, he can stay and teach and preach as I remember to pray. It only takes a spark to get a fire going and soon all those around can warm up to its glowing that’s how it is with God’s love once you’ve experienced it. Just as the song says, I’ll shout it from the mountain tops, I want my world to know, the Lord of life has come to me, I want to pass it on. Won’t you join Vincent and I as we respond to the great gospel commission.
As God reminded me that it isn’t about my feelings or my strength just as Zechariah 4:6 proclaims, “Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty, found renewed strength from the Spirit of God. His strength was made known in my weakness and night after night I found that someone - this man who was keenly interested in what was being said. He always brought with him a light brown leather binder just darker than his skin so he could attentively record key texts and powerful points.
He was very noticeable from the platform as his skin was lighter that all the rest but more than that the fascination he had in his eyes as the truth was reveled to his hungry soul. The Holy Spirit had been working in his heart ever since the meetings that were held in the area the year before that had caught his interest and this time around reeled him in.
He was an evangelist at a nearby church of a separate denomination but just as any person seeking the truth he was led back to these meetings night after night. Because of his obvious interest and his constant leadership in response to the call’s, I thought He was a strong church member. When I asked who had been baptized he was quick to raise his hand but I also noticed that he did not stay after the meetings and pray with the rest of the church members. Then one night after the message of the Sabbath I learned from my translator that he had for the first time accepted the Sabbath and my heart was filled with joy and I saw him at church on Sabbath two days later. He made an educated decision to leave the church he had been leading and come to the Seventh-day Adventist church. He has decided to leave his church but just as anyone who catches the fire of the joy of the gospel, he didn’t want to leave his church in the dark but would like to have some meetings to let his old church know why he is leaving. He wasn’t leaving because of them but because he found the trail of truth and it led in a different direction to which he invites them to follow.
He is not only making plans to live the truth sometime in the future but requested the sermon notes about the loss and recovery of truth over the centuries so he could share it in a radio broadcast two days after the meetings end.
It is an inspiration to my soul to see the diligence of study and the quick response that Vincent the evangelist accepted the truth as soon as he saw it.
I praise God for him because though I know I must go, he can stay and teach and preach as I remember to pray. It only takes a spark to get a fire going and soon all those around can warm up to its glowing that’s how it is with God’s love once you’ve experienced it. Just as the song says, I’ll shout it from the mountain tops, I want my world to know, the Lord of life has come to me, I want to pass it on. Won’t you join Vincent and I as we respond to the great gospel commission.