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 Filipe Reis |
 Lamp and Filipe Reis
Calabaceira, Praia, Cape Verde |
I want to be free!
July 28 2011 / ShareHim in Cape Verde, Jul. 8 - Jul. 23 '11 #501by Filipe Reis
Personal Testimony of Filipe Reis.
When I first arrived to meet the Calabaceira Seventh-day Adventist Church members, in Praia, Cape Verde, they were gathered for a preparation meeting. This was the day before the start of the ShareHim campaign.
I could testify at once of their enthusiasm and excitement with the upcoming campaign. They were hoping for these meetings for some time now, and expecting that the foreign speaker could be a blessing to them and their guests.
When I was introduced, the smiles on their faces were just the motivation I wanted: this was going to be a great time for me, them, and the mission Jesus gave us.
The next day, Friday night, we started the meetings. There were some 200 people, including friends and neighbors who had been invited. The first sermon was based on Daniel 2, one of my favorite themes. I suppose, and they told me this later, that I explained myself quite well, and all who were there enjoyed as I showed how prophecy unfolds History before it happens.
When it came to speak about some eventually delicate issues, like the Sabbath, immortality of the soul and the Roman Church in prophecy, I tried to be the most emphatic as possible, leaving no word out and naming all that there was to be named.
Later, I was aware that from that day on, the non-Adventist attendees began to invite other friends themselves, so there was the need for more chairs to be brought to the small soccer field where the meetings were taking place. And still, there were people sitting on the surrounding wall and the floor.
One day, I preached the sermon and finished the meeting with a prayer. Then, suddenly, this man walks to me from the first row. He was staggering a little and when he was just two meters away from me, I could sense this horrible alcohol smell.
He put his arms around me, and in the midst of some suffering breathing, he began to say something that I could not understand as he was speaking in the native criolo language. I called the local Elder to help me.
This man’s name was Lamp. He listened when I preached about the deliverance only Jesus can bring to his life, even if we think we have gone too far. And, his words to me were: “please help me! I want to be free from alcohol!”
As he could understand Portuguese, I told him, “Do not worry about your problem. You have to trust Jesus, He can change your life, and He will do it. Please attend every meeting from now on. You’ll see that Jesus can help you.” I told him we were going to pray for him, and we did (the church was gathering every morning at 5 A.M. to pray for the meetings).
And, indeed, he never missed any other single night meeting – he only missed the Sabbath morning worship because, he said, he had no proper clothes for a church… And every day he came to greet me saying: “I asked Jesus, and today I did not drink!”
When I appealed for a baptism decision, Lamp was among the 27 who answered. The church at Calabaceira is now helping him, and he will start special classes to prepare for baptism.
This man had no friends, no one who cared about him. But when he came to the place where he learned about Jesus, he gained friends among the church members and a very special one, the greatest of all, in Jesus. He will surely be baptized soon.
I will never forget his first words to me: “I want to be free!” God also listened to this call, and Lamp is on his way to a new life without alcohol and with Jesus leading.
I could testify at once of their enthusiasm and excitement with the upcoming campaign. They were hoping for these meetings for some time now, and expecting that the foreign speaker could be a blessing to them and their guests.
When I was introduced, the smiles on their faces were just the motivation I wanted: this was going to be a great time for me, them, and the mission Jesus gave us.
The next day, Friday night, we started the meetings. There were some 200 people, including friends and neighbors who had been invited. The first sermon was based on Daniel 2, one of my favorite themes. I suppose, and they told me this later, that I explained myself quite well, and all who were there enjoyed as I showed how prophecy unfolds History before it happens.
When it came to speak about some eventually delicate issues, like the Sabbath, immortality of the soul and the Roman Church in prophecy, I tried to be the most emphatic as possible, leaving no word out and naming all that there was to be named.
Later, I was aware that from that day on, the non-Adventist attendees began to invite other friends themselves, so there was the need for more chairs to be brought to the small soccer field where the meetings were taking place. And still, there were people sitting on the surrounding wall and the floor.
One day, I preached the sermon and finished the meeting with a prayer. Then, suddenly, this man walks to me from the first row. He was staggering a little and when he was just two meters away from me, I could sense this horrible alcohol smell.
He put his arms around me, and in the midst of some suffering breathing, he began to say something that I could not understand as he was speaking in the native criolo language. I called the local Elder to help me.
This man’s name was Lamp. He listened when I preached about the deliverance only Jesus can bring to his life, even if we think we have gone too far. And, his words to me were: “please help me! I want to be free from alcohol!”
As he could understand Portuguese, I told him, “Do not worry about your problem. You have to trust Jesus, He can change your life, and He will do it. Please attend every meeting from now on. You’ll see that Jesus can help you.” I told him we were going to pray for him, and we did (the church was gathering every morning at 5 A.M. to pray for the meetings).
And, indeed, he never missed any other single night meeting – he only missed the Sabbath morning worship because, he said, he had no proper clothes for a church… And every day he came to greet me saying: “I asked Jesus, and today I did not drink!”
When I appealed for a baptism decision, Lamp was among the 27 who answered. The church at Calabaceira is now helping him, and he will start special classes to prepare for baptism.
This man had no friends, no one who cared about him. But when he came to the place where he learned about Jesus, he gained friends among the church members and a very special one, the greatest of all, in Jesus. He will surely be baptized soon.
I will never forget his first words to me: “I want to be free!” God also listened to this call, and Lamp is on his way to a new life without alcohol and with Jesus leading.