Right before this Coronavirus season started, there were several men and women we knew around the country who were wanting to be baptized. In fact, had lock-downs not come about and provincial boarders around the country not been closed in the end of March, we were planning a big trip around the country in April to be able to baptize all who were wanting to be baptized.
Since we haven’t been able to travel to the provinces we normally travel to to meet face to face with these brothers and sisters, we ended up doing more conversations with them online, leading up to when we’d actually be able to meet with them face-to-face and have a baptism party.
In the course of getting to know some of these guys better, one of the men shared his testimony with the group. I found his story really impacting, so I wanted to pass it on to you too!
I translated it as directly as I could, so if there’s anything that’s awkwardly phrased, I apologize.
Enjoy!
A few years ago, I moved to Armenia because of work. When first I started living there I couldn’t understand a single word of Armenian. One night while I was sleeping I heard a voice speaking into my ear. The voice said two words that I didn’t understand, then repeated those words 3-4 times. When I woke up, I told the words I that I had heard to my wife, who spoke Armenian. The words I heard translated to “Come to Me. I will forgive you.”
I was really impacted by the experience, but I didn’t know what to do or Whom I was supposed to go to.
A few nights later I heard the voice say the same thing again, but this time I felt a very strong hand grab onto my ankle, and start pulling me. Now, I’m 6’1″ft tall and was 280 lbs at the time, but still the hand was strong enough that it almost pulled me off the bed.
I still didn’t understand or know what to do.
A few days later I asked my wife to take me to church. My wife was a muslim, but she agreed and took me to a church. Now, I had been to a church once before, but this time my experience was much different.
Long story short, I started really researching Christianity.
Later, on December 31st, 2018 on New Year’s Eve, at 11:58 PM I SAW Jesus Christ. I got up from where I was sitting, and Jesus was motioning to me, “Come”. So, I got up, went to my room, got on my knees, and believed. It was right at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve when I finally to believe.
Since then, I’ve had several more instances when I saw Jesus. I’ve been a believer in Jesus ever since. And every time I’ve prayed, Jesus has answered. Just recently, I prayed for my friend that he would also see Jesus, and praise God, a few days later he saw Jesus too. Amen, Haleluya!
In Job 33 there’s a passage that I often come back to when doing ministry in this region of the world:
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword.
Job 33:15-18 NIV
It’s always so amazing to meet people who have had experiences with Jesus like this. I hope it’s an encouragement to you too!
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