Boy Raised from the Dead After One Day

I received the following testimony from brother Justus (pictured below with blue jacket and red tie), one of our Doulos Training School (DTS) students, who is a pastor in Uganda. The Lord recently used him through the power of Jesus' Name to raise from the dead a boy who had been deceased for a day. He wrote:

"GOD is good and worthy of praise. Last week, June 13, 2021, l was called for a family deliverance in Boke Lira City, Uganda. There was a son born in this family named Odongo Hosman, thirteen years old. The boy was paralyzed, could not walk, sit, or turn off to the other side of the bed...

The condition [grew] worse and unbelievable. His parents tried their best caring for and taking Odongo to Hospital, but there was no improvement, to the point where the boy died.

As l ministered to the family from Rev.5:5 the boy began to sweat. Life came back [into him], when I was holding up the boy in my chest.

[A week later] on June 20, 2021, the father gave a testimony through the phone call saying [that] because of the lock down they have gone to the village; and he continued saying that the boy is walking, running, eating and completely healed.

We give God the glory and honor. For in Christ, life is complete with all the fullness thereof.....(Col.2:9-10).

Thanks.

Justus"

He later clarified that the parents could not continue taking the boy to Mbale Regional hospital, to which he had been referred by the local doctors in Lira, who had been puzzled at the boy's condition. As the boy was brought home on June 12th, around 9:00 pm, he stopped breathing, his body became very cold, his eyes turned white, and the elders pronounced him dead. The report went to the village where the father comes from, and they were waiting for the body in the village. The following day (June 13th) was when brother Justus was called in to minister to the family, and the boy was brought back to life.

Corroborating Testimony of Nelson Ociti

On July 23, 2022, a year after the incident, I finally called and spoke to a brother named Nelson Ociti (pictured left), who witnessed this miracle firsthand. This man is a pastor, who is now raising the boy himself, since the boy is a relative of his without anyone to raise him.

You see, the boy's father is Nelson's nephew, the son of Nelson's sister. And the relationship between Nelson and the boy's father was so close that Nelson called him "my son". But at the time that the boy died, the boy's father had already passed away, and his mother had remarried someone else in another place, leaving the boy effectively without any parents. 

The boy was from a very poor family, and when he became very sick, the mother came and took him to the health center. But when his condition worsened, she brought him back to brother Nelson (his great uncle) and then she went away again. 

Finally the boy was pronounced dead. The next day they had the dead boy in a sitting room, and brother Nelson asked brother Justus to join him in praying to God for the boy to be revived. This attracted many neighbors from the local area, who had gathered around to witness it, and women were screaming, because the boy was dead. As these two brothers prayed for the boy, they saw him begin to breath, so they covered him with a blanket and a papyrus mat. 

The boy woke up sweating all over. He looked tired and miserable, and he was unable to speak. He was looking around at all the people who were watching, but he did not know what had happened to him. At that point, brother Justus put the boy up high on his shoulders, and the boy was so light that Justus could barely feel his weight. At that point all the people were rejoicing, because they were so grateful that the boy was alive again.

Then they had the boy bathed and afterward they organized to get him some porridge to drink, since he hadn't eaten in  days. He was able to consume the drink, and after a few hours he was able to walk with some help from others, although he struggled to do so, since he still had poor balance. But within a few days he was able to regain his strength and walk on his own once again. However, as I mentioned already, the boy was not aware that he had been brought back from the dead, and he had no experience to report about with regard to the period when he was dead.  In other words, he had no memory of any supernatural experiences that may have occurred.

Since that time, brother Nelson has gotten married and is raising the boy with his new wife as their adopted son (pictured altogether above). His marriage to this woman was organized so that they could raise the boy and brother Nelson's children together, because Nelson's first wife had died of diabetes five years earlier, and he had been a single parent during that time. Brother Nelson says the boy has a good disposition and goes around smiling all the time, but he needs the Lord to heal him from the emotional trauma caused by his fellow classmates at school and others, who know about what happened to him and persecute him.

Closing Words

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord for what He has done for this boy and his family. Some people don't believe this is even possible. But Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (Jn 14:12, NIV). Why should anyone consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

Attribution Notice: All Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, all rights reserved, used by permission.

Author's Note: Some changes were made to the wording of Grace's testimony with his permission, in order to add clarity or for easier reading without changing the meaning. 

If you still have any doubt as to whether this testimony is true, please read Have the Spiritual Gifts Ceased?. 

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read these other testimonies called Pastor Raised from the Dead, Testimonies from Voila, Amazing Healing and Deliverance in Uganda, The Body Parts Storehouse in Heaven and The Night the Lord Came into My Hut. You are also invited to read the testimony of Elisabeth from Indonesia that he referred to call Forty Days in Heaven and Hell. Also see the Home page of this blog for more testimonies. You are invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master. 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. 

Given a New Heart and Sweet Peace

I'd like to share with you the testimony of my daughter Hope, who is now twenty-three years old (in 2024). This is her own personal account of how she came to know the Lord, and how He gave her a new heart with sweet peace.  

Hope's Testimony

I grew up as the second oldest of five children in a strong Christian household, where we studied the Bible and prayed together and were brought up in the ways of the Lord from a very young age. We were also encouraged to pray and to have a personal relationship with the Lord. From a very young age it was evident that I had already come to know the Lord. When I was just barely two, I liked to pray for people. I also went around our house saying, "We don't worship idols.  We worship Jesus." When I was a tender three years of age, I said, "I love Jesus" and He put "a new heart inside my heart.” At this same age, my dad saw a lot of good things growing out of my heart. During the day, I talked about Jesus, expressing my love for him, and had a joyful spirit about me. One time when I was four, I said, "The blood of Jesus is on the door of our hearts." 

Not only did I have a personal knowledge of the Lord, but when I was almost five, I suddenly asked my mom without any prompting, "Mommy? Can we go tell the neighbors about God?  I'll tell the neighbors, 'You don't want to love the devil, because he wears black and there's fire in hell.'" I don’t think we actually went to talk to them, but there was that desire in me to evangelize to our neighbors. There were several times as a little girl when my father prayed with me to receive Jesus into my heart. One of those times was on August 3, 2006, when I was five years old. In addition to praying to receive Jesus, my dad laid his hands on me and prayed that I would be baptized in the Holy Spirit. When he did so, I told him that I felt happy. 

Almost a year later, on July 15, 2007, my family and I visited a church were my dad preached. During the message, he asked if there was anyone there who had not yet given his life to Jesus. Although I raised my hand, my dad I didn't see it. When my mom brought it up after we had returned home, I acknowledged that I had raised my hand.  My answer when my parents asked me the reason why was, "Because I wanted to give my life to Jesus." My parents then prayed with me to invite Jesus into my heart and give my life to Him. A week later, I was baptized in Jesus’ name in the presence of friends and family. That moment marked the most significant change that had happened up until that point in my life.

Faith (L) and Hope (R)

A couple months later, my sister already noticed a difference in me after our dad had taught us on praise, and I lifted my hands in worship. She related to my dad later, “I saw right through her hands and her arms that the Holy Spirit was all over her.  For the first time I saw that Hope had freedom to lift her hands and praise God that I had never seen before she knew the Lord.  But now she has that freedom.” The following year, my family and I watched a program which highlighted a revival in which young people were being set on fire for God. My sisters and I were inspired by this to hold our own revival meeting in our living room, which I led. As we played on drums we sang, “Baptize us in the Holy Spirit, baptize us in fire!" During this session, we also were praying for each other. 

Three and a half years later, when I was eleven, my family and I watched a video about two young ladies, one who had gone to hell and another who had seen Jesus.  This video brought conviction to us, and we all repented and asked the Lord for forgiveness for our sins. We also asked the Lord to fill us with His Holy Spirit, and He did so. I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues. This experience was the beginning of the Lord burning away the dross in my life. A week later, on New Year’s Eve, my family and I listened to a book by a South Korean pastor called “Baptized by Blazing Fire.”  Through this book we all were encouraged to seek the Lord in prayer. My dad then prayed for me and both of my sisters. I repented of the darkness I had allowed in my heart and was set free. I also received the baptism with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. My family and I knelt down and prayed earnestly for quite some time. During this time that we spent seeking the Lord, I felt that God had set me free!  

After this time we spent in prayer, my family could all see the evidence of this new freedom on my face and in my eyes.  They could see a peace in my countenance, and there was a gentleness they could see on me that they had not seen before. My face was aglow with a light upon it.  It looked as though scales had been taken from my eyes, and they were now clear and glowing with light. In the period of my life leading up to that point, I had allowed a lot of demons into my life. I had a lot of self-hatred and even entertained suicidal thoughts. But the Lord had begun a work in my life to bring me out of that darkness into the Light. I was still far from perfect, but the Lord was working to purify me from the things in my life that were not of Him. One morning, six months later, my older sister heard me awaken speaking in tongues. I had no idea that just a while before, my younger sister had also awoken speaking in tongues.

In the years that followed, I still had sins in my life that I needed to deal with, and there were times when I wondered if I was even saved. During this time, one of my sisters went through a process of thinking for herself about God, and recommitting her life to Him. When she was going through that experience, my dad had told us that sometimes it is a good idea for young people, even if they have already given their lives to Jesus when they were little children, to renew that commitment to Him when they are older and have gone through a process where they have really thought for themselves about God, and independently made that decision to serve Him. Sometime after that, when I was almost fifteen years old, I decided that now was the time for me to recommit my life to the Lord. On October 10, 2015, I surrendered my life anew to Christ during my personal prayer time. 

Just a few weeks later, on November first, my mother had a word of prophecy for me during our family church meeting, which she spoke over me with tears. The word was, “This coming year of your life, the Lord wants to open your mind to greater understanding, greater revelation, greater knowledge of God, greater love for God, and for others. He wants to unfold your spirit like a flower bud opening up to the light of God.” She then prayed for these words to be fulfilled in my life. 

In the weeks that followed, I forgot about this word for me that the Lord had given through my mother. However, just months later, early the following year, the Lord began to bring these words to pass. I believe it started with the Lord bringing to my remembrance past sins in my life that I had not repented for. As I repented of those sins, the Lord kept bringing more to the surface. I also began to take even the small sins I committed in my everyday life seriously, crying and repenting for them. I was so aware of my sin that, there were times that I spent basically my entire personal prayer time repenting, sometimes crying from the depths of my heart over my sin. However, I needed to learn to accept God’s forgiveness and grace and not keep on beating myself up even after I had repented. During this time of refining, my dad told me that he had been noticing a change in me, which He believed the Lord was bringing me through so that I could have a breakthrough in the end. 

However, even though the Lord was bringing about this work in my life, the devil was also working to bring doubts into my mind. I started to wonder if God really existed and if Jesus had really come to earth and died for me on the Cross and risen again. There also were times when I didn’t feel that God heard me when I prayed. I went through days where I felt down, and didn’t feel like praying at times because of these doubts in my heart. I wanted to believe, and I kept on repenting of my unbelief. There were moments when I was alone when I cried my heart out in total despair because of these thoughts.

During this time, my parents encouraged and counseled me. I remember one particular night where I had been praying alone, and I started to enter into this despair and to cry uncontrollably because of these doubts. My mom heard me, and came into the room where I was. Among other things she told me something like, as the hymn “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” says, darkness sometimes hides the Lord’s face, but we just need to trust that He is still there, even when we don’t feel His nearness. My dad came in at some point, and they told me to go lie down and rest, and just “be still and know that He is God.” As I was lying there and resting in the fact that He is God, I felt the Lord’s peace, and I believe it felt as if there was literally a supernatural peace in my chest.

During this period of struggling with doubt, there was one time when I was listening to a replay of a Christian radio program, which had been from the previous Resurrection Sunday weekend. The focus of the program was about Thomas doubting when Jesus rose again from the dead. One of the passages quoted during the program was John 20:27 where Jesus said “Stop doubting and believe.” I felt that God was speaking to me through this to stop doubting. 

A little over a week later, during my personal prayer time I asked God to strengthen me and my family’s feeble hands and to strengthen our feeble knees that give way. After I had finished my regular Bible reading, I felt led to read an extra chapter in the Bible. I ended up reading Isaiah 35. Unbeknownst to me before I started reading, verse three of that passage says, “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way.” I had “coincidentally” stumbled upon the very verse I had just prayed! I don’t believe I had ever prayed this verse before so it was definitely the Lord’s doing that I chose to read this passage. I felt that through this divine coincidence that God may have been trying to show me that He hears my prayers, since I had been having doubts that He did. 

During this time of struggling with unbelief, my dad also gave me articles of his to read to help strengthen my faith, such as one about Muslims who had been saved after Jesus appeared to them. Those were indeed faith-building. God eventually gave me victory and helped me to overcome these doubts. I give God all the glory for what He has brought about in me. Even though I am still far from perfect, I’m not the same person I used to be, and I believe that He Who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 

Each and every one of us has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, no matter how good we may consider ourselves, even if we were raised in a Christian family and never went the way of the world. We all deserve eternal hellfire and torment. However, God loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ into this dark world to die on the cross and take the punishment we deserve. Jesus rose again from the grave, victorious over death, and now reigns at God’s right hand. Jesus is longing for you to forsake your sins, and come follow Him for the rest of your days. If you have never made this decision, I invite you to do so today. Now is the time of God’s favor; now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). No matter how young you may be, none of us is promised tomorrow, so this may be your last chance. 

Repent of every sin you’ve ever committed, and ask Jesus to forgive you and cleanse your heart as white as snow with His blood. Believe in your heart that Jesus took the penalty for your sins on the cross, and that He rose again. Surrender your whole life to Him, and make Him your Lord and Savior. If you are having doubts about God, I challenge you to cry out sincerely to Him and ask Him to reveal himself to you and help you overcome your unbelief, and He will surely do just that. He will bring you from darkness in his glorious light. I pray I will one day meet you at the throne of God when we reach heaven someday. 

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read The Truth Set Me Free, My Overflowing Joy in Knowing Jesus, and Lifted Out of a Slimy Pit, which are the testimonies of myself and two of my other children. Also see the Home page of this blog for more testimonies. You are invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. 

My Overflowing Joy in Knowing Jesus

I'd like to share with you the testimony of my youngest daughter Faith, who is now twenty-one years old (in 2024). This is her own personal account of how she came to know the Lord, based on her memory, as well as her own journal and the journal I have kept for all my children since they were born. This will bless your heart!

Faith's Testimony
I was very blessed to be born as the third oldest child into a family with a father and mother who were Christians. They loved me and my siblings, taught us from the Bible, and prayed with us.

Four years old

When I was three, my parents could see that I had faith in God when I thanked him for answering my prayers as though it had already happened. I would also sometimes sing along with the songs at church while clapping or lifting my hands in worship.

At the age of four, I once prayed and heard the Lord telling me, “Be kind to your neighbors and bring peace.”

A few months prior to my praying to receive Jesus, I already knew that He was the one true God, and this was shown when at one time I called over to our unsaved next-door neighbor, and said things like, “Love Jesus and serve Him”, and, “Love the Lord!  He's the only true God that will answer your prayers! You will praise Him and He will love you and you will adore Him.”

Then, one night when I was four years old, on August 3, 2006, we as a family were preparing to have our evening devotional. My father prayed and asked the Lord what passage to read from and was shown John 3. Just as that happened and before he said so, I announced, "The Lord said we're gonna read from John." Afterward I prayed to receive Jesus and be born again.  Then my father laid hands on me and prayed for me to be filled with the Holy Spirit. God divinely orchestrated this event so that we read John 3 which is the passage that has the verses, “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again,’” (John 3:3) and, “Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.’” (John 3:5)

About a month after this incident, I was outside and I yelled across the street to some of our neighbors saying, “Love Jesus! And love your neighbor as yourself!” In response, they closed their window.

Sometime after this, my father got a word for me which was that I would move in the gifts of faith, miracles, and powerful healing. I would be a fisher of men and lead people to Jesus. I would get words of knowledge for people and speak into their lives and break the power of darkness off of them.

On another occasion, I asked my aunt if she knew that Jesus died on the cross and rose again. I would even ask strangers if they knew and loved Jesus. And when I found out from some of them that they did, I got very excited. When I was five years old, I declared to my father that when I grew up I wanted to “go everywhere and tell people about Jesus” and that I would “go all over the planet and look for people who want to love Jesus”.

At this age, I even dictated to my older sister the following declaration that I wanted her to record in my journal: “I love Jesus more than anyone else. And I want to serve Him for the rest of my life.  And also I want to follow Him even when I am playing. God will comfort everyone in this family. And I will read the Bible every day. I want to praise Him in church. And I want to help other people when they are sad. I love Jesus, and I want to help my family. And I want Jesus to heal me.”

There was one period of time in my fifth year where every night I would have night terrors and would scream in fright. When I woke up, I would not even remember what I had dreamt. My father finally cast out the spirit of fear that he discerned was causing these terrors. And when I rejected the evil spirits and prohibited them from returning to me, they didn’t come back. Praise the Lord!

At the age of six, I told my father, "Daddy, I think part of what God wants me to do in life is to share Jesus with people."

Nine years old

When I was nine, my family and I watched a video about two girls—one who saw Jesus and another one who went to hell and came back to tell of her experience. Afterward, we all repented to the Lord of our sins. After asking the Lord to fill me with His Holy Spirit, I received this with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

A few weeks later, we were again listening to testimonies, and we were all encouraged to seek the Lord. This was another point at which I was filled with the Holy Spirit, and at this time, I prayed fervently to the Lord for about an hour, repenting and confessing my sins to the Lord, dedicating myself to him, praising Him, and breaking any curses off of our family that the devil would try to put on us. (For more about this wonderful experience, please see Outpouring of the Spirit.)

There were other times later on when I received the Holy Fire and felt it on my body or in my hands as balls of fire. As the Scripture says, “He [Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)

One night, following these experiences, I dreamt that I was standing in a room with angels walking around. Whenever they would walk in front of or beside me, this wonderful weight would come upon me, and I would fall backwards because of it.

A few days later, while I was in prayer, I asked the Lord to speak to me. So I waited and then heard, “Go out and minister.” I asked, “How, Lord?” And he impressed upon me Psalm 82. I didn’t know what this passage said, so in my Bible reading time, I looked it up. The verses that I believe God was answering my question with were verses 3 and 4. They say, “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” I was amazed at how clearly God had spoken to me.

Fifteen years old

In May of 2018, at the age of fifteen, in my time with the Lord, I recommitted and surrendered my life to the Lord. I cried out for love, joy and peace, and as I told the Lord, “Thy loving-kindness is better than life,” I felt joy surging up within me.

I praise the Lord for all that He has done in my life, and I know that God still has great things in store for me.


My Invitation to You
But now it is your turn to make a decision. Maybe you, like me, were born into a Christian family, and you’ve gone to church all your life; maybe you even believe you’re a “good” person. But that is not enough. You must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. You need to recognize your sinfulness and repent, asking the Lord to forgive you and make you clean. He is waiting and more than willing, if you will ask Him to come into your heart and be the Lord of your life.

Or maybe you’ve never heard the gospel before; let me tell you, Jesus is the only way to heaven. He doesn’t want you to perish in Hell. He loved you so much that He came to earth and took your sin upon Himself and died on the cross for you. He rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of God. He is knocking at the door of your heart wanting to come in and give you life, love, joy, and peace like you’ve never known before. Will you accept Him and the gift He has to offer you?

Do it now; the time is short. No matter what you’ve done, God will receive you. Repent of your sins, ask Him for forgiveness, invite Him into your heart, take Him as your Lord and Savior, and surrender your life to Him to serve Him whole-heartedly. The Bible says, “That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.’” (Ro 10:9-11)

I hope that my testimony has been an encouragement to you, and that it has touched your life in some way, whether you were saved already, or not, and you have just now started your heavenward journey. I look forward to seeing you some day at those pearly gates in glory.

Attribution notice: Scripture quotation taken from The Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. 

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read The Truth Set Me Free, Given a New Heart and Sweet Peace, and Lifted Out of a Slimy Pit, which are the testimonies of myself and two of my other children. Also see the Home page of this blog for more testimonies. You are invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Lifted Out of a Slimy Pit

I'd like to share with you the testimony of my oldest daughter Charity, who is now twenty-five years old (in 2024). This is her own personal account of how she came to know the Lord, and how the Lord brought her back to him later after she drifted away from him. This will bless your heart!

Charity's Testimony
My relationship with God began at an early age. I grew up in a solid Christian family, where each family member was encouraged to have their own personal walk with Jesus. I believe that back then, I had started off at a very young age, really knowing God in a personal way and having a sincere love for Him, bubbling with joy and possessing childlike innocence. Yet I had a rebellious streak in me. And as we know, the enemy will exploit any opportunity he can.

Somewhere along the way, I opened a door and allowed the enemy to take over part of my life. I became disconnected from God and for a season, I lost that precious relationship from earlier years. At one point, I even stopped reading my Bible and spending time with God in prayer, yet I never realized the indispensable gift slipping from grasp--my salvation. I became vulnerable to the voices of demons and began to succumb to the lure of sin. At the time, it never occurred to me that my sins were even sins, since my eyes were blinded over. Being unfamiliar with God’s Word, I failed to realize the Bible clearly states in 1 Co 6:9-11 that no unrighteous person will enter the Kingdom of God.

It was between the ages of 8-10 that I got involved in secret sin. I had no idea that it was even sin, but the devil had me hooked like a fish to the bait. All along, I kept it under wraps so that my parents would never know. But sin will find you out! The illusion that you can keep it hidden is a hellish deception to keep you in bondage and eventually, you reason within that you’ll never escape it’s hold. You can’t hide from God. He sees everything in our lives, whether good or bad.

As the years progressed and I kept my sin hidden, it snowballed. I was self-deceived as my ever-present curiosity got the best of me. 

Beginning in 2008, I made some very foolish mistakes. The open door I had neglected to close only enabled the enemy to gain a bigger stronghold in my life. Before long, I was even lying and stealing, all within my own family. Not even twelve years old yet, I also took advantage of my father’s computer to view adult content on the Internet. I would usually arise early in the morning to do this, so that I would not be discovered.  But as the story often goes, I was eventually found out, and I recall the grief this inflicted. I was disciplined, but I don’t believe that I was truly repentant. I believe I was more remorseful that I had been found out than I was really sorry for what I had done.

About two years later, we moved. There, my sin continued. The youthful lusts of my past and my intense curiosity grew like a weed. I brought much disgrace upon my head through the dishonoring of my parents, among other sins. Meanwhile, I thought I was a Christian, when in reality, I had drifted far from God. The lying and cover-ups continued. I was really convinced that I would get away with it. It amazes me that at the same time, God had been granting me so many dreams in which I was overcoming demons and I would see Jesus and heaven, but I never lived a life worthy of my calling as a Christian. I wrote a number of poems that spoke of God and how we need to live a holy life, but I wasn’t starting with myself!

In December 2012, revival was brought to my family through Pastor Kim’s holy fire books. I received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking with new tongues, and there was deep repentance. I believe that the initial experience was absolutely of God, but I don’t recall ever repenting for the sins I was currently involved in. It shocks me that I never even gave a second thought to that. The truth is, I was a hypocrite. I wasn’t really changed. I might’ve thought I was, but I was fooled. Granted, God did some wonderful things in my life, but I had not yet turned from my wicked ways.  I continued in the pattern of my strong will and disobedience. Did I ever stop to think that I was only hurting myself? I’m sure that thought crossed my mind more than once. But I kept on in the pleasures of sin, which as we know, are only promised for a short time (Heb 11:25)

About five years prior to this spiritual awakening, I, along with my two younger sisters, had begun a Life Transformation Group\ (LTG) where we were assigned a specific amount of Bible reading and a list of lost souls to pray for daily. I was ten or eleven at the time. We would meet weekly to discuss each other's lives, and answer certain questions, which included the confession of sin. Although there were sins that I was confessing, I kept many other things hidden. If I recall correctly, there were times that I lied about having completed the assigned Scripture reading. And, like I said, I wasn't coming clean with any secret issues.

There were so many dreams I had where God gave me victory over demonic creatures, but in reality, I was in bondage. I did what they told me to do and never gave it a second thought. Heaven and Jesus were also revealed to me through dreams during my childhood. I had so many heavenly experiences with God throughout my life. Occasionally I would receive words of encouragement for others. I also received inspired poems from the Lord. In addition to this, I was blessed with artistic talents.

Regardless of how much He did through me, I was in a dangerous place when I was caught in the web of sin. As long as it was hidden, I was bound. So the cycle continued.

I eventually stopped committing these sins around age 15 or 16. Gradually, every sin from the past faded from memory, as I pushed them aside and under the rug, until I really paid no consideration to the need for repentance

After returning from Eastern Europe, by the time we had settled in North Carolina, I thought my relationship with God was actually going well. I was hearing from God, had re-established my daily prayer and Bible reading, and I felt that now, I was really starting to lead my life in a way that was pleasing to the Lord. I didn’t necessarily feel like I was a sinner, or that I was presently practicing sin. I was even starting to think differently. My perspective of everything, both spiritual and physical, seemed very different. Now, I was so careful about being honest to my parents and not lying about the smallest thing. God seemed to be at work in my heart. I was under the impression that He was “changing my thinking”, as I recall telling my dad one evening. And He was beginning to do a deep work in me. This was only the start of a cleansing that would take place over a period of weeks. I had no idea the transformation that was on the verge of happening.

The true start of this transformation was the night my dad and I were having our customary one-on-one together, quality dad-and-daughter time. I was telling him all about how God was changing my thinking and how personal He was becoming to me. During that flow of thought, my dad suggested I recommit my life to God. He explained that often, people know God at an early age, but as the years progress, the need to refresh their commitment becomes necessary. The same could be applied to me. I had known God from an early age, but I hadn’t been faithful in my walk.

As my dad was discussing this with me and even after we talked, the idea of recommitment was still a consideration in my mind. As it turns out, the very next day, February 15, 2014,  at the age of 15, I took this vital step. Following this, everything changed.

Two days transpired until one morning before school, I was simply going about my normal routine when it struck me out of literally nowhere: I came under the powerful conviction of the Holy Spirit concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. It overtook my thoughts. I was overcome with mixed feelings, such as fear, guilt, shame, and remorse. I thought to myself with a lump in my throat, I could never confess these sins to my parents. They’d never understand! All this time they were so convinced I was a godly girl. I had their trust. And besides, I can’t bear the shame this will bring.

All throughout the first few hours of school, the conviction of the Holy Spirit weighed so heavily upon me that I could think of nothing else. I tried to get my mind off of it, but it overpowered me. I felt like my heart was sinking beneath the ground. I wanted to run and hide. But we cannot run from the Holy Spirit, The Spirit of God is everywhere.

The same day, out of desperation, I brought the issue up with my mom while avoiding specific detail. All the while, tears were welling up in my eyes. I couldn’t help but cry. Could I have been so blind? For so long, it had somehow sufficed to sweep it all under the rug and “forget”. It never ceases to amaze me that God would chose to reveal my sins to me at such an unlikely time! I had become the object of His abundant mercy. “What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—“ (Rom 9:23)

Later that day I went straight to a closet, shut the door, and poured out my heart to God in repentance with so many tears. I must’ve cried for at least a half hour or more. I earnestly repented to God for everything I could think of that the Holy Spirit had brought to my remembrance. With everything in me, I repented as hard as I could, and I believe it was there that He granted me sorrow unto repentance.

However, even after I stepped out of the closet, the reassuring peace I longed for was lacking. I felt a pressing obligation to go reconcile with my mom or dad, but fear held me captive. I just couldn’t!  I took my Bible and searched the Scriptures for verses or passages that referred to sin and confession of sin. Part of me wanted to find an excuse, a way out of having to confess. The other part of me sensed that I really ought to confess to my parents, that I could not hide it from them. Then I came across 1 John 1:9, which says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness,” I realized there are two different ways to confess -- to God and other people.

As hard as it was, I began the painful process of confession. Yes, it was heart-wrenching. Yes, there was a sea of tears shed. But after that period of confession, peace came into my heart at last, peace that passes all understanding. I knew that God had forgiven me. Joy came and I was able to sing with a freedom in my heart once again. I have now begun to experience a certain degree of intimacy with God. Thank God for new beginnings! He allowed me to start over again. What a gift! In his great mercy, He delivered my feet from the snare. He has truly changed my life, and I am eternally grateful.

It’s truly an act of God’s mercy that He brought my past sins to my attention. Praise God! However, the cleansing still had a long ways to go. As the Lord brought more things back to my remembrance, I would confess those, too. There were so many things I had forgotten about! I tried my best to be as honest and transparent as I could. Slowly but faithfully, the Lord dealt with my heart. I recall this time of my life as a trail of tears, if you will. Many tears, but much joy in the Holy Spirit! It’s in those darkest times of my life—the deepest valleys—that I’ve found He has been the closest to me. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Ps 34:18)

As with any process, He continues to drive the foolishness and disobedience out of my heart. He continues to purge me and cleanse me in this purifying process, which is what I’ve been seeking anyway. I am so grateful that God delivered me from what once bound and held me captive. The “old me” has been swallowed up in life!

I urge you today, if you find yourself reading this testimony and know you’re life isn’t right, that you seek the Lord for His forgiveness. He is willing and ready to receive you back. Don’t believe the lie that you’ve gone too far! There is no one who’s sunk too deep that His mercy can’t reach. He is pursuing you with passionate love, hoping you’ll hear His voice. Even if He has to leave the ninety-nine just to go after you, He’ll do whatever it takes. Please don’t forfeit the indescribable gift that can be readily yours.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy put, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God…” (Ps 40:1-3)

Attribution notice: Scripture quotation taken from The Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. 

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read The Truth Set Me Free, My Overflowing Joy in Knowing Jesus, and Given a New Heart and Sweet Peace, which are the testimonies of myself and three of my other children. Also see the Home page of this blog for more testimonies. You are invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Night the Lord Came Into My Hut

Grace and his wife

I'd like to share with you the testimony of a pastor in Uganda named Grace, a friend of mine, who is enrolled in our Doulos Training School. He has an amazing testimony of how the Lord saved him in 1989. It reminds us once again of the terrible oppression the Ugandan people suffered under Idi Amin's brutal regime and crimes against humanity. He states:

"In 1989, during years of turmoil in our country, I felt a strong need for security and a solution to the endless problems we were going through in our country. As a young boy, [I] went through harassment from people and hostilities; by then even my father, who was a county chief, was helpless and needed help too."

"On several occasions I looked for ways to die, but found none. I tried to join [the military] forces, but couldn't, as I longed for peace and security. One night while in my hut, it came to my mind that I have a Creator who cares. I cried tears as I asked the Lord to forgive me from my sins. One night again I had an experience when the Lord came into my hut with lightning, thundering, and much smoke; I nearly died."

"I had an experience when the Lord came into my hut with lightning, thundering, and much smoke; I nearly died. Afterward, I came out and found there was no rain."

"Afterward, I came out and found there was no rain. I prayed to the Lord to forgive me and went to my Protestant church on Sunday. I requested to say something which turned [out] to be a preaching, and for the first time in that church people got saved. We started what we called 'Light Christian Fellowship' before my joining a Pentecostal church."

Praise the Lord for that amazing testimony! He now says, "I have a mission to accomplish in Jesus' Name." Praise the Lord for what He has done in our brother Grace's life!

Perhaps you are feeling a bit like him right now. You may feel a strong need for security and a solution to the endless problems you are going through. You might be experiencing hostilities and harassment from people. You may be longing for peace and security, but you just can't seem to find it. You may be so desperate that you are even longing to die. If that's you, let me remind you that you have a Creator who cares. He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ into this world to die on the cross for you, so that you could be forgiven of your sins and spend eternity with Him in heaven. He has an amazing plan for your life, and you have a mission to accomplish for Him. Cry out to Him and ask Him to forgive your sins.

"That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Rom 10:9-10)

Ask Him to come and live inside your heart and take control of your life. Even if you do not experience lightning, thunder, and smoke inside your home, your experience will be just as real, genuine, and meaningful as what happened to Grace. The moment that Jesus Christ comes to live inside your heart will be one you will never forget. Believe in Jesus Christ that God raised Him from the dead, and confess Him as your Lord and Savior, so that you may be saved. He will transform your life, and you will never be the same. Old things will pass away and all things will become new.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read brother Grace's testimonies of healing and deliverance called The Body Parts Storehouse in Heaven. You are also invited to read Gems from Heaven, God's Amazing Plan for Your Life, Saved By a Vision of Second Coming - O. Moses Alabi, An Atheist Turns to Christ, Pastor Raised from the Dead, Life After Death, Ezekiel Moses Testimony of Heaven and Hell, The Truth Set Me Free, James Agboola Revelation of Heaven and Hell, and Should you fear the Lord?. You may access more testimonies like this on the Home page of this blog. You are also invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master. 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Voice That Changed Everything -- the Testimony of Dr. Stenhouse

Dr. Andrew Stenhouse

Today I would like to share with you the testimony of a dear friend of mine, whom I have known for about twenty-four years, who received his call to be a medical doctor when God spoke to him in an audible voice. What follows is a transcript from my interview with him on our Preparing the Way radio program on January 22, 2014. I have also inserted into the middle of the interview the transcript of my subsequent interview with him today on August 17, 2016, in order to get more specific details about his testimony. If you choose to listen to the audio recording of his testimony, please note that it will playback as two separate interviews, so the order of the discussion will not match the following transcript.

Dr. Andrew Stenhouse's Testimony
Len: Welcome to Preparing the Way, where we’re preparing the way for the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ in repentance -- preaching holiness, righteousness, and truth. My name is Len Lacroix, and I’m your host for this broadcast. I’m a preacher and missionary to Eastern Europe with Doulos Missions International. And joining me today as my guest is Dr. Andrew Stenhouse, the president of Doulos Missions International. He’s a teacher of God’s Word and has been a medical doctor for over fifty years, having lived in England, Scotland, New Zealand, Fiji, Afghanistan, and has been in the US for the last thirty years. I’ve known him since around 1992 when we met in Virginia. And he’s been the president of our ministry for about the last five years.

Dr. Andrew Stenhouse, welcome!

Andrew: Thank you so much, Len! I appreciate the opportunity to be with you on this program today. It’s a joy. It’s a pleasure. And anytime you have the opportunity to introduce anybody to the Lord Jesus, it’s such a pleasure.

Len: Absolutely. I wanted to take a moment to ask you to share a little bit about yourself—just anything you want to say about yourself to the listeners on the program.

Andrew: Well, the first thing is that, as Len stated, I am not a pastor; I’m not an evangelist; I’m not a preacher. I’m a doctor and have the pleasure of introducing people to the Lord daily, on a daily basis, really, as I take care of them. And they respond at those times, particularly the times when they’re going through serious problems, such as in hospice and terminal illnesses. So they get the opportunity to hear the gospel, hear the Good News of the Lord Jesus and how He became the bridge from this earth to the Father. And, as far as myself, I was saved when I was a child, and since then have been trying to listen to the Father. And it was the Father that told me that I needed to be a doctor. I was wanting to be a geologist, but my Father said no, He wanted me to be a doctor. So I argued with Him a little bit with Him, but it was no good. And so that was kind of the story, and I said, “Yes, Father, I will be a doctor.” So, that’s where we are, Len.

Len: I wanted to ask you, Andrew, if you could please tell me that part about -- go back to the beginning where you first received your call. You had been a geology student, but then a female friend invited you to church, and while you were sitting there in church with her, you told me one time that you heard God speak to you in an audible voice and called you to be a doctor. So pick it up with the friend inviting you and go from there with that piece where you were in the church and how you heard from God.

Andrew: Well, this was a worship service. And I loved that and loved to go. And then during the preaching part, I heard the audible voice of God speak to me on the right side of my body. And I said to the young lady Ruth, “Did you hear somebody talk?”

She said, “Shush, Andrew. You don’t talk in church.”

I said, “I know.”

And then the next thing that happened was, it was the audible voice of God telling me I was going to be a doctor. And then nothing happened for a few minutes, and then suddenly, my whole body started to shake like a rag doll and it interfered with the service. And I suddenly said, “This is my Creator doing this,” and I started talking to God and telling Him how I hated the War in London during World War II and the bombs and blood and guts and people not coming back to school. And the one thing I didn’t want to do was be a doctor. So I kept on talking and the shaking got worse and worse. So I had to stop, thinking I might physically die. And so the next thing that happened was that I stopped talking, the shaking stopped, and then the voice spoke to me, not from my right side, but from the lower left side of my body.

And it’s as though the Holy Spirit or God was surrounding me, and said, “You will be a doctor.” It was a command.

And I said, “Yes, Lord, I will be a doctor.”

And that was how I got in, and from then on nothing else mattered in my life. My interests -- I immediately resigned from geology courses and also the Geological Survey where I was working. I was about seventeen at that time.

Len: Wow!

Andrew: And I changed islands, went to the south island, and took up pre-med at that time. None of the courses had I taken in the past.  I had taken languages and geology mainly, and mathematics. And here I was doing courses that people have been trained for all their lives.

Len: Wow! Now you said the south island…what country was that?

Andrew: That’s New Zealand.

Len: Okay, so this all happened in New Zealand. And it was a lady named Ruth, a sister in Christ named Ruth that invited you to church.

Andrew: Yes.

Len: Now when you were in that service, two things I want to know about it, if you can tell me. Do you remember what the -- when God first told you to be a doctor, how He said it to you? Not that it really matters, but do you remember what words He used when He said it the first time on your right side?

Andrew: Yes, as far as I remember, “You are to be a doctor.” “You are going to be a doctor,” or something like that.

Len: Yeah. Now the other thing I wanted to know was, when you say it disrupted the service, did you have pretty much a lot of people now with their attention focused on you?

Andrew: Yes, and everybody was moving away, as far as I know. And I left the service at that point after the whole thing was over. I didn’t stay in the service, because I couldn’t focus on anything else.

Len: Yeah, so people probably thought you were kind of strange.

Andrew: Yes, very strange. And I had actually been brought up very strictly and didn’t realize that God would do that.

Len: Yeah, I mean, you would never have done anything like that on your own.

Andrew: Oh, no! Absolutely not! And everybody that I would tell it to thought I was nuts, you know.

Len: That’s a big difference between geology and medical practice.

Andrew: Yes.

Len: The Lord redirected you. And now it’s been, what, over thirty years…practicing medicine?

Andrew: Yes, I’ve been practicing medicine over fifty-five years. I’ll be going on fifty-five years, and loving it and loving the people. And it has been such a joy, and God has really, through His voice—I never thought, I never was taught that God still spoke. But He really still speaks if we have our ears listening for Him. So I just encourage everybody that’s on this program, just to look forward to hearing the voice of the Lord. And look forward to receiving Him into their hearts so as they will have the peace that passes all understanding.

Len: Yes, absolutely. And one of things I appreciate about you is, the way that, you know, with your patients, that you don’t just treat them through medical science, but you pray for them, you know, with laying on of hands when they allow you to, and trust the Lord to heal them. And I think that’s a really unusual thing for a medical doctor to do, because there are plenty of Christian doctors out there, but I don’t know many that do that.

Andrew: Yes, that’s right. And you just ask them first, “May I bless you? May I just bless you?” And there’s not many people who will turn down a blessing. And then as I’m blessing them, I say, “Can I pray for God to touch you and to heal you?” And they say, “Yes.” And there’s so many people have been touched over the years by the Lord. And particularly when you hear His voice speaking.

Len: Yeah, that’s awesome. Praise God. And did I get it right that you’ve been in the US now for the last thirty years?

Andrew: Yes, that’s correct. I’ve been here back in the United States. I was born in Detroit, but lived overseas for quite a long time. And I’ve been back here since about 1972, ’73. Yes. That’s right.

Len: Wow. Praise God. Okay, well thanks very much for introducing yourself, and what I’d like to do is just go on to the next segment of the program, if that’s okay.

Andrew: Absolutely.

Listen to Interview Online

Editor's Comments
This is truly an amazing testimony of how God called a man to serve Him as a medical doctor. One thing you need to learn from this is that you need to listen to the Lord's voice. It's extremely important. The voice of the Lord changes your outlook, especially when He shakes you like a rag doll like He did with Dr. Stenhouse. In order to hear the Lord's voice, you need to be less involved in distractions. You need to remove them from your life, such as texting.

Only eternity will tell all that the Lord actually did through this humble servant of His during those fifty-five years of medical practice. I know that there were miraculous healings that took place, the gospel was proclaimed to the sick and dying, and people were introduced to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dr. Stenhouse served in many different capacities over those five decades. That included working for the US Navy in a medical school that he helped to establish in Afghanistan. It also included having his own Family Medical practice in Texas in the United States for a number of years, later serving as a Professor of Medicine for Texas Tech in Amarillo, Texas, as well as working at the Veterans' Administration Hospital there. Toward the end of his career, he spent a great deal of time working in a hospice caring for those who were dying, which was something he thoroughly enjoyed.

He is a model for other Christians who practice medicine, demonstrating how to serve patients not only from a physical and medical perspective, but also from a supernatural and spiritual one, so that their bodies might be healed and their souls saved.

Andrew loves the Lord with all His heart, and I have always known him to be a kind, loving, compassionate, generous person, who cares about people. When I asked him around 2007 to serve as the president for our ministry, Doulos Missions International, he humbly accepted it, feeling he was unworthy for such a task. Yet he served in that role for seven years, until he officially resigned in August 2014. He had actually tried to resign one year before that, due to his health, but agreed at my request to serve longer to help fulfill the need we had at that time. That was after he had retired from medicine, which he would not have done if it had not been for his health issues. He loved his profession, and put his heart into it. His resignation from our ministry's board of directors occurred one year after we had returned from the mission field of Eastern Europe to the United States.

During the time that he served as our ministry's president and chairman of the board, he was a tremendous blessing to us. Countless times he has been for us a source of godly counsel and wisdom from the Lord. He has upheld us in prayer, too. He always has and still does maintain his practice of asking the Father and hearing the Lord's voice, even though it may be the still small voice of the Holy Spirit in his heart, and not the audible voice of God like he heard so long ago in that church. Now in his 80's, he still continues to have two-way conversations with the Father.

If you are a Christian medical doctor, I hope that this testimony has encouraged you, as well as edified and guided you to serve the Lord with such honor, integrity, love, and compassion for people. I hope it has encouraged you to be bold and pray for the sick, trusting the Lord to heal them, as well as share the gospel with your patients and lead them to the Savior. You have a tremendous platform and a position of influence, so use it for the Lord.

If you are a Christian medical student or someone who is considering the medical profession, may this testimony be an encouragement to you, too, to hear the Lord's voice, whether audible or in your heart. Being a medical doctor is a calling, so you need to be sure it is your calling from God before you proceed down that path. Seek Him diligently in prayer and He will direct you. As the proverbs say:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Pr 3:5-6, NASB).

"In a man's heart he plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." (Pr 16:9).

God has had a plan for everyone since before the foundation of the world. Your life is foreordained. God has included you in His wonderful unfolding plan, but He will not violate your own free will. You can either choose to partner with Him by doing His will, as brother Stenhouse did, and experience the joy and excitement of doing so, or you can do your own will and forfeit all that, as well as eternal life. It's your choice.

Author's Note: You may listen to the interview here at this link. If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read The Holy Spirit Speaks, Hearing the Lord's Voice, Inquiring of the Lord, Baptized with the Spirit, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Obedience by the Spirit, Discerning the Things of the Spirit, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, What's Wrong with the Prosperity Gospel?, The Cost of Discipleship, God Chooses the Weak Things, What is That in Your Hand?, Having a Servant's Heart, Avoid Becoming a Corrupted Christian, , Should you fear the Lord?, Holy Living in a Perverted World, An Open Mind that Loves the Truth, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Ask for the Ancient Paths, Living a Life Worthy of the Lord, Supernatural Power for All Disciples, The Ways of Life, The Way, Will, and Word of God, Life After Death, The Power of God to Heal, Healing is in the Atonement, The Cause of Disease, Scriptural Guidance About Blood Transfusions, and Is it a Sin to Take Medicine? You may access more testimonies like this on the Home page of this blog. You are also invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master. 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Muslim Woman Now Follows Christ

A former Muslim lady named "Momina" in a North African Muslim country, where there is restricted access to the gospel, wrote to me in early August to tell me how she has recently become a follower of Christ. Here is her testimony:

Momina's Testimony
Hi, brother Len. How are you? You don't know me, but I've become an avid reader of your blog Eternal Destinations since I've discovered it a few weeks ago.

I have come to the conclusion that I wanted to follow Christ about two months ago. You see, I used to be a Muslim. Although I never continually practiced the five prayers a day, called “salat”, I still considered myself a Muslim at heart, and strongly believed it to be the ultimate truth and that everything else was corrupt.

It all started at the beginning of the month of Ramadan on June 5, 2016. Muslims consider this a sacred month when people fast and try to get closer to God. I was very motivated and genuinely decided that starting that month I'd do every thing a good Muslim would do. I had to start praying my five prayers a day, and commit to spending my time reading the Quran. But for that to happen I promised myself to get rid of all distractions just at least for that special month, because I had decided that if I was going to seek God, then I had to give Him my full attention, my 100%.

So overnight I stopped watching secular music, soap operas and reality shows. It was actually quite a spiritual fast. I was very addicted to music and television programs and had to watch them every single day.  It was truly my guilty pleasure. I thought I was a good, godly person, yet I enjoyed watching vain and rich, dolled-up women scream and back stab each other constantly. Now that I look back at this, I thank God for inspiring me to quit watching these things. In fact, I can't bear looking at them anymore.

The first week of Ramadan went great, I prayed and felt tremendous joy, especially during my early prayers at dawn. I'd do my "official prayer" then sit still and just have a talk with the Creator. I'd cry tears of joy and tell Him how wonderful it would be to be with Him and be worshiping and praising Him all day long, because He's so glorious and worthy of all praise. I knew that it was my heart talking. I also believe I was better able to hear what it was saying, because I wasn't under the influence of external factors like music and TV.

But my faith was shaken a few days later, ironically by a fellow Muslim, who corrected me when I started talking about how I couldn't wait to worship God in the after-life. The person told me that there would be no more worshiping God in "paradise", and that worshiping is only something that will be done on earth. I was told that once we are there, the only goal is to enjoy yourself and fulfill all your earthly desires. I won't go into details of the description of paradise, but I went and confirmed what that person told me. I was so sad and disappointed, because it sounded so worldly, and yet here I was inexplicably seeking and craving for holiness and purity.

That day I stumbled upon the testimony of a man who converted to Christianity named Mario Joseph. His testimony intrigued me and his arguments made sense, so I went and looked for the description of heaven by Jesus Christ. I was so touched and immediately knew in my heart that I had finally found the truth, the missing piece of the puzzle. That's the heaven that I want to belong to, where everyone is humble and simple like children (Matthew 18:3), and people will neither marry nor be given in marriage, because they will be like the angels and pure like angels (Matthew 22:30). Hallelujah!

Since then I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior; strangely I don't feel that different. In fact I'm praying to the God of Abraham, the one, true God, as Muslims believe we should. But this time I'm also accepting His ultimate gift: the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross to save us, and I'm eternally grateful for it. Hallelujah!

Becoming a Christian has made me a better person. I've finally let go of myself and submitted to the will of God, which actually fulfills the definition of the Arabic word "Muslim" -- "one who submits to God". Hallelujah! 

A Final Word to Muslims
I would like to say a final word to my Muslim friends. My friends, how come we accept the Holy Spirit and don't consider it blasphemy? Muslims believe the "Ruh al qudus" (Holy Spirit) is distinct from God and yet God at the same time. If the Holy Spirit wasn't distinct, we wouldn't even have such a name, but this is not heresy because He is from God and is God and must be respected. Well, if that's the case, then why doesn't the same apply to the Word of God, which is known to Muslims as "Kalimatu Allah"? Why are we denying Him for making a sacrifice that the human mind cannot even comprehend in its entirety? His sacrifice was to come to earth as a human, to live a perfect life, die for us, and rise again, becoming the ultimate, sacrificial Lamb, the bridge between the Holy Almighty God of Abraham and us mere little worms, drenched in sin and unworthy of His presence. Please really ask yourself, since you sin every single day, how will you be able to stand in the day of the judgement shaking in fear of being rightly judged? Who will vouch for you? I personally choose the holiest, most perfect Being that ever walked the earth: the Lord Jesus Christ.

I pray for whoever reads this to find the truth, no matter who you are, no matter what religion you belong to. I'm not here to convince you of anything, because this is an adventure you must go on your own. But my only suggestion would be that if you want to seek God, then seek Him in truth. But you've got to REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to know Him with ALL your might!!! And you shall find Him, because God is a faithful God, and He will see and answer your call. He promises that "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14). Hallelujah! God bless you all!

The Changes Christ Has Made in My Life
Brother Len, I wanted to personally thank you for your wonderful blog, Eternal Destinations. Thanks to you I was able to find all the resources gathered in one blog and take in all the information I could get. It was very scary and overwhelming at first, but with the Grace of God I have started repenting and applying those advices in my life one by one, and it's not as bad as I thought it'd be.

I went and threw away all my dolls, figurines, decorative statues, etc., which I didn't realize were idols. Even if we didn't pray to them, they still had no business being in our house.

I was never a fan of jewelry nor makeup, so that wasn't hard to give up, but pants!!! It was the unthinkable and hearing that they were an abomination to God was heartbreaking! I simply loved pants, I loved having a boyish look in order to look less vulnerable, but I want to please God more than anything. So I began wearing long skirts, and although it was awkward at first, I now have fully adapted! Hallelujah!

God bless you and your family!

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[END OF TESTIMONY]

Editor's Comments
We praise the Lord for this sister's testimony.  Hallelujah! We give all the glory to God for what He has done in her life.

It is my hope that her testimony will help other Muslims like her, who are really searching for God, to find the truth and have a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ. Hers is not an isolated incident. Many Muslims are meeting Him personally in dreams and visions, as I have mentioned in my article Ongoing Earthly Ministry of Jesus. Near the end of that article, I featured the amazing testimonies of two former Muslim men who had supernatural encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, I have also written about two other former Muslims who have seen the Lord face-to-face in my articles, James Agboola Revelation of Heaven and Hell and Ibrahim's Experience in Hell. Don't miss these testimonies!

In the fifth chapter of Brother Ibrahim's book, Walking in God's Perfect Will, he states: "Immediately after the Lord Jesus delivered me from the control of Mohammed (Islam), He taught me how to pray and to depend on Him to preach the gospel to my Muslim brothers and sisters. Also to challenge my fellow Christians who were weak to awake." In the eighth chapter of his book, he says that while he was in a place of prayer, after a forty-day fast that the Lord led him through, he suddenly saw light around him and then heard the audible voice of the Lord speaking to him. Suddenly he saw an open vision. The first person he  saw in the vision was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, whom he claims he had seen on several occasions previously. I highly recommend reading his book.

In the author's note below, I have provide several resources for Muslims who are searching for truth, including articles I have written on who God is, the deity of Christ, His virgin birth, the Holy Trinity, the final judgment, and sins that will keep you from heaven. I have also provided articles for anyone, including weak Christians, who would like to know God's holy requirements for His children. I have also provided a link for those who want to know Jesus.

Finally, more than eighty percent of Muslims have never heard the Gospel, and less than one percent of all Christian missionaries are laboring among Muslims. God loves them! Jesus died for them. There is a great need, but you can help meet that need. Please pray for "Momina" and other Christian minorities like her in the Islamic world. Pray that God may open up the Muslim world for the Gospel. Pray for specific Muslims that Jesus Christ would come to them and reveal Himself to them. Share this article with your Muslim friends. And we will see a great harvest of souls among the followers of Mohammed.

Author's Note: This is not a hate site. There is no hatred here. Truth is hate to those who hate the truth!

If you would like to see some amazing, true testimonies of Muslims who gave their lives to Jesus Christ after seeing Him in a dream or vision, then I want to encourage you to visit "More Than Dreams: From Dreams to Reality." There you will find video dramatizations of five Muslims from the nations of Turkey, Iran, Nigeria, Egypt, and Indonesia, who each had such a supernatural encounter with Christ. 

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read The Judgment Seat of Christ, Who is God? -- Part I, Is Jesus God?, Jesus is Yehova, The Holy Trinity, The Son of Man, The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ, Garments of Godliness, Godly Attire & Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations, Carrying Your Cross or Cross Dressing?, Keeping Your Body Pure and Holy, Holy Living in a Perverted World, An Open Mind that Loves the Truth, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Ask for the Ancient Paths, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, Ongoing Earthly Ministry of Jesus, Zipora Bitrus Testimony of Heaven and Hell, Linda Ngaujah Revelation of Heaven and Hell, and Who is God - Part II. You may access more testimonies like this on the Home page of this blog. You are also invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master. 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.