One Ghanaian’s Path to Faith in Jesus
God has a story for each of us. In this story, God used different people and life circumstances to bring “Yerri” to faith in Jesus Christ, after his many years of practicing a different religion. I had been in Ghana two weeks to the day, when I had the honor to lead Yerri to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Leah, a fellow missionary serving at the Center until next June, walks home to meet people along the way in hopes of building relationships to perhaps be given an opportunity to share the Gospel. She met “Yerri” on her second walk through town (a few months ago). Right from the start, Yerri was an intense fellow – reaching out to shake her hand, and holding it tightly, while looking intently into her eyes and earnestly saying such cheerful things as “Leah, you shouldn’t make too many friends in this town; be careful.”
Yerri tends to be a very guarded fellow. While most men in town will introduce themselves and quickly follow up with “Are you married? Will you marry me?” Yerri waited a few weeks to ask, “By the way, Leah, are you married?” He accepted Leah’s “No” thoughtfully, unlike the others who proposed.
Leah was getting a bit weary of Yerri’s intensity though, dancing around being more than “friends.” God’s timing is so good, because she had in her mind to end their acquaintance. When they next met, Yerri casually mentioned, “Oh, by the way, did you know that ‘Amos’ is my brother?” That stopped Leah in her tracks: ‘Amos’ is a dear Christian’s brother of mine and Leah’s with ties to the Center of Good News! She certainly couldn’t try to end the acquaintance. She prayed, “Lord, You are somehow at work in Yerri’s life – help me to discern the part I need to play.”
On Monday, Oct. 12, Yerri and Amos came by Leah’s and my office. Amos announced that it was Yerri’s birthday, and then in front of his brother stated that “it is very important that you pray for Yerri and try to help him become a Christian.” Pretty bold, so you know that Amos has shared the Good News with his brother many, many times! After Yerri left, Amos turned to Leah with his brother’s earnestness and urged, “Please do everything you can to help him become a Christian. He likes you, Leah.”
Due to this statement, it seemed appropriate to me to have a discussion about God using all our emotions and expectations to draw us to Him, even when our motivation and associated emotions and expectations are misplaced. We all agreed to gently and respectfully try to move Yerri’s focus from Leah to Jesus. Yerri thought he was visiting to court her; God had other plans.
That evening Leah walked home again, passing Yerri. He joined her and accompanied her for half a mile or more. Yerri kept saying things like “Leah, I told my brother I will come to church, but I said that only because of you.” God was continually gracious, because every time Yerri made a relational comment, they passed someone that Leah was able to greet in the local tongue, thus breaking the flow of conversation; Leah would then turn their discussion to spiritual things.
God is so good and obvious sometimes! They passed a sign with the words “Born Again.” Leah pointed it out to Yerri, saying “Today is your physical birthday (God’s timing is perfect); but I want you to know that my prayer for you is that before I leave Ghana, I will celebrate your spiritual birth.” He’d never heard the phrase before, and she gave him a thorough explanation. Separating now, Yerri said intently, “Leah, we have very important matters to discuss about ourselves. I will come and see you tomorrow.”
So Yerri’s big day was at hand — he had worked up the nerve to ask Leah to marry him. It was 10:00 am, Tuesday Oct. 13, and Leah had a visitor: Yerri. We all said our greetings in our office. God was so gracious, because almost immediately they were discussing spiritual topics. Yerri’s attention shifted toward me, as he asked for my perspective on Jesus, God, sacrifice, good works, and much more. Yerri had some questions about his religion’s holy book, which I was able to help him with, not that I’m an expert. Again, God’s plan is so detailed: I had just finished a book that did a great job of expressing the religion’s worldview and life. It helped my perspective immensely to understand the issues Yerri was internalizing in the moment.
We asked Yerri many questions, too, allowing him full expression of his worldview and learning what God had revealed to him. Yerri understood that Jesus is the Son of God, the need for the Cross, and that he had sinned in his life; but….
Yerri changed the direction of our conversation. Yerri began to tell us how worried he was about Leah walking alone through town. He vividly recounted the story of another white woman who got attacked. As he wrapped up his horror story, he said, “Leah, I’m just warning you. If I do not tell you of the danger, then I am only loving you through my teeth, not from my heart.”
We had previously talked a lot about love. Wow, talk about a divine opening: Leah said, “That is the kind of love Mr. Joe and I have for you! We see the danger you are in if you die without Christ in your life, and if we do not warn you to trust Jesus, we love you only through our teeth, not from our hearts.”
A little later Leah asked him, “You say you like to listen to sermons sometimes on the TV; you say you’ve read the Bible sometimes; we’ve been talking to you about Jesus, and we know Amos has been talking to you about Jesus. What more do you need to help you with your decision about Jesus?” Yerri looks at me and says, “Mr. Joe, she is making things very hot for me, isn’t she?”
I had a sense that Yerri wanted to believe, but God gave me a sense that he was thinking about the cost of being a Christian. So, I ignored his remark and said there is a cost to following Christ. After I had given him a few examples of possible repercussions, allowing Yerri to really think about possible persecution – that God would demand His desire before Yerri’s, and other costs – Yerri realized that the potential repercussions would not really bother him, because he would be doing what was right. I said that in that case, there really wasn’t anything preventing him from talking to God right now and asking Jesus to be his Lord and Savior, and – Yerri agreed!
As I led Yerri, he talked to God in his mother tongue. After some discussion, I suggested that Yerri thank Jesus, out loud, for being his Lord and Savior; he did so in his mother tongue, while we prayed along with him.
Yerri left our office shortly after noon, commenting that God is so great, because he had come to our office for one purpose, and found that God had a different purpose for him that day! Praise God with me for this answer to the prayers of many. We are just little pieces of God’s beautiful puzzle: to Him be all the praise and glory! Please pray that He will protect and nurture Yerri at this critical time.
Thanks for the part you are playing through prayer and support. Nothing God is accomplishing through me would happen apart from your prayers and support. Please continue praying with me: may Yerri simply be the first-fruits of many who will come to eternal salvation in this city and beyond! God used so many circumstances and people to bring Yerri to Himself: Yerri getting a Christian name at birth played a role, a missionary from the 70s and 80s, his brother, TV sermons, a sign by the road, a Bible he’d previously read, Leah, and lastly myself.
So has God put anyone in your sphere of influence who is seeking real answers to life’s biggest questions, seeking the best and most satisfying path in life? Are you available to God? You have the time, but are your priorities supportive of being God’s chosen vessel for them? We need to wake up and re-prioritize our lives around loving God and other people, as nothing else is more important. You will suffer, but it will be eternally rewarding!