"I have to go plant some corn, but I want to talk with you about a verse in Isaiah when I get back if that's ok?" He said.
"Sure, no problem." I said. I could see something was heavy on his heart, but God has been knocking on the door of this man's soul for well over a year now so it didn't come as much of a surprise.
The morning waxed away and in the heat of a cloudless afternoon there suddenly broke a cool rain. I praised God for watering the gardens for me, and hit the rack to rest and wait for the storm to pass. Then there came a text on my phone from Jean Wilbert...
"Dan, I want to accept Christ, I want to commit now."
I'm pretty sure for a second I thought I was dreaming.
He came to my house and sat down to talk with us.
"I was out planting the corn, and everyone told me to leave it. There was no rain to be found, and the seed wouldn't raise. I prayed to God and said, 'God, if you want me, if you love me, please send the rain.' I finished planting the field. The ground was hot, hard and dry. But then ten minutes later, it began to rain. There were no clouds when I prayed. Who can explain that? I can't. I can't deny Him. He answered me. I have no choice but to follow Him, and no one will ever turn my head!" He said.
"When I was a little baby, a kerosene lantern fell over and began to burn the house, but some plastic melted around my head, and while the fire burned all around me, it never touched me. The doctor told my mother that God had saved me for something big, and that when I grow up I need to serve the Lord.
Then, when I was a little boy, I was bathing in a canal, and a big storm brought a flood of water into the canal. A large log came down the canal and hit me, pinning me under the water. Everyone began to scream that I was dead and finished, but one man came to the log and lifted it, just enough for me to escape. I was saved, once from fire and once from water. I've been listening to Dan and then his cousin and his friends, and now his step-dad. Even my sister's brother...they all bring the same message to me. I have no time to lose. The time is now." Jean Wilbert's face was glowing. He gathered his wife and children so they could hear, and we even got my cousin Nic on the phone in the States, a man who had recently given Jean Wilbert the Gospel. I explained to him that there was no special prayer, that his salvation had already arrived in his heart when he decided to give his life to the Lord. We prayed to thank God for his decision and Pastor Pompee began to talk with him about baptism. He showed him in the Bible how people were baptized after they were saved.
"Let's go!" He said. His wife's eyes were wide.
"You're ok with going now?" I said.
"Right now!." He said with a smile. Immediately we all started for the river. Jean Wilbert held his baby boy Nathaniel, the same little boy I was given the honor of naming when he was born. His wife followed close behind, and my own boy ran to the kid's club to get Wilbert's other son. My mom and step-dad were also there to witness.
We took off our pants and Pastor Pompee let Jean Wilbert declare his faith in Jesus. He explained to him that baptism is an outward sign of an inward change, He took my friend down under the water, and it was my brother who came back up. He held the face of his boy, he held his wife and kissed his baby, and we all started back for the village.
Jean Wilbert is now a child of the Most High King and his name is written in the Book of Life. I praise God for His great works and the fruit He's allowed me to see.
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