Is There Anything Too Hard For God?
Jer. 32:27
David's eyes blazed with hatred as he stared at the pastor.
"Who does this man think he is?", David raged in his mind. "He comes to our township, preaching about Jesus, changing things, disrupting things!"
Four of his best friends, members of his gang who had been like brothers, were now talking about religion all of the time and going to this Afrikaaner's church.
"Gang life is our religion! It's our way of life!" This Afrikaaner didn't understand any of that.
David rubbed his side, still sore from when some guys from another gang jumped him recently. His four former gang members weren't there to protect his back, like they should have been, like they would have been—before.
He felt a deep, burning anger rising within. "I could take him out." Something about the idea made him uncomfortable, but he quickly suppressed it. It had to be done, he told himself. This Afrikaaner was disrespecting him, disrespecting all of them.
Now that he had a plan, he felt almost relieved. He sat back and appraised the pastor more coolly. . . he had the power back again. He would kill the pastor.
From that day on, David began stalking him. He followed the pastor every chance he got, trying to catch him in secret so he could kill him. Every time he almost had a chance, something would happen to ruin it. He couldn't believe it! It had never been this hard before! So, here he was, sitting in the back of the church again, waiting for the service to be over so he could follow him.
Suddenly, a Voice broke through his consciousness like a powerful tidal wave crashing upon the fire of his emotions. A Voice he had never heard before:
"David, I love you."
The Voice jarred him out of his thoughts and the words coming out of the black box suddenly became loud and clear. He looked at it—"Proclaimer." Hmm. The Proclaimer was talking about Jesus, but talking to him. His eyes became moist. What was going on?
Something deep and more powerful than he had ever known was happening inside him. Now, the tidal wave pounded like a sledge hammer, breaking and crumbling the stone of his heart. Whatever this force was, it was more powerful than him, and he knew it. It terrified him, but it was also the gentlest and sweetest thing he had ever felt.
Jesus.
David is one of many gang members coming to Christ in South Africa. Gang members in Cape Town number in the tens of thousands, where their rites of passage include ritual killings and rapes. Violent turf wars are common as gangs compete for the drug trade. Gang life is so commonplace that one 16-year-old matter-of-factly stated, "My father and grandfather were in gangs and they have done time in jail—I will probably end up there as well. It is the way of life here; it is where you learn about respect and get status."
Since David's conversion, four more men from his gang have come to know Christ. David is a part of the church of the pastor he once stalked, and though this happened only a little over a year ago, he already leads a Faith Comes By Hearing listening group.
Thank you Church of Love Faith Center, Rochester, NY; Mount Cross Lutheran Church, University Place, WA; Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Cedar Crest, NM; and the many other churches who gave so the Afrikaans Audio New Testament could be recorded and begin reaching the Afrikaans-speaking people. You are truly changing lives.
700 Afrikaans Proclaimers are now in the hands of the people of South Africa.