“. . . then I had to go back to my first wife because I cut the arm of my second wife’s father with a knife [machete]. I was aiming for his neck, but I missed,” Ivan shrugged.

Getting to know a new young man from church was getting interesting pretty quickly! Ivan continued explaining how he ended up a local school teacher, living without God, far from his childhood in the Seventh-day Adventist church. He was even using drugs and selling them to the local raskols (criminal gang members). Even young guys from the surrounding villages came to him to get their fix.

All this changed when Ivan’s wife got very sick and could no longer care for herself and their family. When the ladies from the Kotale SDA Church heard about the situation, they regularly visited to help care for Ivan’s dying wife. They bathed her, washed her clothes, brought food and gave prayers and encouragement faithfully until she passed away earlier this year. Ivan was so impressed by the loving service of the church members that he decided to recommit his life to the Lord and return to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

A church elder spoke of him as a promising young man, so I took him with me on a trip to town. As we waited for our ride back to the village, he told me his story and mentioned that, just moments before, some young guys, not knowing of his change of heart, had come up to him asking if he would sell them drugs. He informed them that he no longer dealt drugs, had changed, and was now attending church.

Praise God, for He touched Ivan’s heart through the self-sacrificing service of a few humble community service ladies who, following the example of Jesus, visited the sick and ministered to their needs.

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