I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine named Nestor. I have already written a little about him and his mother, Catherine (to whom I refer as Mama Nestor), who recently had an operation to remove a cancerous tumor (see the January AF).

Nestor knew about Adventists before I arrived in Benin. He and his younger brother stayed for some time with a church member’s family when their family didn’t have the means to support them. Several years ago, when Nestor was 16, he stayed with Cesar, a friend of ours. Cesar spent hours talking to him and working for his salvation. He studied the Bible with him, but Nestor just thought it was a game and never took it seriously. But prayers continued to go up in his behalf. At first, I knew Nestor only in passing. Now and then, he would come to baptisms, and I would meet him on the road when walking to Cesar’s home, but I never talked much to him.

Nestor went south for a year to study and then returned last year. Soon after his return, he showed up at our door in a semi-panic. He had returned from school to find his mother sick, and his father didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation. He also knew his family didn’t have the money to get treatment for his mother. He pleaded for our help. Since I knew Nestor wasn’t a fraud, I agreed to assist.

Over the next few days as we sat with his mother in the hospital, Nestor and I had a long dialogue about God. He told me about his chest pains, which might indicate an enlarged heart or lung problems. One doctor had told him one thing, and another had told him something else. Later, I researched his symptoms in my medical book but couldn’t match them to anything. I started wondering if Satan was attacking him—it happens often here.

Knowing Nestor had already studied the Bible, our very first day together at the hospital, I challenged him to take God seriously. Normally, I don’t do this with someone I don’t know well, but the Holy Spirit was guiding, and Nestor took the challenge. For the next three weeks, he read and studied the Bible. He began with my Bible, but I needed it, so I got him another one.

Each day, I brought him Bible texts I had written down the evening before. He kept saying, “How do you know which ones will prick me so?”
“I don’t, but God does” I replied.
He asked me if I thought it was too late for him and if God would still accept him. After much discussion and hours and hours of prayer on my part, he was ready to make his starting decision to follow God.

The day finally arrived when Catherine came home. But, sadly, the doctors had not been able to remove all of her cancer. With that in mind and with her new understanding that God is real and powerful, another church member and I started Bible studies with her and Nestor. I usually did the studies while the church member translated into Ditammari. Both Nestor and Catherine drank in the word of God like sponges, asking many questions and working through problems. The church member finally had to stop meeting with us, so it was up to Nestor to understand the subjects and then try to translate for his mother.

God has proven able to use even cancer to glorify His name. It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to your new brother and sister in Christ, Nestor and Catherine. I ask that you continue to pray for them—for their protection against attacks from Satan, for Catherine’s healing, and that they will be able to stand up to family pressure against their new faith.

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