Yesterday I had the privilege of baptizing this young man. I met him exactly two years ago and immediately began to meet with him regularly to teach him the Bible. He always showed lots of interest but would never make a decision concerning Christ. I would give him assignments each week where he would have to study a portion of Scripture and I even gave him several books to help answer some of his questions. After a year pouring many hours into teaching him the Bible he still hadn’t become a believer. I began to feel discouraged and stopped meeting with him as often. I prayed constantly for him. Thankfully he continued going to church faithfully and heard the gospel week after week.
Then when I began to lose hope he confessed to me that he had repented of his sins and placed his faith in Christ for his salvation. I was overjoyed. Since then I have spent countless hours with him and he is growing in the Lord. He goes with me almost everywhere. He is reading his Bible faithfully, memorizing verses and serving in the church. I’m anxious to see what God is going to do in his life.
Jefferson has taught me many things. I have learned that ministry takes time. I want to train men for the ministry but that doesn’t happen overnight. I have to be faithful in the process and entrust the product to God. Also, I’ve learned that discipleship begins before salvation as we teach unbelievers the gospel and it continues until we have trained them and they are able to reproduce themselves in the lives of others. In other words, it’s hard work. Please continue to pray for Jefferson and for others like him that are yet to be saved.
