"But I'm not a Baptist!"
Roman is one of the Ukrainians who has attended the Bible studies in the prison for almost a year. He called me while we were in Ukraine to let me know that the court had found him not guilty of murder---"insufficient evidence from the prosecution" was the reason cited by the judge---so he is free. If he did kill the other man, he didn't remember it, as he had been drinking, and the other man had beaten Roman on the head very severely with a club. When Roman came to, he was covered in blood and the other man was dead. One of the Ukrainian brothers in the church said Sunday that Roman is still on the island working, and he has stopped drinking. The talk around the Ukrainian immigrant community is that "Roman became a Baptist." We pray he at least continues to read the Bible we gave him and seek God.
The other Ukrainian is Oleg. He's a very quiet fellow, even taking into consideration the linguistic difficulties. Last week one of the guards saw me talking with Oleg and asked if I had been able to enter into any kind of dialog with him. Oleg asked me last week to get him the address of the Portuguese Red Cross, hinting that he was going to write them and ask for help. At the end of the lesson today, Oleg stayed behind, and I gave him the address he wanted. I used the opportunity to see if he would open up and talk. He explained that he was sentenced to 8 1/2 years for murder (manslaughter, perhaps). I think he was in a fight and didn't mean to kill the other man, so he got off with a minimum sentence. That was 4 years ago so he still has over half his sentence to serve. I asked him what sort of help, specifically, he was looking for. He explained that the only clothes he has are the ones he was wearing today. No pijamas, no extra underwear, no other shoes or houseshoes. His family in Ukraine can't send him money.
I told Oleg that our church would be glad to help him with those kinds of things. That's when he looked at me, somewhat surprised, and said, "But I'm not a Baptist, I'm Orthodox!"
"Yes," I replied, "but more importantly, you are a person!"
This is the love that God sheds abroad in our hearts, the love the world does not understand, the love that is the ultimate sign of being born again and being a disciple of Jesus. We often come across people who ask us if it's OK to attend our services, "since they're not Baptist". Our doors are open to everyone, of course, including atheists. A few months back, one of our members brought a neighbor lady to the service. When I was introduced to her at the end of the service, she told me straight out she didn't like the service at all. (Our member had already clued me in that her neighbor is an atheist by conviction.) I don't remember what I preached, but she didn't like it. She brought up the issue of the innocent victims of the tsunami a few months before, among other things. She repeatedly made the point she doesn't believe God exists. I told her that was OK, and that we loved her anyway, and would be glad to see her any time.
Last week, Isabel told us that the neighbor has since moved to a different house and has been travelling, but the neighbor told Isabel that she felt something different in our church and would be coming again as soon as could. And she's not even Baptist.
The other Ukrainian is Oleg. He's a very quiet fellow, even taking into consideration the linguistic difficulties. Last week one of the guards saw me talking with Oleg and asked if I had been able to enter into any kind of dialog with him. Oleg asked me last week to get him the address of the Portuguese Red Cross, hinting that he was going to write them and ask for help. At the end of the lesson today, Oleg stayed behind, and I gave him the address he wanted. I used the opportunity to see if he would open up and talk. He explained that he was sentenced to 8 1/2 years for murder (manslaughter, perhaps). I think he was in a fight and didn't mean to kill the other man, so he got off with a minimum sentence. That was 4 years ago so he still has over half his sentence to serve. I asked him what sort of help, specifically, he was looking for. He explained that the only clothes he has are the ones he was wearing today. No pijamas, no extra underwear, no other shoes or houseshoes. His family in Ukraine can't send him money.
I told Oleg that our church would be glad to help him with those kinds of things. That's when he looked at me, somewhat surprised, and said, "But I'm not a Baptist, I'm Orthodox!"
"Yes," I replied, "but more importantly, you are a person!"
This is the love that God sheds abroad in our hearts, the love the world does not understand, the love that is the ultimate sign of being born again and being a disciple of Jesus. We often come across people who ask us if it's OK to attend our services, "since they're not Baptist". Our doors are open to everyone, of course, including atheists. A few months back, one of our members brought a neighbor lady to the service. When I was introduced to her at the end of the service, she told me straight out she didn't like the service at all. (Our member had already clued me in that her neighbor is an atheist by conviction.) I don't remember what I preached, but she didn't like it. She brought up the issue of the innocent victims of the tsunami a few months before, among other things. She repeatedly made the point she doesn't believe God exists. I told her that was OK, and that we loved her anyway, and would be glad to see her any time.
Last week, Isabel told us that the neighbor has since moved to a different house and has been travelling, but the neighbor told Isabel that she felt something different in our church and would be coming again as soon as could. And she's not even Baptist.
posted by EP | 10:15 PM | Permalink
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home