Dear friends,
you may have heard me mention it before, I work with offenders.
Sinners.
(Like us… we are no better!!!!!!!!
I don’t have many non-believer colleagues who realise this, but there are many Christians in this organization where I work, and they get it, they KNOW… and they are there for the same reasons…)
Many of these clients have multiple support needs, “issues”… substance misuse (addiction), debts, homelessness, broken relationships, unemployment, rejection, stigma…depression…
My worldly colleagues are trying to “manage” these people… and many, many leave after a short time, burnt out, frustrated, disillusioned, with a sense of defeat, with a bitter taste of failure in their mouths or with some sharp, cutting cynicism on their lips… or they stay and stop caring, do only the minimum, and become more and more ineffective, bland, ignorant…
The organization itself does very little for its people, in fact, the demands are unbearably high, the level of bureaucracy is bottomless and the pay is miserable 😉
And many are scared to work with this type of clientele, either afraid of them – or drawn to this work for the wrong reasons, addicted to the drama of working with “dangerous” clients, thrill-seeking, yes, especially women, many of them work in this field because they are bored in their marriage and fancy “bad boys” in their sexual fantasies… sorry, I don’t mean to offend anyone, but I am being real and saying it as it is, because I see it every day…
Only a very, very, small percentage is there because they want to help these people.
And I am not saying this to blow my own trumpet… in fact, it took me years of darkness and suffering and experiencing the most horrific abuse myself to understand that I can do this, that this is my calling, my ministry…
I am good at it.
Perhaps when I share what I discovered why, you can apply the same principle to your area, to your job, to your ministry…
My manager didn’t take long until she discovered that I am more likely to succeed with very difficult cases than many others of my colleagues, even though they are there for much longer, but they are not achieving any results, in fact, their clients either do not improve their lives, or they even deteriorate…
Me, I only understood yesterday how my breakthroughs and successes actually truly manifest – I did know that it was because of GOD, but now, I understand the exact sequence and what is happening…
Yesterday, what I have been doing – this may sound strange, but of course, I have always been praying for the guys and also for my colleagues, especially for the unbelievers, every day, ever since I started working in the field… but yesterday, I was actually on a break, sitting on a park bench, singing, worshipping GOD, praying for this guy, I won’t say his name, but he has been to prison so many times, probably more been in prison than outside ever since he was 17, he is now 43, he is taking drugs, has no job, no relationship and a very poor Mental Health…
I went to meet him outside at the gate to pick him up when he was released from prison 2 weeks ago… he was extremely touched and nobody has ever done this for him….
I have been fighting to keep him out of prison ever since, he has taken almost my entire time, everyone keeps calling me, his housing worker, his sisters, the police, even my manager is starting to demand he should get at least a warning… everyone seems to want to punish him and even want him back in prison… and I was praying that he would make it this time, that he would be strong, that he would get free… when he came out of prison, he had been clean in there, he was clear, making sense with what he said and he was determined to create a new life for himself… now, 2 weeks later, he has been using drugs again, is about to be thrown out of his flat if he doesn’t manage to stop taking drugs and his family and other people have called the police on him many times…
When I was praying for him in the park, tears were running, I was sobbing and asking GOD for his soul, asking GOD to free him, to snatch him out of the hands of the devil… I could literally see these evil, giant claws holding him… and this is when it dawned on me:
this is a spiritual fight.
Not only of the clients themselves… as I had seen many find GOD in prison, the ones who believe somehow seem to KNOW what is going on and they have this knowing inside that they are truly fighting the devil, that the drug is a demon, even violence and offending is an evil spirit itself…
So the offenders themselves are fighting a spiritual fight.
But so are we, the ones supporting them.
And if WE are not of GOD, the battle can never be won.
Don’t get me wrong – it is hard, it is draining, I am exhausted, especially since I’ve had this case…
I am fighting with all my might…
I have no idea if I will even be able to support him to stay out for one more week… in the end, I am completely unable to change his life for him, he himself has to do that… and he has absolutely no power over his life… the substance is in control… crack cocaine… one of the darkest ladies I have met… she is pure evil… as black (and just to be absolutely clear, I am NOT talking skin colour, black as in evil, dark, wicked!!!) as can be… changing people into zombies…
I saw her as an evil, dark, female giant, hovering over him, surrounding him…
GOD is stronger.
Not me.
Nothing I could ever do or say.
I am probably saying the same things or similar things other practitioners say as well.
I may have a good background and experience and at the same time, so do others…
But me, I have the SPIRIT OF GOD behind me, backing up my words.
I have seen it:
they listen to me…
I have seen the penny drop many times… and another one of my clients, when he had a relapse, he kept calling me… he knew I wouldn’t like it, but he knew that he could trust me and he wanted to hear what I would say, because he knew that it would help him… in the middle of it, he even said that he was listening to me “through the fog”…
It IS a spiritual battle.
We are not fighting habits or behavior or past trauma.
We are fighting the devil in the guise of drugs, addictions, violence, recidivism and offending itself.
And there is only one way to fight and defeat a giant:
with the spirit of GOD.
Sometimes I feel powerless and feel that I should give up.
And I am sure that every pastor or minister feels the same way sometimes – I don’t consider myself a pastor, more a missionary… in the margins… in samaria… with the sinners and prostitutes… and when I remember what sustains me and empowers me, these are the moments when I WIN, when I have breakthroughs with them, when I get through to them, when they make some progress, when they can hear me…
Help me pray, my dear friends, this client of mine, I am fighting with his housing provider that he will not be evicted…the housing worker, who is supposed to help him, is scared of him, she is incompetent and wants to get rid of him, my boss wants him to get a warning and I was able to convince her that we instead take his offer to do a drug test every week… friends, please join me in prayer that this drug test will be negative, that he will not get into any sort of trouble or fights over the weekend, that he will not get arrested, that the police will not be called by his neighbors or his family, that he will become stronger, more clear, that he will remember what it felt like when he was clean when he came out of prison, that he will stop using drugs and use his brain instead, that he will pursue the desire to get a job again, that he will accept help, that he will first and foremost accept JESUS as LORD over his life.
This is an extreme case.
But everyone without JESUS is lost and can only fail and needs our prayers, needs our SPIRITUAL support.
They may be rich materially, but so poor in their soul… they may have a healthy body, but their spirit is truly dead…
They may not even be aware of the giants holding them tightly in their huge paws.
Only when we fight in the spirit can we avail to anything, can we be of any assistance – and it is not even us, it is GOD who will help.
Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Join me in prayer, dear friends, join me for this and all other clients of mine, for my unsaved colleagues, for my unbelieving friends, acquaintances, family… for YOUR friends, family, colleagues, clients, for strangers… they all need JESUS.
May GOD help us win souls for HIS kingdom.
If you have not given your life to JESUS, don’t wait any longer.
You can say this prayer:
“Dear Heavenly Father, I acknowledge and confess that I have not lived my life for YOU to this day, but have been living for myself and in sin and that is wrong. Please forgive me of all of my sins just as I forgive others. I need YOU in my life; I want YOU in my life.
I recognize the completed work of YOUR only begotten Son JESUS CHRIST in giving HIS life for me on the cross, I believe in my heart JESUS is LORD and that HE was raised from the dead and ask for YOUR forgiveness, which YOU have made freely available to me through this sacrifice.
Come into my life now, LORD!
Take up residence in my heart and be my KING, my LORD, and my SAVIOUR!
From this day forward, I will no longer be controlled by sin, or the desire to please myself, but I will follow YOU all the days of my life. Those days are in YOUR hands.
I ask this Jesus name.
Amen.”
If you have just prayed this prayer, you are now part of GOD’s kingdom and family and I heartily welcome you, my dear brother or sister!
The next thing to do is get a bible and find a church where you can receive further instructions, so that your new life in THE LORD may prosper and that you will become who HE made you to be.
GOD bless you and if you have any questions, please get in touch.
Witness for Jesus 