I grew up in a typical American "Christian" divorced family (my parents were divorced when I was one year old). Christian in a very loose sense, since virtually "all" Americans are "Christian", or at least think they are. It is possible in America, to be only Christian on Sunday. The churches teach if you go to the front of church and say a little prayer, you are saved, and should never doubt that. So this happened to me very distinctly when I was 4 years old. I went for alter call at church and told the pastor I believed in Jesus. I even remember very vividly from my childhood John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Many years after, I thought I was Christian and going to heaven, and even I prayed alot. Like when I would lose something, I would pray and ask God to help me to find it, and usually I would find it. But, actually, my life was not that good. I do not ever remember reading the Bible. And by the time I got to high school I involved with wrong friends and became involved in all kinds of bad things, like smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and doing all kinds of drugs. I was very rebellious teenager, so much so that I was made to go live with my dad when I was 15, who I never had lived with. He was very strict on me, so when I was 18 years old I left home, and never looked back. I went to college and didn't talk with my dad again. Six months later he disowned me as his son. I was on my own for sometime, again one year later I tried to reconcile, but ended up running away again. By the time I got into college I was drinking alcohol every night, doing drugs, and had a number of girlfriends. I also quit believing in God, and had become an agnostic. I also was very interested in Eastern religions and was practicing yoga, and often listening to new age music. Half way through my college, I went on a trip across the United States, where I camped for 15 days straight and lived in the mountains. That trip was the first of a series of things that God was trying to reach out to me. When I saw God's awesome creation in all its glory, I began to change. I could feel God reaching out to me. When I came back to college, I became involved in Campus Crusade for Christ, yet I was still drinking, smoking, and using drugs. By the time I graduated college I had started dating someone seriously, later we were married.
At that time I was going to church regularly but I did not personally know Jesus Christ. After two years of being married, the girl I married completely had abandoned me, and began being involved in other relationships. I was devastated. After six months of this torture, I decided to commit suicide. I planned everything in detail and one day I was preparing to leave work to go home to commit suicide. I was walking to the sign-out sheet and there just about to write my name to sign out. Then the Holy Spirit prompted me at that time to go and tell my problems to a co-worker named Doug. So I kept saying "no", but finally I thought I should give one last chance. I talked with Doug, and he told me my problem was not my relationship with girl, but with God. I really repented of my sins at that time. I told God from that day I would no longer live for myself, I would live for Him. That was July 1, 1997, the day I will never forget. My life completely changed from that day forward. "I was blind, now I see." (John 9:25) God cleaned me from inside out. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17). I was very alone at that time with no friends, so I spent all my time alone with God in prayer. I would fast and pray for days at a time. I lost 30-40 pounds just in a few months. I was like skin and bones. I would enter such deep communion with Jesus. Sometimes I would even leave my body to commune with Jesus and would often see angels hovering over or standing beside my bed at night (Psalm 91:11). For the next seven years I continued to wait and pray for this wife of my youth that I married, that God would reconcile our relationship. But eventually, she married another man, and had a child by now, so I gave up my hope. I felt alot like King David, when Michal remarried to Phalti.
After those very difficult days, the Holy Spirit led me to go to Mississippi to study my PhD and to shared God's love with the Indian students there, to tell them about Jesus. None of the Indian students wanted to believe in Jesus, but some Chinese students did. So I spent two years telling the Chinese students about Jesus. God saved so many Chinese students during that time (Then I started praying about moving to China, and going there for weeks at a time, but God never opened the door for me to move there permanently). Then finally an Indian student decided he wanted to believe in this Jesus. God led me to move in with three Indian students, later one other Indian student came to Christ. I prayed for two years for a large house to train the disciples, then one day someone just gave me their $500,000 house one to take care of until someone else would buy it. It was so big, some people would call it a mansion. (When God wants to bless, He can really bless). God led me to focus my last few years trying to reach the Muslims. But suddenly I found that the Muslims not only did not want to hear the Gospel they become very angry with me, and one day I went to the mosque for three days to share with them, and they prayed a curse on me. I fell very ill one night, but my roomate prayed for me, and I was instantly healed. Those days in the international discipleship house, we called it "the house of prayer", We had students stay there from India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, China, and many other places, but no-one was interested to buy the house, so we lived there for 1.5 years almost completely for free. We would have Hindus, Muslims, and Christians living together. We constantly had prayer meetings, and Bible studies. It was a great place and exciting times.
Then I heard about North Korea Christians just one year ago. I was so moved by the stories I heard I started to pray about going to North Korea. Then God led me to start a community prayer meeting for North Korea. At that meeting, I met a Korean man, who later met President Kim. It was in just a matter of two weeks later, amazingly, I found myself in Korea talking with President Kim. He asked me to come to Handong, and I could use Handong as a launching pad to go to North Korea. I went back to Mississippi and talked with my pastor. He told me "what about discipleship house?" So I prayed to God and asked Him, if you want me to go to Korea, this house must sell. Although I lived in house for 1.5 years without anyone interested to buy the house, someone came that week and made offer on the house. We moved out of the house by December and about six weeks later I found myself living in Korea. Now God has really blessed my time here, and I look forward to how He is leading my future to go to North Korea, if the Lord wills. God continues to amaze me with His power and so many miracles He has done in my life. I feel I really have the abundant life now. I pray for His church, the glorious bride, that it may be without spot and without wrinkle, and may prepare for His soon return.
a fellow servant of Jesus,
Wes
"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be the glory forever. Amen" Romans 11:36
"Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God." Matthew 22:29
A few verses that have had a big impact on my life:
"And ye shall seek me, and find me,
when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
Jeremiah 29:13
"He that loveth his life shall lose it;
and he that hateth his life in this world
shall keep it unto life eternal."
John 12:25
"For what is a man profited,
if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul?
or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Matthew 16:26
"Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men,
resulting in condemnation,
even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men,
resulting in justification of life.
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners,
so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."
Romans 5:18-19
"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men,
the Man Christ Jesus,
who gave Himself a ransom for all,
to be testified in due time."
1 Timothy 2:5-6
"we will surely die
and become like water spilled on the ground,
which cannot be gathered up again."
Yet God does not take away a life;
but He devises means so that His banished ones are not expelled
from Him."
2 Samuel 14:14
"There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death."
Proverbs 14:12