Project Ecuador

Project Ecuador
Giving Hope and a Future

Tuesday 13 August 2013

A big turn-around



I was visiting a patient who had suffered a stroke.  His brother –in-law, Efren, prayed for him and told him to trust in God who would heal him.



Once Efren had gone another visitor commented that he could believe God might heal the patient because of the transformation he has witnessed in the life of Efren.



“I used to be afraid to meet him in the street,” the visitor elaborated.  “He was a drug trafficker.  He drank heavily.  Every weekend from Thursday to Sunday he would drink and drink.  He smoked.  He stole from people.  He was a violent man. 



He left his wife with three young sons and set up home with another woman with whom he had a daughter.  They lived deep into the countryside.  Who can tell what kind of life that poor woman lived?  One day her then nine year old daughter arrived home to find her mother dead.  Everyone assumed it was a killing due to drugs.  Later it was decided she committed suicide.  Efren´s life was a total disaster. 



But then he commited his life to Jesus.  He started being a faithful attender at the local church.  He stopped drinking completely.  He stopped smoking.  He stopped drugs.  He started working in the fields for a living.  His whole face changed and his old companions no longer recognized him. 



His first wife took him back.  He set up a new family with his approaching teenage sons and his daughter.  And now, five years on, what a wonderful family he has.  He is a hard worker, a preacher, a man of faith.  His children are studying and happy.  If his life can change so completely and utterly, I can believe that healing is possible, that God is real.” 

It is wonderful to witness God bringing about marvelous restoration, reconciliation and transformation of lives and families.