How God Led Ghislain to Salvation…
Three boys going out for a walk around town. Nothing so unusual. Laughing and joking, getting some time together with good buddies. But what two of the friends didn’t know was that the other friend had another friend who had a bad habit of stealing cars and even doing ‘car-jacking’. That is stopping a car at a stop light, or fooling the driver to stop and pick up the person, and then that person forcing the driver and car to go somewhere where they rob and usually injure the driver. The bad friend had done just that and was forcing the driver to ‘joy ride’ around Brussels, Belgium.
As the car made a turn in the car-jacker’s neighborhood, he saw his friend and his two companions. He made the driver to stop the car and let his three friends in without telling them what had really happened. As they drove around, still with the owner in the car, now as a passenger, afraid to say anything for fear of harm, the gas gauge read near empty. They stopped at a gas station and agreed to split the cost for about $10 worth of gas, enough to get around town for another hour or so.
Ghislain volunteered, still not knowing that he was riding around in a ‘car-jacked’ auto, to go into the gas station and pay with the money that he had received from the others. While inside waiting to pay, he saw a police van pull into the station. The car-jacker ‘friend’ upon seeing the police arrive, took off running into the night and was not caught. The three unsuspecting buddies, were taken into custody. Two of them were born again Christians attending the New Jerusalem African church. Ghislain had been attending for a few weeks, but had not yet made a decision for Christ. He was wondering what it was all about, but hadn't yet learned enough about the differences between his parents’ religion, Roman Catholicism, and the New Jerusalem church’s beliefs.
In Belgium, suspects in a crime are considered guilty until proven innocent, so Ghislain and his friends were put behind bars in the same prison where murderers and hardened thieves are incarcerated. Ghislain was shaken to his very soul by this experience. When I came into Ghislain’s cell, I sensed that Ghislain was a very sensitive young man who needed and wanted to talk about life’s real meaning. I felt urged by the Holy Spirit to pass quickly on to eternal matters and the plan of God of salvation. Ghislain sat down next to me and for the next fifteen minutes, we searched in the Bible for the truths that set the prisoner free. I asked Ghislain if he would be ready to ask Jesus Christ into his life as Lord and Savior, confessing his sins and asking the Lord for the Holy Spirit to come into his heart. He replied immediately that that is what he wanted.
As we ended our prayer, the door opened and the guard announced that it was time for Ghislain go outside for his daily hour walk in the enclosed prison courtyard with the others in his wing. Just in the right moment, the Lord made the way and the door opened for salvation as well.
Some prisoners have looked at me when I come into their cell and say, “I know God has made it happen so that I have ended up in this prison, now I want to hear what He has to say to me.” God can use any method He desires to bring a young man into the place where he can hear God’s Word and be saved, I just want to be there and be ready with the Good News of Jesus to offer to them. It is just in that way that God has chosen for His Salvation to be received into a life, just like Ghislain did that day.
by Ken Barickman, Brussels Prison Ministry
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Ali Comes To Christ -
(Feb. '09) Yesterday, Ali, a quite violent young man originally from Palestine (Gaza), Italy, & Germany, gave his heart to Jesus. I first met him by error (I went to cell 1025 instead of 1035) when intending to go visit a Christian. When I opened the door, I realized I was at the wrong door (but this was a divine appointment arranged by the Lord!). There must have been an angel behind me who just pushed me on in, because, as soon as I was inside, Ali just broke down like a boy and told me all his hurts & problems. He had never heard about salvation in Jesus before! What a privilege it was to give him his very first Bible (in Arabic). We spoke in German because he didn't speak any English or French, and I don't speak any Italian or Arabic! That was over a month ago.
Then, a few days ago, when at the Forest prison, I remembered him and decided to see if the miracle took place... Sure enough, when I went into his cell, he was overflowing with praise to God and almost wanted to bow down to me for having come to help him come to know the truth of the Bible. He said he had read it through and was convinced that it was the truth for his life. So, I shared some Bible verses with him, like John 1:12 about receiving Jesus personally and Romans 10:9 about how to receive Him and be saved. He was so happy after praying to receive Jesus into his heart. He pointed to the Bible and with a big smile on his face, he said "That book is now everything to me."
You know, it wasn't easy to leave home and then first go to Africa and then here to Europe, but miracles of salvation like this make me aware that the Lord really did it and that it was worth it, going where He leads so that I can help in making the Good News known to those who have never had the opportunity to hear the message of Jesus Christ and accept Him into their lives. Thanks very much & Please remember to pray for Ali.
Then, a few days ago, when at the Forest prison, I remembered him and decided to see if the miracle took place... Sure enough, when I went into his cell, he was overflowing with praise to God and almost wanted to bow down to me for having come to help him come to know the truth of the Bible. He said he had read it through and was convinced that it was the truth for his life. So, I shared some Bible verses with him, like John 1:12 about receiving Jesus personally and Romans 10:9 about how to receive Him and be saved. He was so happy after praying to receive Jesus into his heart. He pointed to the Bible and with a big smile on his face, he said "That book is now everything to me."
You know, it wasn't easy to leave home and then first go to Africa and then here to Europe, but miracles of salvation like this make me aware that the Lord really did it and that it was worth it, going where He leads so that I can help in making the Good News known to those who have never had the opportunity to hear the message of Jesus Christ and accept Him into their lives. Thanks very much & Please remember to pray for Ali.
Ali's Sad Experience
Some are no longer living in victory- I share this with you in sadness... Back in February of this year, Ali for the first time read the Bible and made his decision for Christ. Being from Gaza, he has an Arabic name. This means that in the Belgian prisons he is considered a Muslim and they usually put them in the same cells. As a new convert to Christianity, he was a weak believer when put into the same cell as a devout Muslim. His Muslim cell-mate convinced him that his Christian faith was corrupt and wrong. When I visited him last week, he refused that I even pray for him, stating "I am now a Muslim and will stay one until I die!". In response, I warned him saying, "I understand that is your personal choice; but remember your eternal life is in danger, and after you die, you will discover what the truth of God's Word is all about. I will pray for you." Please remember to pray that a miracle of God's intervention take place in his life.
Raman Had A Dream-
About two months ago, I received a note from a prisoner asking me to come to his cell in the St. Gilles Prison in Brussels for a visit. When I entered his cell, he wanted to tell me immediately about the dream that he recently had. He told me that he came from Malaysia, and that he was not a Christian, but a Muslim, and that his wife and her family were Christians who prayed a lot. He told me that something had happened since his arrival in the prison that has shaken him very much. He said that one night while he was sleeping deeply, he had a very real dream. In the dream, he saw a large cross which looked much like the one that his wife always wore around her neck. He was small in comparison to the cross and it was moving away from him. He then began running toward the cross and when he caught up to it, he fell down on his knees. He then asked me what this could mean…
I knew right away that this dream was sent from God to open the heart of this man who was very used to running away from the cross instead of toward it. He said that he used to make fun of and mock his wife and her faith in Jesus. I then had his full attention as I explained to him the Good News of Jesus Christ, how He, the true and living Son of God, came to the earth to save us from our sins; How He died and gave His life’s blood on that cross as a sacrifice for our sins; And that if we will pray to Him and receive His sacrifice in a personal way, repenting of our sins, He will forgive us and write our name in the Book of Life in Heaven, making the way open for us the be with God for all eternity rather than having to go to Hell, a place of torment, and separation from all that is good and true.
I then asked Raman if he would want to place his confidence in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. He responded quickly saying that he would. We then prayed together, and Raman became a Christian also.
Since then, Raman has been coming to church on Friday evenings faithfully. I was able to order a Malay New Testament for him which he is now reading from cover to cover. Whenever I come into his cell, he and his cellmate bow in the typical oriental manner. Whenever he picks up his Bible, he bows and brings it to his lips, showing his respect for the Holy Book of God.
Today, when I went to visit Raman, both he and his cellmate (from India) were so excited they didn’t know how to express themselves. When they got control of themselves, they had me sit down, and with wide eyes explained what had happened in their cell just a few days ago… “Pasterr, you must listen to me what me happen is very wonderful! Me sleeping in the afternoon, when I see something like shadow passing by me. Me not know what it was. Pasterr, I wake up and me stand up, and the shadow pass by me again. My roommate asked me why me get up. Pasterr, then me see a hand come toward my head. It touch me with his finger. When he touch me, I feel a sound and a snap in my head, and I feel very good and fall down on the floor. My roommate think I die. He think I hit my head on the refrigerator and am maybe knocked out. But, me know it was Jesus who touched me. I not hurt at all. I know now Jesus is with me. Hallelujah!”
While Raman was telling me what happened, his cellmate just kept shaking his head up and down in wonderment at what the Lord had done. I then asked Raman to give me his Malay New Testament to show him John 14:21. I asked him to read it and translate it stating out loud what it says. He repeated it and when he came to the words “and I (Jesus) will manifest myself to him.”, his eyes lit up, and said, “That’s just what He did to me!”
Earlier, Raman had told me that he considered his time in prison to be like a time in Bible school. He had heard that before renovation as a prison in the early 1900’s, part of the prison buildings had been a convent. He said, “That’s how I want to see my time here, as a time apart with God, getting to know Him and His ways.”
So, Raman’s time in prison has become one long prayer meeting where he has time to learn God’s Word and be prepared for the day when he returns home to continue living for Jesus Christ, perhaps as a pastor or an evangelist in his home country of Malaysia. Please remember to pray for Raman and his cellmate.
Ken Barickman
I knew right away that this dream was sent from God to open the heart of this man who was very used to running away from the cross instead of toward it. He said that he used to make fun of and mock his wife and her faith in Jesus. I then had his full attention as I explained to him the Good News of Jesus Christ, how He, the true and living Son of God, came to the earth to save us from our sins; How He died and gave His life’s blood on that cross as a sacrifice for our sins; And that if we will pray to Him and receive His sacrifice in a personal way, repenting of our sins, He will forgive us and write our name in the Book of Life in Heaven, making the way open for us the be with God for all eternity rather than having to go to Hell, a place of torment, and separation from all that is good and true.
I then asked Raman if he would want to place his confidence in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. He responded quickly saying that he would. We then prayed together, and Raman became a Christian also.
Since then, Raman has been coming to church on Friday evenings faithfully. I was able to order a Malay New Testament for him which he is now reading from cover to cover. Whenever I come into his cell, he and his cellmate bow in the typical oriental manner. Whenever he picks up his Bible, he bows and brings it to his lips, showing his respect for the Holy Book of God.
Today, when I went to visit Raman, both he and his cellmate (from India) were so excited they didn’t know how to express themselves. When they got control of themselves, they had me sit down, and with wide eyes explained what had happened in their cell just a few days ago… “Pasterr, you must listen to me what me happen is very wonderful! Me sleeping in the afternoon, when I see something like shadow passing by me. Me not know what it was. Pasterr, I wake up and me stand up, and the shadow pass by me again. My roommate asked me why me get up. Pasterr, then me see a hand come toward my head. It touch me with his finger. When he touch me, I feel a sound and a snap in my head, and I feel very good and fall down on the floor. My roommate think I die. He think I hit my head on the refrigerator and am maybe knocked out. But, me know it was Jesus who touched me. I not hurt at all. I know now Jesus is with me. Hallelujah!”
While Raman was telling me what happened, his cellmate just kept shaking his head up and down in wonderment at what the Lord had done. I then asked Raman to give me his Malay New Testament to show him John 14:21. I asked him to read it and translate it stating out loud what it says. He repeated it and when he came to the words “and I (Jesus) will manifest myself to him.”, his eyes lit up, and said, “That’s just what He did to me!”
Earlier, Raman had told me that he considered his time in prison to be like a time in Bible school. He had heard that before renovation as a prison in the early 1900’s, part of the prison buildings had been a convent. He said, “That’s how I want to see my time here, as a time apart with God, getting to know Him and His ways.”
So, Raman’s time in prison has become one long prayer meeting where he has time to learn God’s Word and be prepared for the day when he returns home to continue living for Jesus Christ, perhaps as a pastor or an evangelist in his home country of Malaysia. Please remember to pray for Raman and his cellmate.
Ken Barickman
SHARMA - From Hinduism to Heart for Christ
SHARMA – A Hindu Finds Christ
There had been some obstacles that day hindering me from going to the Brussels St. Gilles Prison as I had planned. But, nonetheless, I felt this was the Lord’s leading that I should go anyway; eventhough it was getting late, I knew from experience that when the Lord is in it, lots of good things can happen in a short amount of time.
When I saw Sharma’s name on the list of prisoners, I knew today was the day to visit him. He was back in the ‘worker’s block’ of cells called “the Pre-Fab”, and would not be free for a visit until after 4 pm. When I entered his cell, Sharma acted as if he had been expecting my visit, though I had not ever met him before and didn’t inform him beforehand of my visit.
After brief greetings and informing him of who I was, he proceeded to show me all of the religious pictures and short articles he had collected concerning the major religions of the world. He said that he, in fact, was of a Hindu family from India. He said he respected all religions and had done some reading up on most of them. I said to Sharma, “God is a faithful and loving God, and He desires that all men would come to know Him according to the truth.”
At this, Sharma began opening his frustrated heart to me about how he gets up in the morning 30 minutes before work time in order to meditate to the Hindu gods, and he said that he also says over and over the name of Jesus to please the Christians who he had met. He asked me, “Is this enough to please the Christians’ God to permit me into Heaven, in case that is the right way to go?” At this point, his questions and statements about how he was searching for the true way to God became true “music to my ears”, as I knew that he was seriously ready to hear and obey the Truth of God’s Word.
Without hesitation, I said to him, “Jesus Christ said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father except by me.” John 14:6.
At this, Sharma responded, “Then my meditating on Jesus’ name is enough to please him?” It was then, that I told him that, “No, in fact, saying Jesus’ name is not enough to get a person to Heaven, but it is possible that God’s hearing the name of His Son got His attention, and that’s why He sent me here to talk with you today to show you the Bible’s Way of Salvation. The truth is that only by being ‘born again’ can you be made ready for acceptance and entrance into Heaven.”
His response was the same as Nicodemus’ in John chapter 3… “How can I be born again when I am over 30 years of age?” We opened the Bible together, and what a great joy it was for me to lead him from explanation to explanation of what it meant to be born of the Spirit of God, receiving Christ’s sacrifice in a personal act of prayer and commitment, leading to the free gift of God, repenting of our sins, opening the door of our lives to Christ, and receiving the right to be called a son of God, and the promise of eternal life in Heaven. I then lead him in the sinner’s prayer of repentance and acceptance of the Lord Jesus in his life. The Lord had truly touched him deeply as tears flowed from his eyes in joy of knowing that his sins were forgiven by his truly wonderful Heavenly Father.
I gave him some Christian literature to read, a Bible study to do, and left after praying for him for strength and courage to follow the Lord faithfully.
He asked for a Punjabi Bible, so I’m looking now where I can find one for him. Please remember to pray for Sharma.
There had been some obstacles that day hindering me from going to the Brussels St. Gilles Prison as I had planned. But, nonetheless, I felt this was the Lord’s leading that I should go anyway; eventhough it was getting late, I knew from experience that when the Lord is in it, lots of good things can happen in a short amount of time.
When I saw Sharma’s name on the list of prisoners, I knew today was the day to visit him. He was back in the ‘worker’s block’ of cells called “the Pre-Fab”, and would not be free for a visit until after 4 pm. When I entered his cell, Sharma acted as if he had been expecting my visit, though I had not ever met him before and didn’t inform him beforehand of my visit.
After brief greetings and informing him of who I was, he proceeded to show me all of the religious pictures and short articles he had collected concerning the major religions of the world. He said that he, in fact, was of a Hindu family from India. He said he respected all religions and had done some reading up on most of them. I said to Sharma, “God is a faithful and loving God, and He desires that all men would come to know Him according to the truth.”
At this, Sharma began opening his frustrated heart to me about how he gets up in the morning 30 minutes before work time in order to meditate to the Hindu gods, and he said that he also says over and over the name of Jesus to please the Christians who he had met. He asked me, “Is this enough to please the Christians’ God to permit me into Heaven, in case that is the right way to go?” At this point, his questions and statements about how he was searching for the true way to God became true “music to my ears”, as I knew that he was seriously ready to hear and obey the Truth of God’s Word.
Without hesitation, I said to him, “Jesus Christ said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father except by me.” John 14:6.
At this, Sharma responded, “Then my meditating on Jesus’ name is enough to please him?” It was then, that I told him that, “No, in fact, saying Jesus’ name is not enough to get a person to Heaven, but it is possible that God’s hearing the name of His Son got His attention, and that’s why He sent me here to talk with you today to show you the Bible’s Way of Salvation. The truth is that only by being ‘born again’ can you be made ready for acceptance and entrance into Heaven.”
His response was the same as Nicodemus’ in John chapter 3… “How can I be born again when I am over 30 years of age?” We opened the Bible together, and what a great joy it was for me to lead him from explanation to explanation of what it meant to be born of the Spirit of God, receiving Christ’s sacrifice in a personal act of prayer and commitment, leading to the free gift of God, repenting of our sins, opening the door of our lives to Christ, and receiving the right to be called a son of God, and the promise of eternal life in Heaven. I then lead him in the sinner’s prayer of repentance and acceptance of the Lord Jesus in his life. The Lord had truly touched him deeply as tears flowed from his eyes in joy of knowing that his sins were forgiven by his truly wonderful Heavenly Father.
I gave him some Christian literature to read, a Bible study to do, and left after praying for him for strength and courage to follow the Lord faithfully.
He asked for a Punjabi Bible, so I’m looking now where I can find one for him. Please remember to pray for Sharma.
From Kidnapper To King's Kid
MICHEL –
Another life changed, touched, and filled by the Spirit of the living God, Michel was abandoned by alcoholic parents when still a toddler. He was taken in by long-term foster parents. Growing up in this normal, happy family until the age of 18, his foster mother gave him the shock of his life when she announced to him, “You are no longer a part of this family! At 18, you are now of age. Go out and find your own life. You can no longer stay here with us.” Feeling terribly rejected by the only family he ever knew, he was now “out on the streets”. Quickly taken in by the drug culture of the city, he became addicted to heroine and crack cocaine. One bad influence led to another, until he was taken in by the worst criminal gang of all, child kidnappers. Taking young girls off the street and in to a waiting van, sequestering them in a basement cell until they were taken off into the underworld’s child prostitution market, misusing them in the process were the gangs principle activities. Michel was prodded on by the gang’s constant taunting and temptation of more drugs to fill his veins, continually in a stupor of dependence, following blindly the gang’s orders, hoping for just one more ‘fix’.
Finally, the police caught the principle characters of the child kidnapping gang, Michel included. When it was discovered that the police in the locality of the gang’s main residence was covering up their activities, the news hit the headlines of Belgium’s newspapers like lightening. 100,000 people filled the streets of Brussels wearing white and carrying white balloons in protest.
During the eight years of imprisonment leading up to the most publicized trial in Belgian history, Michel was contacted by the Evangelical chaplain of the Arlon prison. He began to understand the basic truths of the love, forgiveness, and hope that faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, offered him.
After the trial and sentencing, Michel was transferred to the Ittre prison where I am a chaplain. With the help and influence of the 2 other chaplains during our visits with him, the Lord broke through to Michel’s heart. In 2007, he made his personal decision to accept Jesus Christ in to his life as Lord and Savior. Since then, he has had a number of ups and downs, but the Lord has been faithful to solidify his heart and mind in the faith, and he has come through it all in victory for Christ. I had the privilege of baptizing him in a baptismal tank of water in the Visits Hall of the Ittre Prison on October 5th, 2009. Truly, he has made the transformation from kidnapper to King's Kid (Jesus Christ is now the King of his life). Please remember to pray for him that his step of faith will be an encouraging stepping-stone in his walk with the Lord.
Ken Barickman
A/G Missionary to Belgium
Another life changed, touched, and filled by the Spirit of the living God, Michel was abandoned by alcoholic parents when still a toddler. He was taken in by long-term foster parents. Growing up in this normal, happy family until the age of 18, his foster mother gave him the shock of his life when she announced to him, “You are no longer a part of this family! At 18, you are now of age. Go out and find your own life. You can no longer stay here with us.” Feeling terribly rejected by the only family he ever knew, he was now “out on the streets”. Quickly taken in by the drug culture of the city, he became addicted to heroine and crack cocaine. One bad influence led to another, until he was taken in by the worst criminal gang of all, child kidnappers. Taking young girls off the street and in to a waiting van, sequestering them in a basement cell until they were taken off into the underworld’s child prostitution market, misusing them in the process were the gangs principle activities. Michel was prodded on by the gang’s constant taunting and temptation of more drugs to fill his veins, continually in a stupor of dependence, following blindly the gang’s orders, hoping for just one more ‘fix’.
Finally, the police caught the principle characters of the child kidnapping gang, Michel included. When it was discovered that the police in the locality of the gang’s main residence was covering up their activities, the news hit the headlines of Belgium’s newspapers like lightening. 100,000 people filled the streets of Brussels wearing white and carrying white balloons in protest.
During the eight years of imprisonment leading up to the most publicized trial in Belgian history, Michel was contacted by the Evangelical chaplain of the Arlon prison. He began to understand the basic truths of the love, forgiveness, and hope that faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, offered him.
After the trial and sentencing, Michel was transferred to the Ittre prison where I am a chaplain. With the help and influence of the 2 other chaplains during our visits with him, the Lord broke through to Michel’s heart. In 2007, he made his personal decision to accept Jesus Christ in to his life as Lord and Savior. Since then, he has had a number of ups and downs, but the Lord has been faithful to solidify his heart and mind in the faith, and he has come through it all in victory for Christ. I had the privilege of baptizing him in a baptismal tank of water in the Visits Hall of the Ittre Prison on October 5th, 2009. Truly, he has made the transformation from kidnapper to King's Kid (Jesus Christ is now the King of his life). Please remember to pray for him that his step of faith will be an encouraging stepping-stone in his walk with the Lord.
Ken Barickman
A/G Missionary to Belgium
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