Spiritual Transformation In the Classroom

Organic chemistry class. It’s not a scene that evokes thoughts of spiritual transformation or religious encounters. But amidst lab coats, goggles, and beakers full of chemicals, Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) nursing student Brandi Johnson has discovered what it means to have a real relationship with Jesus Christ.

Brandi was baptized and raised in the Catholic Church and grew up going to church every Sunday. In her third year at a state college, she describes having an abrupt halt in her life that sent her straight to her knees in search of help. That moment led to a string of decisions ultimately resulting in her transfer to NNU’s nursing program.

In a personal letter to her professor of organic chemistry, Tim Anstine, Brandi reveals her life-changing moments at NNU.

“I began school at NNU, and boy, what a different, positive environment. I had a complete breakdown at my second chapel; I was completely hysterical. Tears were just rolling down my face and I could not explain why. The only thing I knew for certain was that I didn’t feel sad.

Shortly after chapel ended that day, I went for a drive and figured out I was crying out of happiness. God had been showing me in those past few weeks that I was not where I was supposed to be, and He was going to take me where I needed to go. I had struggled and struggled in the past three years, and it never occurred to me that God was trying to find his way back into my life and lead me in the right way.”

Organic chemistry ended up being Brandi’s most difficult class. Yet God had bigger plans for her than simply learning about compounds.

In her letter to Anstine, Brandi tells about the role of his teaching in her transformation journey.

“I absolutely loathed the thought of how difficult organic chemistry would be for me, until you started lecturing about the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the things you teach in class. Each lecture became more and more interesting because I was learning about your faith. I know that when I was young I was only learning how not to sin—‘sin management,’ as you call it. I was being taught more about the rules, memorizing certain prayers for Communion, and that going to church on Sundays was vital. I was never taught ‘how’ and ‘why’ everyone was doing these things. I was getting wrapped up in the practices, and not necessarily the relationship I should be working on with Jesus.”

Brandi says she’s thankful for the role Anstine has played in causing her to grow and change. In fact, she finds she relates to him even more because of his openness in the classroom.

“Listening to you tell about your journey with Christ is inspirational. To see that someone else has been utterly stripped down to the bone and built back up again really opened my eyes to the kinds of work Jesus does in other peoples’ lives daily, including my own.”

Reflecting on where her transformation journey has lead, Brandi says, “If there is one thing about this university that I enjoy, it is the value of transformation. I find it funny that out of all the classes God could have chosen for me to take with a spiritual leader, He chose organic chemistry. I know I am just beginning my faith again and that it takes work, but I am in it for the long haul; and I am glad to say my chemistry professor in college was a part of it.” —Northwest Nazarene University is located in Nampa, Idaho, and is on the USA/Canada Region. Learn more: www.nnu.edu

Discipleship Efforts from Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo

A man had attended Main de l'Éternel (Hand of the Lord) Church of the Nazarene off and on for about a year because the pastor, Mike Kalenga, had ministered to the man’s wife.

This man believed in God but was not living a Christian life as he was addicted to alcohol and unfaithful to his wife. But as Pastor Mike took more interest in him, shared the gospel message with him, and invited him to become more a part of the church, this man gave his life over fully to Jesus Christ. Now, he is on the church board and a model member on the district. It took a pastor’s interest in a man who seemed lost and one-on-one discipleship to help this individual transition to a person of faith.

Bridge Church of the Nazarene cares for many children. One family in particular found that their seven children were always in church whenever the doors were open. Although their children were involved, the father and mother refused to participate in any of the regular events throughout the week. But the more that these children were discipled and the more that they were taught about the gospel and how to live godly lives, the more interested their parents became in the church fellowship.

Today, the parents are in church, together with all seven children, because of the testimony of their children. Most specifically, their young teen, Shaddrack, was causing his parents a lot of trouble. However, Bridge Church found a way to minister to him that will have lasting impact on his life and the lives of his entire family.

Discipleship involves being interested in others and caring enough to help them come to faith and then mature in their faith.

—Gavin Fothergill is a missionary serving in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the Africa Region.

Outside the Walls

Ana Chosco had no desire to move from the beautiful city of Mendoza, Argentina, to the province of San Luis. But her husband, Carlos, had finally found the job for which they had been praying, so there was no choice in the matter. Her feeling of resistance grew when he took her to the piece of land he was planning to purchase. There, right in front of Ana´s future home loomed a gigantic, concrete wall topped with barbed wire and guard towers—the woman´s prison for the province of San Luis.

Fear of the future, her young daughters´ futures, their safety, and their comfort tumbled around inside her head as she began to internally fight the Lord about this move. But as the doors continued to open up, Ana realized that God did not share her dread about their new home.

So Ana finally surrendered as she and Carlos built their beautiful little home in the shadow of the penitentiary.

Somewhere in the transition time, Ana began to visit the prison with other Christian women through Bethel Prison Ministry. It was in 2001, during those first years of ministry, that she met Sandra, a 28-year-old woman who was an addict and infected with HIV. Sandra had been arrested for transporting drugs for her boyfriend. Later she shared that she began using drugs at age 15. Her reasons were not unhappiness or peer pressure; in fact she claimed that her childhood was ideal. She simply wanted to accompany her boyfriend in his life of addiction, and she became a worse addict than he.

Once arrested, Sandra was extremely hateful and violent. In attempts to have the guards supply her drug habit, she would cut herself and sprinkle the blood on them unless they smuggled drugs into the prison for her. Her tactics were also used on her enemies to the extent that the prison population lived in fear of Sandra.

One day, Sandra went into the Christian counseling office and sat down with the pastor. The next day she attended the worship service and was the first to respond to the altar call. Ana prayed with Sandra as this troubled woman asked Christ to be her Savior.

The change was evident. Three days after her conversion, the main prison guard came to the counseling office to ask, “What did you guys do to Sandra? She is a totally different person!”

Sandra began to grow in her love for the Lord. She invited new inmates to the worship services every week, and Bethel ministries flourished in part to Sandra´s testimony. After a year, Sandra´s natural leadership abilities propelled her to lead a small Bible study group.

One day, a very elegant woman named Teresa, who had worked in the mayor´s office, arrived at the prison. She had been convicted of embezzling government funds and was terrified knowing that the women in jail held a deep bitterness for the wealthy. She was sure her two-year sentence was going to be two years of beatings and terror.

As Teresa walked through the prison halls for the first time, there was a receiving line of women waiting for her. Her heart hammered in her chest as she reached the first prisoner. But Teresa was greeted with an embrace from each one of the women in the hall and when she reached the end of the line, they said to her, “Welcome to our prison. We want you to know that God loves you and you are safe here.”

Teresa cried as she realized that they had chosen to accept her, despite their class difference. She later found out that the welcoming team was Sandra´s small group, and that they had started to greet all of the new prisoners in this fashion.

Sandra was released after serving 12 years in prison. Her HIV had evolved and she became very ill. Ana kept in contact with her, despite the fact that Sandra was unable to receive visitors. Sandra confided that she would “never let go of the Lord even until her last breath.” Sandra died two years ago. Her welcoming committee at the penitentiary still receives all of the new prisoners in the same manner.

Ana continues to minister three times a week in that prison. She has been awarded gifts and recognition by the province for her constant discipleship and investment in the prisoners. But when I asked her what kept her going, she answered with tears in her eyes, “I know that Sandra is in heaven. Young women like Sandra only find true freedom inside these prison walls. I need to be a part of that because God placed me outside these walls for a reason.”

—Robin Radi is a missionary for the Church of the Nazarene in Pilar, Argentina, on the South America Region.

Making of a Christlike Disciple on Efate?

John, a teen, lives in a “yard,” a collection of corrugated tin houses on Efate, an island of Vanuatu. It is like a small village with extended family in each different unit. John attended the Black Sand Church of the Nazarene since the beginning of our pastoral ministry there, but for several years seemed indifferent to Wednesday night Bible studies and Sunday worship and preaching.

One Sunday, however, the Lord really got a hold of his heart.

He realized that the Lord wanted to forgive his sin and transform his life. The difference God made in his life was clearly visible to those attending the church.

Often John has come to our house and worked in the yard. We would sit down with him at lunch and talk with him or ask him questions about his life or his family in order to strengthen the relationship. He had many struggles with his family situations. Eventually, his parents separated, both leaving the area. This created a great deal of financial hardship, his sisters looking to him to provide support for them.

John is a natural on the guitar and would lead the worship services. The Black Sand Church of the Nazarene confirmed the Lord’s calling on John’s life regarding ministry by giving him a local license. We began to call him “Pastor John.” He sought how to prepare a message from the Bible. We began to meet each Friday morning to share our struggles and temptations with each other, closing each session in a special time of holding up each other in prayer. He enjoyed and utilized the training, “Telling the Story,” that he received from Ray Neu at a weekend workshop. As a result, he effectively shares Bible stories with those around him and facilitates the discussion that follows.

The Black Sand Church agreed to pay Pastor John’s tuition and enrollment to South Pacific Nazarene Theological College. This has helped him to grow in the Lord, improve his ministry skills, and mature in Christ. John began to preach every other Sunday. He soon took over some administrative duties: the preaching, worship, church maintenance schedules.

With mixed emotion we approached the end of our time of mentoring Pastor John at the Black Sand Church. It ended at the close of 2014 as we took on other mentoring responsibilities with other Nazarene churches in the area. We praise God for Pastor John’s growth in grace and maturity. Mentoring Pastor John has been challenging at times, but it also has been extremely rewarding to witness his gifts, graces, and skills develop as he follows our Lord and Master too.

Helping John become a disciple has been our privilege.

—David and Sylvia Potter are missionaries for the Church of the Nazarene in Vanuatu on the Asia-Pacific Region.

The Rest of the Story

In 1994, I deployed to Haiti with the 28th Combat Support Hospital in support of Operation Uphold Democracy. Physicians were deployed from various reserve units throughout the U.S. to give us the full complement of doctors that we needed. One doctor, a surgeon, brought his guitar on the deployment. He would play his guitar to reduce stress and relax. He also volunteered to play his guitar during our Sunday worship services.

After the months that we were deployed, we became good friends. One day, he confided in me that he was addicted to prescription drugs. Another doctor had given him medication to help him with back pain, but over time, he began to depend on the drugs more and more.

We talked about this issue on several occasions. I spoke with him about what he was doing to his body; the danger that he was to his patients; and as a “man of faith,” the harm that he was doing to his walk with God. He began to see clearly that his addiction was contrary to God’s will for his life.

I encouraged him to confess his sin to God, confess his wrong doing to the hospital commander, and to get some physical and psychological counseling. I told him that he would probably lose his job as a doctor in the military, but if that was the case, so be it. He was making peace with God and getting the help that he needed.

He confessed his sin to God, he confessed his wrongdoing to the hospital commander, and he was removed from being a military doctor. But he was at peace with God and with himself.

Following the deployment, we went our separate ways and I did not hear from him for several years. Then one day he contacted me and told me that he would be visiting Washington, D.C., where I was stationed. He asked if we could meet for lunch.

When we met, he told me the rest of the story. After leaving Haiti, he enrolled in a drug rehab program. God healed him of his addiction and he found work in a civilian hospital. He also shared with me that he was serving in a local church and that he was at peace with God.

I have thought of him over the years. Here was a believer who was sucked into an addiction through prescription pain medication. Instead of asking for help, he hid his problem and his problem got worse. Because we were deployed together, I was able to walk him through what was happening in his life and he was able to find his way to healing for his body and his spirit. I thank God for restoring this man and giving him peace. Discipling another person can mean speaking the truth in love. Being discipled can mean hearing and accepting that truth.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ (Ephesians 4:15).

—Donald Wilson is a chaplain the military chaplain endorser for the Church of the Nazarene on the USA/Canada Region. His story about the encounter in Haiti occurred on the Mesoamerica Region.

Please note: All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of original publication but may have since changed.