The Way of Truth

(Note: This testimony is actually from an Indonesian, written by him in English. Although we have edited it some so you will understand it, we did not edit everything so it would be more authentic.)

One afternoon, one of my acquaintances asked me to take a friend of his, Pak Dedi*, home. On the way, I got acquainted with him and told him the Good News. He just listened to the story without responding. Arriving at his house Pak Dedi invited me to visit his house. I promised to come on the other occasion.

Three days later we visited Pak Dedi. We again told him the Good News. We told him about the birth of Jesus Christ, His holy life, how he did miracles, how He predicted His death and the reason for the death of Jesus. We first told of man’s fall into sin, the result of sin, punishment for sin, God’s promise of the coming of Savior and the animal sacrifice requirement so that sins could be forgiven during the time of the prophets. Furthermore we told him about the death of Jesus Christ, His resurrection and ascension into heaven. At the end of the story we quoted Romans 10:9.

Then we asked if the story makes sense, that humans could not obtain forgiveness by our own efforts, but God has provided a way of forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. “It makes sense,” he answered, “If that’s the way of truth, we must accept.” Then we asked if he had ever heard the story of Jesus Christ. He said he had never heard.

“Do you believe that Jesus died to redeem people from sin and rose from the dead?” we challenged. “Yes,” he answered clearly, “I believe.”

After he professed to believe we led him to pray to confess his sins and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Because the situation had not allowed us to continue the story, we asked permission to go home and promised to come back the following day.

At the time we had agreed, we met again with Pak Dedi. We asked if he still remembered the story we told at the previous day. Pak Dedi still remembered the story of Jesus Christ. Furthermore we briefly told him who Jesus Christ is.

Then we told him the story of the sons of Sceva (Acts19:13-20) to explain that believers now depend on the Holy Spirit and no longer use power from other spirits.

After we finished telling the story, Pak Dedi said, “Last night before bed I kept thinking, why you would want to tell me the story of Jesus Christ, and why you want to pray for me, because in my life I had never met someone who wanted to tell me the story of Jesus Christ and pray for me.”

Then he told me that he had met with some Christians and assumed that Jesus Christ is only for Christians. We explained that Jesus Christ came for all people; therefore everyone should hear the story of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

At the next meeting, we told him the story of Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10). “I have a lot of friends,” said Pak Dedi, “But I do not know how to tell the story of Jesus.”

Then we reminded Pak Dedi how the first time we met and told him the story of Jesus Christ.

We further retold the story of Jesus Christ and asked him to memorize the story.

* Names have been changed for security reasons