Dear Friends,
Whenever a seriously ill patient comes into the SIM Langano Clinic, we often wonder how God might impact that person’s life. Many times God touches people’s lives in special ways when they are in crisis. Such was the case when Fayissa was carried in on Christmas Day.
Fayissa was a 20 something-year-old man known for his wild living. True to his reputation, he got into a fight and was speared. He was carried in on a makeshift stretcher, accompanied by a large group of people. Many were crying and wailing, not expecting him to live. By the time he arrived at the clinic he had lost a considerable amount of blood. Right away the nurse on call knew Fayissa was in trouble. After getting an IV line secured to try to increase his fluid volume, the next priority was to get him off to the nearest hospital as soon as possible. There he could get the blood and the emergency surgery he needed. Newcomer missionaries, Shane and Mike were called away from their family Christmas celebrations to transport Fayissa. Although both men didn’t expect Fayissa to survive the grueling hour-long trip over the rutted and bone-jarring roads, they were willing to give it their best shot.
Miraculously, Fayissa did survive that trip and made it through surgery. His story drew a lot of attention locally. Mulatu, the national evangelist with whom we work, took particular note of Fayissa and began to visit him regularly after he returned home. But Fayissa kept putting the evangelist off. Again and again Mulatu was told, “Don’t waste your time on trying to convince me to become a Christian. I have too many addictions.”
But God had other plans. Just a month ago, Fayissa’s life was impacted in a most amazing way. It was a night unlike any other. As Fayissa slept he had a dream. In the dream Fayissa saw Lake Langano and in the sky above the lake a sign appeared. It read, “Jesus Christ is returning to earth soon.” As he looked at the sign, suddenly there was Jesus in the clouds above the lake. As he watched Fayissa saw the believers he knew from the area run to the edge of the lake, then jump into the air. Unbelievably, they just floated up into the air and joined Jesus. They were rejoicing and praising God together.
Next Fayissa noticed several Muslims from the area run to the edge of the lake and attempt to jump, to also join the believers. Some even tried to dress like and imitate the Christians. But as hard as they tried, they just couldn’t do it. They would fall back to earth in despair. Fayissa himself decided to try jumping, but he too failed.
It was midnight when Fayissa awoke from his dream. He was in a cold sweat and more fearful than he had ever been in his life. His immediate thought was to run to his neighbor, Dekabo, who was a believer. He could show him the way to God. So, in the middle of the night, Fayissa did just that. He knocked at Dekabo’s door, pleading with him to explain what he had to do to become a Christian. Dekabo got out his Bible and showed Fayissa the way to Christ. As Fayissa prayed the “sinner’s prayer” he knew in his heart he was now ready to meet Jesus in the air when he returned to earth.
A Transformed Fayissa
