Ronnie is a guy from a small village in a regency that is known to have a very strong influence of Islam. He grew up as a Muslim though he was also practicing local indigenous belief. He was raised as a rice farmer. Ronnie really enjoys growing plants and other crops. Every weekend he likes to fish in the rivers near his family’s house. When fishing he does not use poles or nets, he uses a modified automotive ignition coil and point. This is powered by a motorcycle battery to generate low current high voltage charge that is connected to two probes. He puts these probes in the water to shock the fish to make them float. He then will sell the fish to the market just to get some extra income.
Guilt From Murder
When Ronnie was younger, he went to another island in Indonesia, about 3 days boat ride to the west. He wanted to find a new opportunity there. He found a job as a security guy in a palm oil tree plantation in the deep woods. Ronnie worked there for several years. The environment where he worked at was very tough. He had to face people with harsh character and also people who tried to steal the crops.
In one of his working shifts, he got into a fight with someone who tried to rob him in the woods. He killed the guy. Though he was trying to defend himself, this situation had really traumatized him and made him feel guilty. Knowing that the gang of the person he killed was looking for him, he went back to the island where he was from and hoped to be able to start a new life.
Years had gone by. While he was able to find another new job and get married, he was still haunted by the fact that he had killed someone. He lived with his trauma and guilt and tried do good and practice religious rituals but he never felt peace.
A Christian Shares about Hope
In late 2019, while Ronnie was resting on the side of the road, he was visited by a Christian. This Christian person was a local taxi driver who was also a ministry worker doing outreach. The two later introduced themselves. This started a new friendship for Ronnie and this Christian. Few follow up meetings later, Ronnie shared the spiritual burden and the guilt that had been bothering him for years.
This new Christian friend then shared the truth about redemption in Christ. He told Ronnie that because of sin we will never be able to “made right” again before God unless we accept Christ and believe in Him as our God and Savior. Through His sacrifice on the cross, He has made us clean. The truth that Ronnie had just heard gave him a new hope. On that same day he gave his life to Jesus. He was forgiven of all his sin and found freedom in Christ.
Since that day, Ronnie has slowly felt better and experienced peace that he had never felt before. He was baptized in the river near his house, and also shared this good news to his wife. She also became a new believer!
Becoming a Fisher of Men
Now Ronnie has just celebrated his third Christmas as a follower of Christ. He has become a fisher of men, and actively partners with a group of Christian field workers in the area to bring Gospel to the lost. The area where Ronnie lives has less than 1% Christian with a population of 2.3 million people. The majority population in this area have come from another island where it is known to be a hard people group to reach and the mission has been engaged for almost 180 years with very minimal fruit.
Pray for Ronnie to continue to grow in his love for Jesus and be used by God to reach many Muslims in this area. Pray for the gospel to spread forth among this people of 2.3 million!
“Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.” Romans 3:24-26
