AssemblyBoard

2 Corinthians 1: 3 & 4 states: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

In the Geftakys’ organization, many of us experienced oppression, abuse of various sorts, rejection, and felt we could never measure up to what was expected of us no matter how hard we tried. However, many of us have also learned to find our refuge in the Lord, to experience God’s comfort, compassion, acceptance, and to grow in confidence of God’s value on our souls and our lives.

Now we can ask the questions, “Where was God when we were going through all of this?” and “Why would God allow us to go through these experiences?”
 
The answer that brought deep comfort to my soul when I was struggling with these questions was this: “God was in the same place He was in when He watched His Son be crucified. God is omnipresent. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. However, in order to accomplish a greater purpose, God allowed our sufferings. In the case of His Son, it was in order to redeem lost sinners, and to equip Him to be our Advocate. In our case, it was to equip us to reach out to others more effectively. We are to take the comfort that God gives us, and be a vehicle to extend this comfort to others.”

Since God causes all things to work together for good, I would like to hear how these experiences equipped you to effectively reach out to someone. To start things off, I will share two of my experiences.

1)  A couple of years ago, I got an excited phone call from a Christian friend. Her unsaved son, who was attending university in southern Ontario, had phoned her and said: “Mom you’ll be glad to know that I have started to go to a Bible study on campus.” As my friend and I talked, red flags started going off in my mind. The slow, friendly, seductive recruiting methods sounded too familiar. I researched the organization and discovered that they were a very dangerous cult, the kind of cult that eventually causes members to cut all ties with their family. I alerted my friend, who alerted her son. Her son did his own research of the group, and then immediately took action to cut all contact with this group.

2)  Due to my disability, I have an attendant care worker come into my home to help me with personal care. One worker was a very strong New Age believer and a hippie in every sense of the word “hippie”. She would go quiet anytime I mentioned God, and then immediately change the subject. About a year after she started to help me, she learned that I had been involved in a group that practiced communal living. She shared with me that she had also experienced communal living in a very large commune with some New Age hippie friends. As we discussed our experiences, we learned that we had a lot of similar experiences, both positive and negative. Our reasons for leaving were also similar, as we both left due to oppression and abuse by those in authority. After she learned of the similarity in our experiences, she was much more open to talking about the Lord, and I had a number of opportunities to share the gospel with her. So, the opportunity was created for the seeds to be sown in her heart. Since I don’t see her very often anymore, I can only pray that God will water those seeds.

Now, I would like to hear how your experiences have equipped you to effectively reach out to someone.

Lord Bless,
Flora

Good question Flora!

  And, I love the way that you prefaced your question by placing it in the context of God's ability to use even our bad experiences as a means of making us wiser and more useful to Him.  If we are actually willing to admit honestly to what was going on in our former group there can be a wealth of insight. 

  I think the most valuable lesson that I have learned as a result of my Assm. past is that I am not a "super-christian."  When I first left the group the guys I worked with everyday were the first to notice that I had changed.

  Prior to leaving I was known at work not so much for what I did but for what I didn't do---- you know, no TV, no Christmas, etc.  These guys at work knew that I thought of myself as a very holy person (always at church meetings,etc.), but they viewed me as aloof, austere, and not altogether human.

  One of these guys told me that he had noticed a change in me since leaving and that opened a door to me actually telling him about the difference between belonging to a religious group and a personal relationship with God. 

  While in the group the only ones that I saw that had any value at all were those in the group, or those that I might be working on to join up.  Now that I'm out I see that God values every soul, and that I am just as human as the next guy.

  People are pretty smart and can tell when you are putting on a act vs. truly concerned about them.  Taking off the shirt with the big "O" on it (for Overcomer), and joining the human race where I can admit my many weaknesses, has allowed for God's grace to work in me in a much more effective manner.

                                                                            God Bless,  Mark C.