To Hell & Back

It all began in a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa in the early 2000s. Lucas came from a home of modest means, with highly religious parents who lead lives that weren’t particularly desirable. In fact, the culture of the suburb was such that around 80% of the youth were involved with drugs and gangs. Lucas was no exception– known for his involvement in gangs and everything in-between. His parents took action against the boy he was becoming by sending him away to live in the countryside. This is actually where Jesus met him:  “electricity came in me and I was a changed man. No drinking, no smoke.” 

This, however, is just the beginning of God’s work in Lucas’ life. The feeling of electricity running through his veins and the freedom that came from following Christ lasted a short two years. During that time in the countryside, he was introduced to Rastafarianism: a spin-off of the Christian faith that closely follows the Jewish Law and believes that the King of Kings has already returned. These people claimed to know God, so Lucas slowly adapted his faith to mirror the teachings of these Jamaican men. As he returned to old habits and worked hard to follow the Law, he could feel something was missing. He longed for the days that he had experienced Jesus, and thought that following the Law would somehow bring him back.

During his return to Cape Town, he was met by a group of Christian missionaries from the United States. He accredits them for teaching him about grace, or receiving something undeserved. The Law teaches justice and punishment for wrongdoing, but the Christians reminded him of Jesus’ sacrifice that paid the price for his wrongdoings in an act of justice and love. “I thank God for them everyday,” Lucas says. He was then baptized as a public declaration of the inward change that had taken place! 

The missionaries took him to a Christian camp, where He met Jesus in an incredible way. One evening after a miraculous time of worship, Lucas was alone in the bunk room. A being that cannot be described beyond its similarity to light suddenly appeared, and his perception of the room was transformed into a beautiful garden unlike anything he had ever seen before. He fell to his knees and began worshipping and praising the Light in front of him, using the name of the Rastafarian “king of kings” he had been worshipping. The being softly laughed and said to him, “I am the Lamb of God. I am the Lion of Judah. I am the King of kings. But I am not whom you worship.” Lucas looked up, and the man he saw wasn’t Haile (the king of kings he had been worshipping, pictured below). “You must be Jesus!” Lucas exclaimed. “I am,” He said. “Come.” Jesus held out His hand, which Lucas grabbed. “Peace came into me when I saw the smile,” Lucas explained. Jesus helped him up, and they began walking until Lucas was suddenly back in the bedroom as if nothing had happened. From this moment on, Lucas began walking with Jesus and vowed to never stop. Lucas began traveling around the world, as he was able, to share his story. He travelled around the Tanzania area and beyond, sharing with Muslims who were led to faith in Jesus. God was using his experience to draw people closer to His heart, but He wasn’t done writing the story yet.

During his mission to countries that are incredibly hostile to Christians, he was traumatically stabbed in the lung. He was taken to a hospital, where there would be no doctor until the following morning. He simply yet desperately cried out to Jesus, praying that he would live through the night. When the doctor arrived in the morning, he was taken to get an X-ray only to discover that the lung showed no signs of puncture. While he could barely breathe the night before, he was now taking deep breaths of the air God put in his lungs. Four years later, Lucas suffered from an unexpected heart attack. While the world remembers a beatless heart laying dead for nearly an hour and on its way to the morgue, Lucas remembers it much different. Without going into too much detail, I will tell you that he clearly remembers crying out to Jesus and being lifted up to the true King of kings himself. 

Lucas’ story left me in awe for so many reasons. As American Christians who experience very little of the spiritual realm, stories like his tend to make us very uncomfortable. It is not for me to decide if it all truly happened or not- but what I can say is that his story stirred my heart for the God that I follow. This Jesus redeems and loves and heals. God has used his testimony all over this world to stir hearts and save souls, and isn’t that what it’s all about anyways?

When I sat with Lucas and discussed what to share in this post, he mentioned some thematic takeaways that he wanted to share. When Lucas reflects on his own story, he notes simply that “God gave me opportunities” to pray and call on His name. This same God gives you and I the opportunity to call out to Him– wether that be in gratitude or petition– and walk alongside him in love and obedience. Lucas said, “He told me I must go and love… I learned people need to be loved first. If you preach the gospel without love, it’s useless.” 

Another major point Lucas pressed is the theme of Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Lucas emphasized that it’s an exchange of lives that occurs when we choose to follow Jesus. “When we gave Him our lives, He took it seriously. Our biggest problem as Christians is that we try to take the reins back when we already surrendered to Him,” Lucas stated. The daily surrender and way of being that Lucas exudes is unlike most people I know, because he truly believes in his heart that his life is not his own. And it’s true! The way we push our own agendas and desires in daily life instead of surrendering to God is like swimming upstream. Not only are the words of Lucas’ testimony powerful, but the difference that it made in his innermost being is what takes the story to the next level where it makes a difference. May each and every one of us live lives that accurately reflect the inward change that has taken place, and call out to our God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Eph 3:20).