How Charles Found Jesus At Meetings He’d Been Skipping

Bonifresh Muhollo

Sep 12, 2018 1870

How Charles Found Jesus At Meetings He’d Been Skipping

Charles is glad that he came to the meetings because that is where he met Jesus.

In July I began a week of spiritual emphasis at a Christian high school. Although it is a Christian school, a third of the population has a very loose connection with any religion, making it one of the toughest places to talk about the Gospel.

When I arrived there, the head-teacher started by warning me that I should expect cases of indiscipline here and there. And indeed I did on the second day of my presentation when students demanded that I cut short the sermon since there was a football match about to begin in few minutes. I obliged, despite protests from the chaplain who in vain insisted that the programme continue as planned. But out of experience, I figured out that I would be wasting time speaking to people whose minds had already shifted to something else – the World Cup. So it is understandable that some students would avoid the event as much as possible.

One such person is Charles, a form 5 student. Having failed to secure a one-week leave from the school, he had decided to devise another means of avoiding the whole event by hiding in the dormitories every evening as the rest assembled in the hall. Little did he realise that someone had reported this to the chaplain. Consequently, the chaplain, who also happens to be a teacher, had sought the help of one of the school’s guards in looking through all the dormitories to ensure no one was hiding during service hours.

His change of heart came as a result of the message that was tender and forgiving

On Tuesday evening Charles was caught red-handed enjoying a nap, as were three other students, and together they found themselves at the head-teacher’s office. After reading the school’s policy for them as a reminder, the head-teacher decided to offer them a choice: to be suspended for a week or to attend the remaining days without failure. Thank God that Charles chose the latter and that’s how he came to give his life to Christ that Friday evening and get baptised the following day.

After his baptism I sought an audience with him and this is his testimony:

Charles confessed about his former life. He was known by both students and staff to have been a notorious student, despite his obvious high intellect at school. He says that rebellion had become almost his second nature. He narrated how he often found himself on the wrong side of the school rules even when he thought himself to be safe. When asked why he chose to attend the Week of Prayer rather than take the one-week suspension – an alternative that seemed to align with his dislike for the meetings – he responded that he found it a lesser punishment than facing the wrath of his already growing tired parents.

He says that his change of heart came as a result of the message that was tender and forgiving. He says that he is ready for a complete change of character and asked for prayers citing temptations from former bad company.

– Pr Bonifesh Muhollo