Meeting with Djiboti in his shack in Masi

So I have been mentioning a man we met in Masiphumelele for a while now and wanted to briefly fill out the story for you.  About 6 weeks ago, we were hanging out by the ditch (see “Another day in Masi….” from yesterday!), which is quite unpleasant due to the strong smell of human urine and excrament, and a man we are calling “Djiboti” approached me.  I had just purchased a Fanta and was drinking it.  He more or less demanded a drink from me.  It was clear he was seeking alcohol, but I offered him my soda.  He refused it and continued to ask me for a “drink” quite forcefully and with a great amount of seething anger.  Honestly, there were 4 of us men talking to him and we all agreed later we were afraid that he was going to hurt us.  It seemed like God’s protection was what was keeping him from doing so.

In spite of that, I felt he was important in some unique way and got his number.  He actually ended up going down a very small alley between shacks and he and 3 or 4 guys tried to get us to come and join them.  We knew this was a bad idea and chose to not take them up on their offer!

About a week passed and we were in Masi one day and gave Djiboti a call.  He seemed surprised and came to meet us.  This time he was an entirely different person. He was kind and open to talk.  Some of the young men on our team stay overnight in Masi 3 days per week to spend more time with the people they are getting to know.  They set up meetings with him and began to explore the Bible with him.  He then opened up and shared that Jesus had come to him in a couple of dreams and asked him to stop living the life he was living.  What has happened since then has been nothing short of amazing!

In a few short weeks Djiboti has chosen to follow Jesus and can’t stop reading his Bible.  We have run him to the hospital several times to help him with a serious 3rd degree burn on his leg that he got back in November.  Eventually he ended up in the hospital for a week getting a skin graft and basically read the entire book of John!  He has told us multiple times (virtually every time we are with him actually) that he loves Jesus and that Jesus has saved his life.  He has gone from an angry scowling man to a man with a big smile who is always happy to see us.  Please pray that Djiboti will grow in his love for God and his love for God’s word! With most of our small church (there are 8 adults and 4 children in our small church) going cross border to Madigascar, Malawi and Zambia, Ceci and I are the only ones left here to continue ministering in Masi.  We want to see Djiboti grow and share his love for God with others (which he is already doing!).

Here is a picture of Djiboti one day when we were in his shack reading the Bible with him.

Matt and Djiboti at the hospital