The Well | Spoken English Archives

Steven (USA)

Meet Steven

Steven was a New Age Teacher until his inner thought life became very dark. He ran to Jesus for help and forgiveness. Steven warns people to stop trying to find themselves and turn to Christ.

Steven grew up around Christianity and attended a private Christian school. He became deeply interested in New Age Spirituality. His study and practices of New Age Spirituality were intense. He set up a website teaching about New Age Spirituality and earned a lot of money through it.

Steven talks about how he prospered financially, but that on the inside he was wasting away. He was angry and had psychopathic thoughts. His dark inner life became so overwhelming it broke him.

Steven had also been studying Christian apologetics, and his restlessness about Jesus finally ended when he saw his own brokenness and need for repentance. He turned to Jesus and trusted in Him as Lord and Savior. He has found the wholeness he was searching for.

Steven earnestly warns New Agers to stop playing “Russian Roulette” and to believe on Jesus for eternal life.

Gospel

Video source

Steven’s story was produced by Anchored North, Anaheim Hills, California, USA.

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Tags: Anger - general, Business - success, Christian upbringing - reject it, Christianity - apologetics, Christianity - curiosity, Feeling like a failure, Jesus - is He God?, Lucid dreaming, Meditation, New Age Spirituality, Purpose of life, Relativism, Sin - feeling unclean, Sin - forgiveness, Striving for wealth, Success, Universalism, Violent thoughts, Wealthy life

March 3, 2020 0

Mez (Ireland)

Meet Mez

Mez’ had an extremely traumatic childhood and he spent his early adult life behind bars. God sent a faithful Christian into Mez’s life to love him and share the gospel with him. Mez turned to Christ and now he’s passionate about pursuing marginalized people in society with the love of Jesus.

Mez describes the extremely dysfunctional family from which he came and how he was abandoned in a box as a two-year-old. He lived in over 30 homes and shelters until ending up on the streets as a teenager. Mez became a drug user aged 12, then becoming a drug dealer by his later teenage years. Mez’ choices resulted in his imprisonment in a maximum-security prison.

While living on the streets, Mez was approached by Christians who shared the gospel with him. At the time Mez responded with hostility. However, while in prison one of the same Christians offered Mez a home to go to for his parole. It was in this Christian home, reading the Bible and Bible commentaries, where Mez accepted he was a sinner and turned to Christ.

God has radically changed Mez’ life. He went to Bible college and got married. God has also given him a heart to reach the most socially excluded groups in society with the Gospel. Mez has set up a church in Northern Brazil among prostitutes and street children. He has also started a church in one of the most economically deprived areas of Scotland. His desire is to train up others to take the Gospel to people living in extreme poverty.

Gospel

Video source

Mez’ story was produced by Together for the Gospel (T4G).

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Tags: Childhood - abandoned, Childhood - fostered, Childhood - from an alcoholic home, Childhood - unstable, Christian ministry life - evangelist, Christian ministry life - missionary, Christian ministry life - pastor, Christians - dislike or hostility, Drug abuse, Drug addiction, Drug dealing, Father - rejection, Homelessness, Imprisonment, Mother - rejection, Sex industry, Sheltered accommodation, Sin - accepting I'm a sinner, The Bible, The gospel (God's message to the world), The gospel - don't know it

February 26, 2020 0

Sam (Wales)

Meet Sam

Hard-hearted Sam was just about to seriously assault someone when God brought to mind Bible verses which caused Sam to repent of his sin and turn to Christ.

Sam shares how he led a life of crime and violence throughout his teens. His heart had become very hardened towards other people. However, on one occasion when he was about to assault someone, God brought to mind some Bible verses from the Book of Romans. Sam instantly saw his sin in a new light and he understood for the first time that Jesus died for him.

Since the time of Sam’s conversion, he has relocated from Wales, UK to Scotland, UK in order to be discipled and follow Jesus more closely. He has also become a male youth worker as part of a gospel ministry. Sam talks about the love he has for the young kids who live in some of the most economically deprived areas of Scotland. His passion is to let them know that they have hope in Jesus too.

Gospel

Video source

Sam’s story was produced by 20Schemes, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

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Tags: Anger - general, Christian ministry life - evangelist, God's plan for me, Hard-heartedness, Life of crime, Sin - accepting I'm a sinner, The Bible, The gospel (God's message to the world), Violence - towards others, Youth worker

February 26, 2020 0

Paul (Scotland)

Meet Paul

Paul, from an economically deprived area of Scotland, shares how he went from being a “hopeless” drug and alcohol addict to a lover of Jesus and trainee church planter.

Paul grew up in a housing scheme with many social problems. At the time of high-school he started dabbling in alcohol and drugs. This spiraled out of control in Paul’s adult years as he became a cocaine user and an addict to alcohol and drugs.

Paul describes how he hit rock bottom, becoming nothing more than a “shell of a man”. It was then he became a resident of a recovery center and heard the gospel that Jesus died for his sins. Paul was also very struck by the love of the staff for him.

Paul wanted forgiveness for his sins and the chance to start over. He repented of his sins and trusted in Jesus as his Lord and Savior. God radically changed Paul and the direction of his life. He is no longer an addict and instead is training to be a church planter so he can bring the good news of Jesus Christ to other people living in tough housing schemes in Edinburgh.

Gospel

Video source

Paul’s story was produced by 20Schemes, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

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Tags: Alcohol addiction, Childhood - from a crime neighborhood, Christian ministry life - evangelist, Christian ministry life - pastor, Drug abuse - cocaine, Drug addiction, God - forgiven by God, Hopelessness, Purpose of life, Scotland, Sin - forgiveness, UK, Unstable life

February 26, 2020 0

Ellie (USA)

Meet Ellie

Singer and actress Ellie Ellsworth tells her story of being trapped in a life of promiscuity until she professed her belief in Jesus. Jesus set her free from her addiction to sex.

Ellie didn’t hear the gospel growing up. She talks about how she got into her first sexual relationship before marriage. She got married and ended up having an affair. Ellie continued down a path of promiscuity and adultery following her second marriage. She tried many means of help to overcome this addiction to sex.

Someone she dated invited her to a gospel-preaching church. She attended there for a couple of years. A lady challenged Ellie on what she believed – Ellie said she believed Jesus died for her sins.

Ellie emotionally describes the radical change Jesus brought about in her life just months after professing her belief in Him. She was set free from her need for men. Ellie reads some of John chp 4 about the Samaritan woman and explains how Jesus has used that story to reach her heart.

Gospel

Video source

Ellie’s story was produced by Redeemer Churches and Ministries, New York, USA.

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Tags: Affair, Affair - multiple, Anxiety - money, Careers - acting, Careers - music, Feeling unloved, No money, Self-worth, Sex addiction, Sexual life - outside marriage, Sexual life - promiscuity, Sin – trapped by it

December 3, 2019 0

Joseph (USA)

Meet Joseph

Joseph tells his story of growing up as a Mormon and priding himself on his religious deeds, but the Bible showed him he needed Jesus’ righteousness, freely available to him by believing in Jesus’ substitutionary death.

Joseph grew up in a Mormon home and took his religion very seriously. A former Mormon challenged Joseph while he was on missions to start over with the Bible and read it like a child.

Joseph shares how God opened his eyes while he read through the Bible. He came to understand that no-one can come to God and be saved by their religious deeds. Joseph repented of his self-righteousness and works, and trusted solely in God’s grace and Jesus’ death on the cross to pay the price for his sins.

Since becoming a Christian, Joseph has experienced alienation from his family who are still practicing Mormons. Nevertheless is passionate about helping people caught in religious systems understand the truth of the gospel, the depths of God’s love and the personal relationship on offer with Jesus Christ.

Gospel

Video source

Joseph’s story was produced by Adam’s Road Ministries, Winter Garden, Florida, USA.

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Tags: God's grace, God's love, Ministry life - music, Mormonism, My Christian life - adversity from family, Pride, Self-righteousness, The Bible – curiosity, The Gospel – confusion, Works-based religion

November 12, 2019 0

Heath (USA)

Meet Heath

Heath tells his story of finding forgiveness through Jesus Christ towards his mother who viciously abused him as a kid.

Heath had a very traumatic and violent childhood at the hands of his alcoholic mother. He suffered severe physical, emotional and mental abuse. He thought his mother would kill him. She also hatefully revealed to him that the man he thought was his father (who he loved dearly) was not his father. Heath was traumatized by being taken away from him.

As a teenager, Heath heard the gospel and received Jesus as his Lord and Savior. In time, Jesus showed Heath that he needed to let go of his anger towards his mother and forgive her. Jesus healed Heath’s heart. He spent a decade visiting his mother and telling her the gospel. He got to witness her place her faith in Jesus also.

God also moved in Heath’s heart to find his biological father, so he could share the gospel with him. Heath found him and visited the man. He discovered that his biological father had become a Christian a long time ago and wanted a relationship with him but didn’t know how.

Heath says his story is not about hatred and abuse, but really about the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

Gospel

Video source

This story was produced by the Association of Certified Biblical Counsellors (ACBC), Kansas City, Missouri, USA.

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Tags: Childhood - from a violent home, Childhood - from an alcoholic home, Childhood - neglected, Custody, Emotional pain, Father, Fear, Hatred, Illegal gun use, Mother - abusive, Mother - forgiving her, Mother - rejection, Verbal abuse

November 6, 2019 0

Joni (USA)

Meet Joni

Joni talks about life with Jesus after a freak accident that left her quadriplegic.

Joni was a very athletic kid. She heard the gospel as a girl, and knew she couldn’t make it to heaven by her own efforts. So she received Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

Before going off to college, Joni prayed for God to help her live a life pleasing to Him. Soon after, she was involved in a horrendous diving accident. Her sister saved her life, but Joni’s spinal cord was snapped. Joni became quadriplegic.

Joni cried out to God in confusion and pain, asking Him why He had allowed the injury to happen. Through scripture, God gave Joni a new way of looking at her accident, and she realized that God may allow things to happen to her body, but that He would never harm her soul.

Joni describes her minute-to-minute dependence on God in order to live life in a quadraplegic body. She says there is nothing like the intimate union she has with Jesus: the “hell” of her suffering pales in comparison to the ecstasy of her relationship with Jesus.

Gospel

Video source

This story was produced by Joni and Friends, Agoura Hills, California, USA.

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Tags: Accident - diving, Accident - paralyzed, Cancer - breast, Depression, Disability - quadriplegic, God - asking God why, God - feeling discouraged by God, Jesus – a relationship with Him, Jesus – relying on Him, Joy, My Christian life - dullness, Pain - chronic, Success - sports, The gospel (God's message to the world)

November 6, 2019 0

Lee Yih (USA)

Meet Lee Yih

Lee Yih shares that he was born as a result of date rape. He struggled with identity and belonging, growing up in Iowa and also in Taiwan. He always wanted to fit in. He heard about Jesus as a teenager, but later went on to ridicule Jewish college friends who became Christians.

While in the military, stationed in Germany, Lee Yih talks about feeling lost without any sense of direction and meaning. A Christian couple welcomed Lee Yih and his wife. He learned it was possible to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Lee Yih describes feeling overwhelmed by God’s love, humbling himself and calling out to God to receive Christ. He describes how Jesus turned his life around and has provided the ultimate sense of joy and fulfillment.

Gospel

Video source

This story was produced by I Am Second, Franklin, Tennessee, USA.

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Tags: Approval from others, Careers - army, Childhood - emmigration, Childhood - raised by a single parent, Christians - good examples, Christians - ridicule them, Drug abuse, Feeling like an outsider, Fulfillment, God's love, Jesus – a relationship with Him, Lack of direction, Marriage – crisis, Military life, My Christian life - obedience, Pride, Purpose of life, Rape, Sense of belonging, Sense of identity, Shame, Striving for wealth, Success - career

November 5, 2019 0

Jeff (USA)

Meet Jeff

Jeff grew up in Japan and had an outstanding career in martial arts. Yet he did not feel satisfied. He became a very hard drug user and sacrificed home life with his wife and newborn. On one occasion Jeff found he had overdosed on ecstasy. He called out to God and his overdose symptoms subsided. He continued living a reckless existence until he found himself homeless and penniless. At rock bottom, without any distractions, he opened up the Bible and began reading. He understood the gospel for the first time and asked Jesus to be his Lord as well as his Savior. Jesus has turned Jeff’s life around.