Henry Soemopawiro

Proverbs 16:20 NIV Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.

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← Not the right circumstances A changed person →

A bitter pill

My oldest daughter was born then, and I sank even deeper into the pit, because although I hardly contributed to the care, I also ‘borrowed’ (unsolicited) the money that Sandra put aside. It never got to the point where I ‘sale’ to people (take and sell stuff unsolicited), because I’m not lazy by nature and often had work. Besides painting, I could also do anything and everything. My past really didn’t make me popular. I was very depressed and aggressive and formed a kind of gang with 2 other friends. Achmed (Snoepie) and Romano have since passed away. I will come back to this later.

Deeper into the pit

One day I was confronted with a letter of divorce. Sandra didn’t want to be with me anymore and decided to live with her mother. The days that followed were long and lonely days, but because of the addiction I was able to partly put this off.

The evenings were the hardest for me, because I often had sleepless nights and I just couldn’t handle the fact that Sandra wouldn’t come home anymore. Furthermore, during that period, it really dawned on me that I had to change my way of life. Our daughter was handed over to her foster parents very early on because we were unable to care for the child. We already lived a kind of varied life back then. She wasn’t with me every day, and on weekends she regularly went to her foster parents to see our child.

Jesus pulled me out

It was normal (as I said before) to arrive home drunk on the weekend, but at the same time, I knew deep in my heart that my way of life was not right. I was already addicted to cocaine at the time and felt good and fresh after every round. That was my distraction.

On one of those Friday evenings I arrived home and my younger brother Albert (Bob), who had been a convert for over a year, was there with some believers. They had sessions at our home almost daily, and very often I mocked the Jesus they worshiped. Whenever they told me about Jesus, I said, “Her dey we Yesus Yesus, yu si Yesus k’ba?” (All day long you talk about Jesus, have you seen Jesus yet?).

His voice was clear

This time it was different. I heard them singing with the guitar, and it touched me, the sound, the words… at one point I spontaneously asked to sing a song for me and to pray for me, but one of the believers said: “No , un no begi gi yu want yu drungu” (No, we are not going to pray for you because you are drunk). The other believer said, “No, mi firi tap mi ati fu begi gi yu” (No, I feel on my heart to pray for you).

Parental home Skoerki Street (Maikoe)

My liberation was a fact

So it started, he prayed, and I suddenly felt a relief, got goosebumps and on top of that I felt a love that I have never felt before… unknown and strange to me, and it had touched me so deeply that I started to cry spontaneously. I fell to the ground, but they then straightened me up and continued their prayer. I heard them pray aloud: “I rebuke the spirit of alcohol”, “I rebuke the spirit of nicotine”, “I rebuke the spirit of drugs”, “I break every power and bond of addiction” “I break the power of violence “.

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This time it was different. I heard them singing with the guitar and it touched me, the sound, the words… at one point I spontaneously asked to sing a song for me and to pray for me.

I got a new heart

My younger brother told me I fell 3 times. When I tell this story to believers, they sometimes joke: “Were you not drunk man?”, “Don’t you have a bed to sleep on?”. Honestly, what I experienced that day was indescribable, incredible, delightful, refreshing and innovative! Strange as it may sound, I quit alcohol, cigarette and drugs all at once. Many may need time to stop with that addiction, but God has suddenly freed me from my addiction through those believers.