February 2010
Dearly Beloved of Our Lord:
Greetings in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior, and King! January has been a lot warmer than it usually is. It has also been drier so we have had several opportunities to be at the Square in this New Year, 2010. Here are a couple of winter-time testimonies.
Ron’s Testimony ~ We meet a great variety of people on the sidewalks of downtown Portland. Some are easier to reach than others. But among the hardest to reach are the drunkards and heroin addicts. People who are drunk are almost impossible to talk with and have a sensible conversation. But the heroin addicts can carry on a sensible conversation most of the time unless they are having physical and emotional pains due to their need for their next fix. Among this group the heroin dealers are often the hardest to reach. They are not only in need of the drug but they are always looking for the next sale so they can support their habit.
One Latino man in particular is especially hard to reach. He talks with us from time-to-time and carries a Bible in his pocket. He says that he is saved and that he is sealed by the Holy Spirit and cannot lose his salvation. He sort of fits into the category of “once saved always saved and I can’t lose my salvation no matter what I do.” But he is not saved from his sins, his addiction, and his preying upon other addicts.
One day he came by and asked for prayer for his court case. He had been arrested for trespass while carrying three needles back to the needle exchange to get clean ones. The syringes had been sent to a lab and they found traces of heroin in them so they charged him with possession and he was put on trial. This gave me an opportunity to minister some scripture in a conversation with him. The next time I saw him he said that he got a “not guilty” from the jury and thanked me for the prayer and time of ministry the week before. But he didn’t want to talk. He was too busy looking for the next customer with a group of guys who work with him.
Karen’s Testimony ~ A couple years ago during the summer, Annie came by and said she was a believer and that her mother knew me. She told me she was born again, baptized in water, and in the Holy Spirit. She also told me she was a heroin addict, lost custody of her three children, and was out on the streets homeless and begging for money. I talked to her about repentance and forgiveness. I prayed for her and the Holy Spirit touched her. I told her that the warfare occurs in her mind. I encouraged her to pray in her prayer language to war against her addiction.
Last year during the spring, Ron saw Annie on the street near Rite Aid with a sign saying, “Need Money or Prayer.” So he prayed for her and she wept. He sent me to read the sign and talk to her. I came back and told Ron that I had already talked to her before and that she said that she had been touched by the Lord during prayer. During the summer she would come by from time-to-time and Ron and I would pray with her and help her with various needs in her life.
In late Fall her husband, who is a drug addict, got low income housing but she was told to keep away from him if she wanted to get custody of her kids. As soon as he got housing she moved back in with him.
I saw Annie again in early January and I asked her about her addiction. She rationalized her addiction which was a refusal to repent of taking drugs. She was refusing to pray in the Holy Spirit as a way of escaping her addiction.
One day in mid-January Ron and I went out to Pioneer Square believing God for sunshine. We prayed for divine appointments. It drizzled the whole time but Annie came by to talk to me. She had just taken a blood test and found out she was HIV-positive. She said it was probably from dirty needles. She was scared. So we continued to talk in the cool drizzle.
I listened to her and then I listened to the Holy Spirit. I gave her a warning. If you sow to the lust of the flesh you will reap the corruption of your body. When you suffer in the flesh you will cease from sin. If you refuse to repent, you will receive the consequences. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. You have to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. She kept saying she needed a program. I told her that the main thing that will give her victory is repentance, forgiveness, making Jesus the Lord of her life, and praying in the Holy Spirit. She said she prays in the Holy Spirit when she feels oppressed. She again told me her husband was a drug addict and she keeps falling back into drugs.
I told her that nothing can separate her from the love of God. If you have self-hatred you will run away from His love. You have to forgive your self. If God forgives you who are you not to forgive yourself. I warned her about being in bad company, especially those who were drug addicts. I told her she needed to let go of her husband and obey God first.
I remitted the sin of drug addiction, lust, and self-hatred and prayed for her healing and for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. She said that she felt the presence of the Lord and His peace. I exhorted her to follow Jesus, go to the cross and walk in forgiveness. I told her I can not do it for her. She has to want to be free. Jesus can not go to the cross again. It seems that Annie was my divine appointment for that drizzly January day. It then started rain hard and we left.
On the following Tuesday, which was sunny, Annie came up to me. She said that her husband was in prison and that he would have to stop taking heroin cold turkey. She said when she stops taking heroin she gets very sick. I encouraged her to pray in the Holy Spirit when she starts experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Thursday, she came back and said she had another test for HIV and this time it came back negative. She was rejoicing and walking down the street with her fellow drug addicts. I gave her a warning that Jesus gave to the man at the pool of Bethesda. “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
Thank You for Your Prayers and Support
Thank you for your prayers, your encouragement, and your support. We share these stories so that you would understand a different aspect of our ministry at the Square, Portland’s Living Room. Each and every soul is valuable to our Lord and He sometimes uses us to talk and pray with the same people many times with very limited results. As you know, we leave the results in His hands but we do consider it a great privilege to bring His words and His presence to each and every one who stops to talk with us. May this year be a year of harvest, especially among the young students who watch us as we talk and pray with such a great variety of people who pass by the street corner. Please pray that our ministry to drug addicts and dealers would be fruitful. With this letter we send you our thanksgiving, our love, and our prayers.
~ Ron & Karen
E-mail: awakening1s@comcast.net
Home Page: awakening1s.net
church @ 24/7
Ron & Karen Rohman
PO Box 14292
PORTLAND OR 97293