Wealthy Business Owner Gives Up Everything for Jesus

Abraham is a church planter in Laos who was once a very wealthy businessman. Abraham had a warehouse in his city that earned him a lot of money but then Abraham became very ill and someone brought him to a pastor for prayer. He listened to the man tell him about Jesus and then gave him permission to pray. The Lord healed Abraham and he immediately became a believer. He was suddenly overwhelmed with a passion for doing something more meaningful with his life, so he quit his job to become a full-time church planter. Abraham was a leader in his community and when the authorities in his city discovered that he had become a Christian, they tried forcing him to drink cursed water and to forsake Christ. But he refused and told them that he would never denounce his Savior. Abraham was immediately arrested and put into prison for an entire year, where he was mistreated each time he refused to deny the Lord. When the authorities saw Abraham’s influence on the other prisoners, and his natural leadership abilities, they attempted to bribe him with money and a good job. But he continued to stay committed to his true calling, to spread the Gospel and plant churches. Before he was released from jail the authorities stripped him of all of his land and business, leaving him with no way to earn a living. But the Lord faithfully took care of him and his large family. Abraham has watched God move through his efforts for the Kingdom. He has a good reputation among the people and many have become believers because of his witness. He recently took a few church planters to a remote village over 13 hours away from where he lived, where no one had ever heard the name of Jesus. The risk of getting caught spreading the Gospel was significant, and they were concerned for their families if anything happened to them. But in the end, they trusted that the God they served would see them through every obstacle. The courageous men established three churches in the remote area and over 47 elsewhere.

Abraham observes the hand of God moving in his country and it encourages him to keep pressing forward, running the race set before him.

In 2 Timothy 4:7, Paul writes: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.

Abraham will not stop his work for the Kingdom, as he longs to proclaim, as the Apostle Paul did, that he has kept the faith.