A drink accidentally thrown in an ex-offender’s face brings him to Christ and frees him from satan’s grip. Counties Evangelist, Lee Marsland shares the story.
Lee Marsland and Thomas
Lee is the Community Pastor in Oldham working with Encounter Ministries. He’s married to Lesley and has a heart for the lost in the community. He has a real passion for street preaching, regularly going out with members of the local church onto the streets of Manchester, Blackpool, and parts of Wales to sing worship songs and share testimonies, as well as preaching the Gospel and offering prayer. As part of their ministry, they run the Lighthouse, a facility that provides food, support, and fellowship to those in need.
LEE’S STORY
Last week, at the Lighthouse, we had a man who had exited prison after a six-year sentence. He had been signposted to us from the HMO (house in multiple occupation) he’s currently staying in. When he arrived, I introduced myself and sat him down with a hot meal and drink. Things got a bit chaotic, and there was an altercation with another man who threw a drink at his girlfriend.
Instead, it hit Thomas in the face, so Thomas jumped up and straight away offered this guy to step outside for a fight. I spoke to all involved and managed to bring a bit of peace to the situation, I then went back and sat with Thomas, I wanted to hear his story, he said he was struggling mentally & physically battling addiction and real anger issues, said he read some of the Bible in prison so when he got out he visited a couple of churches. Still, he couldn’t settle on any, so I took the opportunity to share both my testimony and the Gospel with Thomas.
He burst into tears, so I asked him if he would like to come up to the chapel part of the building. He agreed, and when we had that focused time, Jesus saved Thomas and filled him with the Holy Spirit. Thomas mentioned a few times that he believed the devil was in him and that he could hear voices. I asked if he was willing for me to lay hands on him and pray for deliverance. Thomas agreed. Shortly after I prayed, Thomas was slain in the Holy Spirit’s power and fell into the chair; he jumped up, declaring that Jesus had set him free. It was so powerful. Thomas asked me for a Bible and if I could help him understand it more. He texted me all the way home after the Lighthouse, saying he couldn’t stop reading the Bible. Thomas comes regularly now to the Lighthouse. He’s joining us at church on Sundays. God is so good. Thomas is also a gypsy traveller from Manchester and his life has always been chaotic but now he feels he’s meant to be here for a reason to spread the good news of Jesus.