stefen

i gotta tell about one person... as we were sitting in the bar, i saw a guy come in, and i yelled "hey! stefen?!" he looked at me, confused, and then sat down.. it turned out, his name is helmut. well, it shows you can be wrong.

the next morning i again greeted him, and in my havent-had-coffee-yet way, again called him stefen. in the course of the conversation i kept making statements about him, that turned out to be true. (ex: well, at 34 you must have at least thought about..." and he "i never said my age..") that evening he pulled me aside in the bar. it turns out, everything i thought i knew was right- including his name! helmut is a nickname they had given him a few years back... his real name is stefen.

i told him about stefen in the bible, and how he stood up for his faith, although it cost him his life. and i said i see that potential in him. we talked for three hours and he let me pray for him.

friday i ran into him in the city, in the middle of no mans land. after a few jokes, he told me that he and his friend had been walking around for four hours talking about what we'd been telling them. he said it's the first time in his life where he has realized that this is a topic that cannot be ignored, before he never even considered God. keep in mind, this is the former east germany. and the same night at our concert, he took that stand for us, putting his own reputation on the line he stood up for us when the others began laughing at us and our message, and he told them to be respectful or leave. and this in an anarchy bar!

pray for stefen. he hasnt yet (as far as i know) given his life to christ (none of those we met with did), but i believe he will.