Paris Reidhead’s Testimony: From Helping People to Serving Jesus

Paris Reidhead

When people ask me why I went to Africa, I tell them I went to make things fair for God. I thought it wasn’t right for anyone to go to Hell without a chance to be saved. So, I went to give people a chance to go to Heaven. I didn’t say it exactly like that, but what I meant was that I wanted to use Jesus’ love to make people’s lives better, because they were suffering so much. That way of thinking is called humanism, which means focusing on making people happy and comfortable.

But when I got to Africa, I found out something surprising. The people there weren’t just poor or unaware of God, like I thought. They weren’t waiting for someone to tell them about Heaven. Instead, I saw that they were doing very bad things and choosing to ignore God, even though they already knew about Him! They knew right from wrong because their hearts told them, nature showed them, and they had some understanding of God’s truth. But they loved doing wrong and didn’t want to change. They deserved to go to Hell because they chose to keep sinning.

When I realized this, I got so upset with God. One time, while praying, I told Him it felt like He tricked me. I thought I was going to Africa to help people who wanted to learn about Heaven, but instead, they knew about it and didn’t care! They loved their sins and wanted to keep living that way.

I went to Africa because of humanism. I had seen pictures of sick people with diseases like leprosy, painful sores, and sad funerals. I didn’t want people to suffer on earth and then go to Hell forever. But in Africa, God started to change my thinking. He helped me see through my focus on just making people happy.

One day, alone in my room with the door locked, I wrestled with God in my heart. I was upset because the people I thought wanted to learn about Jesus actually didn’t care. They didn’t want to hear about the Bible or Christ. They loved their sins and wanted to keep them. I felt like my trip was a big mistake, and I wanted to go home.

But while I was being honest with God about how I felt, it was like He spoke to my heart. It wasn’t a loud voice, but a clear truth. It felt like God said, “Will the Judge of the whole world do what’s wrong? The people are lost and will go to Hell, not because they haven’t heard about Me, but because they love their sins and deserve Hell. But I didn’t send you to Africa for them. I sent you for Me. They deserve Hell, but I love them! I suffered the pain of Hell for them on the cross. I didn’t send you for their sake—I sent you for My sake. Don’t I deserve the people I died for?”

I realized I wasn’t in Africa just for the people. I was there for Jesus, who suffered so much for me and for them. He deserved those people because He died for them. My eyes were opened, and I understood I wasn’t working for small things, like a reward for myself. I was serving the living God.

~ Paris Reidhead ~

Source: http://www.heavenreigns.com/pdf/ten_shekels.pdf