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By Enrico William, French Guiana, South America
When I was 14 years old I decided to be a professional football player. I started to train very hard. Every morning I woke up at 6:00 am and ran 6.5 miles. It was dark and I was afraid to run alone, but I ran because I was determined in my mind. I improved my skill more and more because my dream was so strong to be a professional player. I was selected three times to be on the French Guiana Junior Team. When I was 15, my father gave me an airplane ticket to Paris, France, so I might enroll in a school for a professional team.
But when I arrived in France I was too late to apply for the school. The application time was closed. I was deeply upset. The direction of my life was forever changed. When I went back home, my father was still proud of me. He encouraged and supported me in everything. I did not know God at this time, but now I know that He allowed this failure for a purpose. Whatever things happen in our lives, God has everything in control.
I can see God’s control in my life many times, the first being when I was born. My mother tells me that I almost died because the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck.
Another time God spared my life during an accident in France. My parents moved me and two of my sisters to Paris when I was four years old. When I was 6 or 7, my older sister and I were in a car accident. A woman who was in a hurry did not stop at the red light. My head was injured and I was knocked out. As a result of this, I don’t remember much of my childhood.
I grew up in Paris for five years. I went to elementary school as did every child. My mum was sometimes called to the school because I fought with some of my classmates. I don’t know why I was so angry. Maybe I was hostile because of the home ambiance (condition or atmosphere). I clearly remember the fights between my father and mother. These conflicts shook and hurt me very deeply.
When my grandfather became very sick, we returned to French Guiana. I remember that I was very happy to move, but when we arrived, life there was totally different from what I thought. The climate was different, the culture was different, everything was different. After a few months I was ready to move back to Paris. But I couldn’t because I had to live where my parents lived. Soon, like others, we too were working hard in the fields to have food and provide our needs. During this time we did not have a lot of money. It was a hard time for us, but thank God our relatives helped us. After a time my father started up his own business as a taxi driver. Then things became a little better for us. Eventually, I made some friends and learned to play soccer.
As I was the oldest son, my mother depended on me a lot. She worked hard and sacrificed to raise her seven children and to see us succeed at school. I also loved my father a lot. He encouraged me, taught me how to do things and how to behave. One distinct lesson he taught me was that if I decided to do a job, I should do it very well from start to finish.
Even though my family was Catholic, we did not practice our religion. When I was about 16 years old, one of my classmates was fasting. I laughed at her, and she told me not to laugh. I said I was sorry, and she began to tell me about God. She shared that there was going to be a judgment and that if I didn’t believe in Jesus I’d go to hell. This thought scared me very much, but after a short time, I forgot all about our conversation.
During this time my father left my mother. This change was very painful for me. I loved my mother; she was a good mother to me. I also loved my father; he was a good father to me. As a result of their breakup, sometimes I lived with my mother, sometimes I lived with my father. During a time when I was living with my father I became very uncomfortable with his style of life. I was astonished by his behavior, and it made me very sad. Really, I was full of despair in my heart about this situation. Other disturbing situations and circumstances happened at the same time. I felt lost and without hope.
I decided I didn’t want to walk in my father’s way, and in my sadness I started looking for God. I went to church from time to time and heard that if I confessed my sin, God would forgive me. My classmate talked to me about God again, and I started to believe.
One night outside my father’s house I cried and cried and prayed, “Lord, I know I’m a sinner. I do not really know You, but I pray that You show me the way because I am deeply lost. I do not know how to live my life. Please show me Your way.” Instantly, after that prayer, I felt very light and good inside. That moment was the beginning of my journey with God.
After that experience, I started attending church and studying the Word of God. A church member told me about an evangelistic campaign taking place in a few months. Before this campaign I went with a group of men from the church to the river to pray and fast about the evangelistic campaign. What an amazing experience! We slept in hammocks, and one night at midnight we were visited by evil spirits in the rain forest. We didn’t know that Indians had had a spirit camp there in the past. The evil spirits were near our hammocks. Two men in our group woke us up and said that something was happening. We all woke up and began to pray. The Holy Spirit came down and touched one of the brothers. He walked around the table and touched me saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Something immediately happened in my body, and I prayed loudly, casting out the evil spirits. Throughout the rain forest, all the evil spirits left and we heard many things diving into the water. For the remainder of the three days of prayer and fasting, we were not bothered by evil spirits again. That time of prayer and fasting was very powerful and changed my life.
When I returned home, my life took a new direction. I sought God more and more, and I no longer wanted to spend time with my old friends who didn’t know the Lord. I only wanted to follow the Lord. Everyone in my town could see that my life had changed.
In July and August of 1994 I was on the team that held an evangelistic campaign in the Guianese Littoral (a coastal region). I had so much zeal for the Lord. We went from town to town preaching the Gospel. Many people repented from their sin and converted to the Lord. People were healed, the deaf people heard, and lame people walked.
In February 1995 I was baptized, but before my baptism I had many tribulations because my Catholic family was opposed to my baptism. My mother, father and whole extended family put pressure on me not to be baptized. My mother told me I had to leave her house if I decided to be baptized. However, I had such a fire in my heart to do God’s will that I decided to be baptized. Once I was baptized Mother did not carry out her threat, but she remained distant and cold.
In August 1996 I obtained my baccalaureate STI in Civil Engineering. Right after that I went with a team on a evangelistic mission of approximately 15 days to Togo (Africa). Once again, I had a life-changing experience. While I was there, God spoke to my heart so clearly that it shook me. He told me to leave school and my plans to be an architect and follow Him. This disturbed me because I had no intentions of leaving school. I discussed this with the leader of the evangelistic campaign and although he was not able to tell me what to do, he said: “There will be consequences if you take this decision. Are you able to face them?”
When we returned to French Guiana, I fasted and sought God’s face about this call because it was too heavy for me. Once again God told me it was time to leave everything and follow Him. I was afraid to face my mother with this because she had worked so hard to see me succeed in school. Now all her expectations of me would collapse. When I went to tell her, she cried and was deeply disappointed. She told me, “Your father left me alone with problems and now it is you.” That broke my heart because I loved my mother so much. I cried as well and even had resentment against God. The following week I had to face all the family: my father, uncle, aunt, and grandmother. They tried to dissuade me from leaving my studies. It is true that God gives us the means to go through these tests, and although this was a very difficult time, I came through this time stronger spiritually.
Later, my pastor invited me to live in his home. He taught me about the Bible and started training me for ministry. I went to many different places, including three months in the USA, to serve the Lord and see different ministries. I talked with many different pastors and learned about their ministries. When I returned to French Guiana, I served as a minister in the church with my pastor. It was during this time I asked one of the women from my church, Stephanie, to be my wife. We were engaged for a year and a half and married in 1999.
Three years later, I started an ambulance company. A year later I started a second company, and the third year another one. Now, we are the biggest ambulance company in French Guiana. I bless God because He knows how to lead his children. Although I’m not an architect as I had hoped, I rescued people in my ambulances. But now I want to rescue people spiritually. Income from our companies provide all our needs as we attend Bible school in preparation for missionary service. I hope to serve God in an African nation with my wife and four children.
It has been 15 years since God first called me to be a missionary. I held on to that vision even though it was difficult. That vision to serve God is like looking at the top of a mountain. It’s so far away, and you are at the foot of the mountain. You need to walk and climb the mountain to reach the vision. So I started walking and climbing, step by step.
Along the way Stephanie and I have had four beautiful children. In addition, our second baby, a girl, was born dead. This time was very painful and difficult. We know what it is like to suffer, and that suffering will help us to minister to people who are suffering. Still, God gives us all we need to continue following the vision. God chose us and gave us all the abilities and capacities to do His work. He led us through some difficult experiences to teach us valuable lessons. We know by faith and in His grace that God is going to use us to reach the people of an African nation. Glory to God!
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