How You Play The Game | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: How You Play The Game | Previous Challenge Entry
By Judy Meyers
09/12/08
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Lenny doubled his fist and hit the wall. He was mad. He was mad at his family and at God. Maybe, he was even mad at his mother. He was only nine years old and his mother, at the age of 33, had developed cancer and had passed away. Lenny was livid. How could this have happened? All of the other kids had their mothers. Life continued for them. He had to move into a nine family apartment house, into his grandmother's apartment, along with his father and brother, Tim.

He listened each night to the night sounds on a street corner with two taverns across from this apartment. His alcoholic uncle would stumble up the steps, many a night, to get Gram's help, as he vomited on the stairs. Early each morning, Lenny heard his grandmother praying for each one of her family, by name.

“Yeah, right! God’s gonna listen to you. My mom’s gone! How can you think that He cares about me?”

As the years passed, Lenny picked up cigarettes from the streets, if they had anything left on them to smoke. He stole donuts from the corner bakery. One day, he mouthed off at a school chum doing detention with him. Another one cold copped him in the stairwell. Lenny reported him to the office/ He got suspended. The next day, a gang of kids tried to chase him down and give him a beating. His life was full of resentment and bitterness. He was a very angry young boy. Lenny’s only stable force in his game of life was the people that came to the Port of Elizabeth, to pick him up for services at Ebenezer Church. His aunts and uncles tried to reach him. They were too heavy handed. Lenny had walls of resentment and lots of anger.

Each Sunday, the congregation adopted him and his little brother. Sure, there were times when the pastor’s wife had to find the boys under a pew. But, with one of the boys in one hand and the other boy in the other, she would march them to her front pew and sit with them through the sermon. Ebenezer became a second family.

Lenny knew a lot about Jesus. His mother had sung in the choir at church and his grandmother had prayed constantly for her family. His extended family, at church, had been a tremendous encouragement to his spiritual life. So, it was not a surprise that when Lenny ran out in front of a car, after spending the afternoon shooting pool, smoking his cigarettes, and using his foul language, that he knew exactly what to do. His body was being thrown down the street, skidding to a halt with bones protruding.

“Lord, if you let me live, I’ll give my life to you and serve you the rest of my life!” Lenny was 14 years old.

Now, almost 45 years later, Lenny has become a disciple maker. His faith and walk with God has brought him to every state in the United States. He has been a minister of the Gospel for over 40 years, traveling throughout the United States and to foreign countries to share the love of Jesus and His remarkable ability to heal the soul. His ministry has brought thousands to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Lenny can talk to people in a store or at a gas station and lead them to Jesus.

A picture of a nine year old boy sits above my desk. Along with that photo rests another picture of a girl about that age. Somewhere in the early 1950’s, God decided to bring these two people together. The boy, from a port city in New Jersey and a girl from a midwestern town in Missouri were united in marriage in the late ‘60’s. So, without question, I can see the game of life that God designs. That game has lasted 39 years. It is still winning!

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