Joseph the Masai Warrior

One day Joseph, a Masai Warrior, as he was walking a long one of those hot dirty African roads met someone that shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him, and then and there he accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. The power of the Spirit began transforming his life, and he was filled with such excitement and joy that the first thing he wanted to do was return to his own village and there share the good news to the members of his own local tribe. Joseph began going door to door, telling everyone he met about the cross, and the salvation that it offered, expecting their faces to light up, the way his had. And to his amazement the villagers not only didn´t care, but they became violent. The men of the village seized him, held him to the ground, while the women beat him with strands of barbed wire. He was dragged from the village, left to die a lone in the bush. Joseph somehow managed to crawl to a waterhole, and there after days of passing in and out of consciousness, he found the strength to get up. He wondered about the hostile reception he had received from people he had known all his life. He decided he must have said something wrong, or left something out from the story of Jesus. After reheasing the message he gave at first, he decided to go back, and share this message again. Joseph limped into the circle of huts and began to proclaim Jesus. ¨He died for you, so that you might find forgiveness and come to know the living God¨, he pleaded. Again he was grabbed by the men of the village, while the women beat him, reopening wounds that had just begun to heal. Once more they dragged him unconscious from the village and left him to die. To have survived the first beating was truly remarkable. To live through the second was a miracle. Again, days later, Joseph awake in the wilderness, bruised, scared, and determined to go back. He returned to the small village, but this time they attacked him before he had time to open his mouth. As they flogged him for the third and possibly the last time, he again spoke to them about Jesus Christ the Lord. Before he passed out, the last thing he saw was the women who were beating him beginning to weep. This time he awoke in his own bed. The ones who had so severely beaten him were now trying to save his life. They nursed him back to health, and the entire village came to Christ.

John Piper spoke about Joseph in one of his sermons, and these were his words from his sermon. If you want to hear John tell the story, it is here.

I guess Joseph made his way to Amsterdam where an evangelistic conference was being held. Joseph hoped to meet Billy Graham. Joseph was able to tell Graham his story in person.

Joseph then lifted his colorful shirt, and showed him his scars.

Afterwards, I read that Graham said to his staff ¨I am not worthy to untie his shoes, and he wanted to meet me?¨