“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” Luke 15:7

I would like to share with you my missionary experience with my friend Simon. Simon Sene is a native of Senegal but lives in Spain. I met him through his sister while I was on a foreign missionary assignment in Senegal.

I spent almost five years in Senegal serving in this very difficult land in which 95% of the population is Muslim with only 3% Christian, mostly Catholics. Door-to-door canvassing was almost an impossibility in Dakar, but I began to make some small progress through the medical missionary work.

Through the right hand of the third angel, I made friend with a pastor who was a colleague of Simon’s youngest sister who needed my service for their sick father who was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was taken to his home about 80 km from Dakar. After four months of treatment, the old man was diagnosed cancer free. I once shared this experience in one of our Sabbath Watchman magazines in 2016.

I was invited to meet the family. They all wanted to meet me and thank me in person. Simon, who was still in Spain, made a call the day that I was with his family. He also had a health issue that has troubled him for years. He spoke to me about it and we agreed to send him some herbs for his treatment.

He then visited home and passed by my office where we spoke for quite a long time. He was smoking and drinking at the time. I have advised him to change his lifestyle to enjoy good health. We exchanged contact details and began to communicate with each other after his return to Spain. That was in 2016.

At that time I also began to make and share some French Sabbath School lessons and sermons on YouTube to be able to reach as many people as possible. I would also share them with him. I was also sharing with him some health videos. One day I shared a video about the dangers of smoking. He was then led to make a decision to stop smoking.

Though he was of Catholic background, after a few months he called me to tell me that he wanted to become a Seventh-day Adventist like me. Though I was overjoyed, I knew that would mean trouble for him. In Senegal, when one changes his faith to another, especially from Catholicism or Islam to another Christian faith, they can be disowned by their family and even rejected by the community.

I asked him if I could give his contact details to our church in Spain. I quickly requested contacts in Spain from the Evangelism leader, pastor Pablo Hunger. I sent him Simon’s WhatsApp number. From there, two sisters, Melva and Lolly have been in contact with him. These sisters played a big role in his spiritual mentoring. This was in 2017.

Simon went through some hardships because of his newly embraced faith. He was severely tried in his marriage but he stood firm. Even after we left Senegal, we all continued to encourage him. I continued to share studies with him. Though he was very far from where our churches are in Spain, the sisters continued to have Bible studies with him. They would invite several ministers to their aid. He fell in love with the truth and became very active in church activities, and financially supported the work through his tithes and offerings, though not yet baptized. He has been very committed.

My wife and I continued to encourage him to be baptised. This was a challenge for him. He worked in the hotel industry and Sabbath-keeping was an issue. He did not want to go into the water, and then betray his covenant with the Lord. He had (still has) a lot of financial responsibilities toward his family and children. He knew somehow that he might lose his employment. We continued to pray for him and with him. He would say that he would be baptized only after he finds a job that will allow him to have a free Sabbath.

Each year, I would speak to him about his baptism. I will tell him that this year is the year for the Lord is coming soon and it may be this year. Finally, early this year he told my wife and I that after hearing a sermon from one of our pastors, he understood that he cannot give God conditions, but only to submit to His will. HE then made up his mind on being baptised. He first resigned from his job to look for another job. It is quite difficult to get work in his profession that would give him free Sabbaths.

He went from interview to interview. The interview would go well but once he tells about his faith and that he cannot work on Sabbath, he was not hired, though the companies were happy about his experience. The sisters, Melva and Lolly, and our pastors prayed. One day we also made a call and prayed together with him. We told him that he took a leap of faith and God will reward him. It was not long after that he got a new job without being required to work on the Sabbath.

He was baptised on Friday, October 18, 2024. My wife and I were overjoyed. The Lord is good. I imagine how when our Lord “shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” Isaiah 53:11

I hope this experience will encourage many evan-gelists and missionaries out there to know that travail for the salvation of souls is never in vain. Never give up. The Lord is with you.

I thank God for the life of my friend Simon. I thank God for sisters Melva and Lolly and all the ministers that participated in this missionary work. One lost sheep is worth leaving the ninety nine others and going to search for the one that is lost.

“The value of a soul, who can estimate? Would you know its worth, go to Gethsemane, and there watch with Christ through those hours of anguish, when He sweat as it were great drops of blood. Look upon the Saviour uplifted on the cross. Hear that despairing cry, ‘My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ (Mark 15:34). Look upon the wounded head, the pierced side, the marred feet. Remember that Christ risked all. For our redemption, heaven itself was imperiled. At the foot of the cross, remembering that for one sinner Christ would have laid down His life, you may estimate the value of a soul.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 196

Amen

By Elder Judicaël Mutapayi Luboya