First, a huge Thank You! to @Messiah2030 for creating this Bible study group.
In early 2008, I asked God for confirmation if heaven and hell were real. At the time, I worked at the blood donor center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX.
Airmen would come to donate blood after they graduate from bootcamp and these units were specifically sent to our military stationed in the middle east.
One young airman — about 18 or 19 years old — came to my booth. He was dressed in typical BDUs (battle dress uniform) but he was carrying his Bible.
As I rolled up his arm sleeve to prep the vein that I’d accessed, he layed there hugging his Bible like a teddy bear.
Then he tells me that even though he is frightened of the process of donating blood for the first time, he wanted to support our troops.
I comforted him by explaining that he had nothing to fear and that everything was going to be okay.
I began the procedure.
In less than a minute, he had fainted and his mouth began to turn blue.
I pulled out the smelling salts to wake him up but I could not wake hime up.
Now, his lips were turning purple — so, I quickly aborted the procedure and called a help to begin CPR, etc.
2 or 3 Sergeants arrived and none of us could get him to breath again.
It’s been less than 1 minute but it seemed like forever!
We were ready to dispatch an ambulance when he opened eyes and he said…
“Hello” — and the color began to come back to his face.
After the Sergeants left the area, I gave him some time to just lay there (I didn’t want to take a chance of him standing up and fainting and hit his head or anything like that).
And he began to tell me what he saw while he was not breathing.
He said that he was in a place were there were “others” but they were not “people”
He told me that (1) there were many and (2) they did not have bodies or faces but were “light” and (3) their presence brought him “peace.”
I did not give this much thought until a couple weeks later at another blood drive….
I began prepping a veteran in his 40’s and he said to me…
“I hope what happened last time doesn’t happen again.”
I expect small talk during these encounters, so I replied “Oh, what happened?”
Then, he begins to tell me how he went to hell, providing details and all.
In conclusion, God answers prayers when they are genuine and in alignment with his will. And the way he answered my question was done in a way that I could not deny that it was his Holy Spirit at work. It’s not like I presented my question to a member of my church. No, I went directly to God and now I have this testimony, this unique experience that no one can take away. And whenever I feel doubtful about my faith, I remember how God used these two complete strangers and his Holy Spirit to get a message to me.
How great is that?!
How about you? Do you have a testimony to share?