There he stood, his 15 year old body leaning against the wall with a cigarette dangling from his lips. His mohawk, grunge clothes, shoeless feet, and tough demeanor kept me at a curious distance but I knew God wanted me to say something to this young angry man named Marcus. He had been a drug dealer in Copenhagen and was known in that community fairly well. His life was filled with violence and crime.

“Go wash his feet.” came the gentle, clear words of the Holy Spirit.

That seemed religious and just too weird. I had no desire to do this but it was clear to me that God was talking. I took a deep breath and walked over to the young man.

“Hi, can I talk with you for a little bit? I think God is wanting me to say something to you – is that okay?”

“Uh, okay.” he said cautiously.

We walked to an empty room and sat down. I found a bucket and filled it with warm water and soap and then placed it on the floor near him.

“I think God wants me to wash your feet. Can I do that?”

“Uh, okay,” he said with a very strange look on his face.

His feet were incredibly dirty. He had not worn shoes for about a year and his feet were very calloused. As I washed them carefully I asked God for help.

“Okay, what do I do now God?”

“Look at him. Tell me who you see.”

“Well, I see you young man who is not afraid to be seen. He is not afraid to be heard. He is willing to fight for what he believes in. He is willing to take great risks.”

“Yes, you see him well. I gave him all those gifts but he does not know how to use them because he is not connected to me. All those powerful gifts will only make sense when he connects to me. Tell him that.”

I began to share God’s love with Marcus in the form of belief. Love believes all things and brings light into our dark places. This reality, that the Father knew him intimately and that ultimately his life wouldn’t make real sense until he connected with Christ hit him directly in the heart. Marcus was shocked that I could know this about him. Clearly he was captivated and challenged by my words of life.

“What do I do now?”

“Get to know the Father who loves you and learn to give that love to others.” I said.

“I want to do that.” He smiled and it seemed a new man was being revealed right then.

We began a mentoring friendship with Marcus and literally within a few weeks he was making plans to share Christ with his whole student body. He received permission from the school officials to call everyone together and share about the power of Christ’s love. He even asked people to line up if they needed prayer! One of his school counselors called me to say that when Marcus was asked what happened to him, what created this huge change, he responded simply, “somebody believes in me.”

Suddenly it was so clear. All those gifts were used in radical ways (mohawk, shoeless, crime, fighting) and captured through hurt and anger. Christ’s love took those gifts and revealed an Evangelist and Prophet!

Today Marcus is 19, and he continues to spread the power of Christ’s love in a variety of ways throughout Denmark and even in Japan. He has written a book and it has been published in Denmark about his life and amazing experiences with God’s love. May others read about the love of Christ for Marcus and be brought into the Kingdom of God.

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