| Life Coaching brought Vincent to Christ [message #196] |
Tue, 27 October 2009 23:31 |
 amazinggracecoach
Messages: 160
Registered: August 2006 |
Senior Member |
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I am a life coach whose eyes have been opened by the Lord through the Coach training at Western Seminary. At the time when I joined the courses, I had already been coaching for a while. And it wasn’t long into the course that I was introduced to this equation:
“Christian Coaching =
Christ’s Vision and Mission
+ Scriptural Principles
+ Christ’s Presence
+ High Standard of Excellence as a Trained Coach.”
(You will find this inside Jane Creswell’s book, “Christ-centered Coaching”)
Lord then sent me forth practicing this equation in many different ministerial floors. And today I want to tell you this one experience that is so memorable and edifying to my ministry. I also want to testify to the possibilities and potential of Christian coaching through this story.
It was one hot Summer day in 2007 when we were just minding our own chores at the office. We got a phone call from a cancer patient, looking for help in the form of life coaching. “Life Coaching” in his exact words. Now this is very rare. Not many people know about life coaching, let alone calling into the Ministries office looking specifically for it. And what a coincidence and great plan Lord has prepared for him.
My coworker answered him, “Yes, we do have a life coach here, her name is Grace. Would you like to speak to her?” That day marked the beginning of our Lord’s quest to taking full hold of this man and his soul, through Christian coaching.
When I first walked with this man, named Vincent, he was just like any cancer patient having difficulties in organizing his daily life due to his illness and treatments. But as I continued to actively listen to him, I realized that he was constantly living in fear and anxiety from the memory of his childhood abuse. Vincent’s father was a minister but he abused his own child by beating him up. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was the term for the condition that Vincent suspected he’d had. Throughout the next 9 months of trying to refer him to psychological help, Lord, instead, led him to be released in His love and healing through coaching and prayers.
One evening that Fall, I got an urgent call from Vincent telling me that he was consumed in anger and worries about his partner, and could not tolerate his drug addiction anymore. Yes, he was a homosexual, living with a drug addict. I guess I really was thankful for all the training I had on suspending judgments on the clients so that I did not hold any opinions about him. All the time, my conscious mind queried my involvement as a life coach, but Lord kept putting this tremendous peace and courage in me to care for him and walk with him.
With powerful questioning techniques and intercessory prayers behind the scene, Vincent gained perspectives and awareness of the history of his own troubles. While having a goal to get well and holding him accountable to take actions, I saw how he was able to walk step-by-step out of resentment and bitterness, and bravely faced up to all the challenges that were presented to him on the journey. And it was our coaching partnership that provided the safe environment to encourage him to receive Gospel messages and re-examine his Christian faith again.
In November 2007, he willingly accepted Christ in a prayer I led him to say. By the end of December, he was comfortable enough to pray for me in return during a coaching session. Praise the Lord!
From January 2008 onwards, his health deteriorated. His brain tumor kept growing bigger and his face became deformed. Seeing Vincent’s excruciating pain, his partner miraculously stopped taking drugs all of a sudden and worked with me and other caregivers to take care of Vincent's every need. His partner willingly accepted prayers and coaching. His partner’s complexion gradually turned from grey to pink, his facial expression from tense to being relaxed and smiling.
As things progressed, Vincent became yearning to get in touch agin with his mother in Hong Kong that he had previously resented and avoided for many years. Around the same time, Vincent’s ex-wife, who was a dedicated Christian, showed up on the scene to take care of him. While the coaching work had expanded to include all of these people, I witnessed how our merciful Lord imparted His grace on this brother in his last days. Vincent not only reconciled with his ex-wife and his mother, he also peacefully submitted his life into the Lord’s hands. He no longer contended with why he had to suffer from cancer, or PTSD, or his partner’s abuse, and instead he learned to receive God’s word and passed his days by meditating on this Father in Heaven. The purpose of his existence became one that focused on others rather than on himself. This was a transformation that only Lord Himself could have initiated.
April 18 of 2008, Vincent was baptized while he was still conscious but was unable to speak. He raised his arms up high to show that he believed in Jesus while our Pastor blessed him with water. Hallelujah! On April 30, Vincent was released to be with the Lord.
Fellow co-laborers, today, you're presented with an opportunity to become equipped with this inspiring skill so that you may witness such power in transforming a person's life. I encourage you to take up this opportunity. You will be amazed by what it can do for your ministry.
To find out more about how to get trained as a Christian Coach, please visit:
http://www.westernseminary.edu/Coaching/index.htm
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