Peter (man w/ cancer)

I’ll never forget the baptism of a young man named Peter, who lived in Poland. He was a Polish Neo-Nazi, a pretty tough kid. He also became involved in worshipping Satan. Peter wanted nothing to do with Christianity.

But then he got cancer. They had to operate on his brain. They operated three times. But they couldn’t get all the cancer.

Peter began wasting away. His skin turned yellow. Well, Peter’s Christian mother would take audio tapes home from Mark’s lectures. And Peter listened to them.

After a while he said, “I want to give my heart to Jesus.” He took all his Nazi materials and his Satanic materials and threw them away. Mark came to see Peter and studied the Bible with him. One day his mother called and said, “You’ve got to come quickly.

The doctor is here. Peter’s dying. He’ll only live about two hours.” Mark went to the house and found Peter in terrible shape.

He was vomiting. He hadn’t been able to keep food down for about three weeks. The house was dirty and smelly. I remember fetching a basin and holding Peter in my arms as he kept retching his frail life away.

All I could do was hold him. Peter looked up into Mark’s eyes and said, “Pastor you’ve got to baptize me before I die.”

Peter knew those passages in the Bible which speak of the supreme importance of Bible baptism. He remembered the words of Jesus: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). Peter was extremely concerned that without Bible baptism he would not be saved. Mark said, “Peter I can’t baptize you.

I can’t take you to church; you’re too weak.” Peter said it again, “Pastor, I’m going to die, you have to baptize me.” I tried to explain. “Peter, Jesus accepts you completely, right now—even if you can’t be baptized.

You’re like the thief on the cross.” But Peter whispered to me, “But it’s my dying wish.

Won’t you give a dying man his last wish?” What could the pastor say to that? He told Peter’s mother, “Fill the bathtub as high as you can, to the top.” She did.

I helped Peter strip down to his waist. Then I took that young man in my arms, just skin and bones, and I carried him to the bathroom.

I knelt on the floor and I began to pray for Peter, and I’ll tell you something. He felt that there are times in your life when you’re almost afraid to look up, times when a place feels so holy that you think you’ll see God, right there.

Peter’s mother, his wife knelt with me, with their baby in her arms. And Mark still had Peter in my arms with his hands around my neck. As gently as he could, he lowered him into the warm water and I had the privilege of baptizing that man in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Mark said, “That was a holy place for him.”

God was present. He lifted Peter out of the tub and we dried him off with towels. And for the first time in three weeks he asked for tea. Peter didn’t die that day.

He didn’t die the next day, or the next. For one month his mother had the most wonderful time in her life with her son, sharing together. And then, just before Peter closed his eyes for the last time, Mark leaned over and asked him, “Do you have any message?”

He told me, “I do, Pastor. As you go to every place, tell them my story, and tell them, pastor, not to wait too long. Tell them to move ahead, accept Christ and be baptized because he’s calling them.