Interview with Raymond Naoum - 1819

Born in Nigeria to Lebanese parents who wanted to give him a good education, they sent Raymond to a Jesuit boarding school in Lebanon at the age of 5. While there he had to go to confession. One day following confession as he walked away he remembered an unconfessed sin. What should he do? He decided not to go back and confess his sin. The next day he went to church wearing a tuxedo with a clean, white shirt, but spiritually he felt so filthy.

 When Ray returned home from boarding school, his Mum was driving past a protestant church, he asked his Mum, “What is the difference between our church and their church?” She said, “The difference is they confess their sins directly to God, but we confess them to the priest”. I thought to myself, “That is so much better.” I wondered why we had to go through a priest.

 Ray lost his spiritual interest in God. However, God did not lose interest in Ray. Listen to Ray’s story and hear how God was trying to reveal Himself to Ray throughout his life. As is common to humanity, when faced with ill health, Ray found God’s love by reading the book of John in the Bible. His heart was touched and he responded to the Holy Spirit. He continued his love for the Bible, reading it morning and evening and he has continued to grow in understanding God’s Word. He sees the Sabbath is a special day that we can spend time with God.