Johann was not able to summit as there was not enough oxygen left to take him to the summit and bring him back down. Just 350 metres away, Johaan was faced with a dilemma, “This was a huge test for me, I knew that God was there with me but even then my human side took over and I said ‘I’ve come all this way, I’m not stopping now!’ I could have been arrogant and said ‘God will take me up.’ but there was a deeper lesson for me in all this. When my guide told me again that I wouldn’t have enough oxygen for the journey back, I sat down for a minute and I prayed, because that was the only thing that I could do.”
This was when he was reminded of the word of life that was preached to him, and he was reminded that in the garden, there were two trees, the tree of life and the knowledge of good and evil. “With my knowledge, I would have gone up, that’s what I wanted to do, but I had to choose the tree of life. For the other choice would have meant certain death, and life is more important.”
Only afterwards did Johann fully grasp the gravity of the situation and what God had done for him. “After I came down the mountain I started thinking, this is the encounter you imagined, this is what it was all about. And it’s so amazing to see the way that message is impacting people. People come up to me and say ‘It’s great to summit, but what you did was greater’. Countless people ask for advice, one instance was when a man came up to me saying he faced a similar decision with his child, and I was able to preach the word to him. I truly see this as God opening up avenues for me to preach the word to people.”
Johann also feels that this was a huge humbling process for him, “We all have pride within us, that’s something that we all battle with on our spiritual journeys. I feel that if I had gone up, pride would have taken over, whereas this has made me humble. It’s a completely different story to what I was expecting. But it’s a great story!”
Another awesome demonstration of God’s goodness was Jayanthi’s journey up the mountain, Johann said that she thought she would be the one that would have a problem, “Every day in the tent before we started our journey, I would call her and say let’s pray before we go and commit ourselves to God. It was real grace upon her life that she was able to summit. It was a test for me again as well, on how much I would support her and how much I would be there for her. My first reaction at the point that I decided to make the turn was to see where she was and if she had gone up because I know the victory was with the two of us.”
This experience has taken Johann to a completely different level spiritually, giving him opportunities to talk to and reach out people. He and Jayanthi now are being invited to give motivational speeches to people from all walks of life on a daily basis. “I make sure that I get my story across without offending people, but I make it known that the decision I had to make and the whole journey was all to do with God. He was there with us, and that’s how I was able to make this decision. Without Him we are weak, He makes us stronger.”
On the next mountain he plans to conquer he says there’s the option of attempting the 7 summits, the highest peaks on each continent, but he is keeping his options open. As for the next ‘spiritual mountain’ he says “I will wait and see where He leads me next! I’m sure whatever it is it will be interesting! What I hope people can draw from this story is the fact that nothing is impossible. We all have our dreams, and if chase after them and pursue them, anything is possible. There was so many times where people thought that we were mad, that we were crazy to even attempt something like this. No Sri Lankan had even attempted it because it’s such a big deal. Also I hope people will see that you have to have faith and really believe in what you want to do.”
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