JOHAN STROOTMAN OF PARAMARIBO, SURINAME

I SAW CHRISTIANS IN HELL

The Year 1999.

I am an apostle of the evangelical church the Return of Christ, a work that I founded in the direction of God.

Before my conversion I was a person of good heart, fair, I did not like lying or confusing people. I did not like going out with friends to places to have drinks, music, and dancing. The boys called me to go out and they dated with different women. I did not like this life. I just wanted a special woman to marry.

My parents were Catholics. Although they did not know Jesus, they raised me with moral and ethical discipline. They taught me the values of life and the principles of honesty. Even without knowing the Gospel, my character was better compared to many Christians who scandalized the Gospel.

But even though I was an honest and good boy, I was not saved. I had to know Jesus and this Gospel of truth. I remained without meeting a woman until I was 25 years old. I was serious about choosing the right girl for marriage and I did not want just anyone for my life. A woman who liked me realized that I could not love her and did a ritual of witchcraft. This ritual made me fall in love with her at age 25.

We started dating, she was my first girlfriend. One day I went to visit the church of a young man who invited me. Although he did not want to congregate there, it was in this church that it all began. The love spell was broken. I broke up with this woman and realized that I did not love her and all I felt was the effect of magic. After we had finished our courtship, she made love witchcraft to change my heart by putting feelings. At the beginning of my conversion, I felt relapses and almost came back to her. But the more I prayed the more the effects of loving magic diminished until I felt nothing more.

I was already congregating in a church and I was standing firm. I was able to move up very fast. When I was not a Christian, I was always a good boy. When I was converted I had no problem sanctifying myself, I never had vices and I did not like parties either. I was already a chosen one of God; I only needed to know Him, because without knowing God, I was already repulsed by the abominations of the world.

When I gave my life to Jesus, my personality grew even more. Without Jesus I was already setting good examples, now with Him, I had to give my best. I was always willing to help the church. I was the only man who took people to church on weekends. I was available to visit the brothers' homes and offer prayers for their needs. The pastor entrusted the money for the offerings to me. I deposited the money in the church account faithfully.

At the age of 25, I began to pray to God for a wife. I prayed to God about a young beautiful woman who gathered in the same church. I received a revelation from Jesus. 

He said, "Servant, she is arrogant, ignorant and cruel, you will not endure and you will want separation. I know the inside of her, I know her heart. This woman you asked for is not ready to be your wife. I will prepare a wife for you, she is My servant, a precious jewel."

Jesus heard my prayer and gave me as wife a woman named Aleta. We went through many tribulations in our marriage on the financial side. We learn to overcome the bad phases and today we resolve our differences without quarrels, in dialogue, offenses does not exist, everything is settled in the conversation.

What I am going to report in this testimony is serious. You may congregate in a church and have not converted yet.

Even if you have spent 30 years in ministry, there is a great possibility that you have not been born again. It is not church time that counts for God; what matters is transformation. Spending time every day inside a church can hide your true nature, this makes you be religious. Unless there is an encounter with Jesus, you will not be born of the spirit.

I began to preach the Word of God on the street. One day I was preaching the Word of God and a prostitute approached me. She heard the Word, prayed the prayer inviting Jesus into her heart and was converted. Someone from the church saw me evangelizing that woman and told my wife.

Aletta was suspicious of me, despite my explanation. The news that I was in adultery spread like wildfire through the church. My pastor learned the news. He was the only one who believed in me but oppressed by the pressures of the church, he had no choice but to remove me from the work of evangelism.

He knows his own sheep but because of the scandal, he took me out of work. The whole church believed in my involvement with the prostitute. Satan fought against me, wanting to paralyze my ministry. The rumors and slanders that circulated around me enabled the evil one to succeed in overthrowing my ministry.

My marriage was shaken. My pastor talked to my wife and said that I had no reason to tarnish my evangelical ministry with a prostitute. And it made no sense for me to love her and betray her with another woman. The pastor said there must be trust between couples. Even with all the advice, my wife left home. She was being manipulated by other sisters because of the rumors of the betrayal. When she left, my world collapsed. I became depressed and prayed to God. I knew it was God that gave her to me and I would not have permitted anyone else to come into our relationship to ruin our marriage. My wife stayed for 1 month at her mother's house.

Because of my prayer, an angel went to her room and left her in awe with all his glory.

The angel said, "Go back to your husband, he is innocent. All that happened is part of his church ministry."

My wife was happy and returned home. I know that scandals have invaded many churches and come to the ears of people who do not yet know Jesus. This has kept souls from giving their lives to Jesus. Through scandals, they will never convert from their path of perdition. They do not believe that the church is a place of the man of God. If people raise their hands as a sign of conversion to Jesus and go ahead to ask for prayer, it is because they believe that they will have their lives transformed. No one is converted to live a life of scandal. People who claim to have their lives transformed by the power of God and continue to promote scandals are liars.

People have questioned me if the Word of God really transforms people because such people have fallen into scandals. The Word of God has fallen into disrepute because of evil people who are congregating inside the church. Some brothers in my church took advantage of the false charges of adultery and accused me of many things. All this because of slanderous and false charges. The pastor anointed me as an Evangelist. When he traveled I replaced him and some wanted to be in my place. Their vain ambition of wanting to lead the church polluted their hearts. They were already doing fine in the church but they still wanted more power so they started crucifying my ministry. I was put on hold by the pastor and I didn't even get an opportunity to speak in the pulpit. I could not go against the authority of my pastor. If I did not accept the punishment it would be an instrument of rebellion within the church.

Lucifer was the angel of the rebellion who dragged the third part of the angels. I did not want to encourage the church to rebel against the pastor by using some people who trust me. Many rebellious brethren who did not like the pastor's direction wanted to see me cause rebellion with the people against the pastor.

But once Satan is causing destruction among the angels, now the target is the ministry of the shepherd. I knew my position even though I was innocent. The Holy Spirit used a woman on the street that I do not know and said, "If your pastor had left you out of the work after some people promoted scandals against you, many Christians would have come out and left the work. This is the wiser alternative for you. God has another door of ministry for your life."

One day my wife said to my pastor saying, "My husband is like a deputy pastor and has given a good testimony. He does not deserve to have his ministry stopped because of the majority who are bringing scandal to the Gospel. You would have to stand by what is just, even if many leave the church. You have lost a fine worker, preferring to lose a righteous man instead of half the church."

He thinks a lot on the financial side accepting the tares. We have been in his church for more than 7 months and the scandals are increasing. I and my wife opened a ministry that was almost closed for lack of members. Non-members came to help with the rent of the hall. After 6 months we got members and great men of God to attend our services.

The devil was furious with this church. The laborer who did serious evangelism work in the villages was helping me a lot. He fell into sin and betrayed his wife. I tried to reconcile the two, but there was no agreement and they divorced. I lost that worker, he did not want to congregate with me to stay in the same church as his ex-wife. His wife would only become a member on one condition if he did not marry another. I prayed much for the reconciliation of the two.

A worker dedicated to the work of God was seduced by a man who is not evangelical. She ended her marriage and left with this man. Her husband, a man used by God, did not stop her from leaving and is still praying for his wife to come home. Her husband continues to do the work with me and waiting for his wife, no matter where she is, for he has already forgiven and is still waiting for her with open arms. And he's taking good care of the children she left.

The unmarried young women of the church have gone astray because of boys. They fell in love and traded Jesus for these boys, indulged in fornication and fell from the faith. They stopped praying and reading the Word and could not stand without sinning. They are prostrating themselves before the pleasures of the world. Their sin-thirsty flesh runs desperately to quench their hunger in the delights of the world and to slay their souls in the fancy waters of this world. Those who renounce what the world offers, are filled with joy, happiness, satisfaction, and pleasure in the Lord. Nothing in this world can steal the virtues of those who give themselves up for Jesus.

My pastor was being tested in a church where many were looking for flaws in him to get him out of his job. The elder wanted to stay in his place, no one knew the intentions of his heart but Jesus knows and His spirit revealed to me everything that happened in that place. This elder accompanied the pastor wherever he went, helping in everything. The pastor trusted him greatly and did not know that he planned with a group of church people to overthrow his ministry.

The pastor wanted me to go back to his church and he missed me but he does not know that I had become a leader like him. The church knew of the pastor's desire to bring me back and they were plotting to overthrow the pastor. They would use my coming back to get the pastor out of the leadership, saying that I was in sin. Yet the pastor wanted to put me on the job, I would be the pivot of his leaving, all this Jesus revealed to me.

Since I did not go back to his church because of the new ministry I was taking care of, 3 months later the church removed the pastor so the elder could take his place. The elder who told the pastor who loved him took his place. The elder when he saw that the church where I pastor was fuller than his, the spirit of envy took his heart. He had celebrated when the pastor took me out of the work. This elder was grateful for my defeat but he was troubled when he saw that the work of my hands was not at a standstill but prospered.

I wanted to join a large branch of a large Japanese company. Jesus showed me in a dream, the owner of that branch offering all the souls of his company officials to the devil. In the dream, a voice says, "Johan your soul is not for sale, Belong to Me, do not ask Me to open that door of employment. I know what is best for your life, the father knows what is good for his child."

I cried at Jesus' feet, I was unemployed, my wife was pregnant. I thought about how I was going to support my family. A soft voice spoke in my ear, saying, "Servant, do you not believe Me? You will not be able to win this test if you doubt Me. You serve Me, am I not a great God who can help you? Am I not enough to give you a job? Look at the immensity of the universe that is so great. Who could have created it? The blessing is available on your way and you are just ahead, keep walking until you reach it, have patience, it is very close."

That night I went to sleep in peace and dreamed of several people walking in the church. This road was filled with giant stones that were obstacles. Many preferred to walk on other paths that had no stones. And few continued to follow the path of giant stones. One voice said, "Keep following this path of truth, do not take other directions in easy ways."

The church passed over the giant stones and kept walking until they reached a dangerous part. A road cut the road where many cars passed without stopping. The people had to pass the road to continue walking along the way. Those who did not pay attention and were distracted at the time of crossing were run over and died. A voice said to go on, do not look back and the rest that could pass through the crossing of death will continue their journey.

Jesus said those who died were distracted in their pursuit of personal accomplishments, forgetting to stand in His way and being surprised by death before reaching their desires. These deaths are spiritual.

A young man continued walking on a path and was almost there. Every time he complained about his life, he regressed three subways back. The more he complained he pulled back three more subways and was far from the end of his road.

I saw a woman walking on the path and the sun was very hot. In front of the road was a house 5 meters. This woman murmured of God, speaking of her situation. The more she murmured, the more she could not get close to the house. When she was almost in the house to get rid of the hot sun, the house moved forward and she could never get there because the property also moved forward from her reach.

A voice said all who murmur against Me their blessings flee from their hands. And those who do not watch and complain about their lives, the blessings are becoming distant every day. I woke up from that symbolic dream and Jesus gave me the revelation. He made me read the life of the people of Israel in the wilderness that took forty years because of the murmuring. They were not prepared to conquer Canaan because their hearts were hard and many died because of the murmurings, only Joshua and Caleb were deserving.

The patience of these two men made them not murmur and wait. Jesus knows my heart and used a Christian woman who said that the door of employment would open and I will have a very high salary. She said God did not give me this job before because I was not mature spiritually. If Jesus had opened that door, I would have gone astray. And the car I had asked from God, the request was denied. Jesus told me He would not give the car so I would not worship it.

Jesus prepared me spiritually and then blessed me. I was very happy with this job. An entrepreneur offered me an opportunity to work earning twice as much of my salary as I was getting. He wanted to get me out of the job Jesus gave me. The proposal was tempting. A man used by God came to me and said, "You will not work with the businessman because of the high salary. He's going to fire you, stay in the job Jesus gave you."

Nine months later, the company that offered the job for me, dismissed many men and there was mass dismissal. This company went bankrupt and many were unemployed. I was so thankful to God for not letting me change jobs, otherwise, I would become unemployed again.

I prayed fervently to God and felt a great force pulling me out of my body. An angel came to meet me and led me to hell. He said, "People who lived a sweet life on earth practicing sin are now living a bitter life in hell. All the sweet taste of the world becomes sour when they come to hell. What I am going to show you is not the wicked who did not believe in Jesus. I am going to take to the valley of Christians who are in hell."

CHRISTIANS IN HELL

I saw many there for various kinds of sin. Christians who did not bear witness to a holy life. They have done the will of their own flesh.

They knew the Word and did not use it to win souls but to cause strife. I saw Christians who have used their tongues to get people to divert and leave the church. They used their tongues to divide the church and overthrow ministries. Their tongues looked like knives that hurt many people. I saw Christians who had immoral tongues and spoke on pornographic subjects.

I saw Christians in hell who spoke corrupt words and used their tongues to curse their family. Christians who used their tongues to curse their children. As their children grew up, they became murderers, drunks, and drug addicts because of their parents' words. I saw a mother in hell for cursing her son. She died of heart disease and suffered a lot. I saw a Christian in hell for having died of grief for the children who gave problems. He cursed all his children and never repented.

I saw in hell many pastors who cursed their members who came out of their ministry. They told the members if they leave his church they will be struck down by God. Jehovah will injure them with the diseases of death and their lives will no longer be the same. When they leave here they will be under a curse, they will not succeed. These pastors uttered, "I curse you."

These shepherds are burning in hell for having a slanderous tongue. Christians who use their tongues to distill poisons and kill many spiritually. In hell, the demons pulled their tongues and cut them. They split their tongues into two like the tongues of a snake and caused them to crawl like snakes. The demons opened their mouths and threw embers of fire to burn the tongues of these Christians. 

The angel said, "The tongue of the servants of God is holy, speak of the Word of Jesus."

From the mouth of a saint, there must be words that build and exhort. They have to convey the truth, not the immorality, curses, and words of corruption.

After these scenes of terror, I will subject my tongue to the Lord and keep my mouth shut, I will not complain.

The angel took me to the other side of the valley of the Christians. And many are there for insignificant things like not agreeing their opinions and arguing about the apocalypse. It seemed like a political discussion where each one defended his or her own ideology. They began to hate each other by becoming enemies.

I saw Christians in hell who have been arguing about their denominations, each defending the name of his ministry, looking like two fanatical supporters defending their heart clubs. Two Christians who came out punching and attacking each other are now in hell. Christians who like to debate the Word and make a war, turn the wind into a storm and the spark made the fire to spread.

There are Bible critics in hell who said the Gospel narratives have errors. There are those who considered themselves the infallible authorities of opinions and advice. They did not like being contradicted in their ideologies by getting angry. They do not accept personal choices and forced people to follow their concepts. All these modern Pharisees are in hell for their arrogance and conceit. Men swollen in the letter and spiritually dead.

I saw in hell a Christian woman who humiliated her husband because he is unemployed and only she worked. She died in a car accident.

I saw a Christian in hell for not accepting the wise counsel of the men of God. He said, "His words are no good to me, I do not accept his advice, my mind is formed enough not to accept. I can give advice, but I do not want to receive." This Christian died with his pride and went to hell. God used vessels to alert him about his sin but he rejected their advice. Proverbs 16 verse 18, Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

I saw Christians in hell for not being able to overcome their trials and blamed God for their failures. I saw young Christians in hell because of prostitution. They prayed to God for a wife and did not have the patience to wait and fell into sin.

The deviants who left the church and said, "I will not stay in the church because of that brother, I am never part of the church, I can be saved without a congregation, Jesus did not call His people to stay in temples, all this is religion." These brothers without churches thought that they would save themselves without being connected in churches and went to hell. Those who have no fellowship with the body of Christ and live in disunity with the holy people will go to hell. God's people have to be united to meet Jesus.

The angel said, "I will show you the valley of the hypocrites."

He took me to this place, these brothers said that they left the church because of other brothers. But the truth they left because of their sins, they wanted to sin congregating in the church, but they could not be serving two masters. They left the church and returned to the world and told lies that it was because of some brothers that they left the church. They hid the true motives, hiding the sinful desires from their hearts.

And even in hell they did not admit their sins and blame others for their damnation. They felt love for the world and not in serving Jesus. In hell, they were never sincere in admitting that their flesh was weak and continued to blame someone else for their mistakes.

I saw a Christian woman who did not accept correction. She felt perfect and untouchable. When her pastor rebuked her, she said she was being persecuted, becoming a victim, not seeing her sins and seeing the sins of others for accusing her. This woman is in hell for not wanting to live the Gospel, and yet she considered herself perfect.

The angel said, "These Christians who are here have been forgotten by God and are separated from His presence forever. Speak to those who still live to repent of their sins to be justified. Their sins will be erased from the book of judgment."

The angel commanded the demon that is in hell to bring me back to earth. The demon took me out of hell and put my spirit in the body. He said that I did not belong to him and left.

I got up from the floor and was cold and unconscious. I returned to earth and helped my ex-pastor to return to the path of Jesus. Thank God the prophetic dream was fulfilled and the Lord delivered a new flock in his hands to take care of. The pastor opened a new ministry.

What surprised me was when the pastor anointed the boy. He was dumb, did not speak and only read the Bible with his eyes and prayed in thoughts. He could not sing or preach in church. He was hard at work, though he did not speak. I communicated with him by writing.

The pastor saw his effort in the work and anointed him as a deacon, and that surprised the whole church. The shepherd was used by God to exalt that boy as everyone looked upon him as poor, sick, and incapable of being a worker. I wept over the attitude of the pastor who fell in faith and was restored by God. I remembered Mephibosheth being crippled, and he had no inheritance, but David exalted him.

I thank God for everything and the privilege of this recording. May the grace of God reach all amen.