Testimonies

These past two weeks of ministry have included door to door evangelism, assemblies at schools, Bible studies at schools, small VBSs in communities, and clinic outreaches. Your prayers of boldness for me have been answered! During the first week of door to door ministry, I was speaking up and sharing things I would have been unwilling to and uncomfortable with doing in the past. I didn’t feel nervous when at certain times I knew I had something I could share to whomever we were ministering to at that time, so I just shared it. Simon Peter (the pastor who has been leading the door to door outreach) has a phrase he says all the time: send it (basically meaning “preach it”). We would open conversation getting to know the individual, then someone would eventually say “send it” meaning let’s switch gears and start sharing the Good News.

One particular conversation we were having with a woman when someone said “send it” and someone else began to share what we were doing and we came to tell people about Jesus, the moment she heard that she jumped up from her chair and said, “I want to know more about this Jesus. I saw you walking around early today and thought you were just playing games. But since you are talking about Jesus I want to know more.” Wow! We were all in a bit of shock. She was so eager and wanted to know more particularly about God and Jesus and what their connection was. I was able to briefly explain the Good News starting in Genesis and ending with the cross and salvation. Our translator went deeper into a few themes and we had great discussion with her for about two hours. Before we left we asked if there was anything we could pray for for her. She said she wanted to have a baby so I laid my hands on her stomach and prayed for her. 

Another woman said she heard we had been telling people about Jesus in the community next door and the next day when we went to her community and she saw us, she wanted to talk with us and know more. 

Another day, we got to help some women do their laundry. They showed us how to wash the clothes, and we washed their dishes, and swept their floors as well. The women thought it was so funny and were shouting for their neighbors to come out and look at us doing their laundry. We were quit the spectacle. They showed us how to make pop (a local dish which is kind of like mashed potatoes but a thicker, firmer texture). And to top off the pop, they bought chicken feet (and so the list of interesting foods eaten on the World Race begins). We cooked those up with some tomatoes and onions. It wasn’t the worst thing I have eaten, but definitely would be okay if I never had to eat it again. A few bones might still be stuck in my throat but I managed to get all the fingers down and the skin from the ankle area before I called it quits. We pray for each of the women and their specific prayer requests before we left.

Another women we spoke with that day shared how she used to have a close relationship with God and would pray every day for hours then after some tragedies occurred a few years ago, she hasn’t prayed since. She said she felt like she wasn’t really living life. She had so much pain but couldn’t cry or pray to God. She wanted to get her relationship with God back but felt like she couldn’t. We shared with her some of our testimonies of difficult times we have gone through. As one of my teammates shared with her it really connected with the woman. Then my teammate felt God telling her to give her key necklace, which has the word “overcomer” engraved on it, to this woman. It was a sweet moment to witness my teammate sharing with her the reason why she was giving her the necklace and to see tears come to this woman’s eyes. We gathered in a circle to pray for her and when we had finished going around praying for her, she asked if she could pray. And man did she pray! It was a special moment hearing her speak to the Lord after for the first time in several years and the raw words of appreciation, love, and joy spilled out of her mouth. This woman was changed by the time we left! She had a glow in her eyes and a peace in her spirit.

One Friday, my two other teammates and myself got to teach at a school assembly to over 500 students on a short lesson about their worth and value. 

In the elementary schools, we got to do a memory verse, a bible story and songs with the kids and then we played on the swing-set and helped the teachers out in the classroom for a few hours. 

These past two weeks have been exhausting. Spiritually stretching but worth every awkward first encounter to leave a house knowing God had shown up and changed a person’s life. I am thankful for slower, relaxing Saturdays to chill, do laundry, clean our room, read, get some sun, sneak away to get complete alone time (aaahhhhh!) and read some more. Last Sunday we did a safari with a cub interaction. Pretty amazing! And this past Sunday we played soccer with some of the people from the church. 

We leave on the fifth of September to begin heading to our next country but before we get to Zimbabwe we will have an eleven day debrief with our mentor and coaches in South Africa. I’m looking forward to having our whole squad back together and time to share what we have learned this first month and to receive encouragement and counsel from our mentor and coaches before starting month two. They do nothing but pour into us and desire nothing more than to see us grow in our faith and spiritual gifts.

I’m so thankful for the health, rest, food, water, exercise, team unity, and ministry God has been so good to give me this month. I do not take any of it for granted and want to thank all of you who have been praying for those things specifically for me. God has been doing some incredible things and has been so good to allow me to be a small part of all that He is doing in South Africa. I hope in my next blog to share a little more about the spiritual journey I have been on and all I have been learning about God, the Holy Spirit and myself in the process. Pray the Lord will continue to change me and use me in mighty ways through the ministries here in these last two weeks in South Africa with Impact Africa.