The Power of Testimony

 My team and I are currently on hour 4 of an 8 hour bus ride from Kitwe, Zambia back to Lusaka. As I sit here, I can’t help but be filled with joy at all the Lord did this week. Wow was it beautiful! Though I have only known my team for a little over two weeks, they are already like family🤍 The unity and love has been such a blessing, and I am so excited to continue to get to know these people for the next 7 weeks!

I could easily sit and write a hundred stories of what the Lord did this week, but one in particular has been on my heart to share. When it comes to ministry with AFM, especially street ministry, we do everything in prayer and wait for the Spirit to lead us where we are supposed to be. We usually pray beforehand and ask the Lord to give us clear signs of where to go and who to talk to. At the beginning of the week one of my teammates mentioned seeing butterflies, which stuck in my head all week.

For our second day of ministry, we went to a compound(neighborhood/community) called Buchi. On this particular day my team had been walking for a while. As we walked, we passed a stand where a woman was selling stuff, and I felt like that was where we were supposed to go. However, I wasn’t 100% sure so I didn’t say anything but I prayed as we walked. After we passed it I saw a butterfly, and remembered what my teammate had said. 

We continued walking for a little while longer, but continued to not feel/see anything, so we decided to stop and pray as a group for clear guidance. As we prayed I felt very strongly that we had to go back to that stand. We turned around and headed back, and when we arrived a few new women were there. Our translator and ministry partner, Richard, began to speak to them in Bemba and one of the women got up and began to lead us to her home. Richard asked me if that was the woman I saw earlier, and I said no but it felt like she was supposed to be who we talked to.

After a short walk my three team members and I filed into her home, sat in her living room with her, and began to talk. At first I wasn’t sure what to say, but then felt prompted to share my recent testimony of being healed from anxiety and depression (which is a whole other post in and of itself that I will write soon, praise the Lord!!). After sharing I told her I didn’t know why I was supposed to share that but I felt like the Lord wanted me to. She responded “I do.”

She proceeded to tell us about a health issue she had been dealing with for six months, and began to cry as she told us none of the treatments had been working. In Zambian culture it is not common to get emotional, so when people do you know it is genuine and honest. It was causing her a lot of pain, both physically and emotionally, and I could tell she was out of hope. I told her she wasn’t alone in how she felt, and that it wasn’t that long ago I sat with my doctor crying because I just wanted solutions to what I was dealing with.

My team and I proceeded to share the gospel with her, and the story of the paralyzed man who Jesus healed both spiritually and physically. We also shared with her how much Jesus loves her and doesn’t want her to be in pain. She hadn’t gone to church in a long time, but was so receptive to it and genuinely seemed like she was interested in knowing more. She began to tear up again as we talked about how the Lord wants to take this pain from her, whether that be in the moment or in eternity.

I ended by asking if a relationship with Him is something she wanted, and she quickly said yes. I prayed salvation and healing over her, and a genuine change of heart and mind. I thanked the Lord for a new sister in Christ, and for her openness in letting us not only into her home but into the struggles she had been dealing with. As we walked away, her face was literally different and brighter. This woman who had been sad and heavy when we met her was lit up with joy as we said goodbye! Thank you Jesus!

I am so excited to share more stories with you guys, but for now I leave you with this: the power of testimony is so real! I never would have known that this woman was struggling with anything if she didn’t tell us. Through me sharing what He had done in my life literally a week beforehand, this woman was able to find freedom through Him. I say this not to glorify myself, but to point to His power in our obedience and in the things that normally wouldn’t have any power at all. Wow do we serve an amazing God!