Randy Shoulders asked me to share a 5-minute testimony at church today, highlighting our experience in Rwanda and then weaving it into the worship set. I've cut and pasted my notes from today. I ended up not reading the notes but I think what I said is pretty accurately expressed in the following document.
Spoken Bridge
"As some of you know, my husband Dan and I had the privilege of going to Rwanda
with e3 Partners on an evangelistic missions trip. We joined a team of 12 other North Americans and formed 8 teams, with each team planting a brand new church in 8 different villages in the northern part of Rwanda
near a city called Ruhengeri. Before we left on the trip, I felt a lot like Jonah. Knowing I should go. Knowing God was calling me to go. Knowing that I had -0- excuses to not go. But just dragging my feet and even up to the last few hours before we left, I still couldn’t believe I’d be getting on a plane and starting the journey to another continent. This wasn’t really part of my plan. But it was part of God’s plan. And I’m really glad I submitted to Him and His will. The whole experience was amazing and life-changing. From 9am to 2pm daily we went from house to house, hut to hut, field to field, grove to grove, person to person, to anyone who would listen, we shared the good news of salvation thru Jesus Christ. I want to tell you about the first woman I spoke to who prayed to receive Christ. She was probably in her late 50s or early 60s and lives across the street from where the new church site is. After sharing the gospel with her, I asked her if she’d like to pray to receive Christ as her personal Savior. To my utter amazement, she said yes. Then she disappeared into her house. I thought she might be praying alone in the house. But then she reappeared with a woven mat which she laid on the ground and knelt down on. I led her in a simple prayer. Then another person who’d been listening in on our conversation, a young man maybe in his late teens or early twenties, said that he’d like to accept Jesus Christ as well. So he knelt down and prayed the prayer. Then the woman, full of faith, told us that she had been pretty ill for about the past month and had been unable to work. She asked me to pray that God would heal her physically. At that moment I pretty much panicked. I’m no faith healer. I mean, of course I know that God heals. He’s the Great Physician. But at that moment, I didn’t know quite what to pray for. I thought about telling the woman that God might heal her and He might not. I thought that I should add a disclaimer with my prayer. And I certainly thought about having a trained pastor come back later to pray an eloquent, tried and true prayer for healing over her. But then I realized I was being like Jonah again. I realized right then and there that this whole trip to Rwanda
would be one that would not only be outreach to others but that I would find my own faith and hope renewed through the faith of others. So, I prayed a pretty impassioned prayer for healing for her. I thanked God that He had already healed her spiritually and asked Him to heal her physically as well. I thanked God for her new faith. I asked God to strengthen her and give her grace to endure the ailments she had. But above all, I prayed for divine healing. Then I left it in God’s hands and we had to move on to the next house. Well, on Wednesday afternoon at our church meeting, Dan asked people to stand up and share testimonies of their new-found faith in Christ. This woman came up to the front and yelled out “Hallelujah!” To which everyone responded “Amen!” She did this three times, louder and louder each time. Then she told of how she had prayed for salvation on Monday and received the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Then of how she had asked for prayer for physical healing. And of how on Tuesday she started feeling well enough to be up and around the house. And on Wednesday, she picked up her hoe and headed out to work in the fields. She praised God with all her heart for this miraculous healing. And I’ve got to tell you, my faith has never been so strong as it was in that very moment. Not my words. Not my prayer. But her faith and God’s power healed her. I just got to share in the blessing of watching God at work. When I think about how God can and will use broken vessels, as long as they are willing to be used, I can’t help but think of how deep and wide his grace and mercy must be. God is all-sufficient, he doesn’t even need me to share the message of salvation or pray a prayer for healing. He can pretty much handle everything on His own. But He allowed me to be a part of His work in order to grow my faith and bring even more glory to Himself. God is mighty. He is strong. He heals. He listens. He is ever-watchful. Ever-waiting. All creation sings His praise. He is Holy. So holy."
