By Brenda Groves
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
Dear Readers:
I wanted to share some testimonies with you again that hopefully will, in some way, encourage every person who reads them.
Stop! In the name of Love …
The missionary was already late for an important meeting as she made her way through a nearby African village. As she passed by a simple mud home she saw a woman leaning against the side in the shade. At that moment she heard the Lord speak to her heart.
“Stop.”
A quick glance at her watch caused a slight anxiousness as she wrestled with this for just a split second.
“Lord, I am already soooo late here, but okay.”
The missionary approached the woman, immediately she noticed that the pupils of her eyes were completely white. The elderly woman was blind.
In the villagers’ dialect she asked her, “What is your name?”
The woman answered, “I have no name.”
Puzzled, she thought perhaps she didn’t hear her correctly, maybe she speaks another language and she just misunderstood her answer.
Again, she leaned closer and asked the woman, “What is your name?”
A little more insistent now, “I have no name!”
Now really confused, the missionary turned to another woman nearby and inquired, “What is her name?”
With a shrug of her shoulders she nodded her head in the woman’s direction, “She already told you! She has NO name!”
Tears sprang to the missionary’s eyes as she stood shaking her head, “No. No. This isn’t right. EVERYONE should have a name!!”
She asked the Lord, “What would You name her?”
Again she heard the Lord’s answer in her heart, and in the woman’s language, a name which translated means, “I exist.”
So she said this to the woman, “Your name is “I exist.”
Slowly, the sightless woman began to smile exposing that she had no teeth.
The missionary looked over at the other woman and said, “Tell her what her name is.”
Now wearing a smile of her own the nearby woman agreed, “Your name is “I exist.”
From deep down a laughter rose up in the blind woman’s throat as tears ran down her cheeks. The missionary, completely forgetting the time, sat down and hugged the woman.
With joyfulness, she laughed with her and told her the truth, “You are loved, you were created by a God who loves you.”
And then she had a thought, I will pray for her, and Jesus will heal her. As she prayed, the blind woman’s eyes were opened and she wasn’t blind anymore.
Her physical sight was completely restored. She could see perfectly.
“Yeah Jesus!!” the missionary hollered.
More tears and laughter exploded under the awning of the small house, as all three women rejoiced at this miracle birthed out of a supernatural love that began before the creation of man.
THEN, the missionary shared the Gospel message of the Lord Jesus with them.
Now, how eager do you suppose these women were to meet this wonderful Person who gives a name to the nameless and restores sight to the blind.
As she received Jesus as her Lord and Savior she was no longer physically OR spiritually blind.
To this woman, love looked like a name.
She needed a name.
Since first hearing this testimony I have often wondered why the Lord named her that. But then, maybe this blind woman had this question arise in her heart that only He could know about.
“Does anyone even know that I exist?”
And God sent a complete stranger to prove that He knows her heart, and give her the answer, “Yes.”
The missionary shared this last statement, “I was so late, but maybe, I was right on time.”
You know, God’s timing doesn’t always mean that we are waiting on Him, I believe most of the time He is waiting on us.
As I read this testimony I thought, we must quit playing church, and be individual children of God in an intimate relationship with Jesus, who then, as a whole, are the church.
It really is this simply.
Just read The Book, receive love from Father God, and do what the Book says and give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to do His part through us. We have been given God’s authority through Christ Jesus to pray for people and see them healed.
“Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven or rise up and walk …” (Matt. 9:5-6)
Where the Gospel is preached there will be miracles, signs and wonders following those who believe. Not through any one person, but all who will believe from the youngest to the oldest. God is no respecter of persons. (Mark 16:17-18, Romans 2:11-16)
One more short testimony ….
Where Are The Christians?
This same missionary had a Pastor and his father visiting from a church in America. She invited them, along with some older orphan children that lived with her, to take a boat ride down a river.
The goal was to find a remote Christian village that she wanted to revisit from long ago.
So after a while, they pulled up close to a muddy bank which she thought might be close to this village.
The Pastor looked around and asked, “But how will we know when we find the Christians?”
She smiled. “I think we’re close. Don’t worry, we’ll know.”
Suddenly, she and the children jumped into the shallow water and began to make their way closer to shore. Looking back she saw the men just staring at her, not quite sure what to do.
Forgetting her manners, she returned to the larger boat, retrieved the dinghy along with two guests and proceeded toward the shore.
The mud along the bank stretched wide towards the jungle, and was deep, and also hot from the African sun. As she and the children plodded along for a good distance she glanced back and saw the men struggling behind. She waited for them to catch up and by now the Pastor was a little exasperated and repeated himself, “But HOW will we KNOW when we’ve found the Christians!!”
Again, she smiled. “It’s okay. We’ll know!”
They trudged a few more minutes through the thick sludge when suddenly a woman approached them from a distance. She was small and carried a huge pot on her shoulders.
The missionary called out a greeting to the stranger who in return replied, “Helloooo! May I wash your feet?”
With a huge smile the missionary turned back to the Pastor and his father and exclaimed, “Ahh! We have found the Christians!!”
Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com
