Baba Deborah
Sunday after the service one of the faithful teen gals at our Igoma church, Deborah, asked if I would like to stop by her house. Her dad was home! Her mom and dad are gone for weeks and sometimes months at a time, Deborah pretty much lives alone. I hadn't yet met either of her parents and thought this might be my only chance, so I followed her home.
Baba Deborah was finishing up an early lunch and making plans to head back to his fields (about 3 hrs away by car). He was so pleased to have a visitor though and immediately stopped everything. We sat and talked for over 3 hrs. He postponed his trip till the next day because I had come! It was the perfect opportunity to witness! He was very open and interested. Asked lots of questions and wanted to read the verses for himself.
The phrases, "accepting Jesus as your personal Savior" and "believing on Jesus," have become very commonplace in this area. Many use them without understanding their meaning. The Lord seemed to really work... at least I had his complete attention... when I started sharing about the possibility of being completely washed from our sins. I showed him Rm 3:23, 6:23, and 5:8, then John 3:16-18. I also showed him Jas 2:19 and talked about the meaning of belief in Jesus. Not just to believe that He exists and He's our Savior. Even the demons believe this and tremble. Believing means to depend on Him completely and only Him to wash our sins. He was genuinely surprised to hear that good works don't play any part in salvation. When I asked if he was ready today to ask God to wash away his sins. He said yes, but seemed to still have questions. "Is this something you do in church, or how do I get this?" "Where is God?" I asked. "Since He's everywhere, He can hear you where ever you are."
That afternoon, January 10th, 2010, Baba Deborah was born a second time!
I was so excited! We ate lunch and continued talking till the evening church service, and then he joined us for the service! His first time to come to our church even though his daughter has been coming faithfully for years! (I dropped him and his daughter off, and then headed back into town for our English service.)
Moments like this make it all worth it!