Answers to Prayers

It is amazing to see God working in new convert's lives. Many times I feel that new converts seem to have more faith then people that are many years older in the Lord. I think that it has something to do with child like faith.

Here are two interesting and exciting answers to pray that we have heard about this week.

First Bismark-
Bismark trusted Christ about two weeks ago, and we have been praying for his wife Matilda. After going to his house last week, Bismark informed me that they had been having some minor problems in their marriage. Basically, though Bismark does have a job, he is not paid very well, and many times they can only make ends meet. Matilda loves her husband, but has been told her whole life by family, friends, and even the many Charismatic churches that she has attended, that it is wrong to be poor. That being poor is a curse from God. Because of this believe, she has struggled with being poor. She seemed to always be complaining about them not having enough money.

Well, when Bismark told us this, he was very sad. He loves his wife, but he did not know what to do. After some time of marriage counseling and talking, we all decided to pray. We prayed for Matilda to get saved. Next we prayed that their marriage would be strengthened, and that she would learn to be content. Right before we left on that Wednesday, we told Bismark to trust God, and that we would be praying.

That night Matilda came home, and apologized for making things difficult. But, that is not all. That Friday, during the very time that Andrew and I where praying for Matilda, she meet the Nigerian pastor that I blogged about this last week. But, here is an amazing part. The one book that the pastor gave her, besides some tracts, was entitled, 'What does God say about Earthly Riches and Earthy Poverty?' The book is great. I have since read it for myself. It is almost all scripture, and the best part is that it is written by an African and is written to Africans.

So lets fast forward to yesterday, Wednesday. We visited Bismark and Matilda. Right away when we walked in the room, we noticed a difference. The room was clean(spotless) and the spirit was very warm. After we all greeted each other. Matilda and Bismark, began to tell us the story. Basically, Matilda said that after see received the book on Friday, she brought it home. Her and Bismark read it together and talked about it. Matilda said that she was so happy. Her whole life she thought that she was cursed because she was not rich. She thought that live was about money, but the book had taught her that money is not the goal. Money could not make her happy. She knew now that she could be content. It was very exciting. After talking for some time, they invited us to eat with them. So, as Matilda went out to get the plates and food ready, Bismark made this comment. "Pastor, God answered our prayer. We prayed about this, and He really answered us!" It was great to see his joy, and greater still to see his faith grow.

Second Dora-
After visiting Bismark, though it was late, we decided to she Dora. Her sister's husband had died, and we have not been able to see her in a few weeks. After visiting with and encouraging her, she told us this story that encouraged us.

The day that she went to the hospital to she her younger sister, this was the day that her husband died, another disturbing thing happened. While she went to give her sister a hug to comfort her, her sister's purse came up missing. After they talked, her sister asked her to give her, her purse back. Dora, then told he that she did not have her purse and did not understand. The sister told her that when she hugged her, someone took her purse. She had thought that it was Dora, and had not said anything. Dora told her that she had not touched her purse. Dora's sister said that she believed her, but she had a big problem now. The purse was missing. It contained about 150 Ghana Cedis (a lot of money for someone here), and her phone. They looked and looked for it, but could not find it. They called the phone but it was switched off.

After leaving the hospital, Dora began to pray. She knew that she had not taken the purse, and that her sister had believed her. But, she felt that there was still a dark cloud over her testimony So, she decided to start praying. She prayed that the person that had really stolen it would confess.

Well, about a week and half passed. Then her sister called. She said that she had gotten the purse back. The money had been spent and the phone sold. But the person that had stolen it, said he would pay her back. Here is the story her sister told.

She said that her dead husband's best friend had called. He was in the waiting room when Dora came. When he saw them crying and hugging, he used the opportunity to take the ladies purse. After spending all the money, his troubled started. He called the sister. He was yelling over the phone, "Are you doing ju-ju on me???? (This is African black magic)" To this she said no! Then he asked, "Is Dora, doing ju-ju on me?" To this, she said, "You, know that Dora is a Christian!" Then the guys says, "Someone is using some kind of power on me, tell them to stop it, I stole the purse, I stole the purse, just tell them to stop it!" And with those words, Dora’s prayers had been answered, and her testimony cleared!

Isn’t God wonderful! Dora told me that whole story with a great big smile. I have to admit it helped me, and encouraged me. I think that we can learn a lot from national Christians. Like my grandfather told me once. He said that if I remembered anything at all that he told me, he wanted me to remember this saying, "You can learn something, from everybody!"