Round We Go

Every time we got to a new village I asked God the same question. What should I share with these ladies?

Every time I got the same answer- share your testimony and 1 John 3:16.

By the second day, I was a little frustrated. We were doing eight bible studies that week.

“God, why do you want me to keep sharing my testimony and that verse? Can’t I share on something else?”

Silence.

So at every village when I was introduced I shared the shorthand of our testimony. It went something like this minus the pausing for the interpreter:

“I’m married to Big Joe. Our first year of marriage was very bad. Joe drank a lot and did a lot of drugs. I didn’t respect him because he did those things. Joe didn’t love me the way I thought I should be loved, because I didn’t respect him. It was a very bad cycle. After our daughter was born (at this point Kendall would usually smile really big and point at herself) Joe and I separated for a period of time. It was during that time that Joe tried to kill himself. When you try to hurt yourself in the states many times they send you to a hospital. They also send a very big truck called an ambulance to pick you up. The driver of the ambulance was on a very busy road and while driving asked Joe if he knew Jesus. You see we had gone to church many times, but we just listened and never applied it to our lives. It’s what you call pew potatoes. So, when the driver asked Joe if he had heard of Jesus- we had. We just never understood in our hearts. The driver asked Joe if he’d like to accept Christ right then, pulled off the side of the road, jumped into the back with Joe, and he accepted Christ right then! During the time we were apart I also accepted Christ. Nothing about our lives were the same after that. We didn’t walk the same, we didn’t talk the same, our lives were different. You see for the first time in our lives we understood what true love was. When you understand and receive God’s love it changes everything. God restored our marriage! Joe and I could love each other right for the first time as well as others. It’s that love that compelled us to fly for three days in a big airplane to be here with you. So that we could share with you how much God loves you and what He can do in your lives. I also would like to share a verse with you it’s 1 John 3:16, By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Not a bad thing to share, but I was tired of talking about myself.

It wasn’t about me though.

What I would later find out is that these women understood husbands that drank a lot, because many of them have one.

Alcoholism is a problem here. Drinking in Zambia is not the same as in the states. It doesn’t taste good. It’s straight up alcohol. So the only reason to drink here is to get drunk.

At one of the bible studies I got to pray for a young girl named Mercy who was married to such a husband. She had a baby on her hip and one in her belly. Mercy was ready to go back home to her parents’ village because she was not happy with her husband.

Very humbling.

On Friday of that same week a man went up to Joe at a leaders meeting and told him that my testimony was very encouraging to his wife.

God knew exactly what those women needed to hear. He already knew that they could relate. All I needed to do was be obedient to what He told me.

All I needed to do was share my love story with God- with others.

I encourage you to do the same when God prompts you.

In His Love,

Jennis