YOLANDA’S GROUP: hungry hearts.
I cannot say it any better than Jenn did in her blog: It is life-changing for us to see the hunger in the hearts of these new believers and their strong desire to know truth. Jenn’s blog was encouraging to me because our desire is to communicate the simplicity of the Message and that God will use us as His imperfect carriers of His perfect truth!
Tonight, I got to experience something incredible. I learned that you don’t need any special training to train other believers. Lately I’ve been wondering if God could really use someone like me. I haven’t taken one Bible class. I’ve walked with God for most of my life and I’ve doubted my knowledge of the Christian walk.
I learned tonight that I don’t need any further training and that the harvest is ripe NOW. I had the chance to tag along with Peggy, who works for Global Partners in Hope, and meet with six women who had hungry hearts. Five of them were believers, two of which, new believers. There was one woman that was searching. I left beyond encouraged by their faith and felt challenged.
We were at Yolanda’s house. I heard from Peggy that Yolanda was a “super woman”. I asked her what she meant by that, and Peggy just told me to wait and see. We walked into the apartment and an appetizing aroma filled the air. Yolanda had spent 6 hours that afternoon preparing for the dinner. She was privileged to have us in her home, among other sisters.
After dinner, we sat down for Peggy to start teaching. We went around and shared a little bit about ourselves. I was impressed with the girls’ English. The whole time, I could tell that then genuinely loved each other. Most of the women shared how Yolanda played a role in their spiritual walks by showing them love and presenting the gospel with them.
The rest of the night, these girls kept asking questions about how to share their faith and what to do if someone doesn’t want to believe. We got to share the value of prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit. It was even a reminder for me that there’s nothing that we can do as humans to change someone’s hearts- it is all the Lord’s work. All we can do is be obedient to the Holy Spirit and share when He is prompting us to share.
The two new believers shared their struggles in their friends rejection to their gospel and how God has changed their friendship. Cecilia was scared about losing a friend because she didn’t know how to deal with the new Cecilia. Maggie was the seeking woman. She shared how she didn’t want to believe in Jesus to avoid hell. She wanted a deep, intimate relationship with Him. Maggie shared about her investigation in the Lord. She reads her Bible often and prays throughout the day for people who are hurting, struggling, or ones who don’t know the Lord… and she doesn’t consider herself a Christian yet!!
Peggy presented the gospel clearly, and taught the women how to share effectively. She used a colored “story” bracelet made up of these five colors: gold, black, red, white and green. Many of you know what these colors symbolize, but for those who don’t, let me share. Gold represents Heaven. Streets paved in gold, a perfect place, better than any of us can imagine. In Heaven is God, who wants to have an intimate and personal relationship with each one of us. The black bead signifies sin, the barrier that keeps us from this relationship with the Lord. Sin is any thought, word or deed that displeases God. Every human has sin and are in need of a Savior. Red represents the blood of Jesus, and how great the love of God is for each one of us sinners. He loved us so much that He left Heaven to live a perfect, sinless life on earth, and then die as a sacrifice our sins. Three days after He died, He rose from the dead, conquering sin. Because of His blood, we are forgiven. The white bead shows that we are now forgiven. The death of Jesus has made us clean, white as snow. If we believe in Jesus and His blood, we are made clean. Lastly, green symbolizes growth in your personal relationship with the Lord. Because of your love for the Lord, you will want to grow closer to Him and spread the Good News!!
We gave each one of the women a bracelet of their own, so that they can share the gospel when someone asks about it. It reminded me to have the urgency to share the gospel.
Yolanda encouraged me. She’s only been a Christian for three years and during that time; she’s shared with so many of these women. She’s started a Bible study with them and has built into their lives, much like Jesus did to His disciples. I’m looking forward to seeing her again and hearing her whole testimony.
This time was incredible. I could see myself doing something like this… building up and discipling women, equipping them to disciple others. That’s what Jesus did, didn’t He? I have no idea what future plans hold, but no matter where I am or what organization I end up being a part of, I want to be in a community of women like that… faithful, encouraging, gospel-centered, and rooted in the Lord.
God is good. He taught me yesterday that I don’t need seminary training. All I need is to be available for Him to use me, just the way I am. He doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called. I’m called and I believe that He will equip me, giving me the strength, intelligence and love for whatever He has planned ahead!!
