One of our "daughters" in Asia writes about the ways God is using her commitment to witness to others. She is the mother of two special needs children and the wife of a Pastor. Ask God to bless her and the family.
We started visiting ___ uncle soon after we heard that he was suffering from liver cancer. In the process of visiting him and his aged wife, we shared the gospel with them. Their response was "wait a little while more." Meantime, the Lord convicted me to call him every day to pray with him over the phone - in Cantonese - and speak the presence of God into his life. This was something I have done before, with another dying man last year, who spoke only Teochew, so it wasn't too difficult for me. Therefore I obeyed.
After a few weeks into praying with him over the phone, he started to utter "Praise the name of Jesus...Thank you Jesus." Still, he wasn't ready to receive Christ. Some weeks later, he was taken to the hospital because his cancer has worsened and he was in pain. Doctors said there is no more treatment, and his days are numbered. I again tried to ask him for his decision about Christ, he was still not ready, and his wife was strong against it, but both were wiling for us to pray with them.
In God's sovereign ways, He brought a lady, who happens to be the wife of a pastor in my previous church, into their path. She visited him two times and on the second visit, led him to make a decision for the Lordship of Christ. I was overjoyed! All those times of sowing has finally bore fruit!
The next day, we went to visit him and got to baptise him in front of his wife. We were amazed at how strong his faith was in the Lord. He was very certain of the decision he has made and he knows where he will be going when he dies.
I believe he has truly counted his cost before he decides to give his life to Jesus. We have been visiting him at the hospice and praying with him. I taught him to pray Ps 23. Recently, I asked him which is his favourite verse so that we can put that in the tablet to remember him. He chose v6 - "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!" Wow! He understands that the Lord is with him and to be with Him is the best thing. He told me he has no more worries because all things are in God's hands and he is prepared to meet the Lord. There is such a peaceful countenance in him despite his pain.
For his faith to come to this stage can only be credited to the work of God. This is a poor couple, whose only son has not honor them and is nowhere to be found. He bore such pain of not having his son with him in his dying days, but he told me he has a bigger family now - brothers and sisters in Christ (like us) whom he can call upon.
Pray for us that the Lord will take him home soon as he is all ready to meet the Lord. He is fed with very strong pain killer 24 hours a day. Pray that God will be merciful to him. I want to be around for his wake and funeral before we leave for our sabbatical. His wife has asked us to manage it as she and his siblings will have no idea how to run a Christian funeral. Pray with us that it will be a glorious time of seeing God's work in the lives of non-believing relatives.
I am impressed with this woman's commitment and strong follow through with her relatives. I have learned a lot from her and my other Chinese friends about the need to persevere in witnessing.
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