Salvation Belongs to the Lord

Salvation truly belongs to the Lord. Last week I was teaching at the ladies Bible study here at New Day, and four women accepted Christ. You probably read a little about it on Darbi's blog but I wanted to tell you a little more of what happened.

My back was hurting and I was not too excited about sitting on a hard bench teaching the ladies’ Bible study. In addition to my aching back, the lesson was not the easiest one to teach, and I was afraid it was going to be boring to the women. But, I should have known that God’s Word is never boring and it is the power of God for salvation to all who will believe



The lesson was from Luke 20, the story of the religious leaders trying to trap Jesus with a question about paying taxes to Caesar. When they could not trap Jesus with this question, they asked him a question about a woman who married seven brothers (not all at the same time). They wanted to know whose wife she would be in the resurrection. The women at the Bible study seemed quite interested in both parts of the lesson, and so I was pleasantly surprised.


At the end of the lesson, Jody, a volunteer from San Antonio, TX prayed for the women. She asked the Lord to save those in the group that had never received Jesus as their Savior. After the prayer, I invited anyone that was interested in talking about receiving Jesus to come talk with me after the Bible study.

 I hung around a few minutes, but when no one came, I decided to deliver some curtains to our second orphan house. When I returned, all the ladies were seated again and Joyce, mother of the “Joy House,” was sharing something from the Bible. I sat down and listened as she was talking about the story of the demoniac.


When she finished, she explained to me that one of the women, Erika (a traditional healer/witch doctor)had told her that she had a dream about this particular passage. She was wondering why she would have such a dream. I explained to her that it could be God was speaking to her about her life and how He wanted to set her free from the life she was living. I then told the ladies that if any of them wanted to receive Jesus as their Savior to come stand with me. Lois, Darbi's worker was the first, and this was a big surprise to me. I don't remember who was next, but the witchdoctor (Erika), her friend Dorica, and Lilah came up and stood with me.

About six months ago, Erika asked me if what she was doing was from God or from Satan.
Maxwell, pastor of the Mapanza Baptist Church, helped me talk to her about her occupation. She has been searching for truth for some time.

I talked to them again about their decision and each of them prayed in their own language, asking the Lord in their own way, to be their Savior and Lord. I told them that the angels in heaven were rejoicing over their decision, and then we all danced and rejoiced over the decision of these four women.

That was a week ago, and this week Erika's husband came to New Day and talked to Blu. He said that he also wanted to go to heaven. Although I don't think he has yet received Christ, it is just a matter of time. Like the demoniac, Erika went home and shared with her family about giving her life to Jesus.

On a side note, her husband happens to be the father of one of our Baptist leaders who died several years ago. We came to his village some time after his son died and shared the gospel with the people of his village. I just wonder if Erika was not one of the women sitting there that day.