Testimony FGB
Praise the Lord, Glory to be the name of
God alone. I am a first generation believer. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I
would like to share a great miracle that happened in my life on how the Lord
met my mother, saved her life and how the Lord is holding her hand and leading
her until this day.
Before the Lord met my mother, the Lord
brought lot of changes in me – He made me pray, praying with burden. You all
know during Covid time we prayed for souls, prayed for the nation with burden. At
this time the Lord taught me lot of things, gave me awareness about the
spiritual things and once I remember listening to one song, which had this line
– “Must I go and empty handed?”. This line of the song started to work in me
deeply, then I prayed to the Lord to give me lot of souls, I do not want to
meet You with an empty hand, I need to bring in lot of people when I meet you.
The love that saved me from the hellfire need to save the lost people in this
country. The Lord put in much burdened on this cause, I know I cannot do this
by my strength, I cannot even pray with my strength, but God’s pure grace led
me in Journey and He gave me strength and burden to pray.
During this time, one day the Lord gave me
the burden to pray for my family because only I was saved, my sister also met
the Lord and was being led in the path of salvation, struggled a bit in between
and now after my mother is saved, God is working in my sister’s life and
brining in changes. No other people in the family are saved.
Each day the Lord increasing the burden to
pray for my family with tears, I did not pray for my mother alone, but started
to pray for each and every one in my family by name. Sometimes the Lord led me
to pray for all of them in a single day, sometimes it was only one person,
however the Lord led me I prayed.
In Nov 2022, there was a situation that I
had to call my mother to my house to support me. Usually, I used to refrain
calling my parents or in-laws to my house. Though they are very helpful,
supportive and make me happy when they come, they also follow the Hindu customs
like – lighting the lamp, taking my kids to temple and accompany my neighbours
to the temple which used to put me down. I used to feel I am already battling
my life of faith and over this to add over it. I was wondering if I need to
call my mother or not, but situation was so that I had to call her and by God’s
grace she came. Even before coming to my house, she was telling she was having
some health issues in her right hand side of the face, being a numb unable to
feel or taste the food. She had gone to hospitals, she tried to remove her
teeth thinking it would be of a tooth problem but nothing worked out. She thought that she is having some big health
issue, and that with this issue she cannot live and she will be ashamed because
of this and so on…She was in the point of thought to commit suicide. Because of
the all of this her physical health deteriorated and appearance she was very
thin and weak.
When she came her, she was in this mind set
but I did not know that she had the suicidal thoughts. I normally listen to the
“Jebikalam vanga” program. When she came, I thought I will put this program for
my mother. While she was watching she was full of tears as the program looked
like it meant for her, the prayer, testimony etc. That day itself she felt much
better, then she started to share & open things with me that she could
relate the testimonies to her as she was going through the same issue.
God gave me the grace to share the truth
& spiritual things in the bible and I told her that we will pray tomorrow.
During that night (early morning), I was struggling a lot with dark forces
troubling me, literally like something is pressing on me and unable to get up. But
I believed that the One who is in me is greater
than the one in this world and it was so true, God gave me the
strength to get up and we(myself & my mother) prayed. We did not pray very
long, a short time but prayer was very powerful. After the prayer my mother
told that she feels like she is bit better like 25% and she started to have
some hope. During her stay, God gave me the grace to share about the Lord to
her and clarity her doubts, she also learnt how to pray during this time.
Before she came here, she had met many temple
priests, magicians along with the hospital, related to her problem and one of
them had asked her to come on a particular day to perform some ritual/formality
stating that someone had done something to her and it can be removed on that
day. She had just started to believe in Jesus and at the same time she also was
thinking of doing what the person in the village had said so that she can get
completely cured. She insisted on going back and went. I was a bit upset since
she only has started to believe now, and she is going back for such a thing.
While she was away, God burdened me a lot to pray for her in tears for her
soul. The person in the village had told to bring all the family members during
the ritual and my mother forced my sister as well to take part in it. My mother
did not even have money to get the things needed for ritual, yet she borrowed money
and got it arranged because she was so desperate.
I was very sorrowful of what she was doing
but the Holy Spirit comforted me saying that I should not look into the
situation/circumstances but to fix my eyes on
Him and He is able to deliver her and do might things. Whenever I
look at the situation I used to become sorrowful but the moment I look up to
Jesus, I used have great peace confirming that God is able to great things, He
is able to lift up anyone; I always used to wonder how my family who are not
educated at all will understand the truth about Jesus and during prayer I used
keep asking Jesus but Jesus during this time gave me answers for all my
questions, doubts, challenges, ignorance and lack of knowledge &
understanding. God showed me how He used Peter who was uneducated fisherman to minister
to the educated jews. God is able to meet any man, lift up any man and use
anybody. God was making me strong in this that I should not look into the
situation, but my faith should be on Him.
When circumstances & situations are favourable and good, to believe
in God is easy but when the circumstances/situations are against us, it is
difficult to believe in Jesus. In the midst of this when we believe , he gives us the strength and he gave me His gracious
strength to have faith in him fully.
I have been praying her, while my mother
was in the village doing all the rituals when no body in my family was not in
favour of it. After doing all this there was no cure to her problem, she became
disappointed, didn’t know what to do, where to go and was feeling very low for
few days. Really don’t remember how but all happened like a dream and she got
saved.
In
those days, my mother herself started on to call on the name of Jesus, she did
not know how to pray, how to read the bible. Only thing she knew was to call on
the name of Jesus, she kept on calling the name of Jesus, Jesus alone. There is
no church in our village but there was one small one beyond 2 or 3 villages
where one pastor amma used to come from Tirunelvelli. My mother some how got to know about this
(Only God has shown this to her) and she went there. The only thing I could say
is that “ The One who has called her faithful”
and Lord himself led her wonderfully from the time He held her hand and she
started to go the church regularly. She
was being transformed slowly. In my
village , in January there is temple festivals and my mother used to
participate every year in some thing or the other like “Ayiram koda, Akkni
satti etc..” but this year alone, my mother did not participate. She was being
swayed in faith here and there during this time. I was very glad that she did
not participate in the temple rituals. Later after that month, from February
she completely started to trust in God, there was lot of changes happening in
her and lot of miracles happening. My mother used to be person of ardent faith,
walking to Thiruchendur, go to lot of temples, doing lot of religious
activities and having lot of religious items at home. God started to speak to her at the same time
her healing was slowly happening. She was
beginning to realize how God when she called upon Him could heal her , when all
the other methods she tried had failed.
My mother started going to our farm and
pray to Jesus. Before she accepted the Lord, she forsook to take care of the
farm thinking that who will take care of her time and had no interest to remove
the grass to feed the cows, she lived in such a discouragement. But after she
accepted the Lord, she was encouraged and started to do her duties with
enthusiasm. Even before she got complete healed
she told me that she was experiencing great peace from the Lord, which she
never had before and was having great joy in her heart. God did not
heal her at once, the process was slowly happening and in mean time God was convicting
her of the religious items that were in the house and she started to slowly put
away the religious items (Thiruchendur garland,coin), the horoscope and other
things out of the house. The village people looking at her started to question
of her faith, but my mother so bodly answered them that
Jesus is the one who has given her life and only because of Him she is alive
today. If anyone says that they
are having any problem she told them to come to Jesus and he would solve the
problem. We used to be amazed how God was working in her life. She did not know
about baptism and in the village if someone takes baptism it would become a big
issue. I only prayed during this time and feared that foot that she has kept
forward, she should not take it back. God strengthened me and ensured that “He who has called is faithful” and the throne
is His. He is the only one who takes the responsibility to take care of my
family, I should take that responsibility and that I can do nothing only God
can do everything. I can only come to His throne and at his feet seek His
grace.
“Though we
are faithless, He is always faithful”. I never spoke to my mother
about baptism, but God himself spoke to her and created a intuition in her for taking
baptism and by the grace of God she took baptism a week before. Glory be to
God. To me, for a man however be the beginning, the end is important. God gave
me burden to pray for my grandmother’s salvation (my mom’s mom) and my
grandmother also has been saved. The lord spoke to her in vision and asked her
to come to her and he will take care of her. My grandmother has become a
believer and is growing stronger in faith, even though she does not know to
read she has kept the bible near her pillow and keeps on calling the name of
Jesus.
Please do continue to pray for other family
members, my sister family, my family and my father for their salvation.
