“For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God.”
-Isaiah 54: 5-6
We all have The One. The One person who will forever be etched into our minds, our hearts, our souls, and our memories.
The One person we will never forget.
For me, this person came into my life on a day that I least expected it. It was a day that dawned on only two hours of sleep, and a tent bottom soaked in water from a monsoon-like rainstorm that happened the night before. A day of three minibuses (Malawian taxis that you can fit 24 people inside of at a time), and arriving at our door-to-door ministry about 3 hours late.
I was tired, hungry, hot, and all-together not feeling like doing ministry at all.
As two members of my team, our Pastor, and I stepped up to the first house that we saw in the village, the first thing I noticed was the incredibly beautiful woman sitting on her front porch, peeling potatoes. When we approached, I watched as her face lit up, and she immediately welcomed us into her home. The inside of her home was small, but plastered on her walls were posters with different Bible verses and religious paintings.
We all sat down, and began to ask her questions about herself. She told us that her name is Dorika, and yes, she is a Christian. She has been a Christian since 1997 (yes, that is the year that I was born), and throughout her whole life she has been leaning on the Lord for her strength.
So, I decided to tell Dorika a little bit about my own story and how I became a Christian, and to encourage her with my story. I told her what it was like to have parents that are divorced, and how I spent a portion of my life living in the darkness of this world, and in a deep sadness. I shared with her how Jesus has brought me out of the darkness, and into His life and His marvelous light. As I finished telling the simplified version of my testimony, I watched as Dorika began to speak passionately to our Pastor in Chichewa, stopping a couple times to choke on her tears.
The Pastor explained that my story had impacted her greatly because her and her husband were separated, just like my parents were. She told us that she has been separated from her husband for many years; for five years, he supplied child support for their children. But about a month or two ago, he stopped paying the child support money to her for no reason.
Because of this, Dorika has been forced to start up another business (selling fried potatoes), as well as the other business that she has (selling timber in the village market). Dorika explained about how worried she has been about finances, and she told us that she didn’t know how she was going to pay her rent. She didn’t even know how she was going to feed her children the next day.
I looked around the room, and could tell that each and every person sitting there was deeply affected by her story. I, for one, was holding back tears, and I know that my other teammates were as well. My teammate Meagan felt led to share more verses of encouragement to Dorika, these ones coming from Isaiah 54: 5-8: “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you.”
When the Pastor translated these impactful, God-given verses, we all watched as Dorika completely broke down into sobs. I was crying from the weight of the verses. Meagan was crying beside me as she explained to Dorika that the Lord is with her, and that just because her husband has left her, God will not. God will provide for her and her children, and He will have compassion over her family.
I could feel the overwhelming atmosphere of love that the Lord was raining down on that house, and on Dorika and her family. The Holy Spirit was alive and moving in the room, and we all gathered around Dorika to pray over her. She was kneeling on the ground, with her hands in the air, already receiving the blessings upon blessings that the Lord was raining down upon her. “Zikomo Yesu. Zikomo Yesu. Zikomo Yesu,” she repeated over and over again, shouting “Thank you, Jesus, Thank you, Jesus.”
Throughout the entire prayer, I kept hearing the Lord speaking “My rain is coming to drench them in love, my Glory is going to rush in like a flood,” over the household. I looked around the room, and could see the physical manifestations of God’s angels of protection placed in each corner of the room. I knew then and there that Dorika and her family were going to thrive in this Earthly life. Jesus was going to bless them so richly. When I opened my mouth to add to the prayer, and reiterate to Dorika all that the Lord had told me, her cries and sobs got louder. Over and over, all that she said was “Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus.”
Dorika finished the prayer by passionately praying over us, and thanking us profusely for coming to speak words of encouragement and blessing over her.
But I think that it was us who were more impacted by what happened in that little house. I have never felt the Holy Spirit moving in such a clear and powerful way like that before. The love that comes straight from our Father was almost oppressive in its intensity, and I could almost physically feel the blessings that the Lord was raining down upon Dorika’s family.
It was the humble thankfulness from Dorika that affected me the most. Throughout all the trials and tribulations of her life, she never stopped thanking Jesus for all that she had. She humbled herself, sank to her knees, and shouted her thanks to the Lord. I wonder what it would be like if we all bent to our knees in praise, worship, and thanks to our Lord.
Dorika is a woman whose face I will never forget, and whose story will stick with me all the days of my life. She is an example to me of what true, honest thankfulness is. She is a woman who knows who the Lord is, and she is not afraid to let herself sink to the ground, because she knows that He will pick her back up again.
For the Lord is her husband, and He will never let her down.
