Heaven is rejoicing today.
Today as we were walking through the Squatter Camps, God led me to a man named Lucas.
I sat down to talk to Lucas a little bit about his life. He spoke English very well and was open to having us outside his home. Lucas lives in Video – a Squatter Camp here on the outskirts of Johannesburg. This is the first time Impact Africa has entered this community, meaning most of the people in this community have never heard the truths about the Gospel. There are no churches in this area. Witchcraft and other beliefs are prominent. Lucas began to tell me that he believes there is a God, but has never seen God, so he doesn’t know who God really is. When he prays, he prays to his ancestors.
A big thing in South African culture is that many people believe in and pray to their ancestors. They believe their ancestors can protect them, save them, hear them, etc. But we find in Ecclesiastes 9:4-6, 1 Corinthians 8:4, Matthew 6:24, and elsewhere in scripture that this isn’t God’s truth for us.
I got to share scripture with Lucas and share with him that God wants us to pray directly to Him, and God hears us and speaks to us. He was very receptive to the word of God, and I could see in his responses that he was genuinely eager to hear more. I explained more about the Bible and the Truths of God to him, and he only wanted more. After sitting with Lucas for a while, reading and talking with him – he began to understand more and more. He went from putting his faith in ancestors, to believing that ancestors are not his gods anymore. He then told me that he wanted to have a personal relationship with Jesus. So God used me to pray with Lucas and accept a life of following Jesus. I know Heaven is rejoicing today.
Lucas now sees God in the creation around him. He sees God in the sunset. He sees God in his beautiful family. He hears God in his prayers. Joy radiates in Lucas’ face and it’s the most beautiful sight to see the joy of the Lord come upon His children.
The rest of the day was just as powerful.
We met a woman and her small baby sitting outside a small shop. We began to talk with her and slowly the Gospel came into the conversation. She began to shake her head and express how much she “did not want to hear about this Jesus.” And her friends laughed and mocked Jesus with her. We asked her why and she said He only provides for Americans. Africa is only full of poverty. We explained to her that there is poverty all over the world, even in America. She didn’t know this and was very shocked at hearing such a thing. We laid out the Gospel for her and the wheels began to turn in her head. Her facial expression changed. She wanted to know more. She began to call on the name of Jesus, saying that she needs Him, while her friends laughed at her. But she began to ignore them. She began to repeat over and over “I need Jesus. I need Jesus more than ever.” Long after the conversation was over and we walked away, we could hear her shouting “I need Jesus more than ever.” What a beautiful sound.
By the end of the day, 8 people came to Christ.
My favorite thing about this ministry is that we aren’t here to fix people’s issues or solve their problems, we are here to introduce them to the One who can.
