These beautiful testimonies show the transforming power of God’s love, even in the most dire circumstances.
For three years certain members of the Sozo team have been going to Rwanda. April is the month that, as a nation, they are traumatized by remembering what happened to them in the genocide. They are doing Shabar/TLC (tender loving care/transitioning lives in community) ministry to the people. They love them and break through where they can.
One person whom God has used repeatedly there is Debbie. She just went back this month and brought her 16-year-old daughter because she was having visions and dreams of what had happened to the people. Her daughter told the youth what she had seen and that she was so sorry. She cried, and the youth cried with her. She and they comforted each other. She was able to break through in a way that the rest could not.
Debbie also brought her 14-year-old daughter, too, who has a heart for Africa. She had had a vision of Rwanda and had seen it as the heart of Africa and that it had been broken but that God would heal it and restore its destiny. She shared what she had seen with the people. A man said he had seen a similar vision. The first time the team went, they had ministered to him. The second time they went, he was full of anger. He drew a graphic picture of a river filled with blood. He asked them how they could talk about God who had allowed that to happen. Debbie explained that if anyone said to them that they knew God but did not know love, they did not know God. This time, he was so soft and filled with God. He was having dreams and visions.
Another man had been thrown in a pit at 8 years old and buried alive, and a dog had rescued him. The last time they saw him, he didn’t think God rescued him and didn’t believe in God. This time he said, “God rescued me through a dog. He chose a dog because he couldn’t trust men to do it.” It was a huge breakthrough.
A woman was ten years old during the genocide. She was kept alive only to be raped and was raped repeatedly for years. One soldier came back constantly and she bore him two children. Every time she would have a memory of that time, she would go into a coma for eight months to a year. She became a sex worker. She was confused and thought she was in love with that soldier. The first time Debbie was there, she told her that that was not love. The next time they came she said she had told the soldier that was not love and she had gotten rid of him. This time, she told Debbie she’s no longer a sex worker. She has a full- time job, and she is doing well.
Another former sex worker gave her heart to the Lord the first time they came. The second time they came she had not broken out of sex work yet. This time she said, “I’m not a sex worker now, but sometimes I don’t have food. So I get on my knees and pray to God that I will have food.” She was not bitter; she was trusting God.
Here’s a beautiful demonstration of forgiveness: A boy has only one arm. He was four when the genocide hit, and they killed his family and cut off his arm. Asked what he needed, he said, “I really need an arm. You know, you need two arms for some things. But why I really need an arm is so the enemy won’t look at me and be sad for what they have done.”
First published on the website of Bethel Church, Redding, CA.
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