A spiritual seed sown years ago!

 

In the late 1990’s Roger & I were invited to speak in a church in Brantford, Ontario. The pastor wanted us to speak to his congregation about Tender Loving Care Children Ministries and the work we were doing with children in Tijuana, Mexico. He had recently taken a group from his church to Tijuana on a mission trip. We spoke during a Sunday morning service while a slide show presentation was being showed to the people. The pastor prayed for us, and we received a generous offering. After the service we had a display table in the hallway with more pictures and our ministry pamphlets. The church had organized a pot blessing meal, so we got to meet many people. The entire day was very pleasant and encouraging to both of us. This church also financially supported us for several years. Now, let us move forward to 2023. In May, I attended a conference in Cambridge, Ontario with Anchor Ministerial Fellowship. It was a great conference and I really felt encouraged and blessed by everyone. During the day sessions, I had the privilege to sit with two very nice ladies from Chatham, Ontario. On Friday evening, I made my way to the table where these two ladies were sitting. Already sitting at the same table was another nice lady. I noticed that she looked at me several times during the session. When it came time for a coffee break she asked me if years ago, I had ever spoken in a church in Brantford with my husband. I answered yes. Then, she proceeded to tell me that she remembered us speaking about Mexico, the poverty, the kids and what we were doing to feed the kids and teach them about Jesus. She also mentioned that her 14 years old daughter also was in attendance. As per her mom, this young girl listened to everything we said and then came to our display table and looked at all our pictures. Once back home, she told her mom she wanted to go on a mission trip. After a a few years she had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Haiti. Apparently, she came home completely changed and told her mom that she wanted to be a missionary. I’m not sure how many years passed before she finally returned to Haiti as a missionary. To this day she is still there. She eventually married a Haitian man, and they have two children. Together, they work with Campus Crusade for Christ. I was very excited to hear this testimony. I thank her mom for sharing this with me. Her answer was: “Well Denise, you & Roger answered the call of God on your lives and by sharing your testimony on that Sunday morning a long time ago, you touched my daughter’s heart. Today she is a missionary because you deposited a seed in her heart and that seed changed her life forever. Thank you.”  Once back in my hotel room I kept remembering what this lady had shared with me. As I put my head on my pillow, I cried tears of joy for permitting our testimony to change this young girl’s life. It is so important for all of us to share the Lord with people. Our example or testimony can be a life changing experience for someone. Our testimony is a seed and God uses that seed even if we never know who’s heart it has touched. 

My conclusion is: Be yourself, be genuine & sincere and let the Lord use your life as a seed in someone else’s life. I am so excited that on that Sunday morning a long time ago when Roger & I shared in that church in Brantford, a spiritual seed was sown in this young teenager’s heart and life. Now years later that seed has blossomed into a beautiful testimony. Glory to God who uses all of us as seed sowers for His Kingdom.

Denise

No names mentioned to respect the privacy of the persons involved.