Maya Rededicates Life to Serving Jesus
God began His work in Maya’s life when she was a young girl living in fear for her very sick mother. Maya’s testimony below recounts how she strayed from God after her mother’s healing, but was once again reminded of the goodness of God as a young adult.
“My brother, sister and I grew up in a family that worshipped the gods of our culture. Our father worked as a carpenter while my mother took care of the home. My father earned a good income, but he had a bad drinking habit which consumed much of our money.
Suffering from alcoholism, my father didn’t care much about our family. He’d often come home drunk yelling and beating us – my mother, too – keeping us from getting a good night’s sleep. His tirades woke up the neighbors who would finally resort to calling the police. Even counseling was useless as my father did not change.
I never thought I’d grow up to become a Christ-follower since I was taught to dislike Christians. We avoided those who followed Jesus… that is, until my mother became very sick. One day she had severe pain in both legs, with swelling that made it difficult to walk. Since we didn’t have money for good medical care, we called on our gods, but her pain only worsened.
One day as I was standing outside my house, a Christian friend spoke to me and asked me to pray to Jesus for my mother. At that point my mother was bedridden, so several of the church leaders came to our house and prayed over her. I expected them to ask for money, but it was just the opposite. Their sympathy and humbleness touched my heart.
They continued to come and pray for my mother, and miraculously, after one week, we started to see changes in her legs! The swelling went down, and she slowly began to move. After her healing, everyone in my family, except my father, received Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Then as I grew older, I forgot the goodness of God and picked up my own bad habits of smoking and taking drugs. I stopped attending church services, too. I remember when I was desperate to buy drugs and asked my mother for money. It was then that she reminded me of the miracle Jesus performed in healing her and the goodness of God.
This caused me to go to my room and reflect on my life and family. I prayed to God and He spoke to me. The Holy Spirit showed me my mistakes and I decided to rededicate my life to serving Jesus!”
Isn’t it comforting to know that even if we drift from God’s loving arms, He draws us back to Himself. Maya’s life encourages us and demonstrates God’s patience with us as He molds us to fulfill His purpose for our lives. Please pray for Maya as she works with the youth in her church and shares the Gospel with others.