Testimony by Brother Jesse Nzima
Last evening we had our devotionals as usual with our mother at the farm together with the domestic worker she stays with who has a grand son.
We started our programme with our usual activity of letting each select a song of choice from our Chewa hymn books coupled with regular common choruses we sing.
Half way in our devotional, one unusual thing happened: we got lost in the praise and worship and saw ourselves pour out our hearts to God in prayer like never before. The prayers continued and so did the songs and we did not mind how late it was.
The presence of the Lord indeed came down. We felt it in our hearts. We then went to sleep and in the morning we could still feel the revival of last night.
Around 5am this morning we heard a persistent and strange knock on our door, the person knocking kept on calling to us, “Knock, knock pastor, knock, knock pastor”. The man continued for some time and then stopped. I kept turning and protesting on my bed and muttering to myself that it was to early to have visitors. I then hoped Brother Luckson would get to the door quickly and attend to the strange visitor but a few moments passed and it was still quiet I suspected he was having the similar battle I was having. Finally he reached for the door and opened four bespoke visitor. He quietly spoke with the visitor and came back to call me so that we could attend to his need. I knew the man had something serious to discuss with us.
The man came in. A quiet and humble man without shoes on his feet. “I’m a brother in law to Festone Banda ( the brother who got saved and fellowships with us). I have a problem and I have come asking for you to pray with me.
I wondered to myself as to what the problem might be. I then decided to call Brother Festone to find out if there was any problem. Bro Festone in response explained that he was not aware of his brother in law’s visit and did not know of any serious problems the man could have. I realized that there was clearly no problem.
The man explained that he came over because he wanted to give his life to God. He said that he wanted to change his ways. He also narrated how he has been troubled by nightmares.
After a background check we realized that this man has been inspired by the life of Brother Festone and has seen that the Lord has done a great work in him and hence a desire in him to have the same in his life.
We took the man to our little church shelter and expounded scriptures to him . We pointed out why it was important for human beings to have Christ in their lives. We told him that a decision to follow Christ was a matter of life and death and that he needed to count the cost before making this crucial choice. We emphasized on the need for him to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. He accepted everything we told him from the scripture and agreed that he was ready to enter the water. He has accepted the Lord Jesus as his savior. On Sunday he will be going in the water. We have told him to attend our Bible study tomorrow and the prayer meeting on Friday.
After the man left a thought came to me, reminding me that every time we have this rival-like prayers, The Lord usually sends a sheep in need of shelter from somewhere. Then immediately, as if reading my mind, Brother Luckson mentioned the same thing; “Brother”, he said, “Have you noticed that every time we have a powerful time of prayer, like the one we had last night, it means the Lord is preparing us for someone in need? This is what God did the time we met Sister Rachael”. I quickly responded and told him that that was exactly what was in my mind.
We praise the Lord for his mercies, and surely he speaks in ways we cannot comprehend.