For People Like Martha

Last Saturday, Mom and I and a lady in our church made a very meaningful visit. We went to visit Martha, our dear (nearly) 80-year-old friend who was saved in 2012 at our Annual Christmas Banquet. The following year, she was diagnosed with cancer, and began receiving treatments. (You can read another post about Martha here.)

When we went to her house on Saturday, we were so pleased to see Martha looking so well!  Her beautiful hair was fixed so nicely; she was dressed very elegantly, and she seemed so full of energy.  She busied herself in the kitchen, and served us coffee and pastries.

As she told us about the experiences she has lived concerning her treatments and with the doctors, there was one main message that she conveyed: God is my Healer, and I trust in Him for my life.  Her sweet attitude and positive spirit were so refreshing!

I couldn't help but thank God for this sweet old lady, who lived so many years without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. She married, raised children, and lived her whole life with no understanding of what God did for her, and of  His desire to save her.  Yet, God brought this dear lady to a banquet where she heard the Gospel preached, and she accepted Christ as her Saviour.  Now, she is being a testimony for her Lord.  She testifies to her doctors that it is God Who is working in her.

Martha is the lady in the lime green, standing next to her sister, Beatriz, on her right.

Martha and Beatriz are daughters of a former mayor of our city, who served in the 1940s.

As we prepare for the upcoming banquet, to be held on November 21, I thank the Lord for allowing me to be a part of this ministry.  We have had hard struggles and deep heartache this year as the devil has fought his hardest to destroy this ministry.  But I think of what Gamaliel said in Acts, concerning the work of Peter and of the apostles:  "And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God."

So, with our eyes on Jesus, and in hope of the blessing of God upon this ministry, we look forward to seeing just what God will do for us and through us.  If just one more Martha would be saved, it will have been worth it all.

And with this prayer on my lips, I press toward the mark:  "And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it."  Psalms 90:17

Would you please be praying for us as we work hard the following four weeks toward the banquet? (If you want a specific prayer list, please get in touch with me, and I will be happy to provide that for you.)