Wow, so Tuesday morning we went out to ministry in the squatter camps here in the Johannesburg area of South Africa and I partnered with Hannah, Chloe, and one of the Impact Africa interns named Stephen!
Throughout the morning we talked to a man who was a Christian and were able to encourage him in his faith and pray for him. We then continued to meet another lady and I proceeded to distract her puppy (a 14 month old golden lab) while Hannah and Chloe helped her hand wash clothing and share the Gospel with her! After hearing Hannah share the Gospel, she decided that she wanted to accept Christ into her heart and to learn more about Him! So we were able to lead her through a prayer of salvation and then even gave her a copy of the book of John that Stephen had in his backpack!
Now, the next house is where things got a little interesting.
You see, on Sunday God had told me to do something but I had gotten scared and ended up freezing and let the opportunity pass. So, while processing what happened with the Lord, He told me that He was going to be bringing up another opportunity for me to listen and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit – and He said that the opportunity was going to come pretty quickly.
So, we walk to another house and met a wonderful lady who was so filled with joy it was radiating from her from the moment that we first saw her. Instantly, she welcomed us into her home and got seats out for all four of us to sit in and then we began to get to know her some. We learned about her, her children, her family, where she came from, and what she is doing. We then talked about church and how she used to go to a Methodist church in her home town and that she would do bible studies with the Jehovah’s Witnesses when they came to the camps. We then asked her if she had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and she said, “no, how is that even possible?” So then we all proceeded to share with her collectively the Gospel and how God wants a personal relationship with us. She decided then and there that she wanted that – she knew about Christianity as the religion, but she finally wanted the true relationship with Jesus; a peace and loving relationship that she has always dreamed of but didn’t know how to obtain. So Chloe then led her through a prayer of salvation!
Y’all, God is so good! We gained two new sisters that morning!
But this is where the Holy Spirit’s prompting came in. He told me to tell this lady about baptism – I thought He was absolutely crazy; umm… hello, we don’t have anywhere we could baptize her. And He told me to trust Him and tell her anyway. So I shared with her 1 Peter 3:21-22, which I felt the Lord prompting me to share. I then asked her the question that He laid on my heart, “Do you want to get baptized?” And she said yes! We then explained to her that baptism is an outward expression of the commitment to Christ that she just made and so it is a way of publicly declaring her faith, love, and relationship. At this point I was like, “Okay God… how are we going to do this?” And He simply said, “You have a water bottle in your bag. Use it.” So that is what we did!
I pulled out my water bottle. We all stepped outside. And right then and there, I baptized her publicly with my water bottle as a symbol of her newfound relationship with Christ! It was incredible! She was in tears, and I was crying. I hadn’t felt the presence of the Holy Spirit that strong in a very long time. This is a moment that I won’t soon forget.
God does incredible things when we decide to take a step of faith and listen to His promptings.
P.S. I’m still fundraising and my Adopt-A-Box is still running! Currently I have 4 boxes adopted and have 68 more that are waiting to be adopted! Please prayerfully continue to consider supporting me and my mission as we are sharing the love of God to the people of Africa! He is here and He is moving. It is so evident that God has a heart for ALL people and I am honored to follow His call and be a part of the hands and feed of Christ!
Thanks for reading and for the continued prayers and support!
You can read this story, how God led me to lead a Passport trip, and many more at my World Race blog, bethanygrayczyk.theworldrace.org.
With much love and prayers,
Bethany Grayczyk, co-leader Africa Experience
