| The Power of God |
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People all over the world are being drawn to God as they see and experience His power in their lives. Daniel* first encountered Christ in a prison in Burkina Faso. While he was in prison, Protestant pastors, Catholic priests, and Muslim religious leaders came to help the prisoners and to tell them about their different religions. Daniel chose to worship with the Protestants, and attended prayer meetings on Fridays and church services on Sundays.
One day, at the end of a church service, a female prisoner asked for prayer for herself because she was at the end of her rope and desperately wanted to be freed. They prayed for her in Jesus’ name, and the very next day this girl was let out of prison! The next Sunday, another young prisoner asked for prayer for himself so that he too might be set free. The next day, he was liberated. This demonstration of God’s power prompted Daniel to ask for prayer for himself and for another man. Two more men also joined them in making a request for liberty. Just as it had been for the others, these four men were freed the following day! When Daniel returned to his home village of Silorola, he expected to find other Protestant believers to meet with. Unfortunately there were not any Christians in his village, so Daniel waited. Three years later, Phil Bergen, an MBMSI church planting missionary, and Maliki, a Bible translator, came to Daniel’s village to teach about Jesus. Silorola is also Maliki’s home village and God had laid a burden on Maliki’s heart for the past few years to share his faith with his family and others in Silorola. Daniel listened for two weeks as Phil and Maliki shared the message of Jesus Christ each evening with many people in the village. At the end of their teaching, Daniel stepped forward and declared that he had decided to follow Christ. Daniel had been waiting for the past three years for some Protestants to come so that he could join them. He announced that he had already seen the power of God in Jesus in his life and this was the reason that he wanted to follow Jesus! God’s power is evident in the story of Christ being raised from the dead, and we can see His power again in raising Daniel to new life in Jesus. Praise God that Daniel is now part of His family and that he has experienced the power of God to cleanse him of all his sins. Daniel is no longer dead in his sin; he has found love and forgiveness in Christ. Pray that Daniel will be empowered by God to witness to those around him about the grace of Jesus. "For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." - 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 *Names are changed |