Miriam’s village was ransacked by rebels and her husband was killed. She was captured by the militia and brought to their camp along with many other women. Every day, soldiers would line up the women and kill them one by one with a machete. When it was Miriam’s day to be killed, she was 37th in line. She began to pray out loud to God as passionately as she could.
When the soldiers noticed her and walked toward her, “Stop praying to this foreign God or we will kill you first,” they said.Miriam continued to pray, so soldiers came back to threaten her again,
“This is not a foreign God, he is my God and he is more powerful than any of your gods,” said Miriam.
One soldier immediately grabbed her and took her to their commander “We will surely kill you,” he said.
Little did the soldier know that the commander’s mother and father were Christians, so when Miriam was brought before the commander, he had compassion on her.
“If you truly know God, than prepare a message for us from the bible tomorrow, if the message does not apply to our situation. . . We will kill you,” the commander said.
So that night, Miriam prayed bitterly to God and went through the small bible she had (her only possession). And she prepared a message. When she went before the militia the next day, she read the verses about the judgment to come for those who shed blood on the innocent.
“You have shed innocent blood to prove your cause, and God will judge you for that and you will not enter the kingdom of God,” she said.
When the commander heard her message, told her to pray with them and she was free to leave the camp to preach the Gospel.
Since then, Miriam has gone into the mountains ministering to pigmies and orphans, creating opportunities for them and trying to find clothing for them (Pigmies do not wear clothes). . .
One of our translators introduced us to Miriam last week and we spent most of the day with her. People from all over the city know who she is, they call her “Mamma Pigmy” which is the mother of pigmies and she has been granted favor from the government. As a matter of fact, three years ago she was gifted with a large piece of land just outside of Goma.
She brought us to the land and gave us a very generous proposal for it. The land is at least 1 kilometer squared in a small village about 17 km from the city of Goma. It’s at the bottom of Mount Nyiragongo, (the volcano). It possesses many specific traits Andrew and I have been praying for… When Andrew and I saw the land, something inside of our bellies leapt for joy. But we have been very careful and reserved about it. We scheduled a meeting with the headman of the village and will schedule a meeting with the governor of that area (In Africa, you really have to know the right people before even thinking of doing something like this). We saw the paperwork for the land (the land was so large it required three different documents) that were all certified and sealed by the DRC government.
We don’t know Miriam very well and it’s very tempting to just right up a few contracts and start going through the process to build on this land, but we are going to wait. We need to get to know this lady better and we need to give this relationship time. We are scheduling for her to meet the pastors we work with (and trust). For the next week we will be going out to the mountains and ministering to with her to the pigmies. This is VERY rural ground where people don’t wear clothes and live as Africans did BEFORE the colonial period. We have several prayer requests. . .
1. Pray for ME (Amethyst), I have been having a hard time climbing the mountains since we’ve been here… And this trip is going to be VERY hard on me. Pray that I don’t pass out (seriously).
2. Pray that we’ll be safe. Pigmies aren’t very violent people, but they are SUPER primitive and can do just about anything. We are going to be one of the first (or maybe even the first) white missionaries they see. Pray that we don’t get mugged or anything.
3. Pray about this land. We REALLY need God to completely shut this door if it isn’t from Him. Pray that God will be done and that we would not be hasty or anxious for anything.
4. Pray for our relationship with this lady, Miriam. We like her, but we don’t know her well enough. Andrew and I know too much about Africa to jump into this quickly. So, we’re going to wait and give this relationship the TEST OF TIME. Pray that we have wisdom, discernment and that God will guide us and guide her.
When the soldiers noticed her and walked toward her, “Stop praying to this foreign God or we will kill you first,” they said.Miriam continued to pray, so soldiers came back to threaten her again,
“This is not a foreign God, he is my God and he is more powerful than any of your gods,” said Miriam.
One soldier immediately grabbed her and took her to their commander “We will surely kill you,” he said.
Little did the soldier know that the commander’s mother and father were Christians, so when Miriam was brought before the commander, he had compassion on her.
“If you truly know God, than prepare a message for us from the bible tomorrow, if the message does not apply to our situation. . . We will kill you,” the commander said.
So that night, Miriam prayed bitterly to God and went through the small bible she had (her only possession). And she prepared a message. When she went before the militia the next day, she read the verses about the judgment to come for those who shed blood on the innocent.
“You have shed innocent blood to prove your cause, and God will judge you for that and you will not enter the kingdom of God,” she said.
When the commander heard her message, told her to pray with them and she was free to leave the camp to preach the Gospel.
Since then, Miriam has gone into the mountains ministering to pigmies and orphans, creating opportunities for them and trying to find clothing for them (Pigmies do not wear clothes). . .
One of our translators introduced us to Miriam last week and we spent most of the day with her. People from all over the city know who she is, they call her “Mamma Pigmy” which is the mother of pigmies and she has been granted favor from the government. As a matter of fact, three years ago she was gifted with a large piece of land just outside of Goma.
She brought us to the land and gave us a very generous proposal for it. The land is at least 1 kilometer squared in a small village about 17 km from the city of Goma. It’s at the bottom of Mount Nyiragongo, (the volcano). It possesses many specific traits Andrew and I have been praying for… When Andrew and I saw the land, something inside of our bellies leapt for joy. But we have been very careful and reserved about it. We scheduled a meeting with the headman of the village and will schedule a meeting with the governor of that area (In Africa, you really have to know the right people before even thinking of doing something like this). We saw the paperwork for the land (the land was so large it required three different documents) that were all certified and sealed by the DRC government.
We don’t know Miriam very well and it’s very tempting to just right up a few contracts and start going through the process to build on this land, but we are going to wait. We need to get to know this lady better and we need to give this relationship time. We are scheduling for her to meet the pastors we work with (and trust). For the next week we will be going out to the mountains and ministering to with her to the pigmies. This is VERY rural ground where people don’t wear clothes and live as Africans did BEFORE the colonial period. We have several prayer requests. . .
1. Pray for ME (Amethyst), I have been having a hard time climbing the mountains since we’ve been here… And this trip is going to be VERY hard on me. Pray that I don’t pass out (seriously).
2. Pray that we’ll be safe. Pigmies aren’t very violent people, but they are SUPER primitive and can do just about anything. We are going to be one of the first (or maybe even the first) white missionaries they see. Pray that we don’t get mugged or anything.
3. Pray about this land. We REALLY need God to completely shut this door if it isn’t from Him. Pray that God will be done and that we would not be hasty or anxious for anything.
4. Pray for our relationship with this lady, Miriam. We like her, but we don’t know her well enough. Andrew and I know too much about Africa to jump into this quickly. So, we’re going to wait and give this relationship the TEST OF TIME. Pray that we have wisdom, discernment and that God will guide us and guide her.
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