From our travel blog posted last week by Brooks (go to www.appleseedtravel.com)
Nearing the end of our time in Tanzania doing trainings, one woman who had been silent for three days suddenly stood. She spoke clearly, confidently, securely in her message of conviction and hope to those around her. Esther was her name. She announced that because of what her husband had been taught he came to her repenting and apologizing with true humility. By profession he was "a man of God" and very important (in his own eyes) … so important that he left his family to fend for themselves while he abandoned them to do "God's work." The wife and the children did not have money; they did not have food. He would go out in the name of ministry, take tea in a hotel with white people or other men, while the family is only suffering. He would travel to faraway places under the guise of preaching "God's Word," while abandoning all responsibilities at home.
Now, he was coming to her requesting forgiveness, saying without practicing true Christianity at home, loving God with all his heart and loving others as himself, how could he preach Christianity anywhere else. He knew it was a system he was in that was keeping his family down and trapped in the poverty they were suffering in.
Esther continued by testifying that now their home is a place of peace. She has a husband who is present and contributing. The children have a father who is providing and protecting. With tremendous conviction and courage, she vehemently challenged the men present, "Many pastors and men are abandoning their families. Please, I am here to testify there is another way and it begins in your own heart and it begins in your own home.
Today there is so much joy in our household … We are happy and we are sharing something that is real and full of hope … and our family is prospering.
Today, Samuel is practicing real Christianity at home and out of that he is also attracting husbands who are seeing marriage and family as a joy, not a burden. Loving his wife and children enough to be present is lifting them to a place of importance and value. Worshipping and loving God together, as a family, is attracting others. Husbands and wives want to know this Peace. Conviction comes and change happens … sometimes quickly, sometimes polle polle (slowly), but it is happening!
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