Set Free From Doom (Founder Marli Spieker's Column, Hannah's Heartbeat Newsletter)
In the hot Kenyan sun, she walked nine hours with a baby on her back.
She looked desperate! Two days earlier, during a Project Hannah Listener’s Conference, she heard Isaiah 40:31, “Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles . . . .”
With tears streaming down her face, she said, “I’ve been listening to Women of Hope programs and I heard the message at the conference. I know I should trust God and not despair, but what can I do? A knife is cutting my heart in pieces. I am doomed.” Eunice, a Swahili producer, asked, “Doomed? But, why?” Slowly she told us her story: “My husband left a year ago to work in the mines far away. I’ve never heard from him; I have no idea where he is. He left me alone to raise our five children. My oldest son is supposed to register for the national primary education examination this week, but I can’t pay the school fees. The money I get washing clothes is just enough to put some food on the table. When I don’t get a job, I can’t fall asleep imagining my husband going to bed well-fed, while the kids go hungry. Then I think, ‘What if he is dead?’ I feel sad and sometimes angry. Sometimes I want to kill myself and end it all. I heard your message over the radio, and I came because I need to be set free from this doom.”
I read Isaiah 49:15-16 to her: “Can a woman forget her nursing child and the fruit of her womb? Even though they may forget, I will never forget you. I have inscribed your name in the palm of my hands. . . .” After we talked, she understood that Jesus sees her situation and never forgets her. I heard her pray, leaving her bitterness and despair at Jesus’ feet. I watched his power set her free! Miraculously, her tears were exchanged for a shy smile by the time she got ready to leave.
She said, “I want my friends to have what I have now. Please come to my village to help me tell them about God and the power of prayer!” Eunice and Agnes, another producer, go up the mountain to her village weekly now, and they have a Project Hannah prayer group that has been steadily growing ever since!
In a forgotten Kenyan village, a woman Jesus set free from doom was redefined as a woman of HOPE. She is now an evangelist! Her situation didn’t change. She did, all because Christians far away support the work of two Kenyan women traveling miles in the hot African sun and thousands of Project Hannah intercessors sustain this ministry through their work of prayer. All over the world, God is transforming women just like Valentine and involving Christians as they pray and give. Amazing!
Read the full Hannah’s Heartbeat newsletter and email the PDF to friends so they too can join Project Hannah in sharing God’s life-changing love with suffering women around the world (select "Download the PDF" for the current October 2011 issue; archives of past issues are also available).