Answered Prayers, Changed Lives (Hannah's Heartbeat Newsletter)
In a Western Kenya village, 10-12 women comprising a Project Hannah prayer group gather on Tuesday afternoons for two to three hours. These women have endured unthinkable suffering at the hands of horrible husbands, and the leader is no exception. Her husband would come home drunk and sick every evening. She had to wash people’s clothes just to put food on the table because he would drink away every penny he earned. Staggering home, he yelled at her and then beat her and their children. “I would yell back,” she says, “and sometimes I would take advantage of the fact he was so drunk and just push him out of my way.”
But as this small Project Hannah group continued studying the Bible and praying through the monthly prayer calendar, they decided to pray their husbands back to them! They fasted before the Lord about this and were convicted that even their own behavior toward their husbands needed to change.
The leader decided she would call her husband “Bishop” and that she and her children would treat him like a Bishop. She did not yell back at him any longer. Instead, every day when it was time for him to come home, she would prepare dinner and also a basin of water. She would wash his dirty feet and clean him up before dinner. At first, he didn’t even notice the difference. But, little by little he stopped yelling, calling her names and beating her. All the while, she continued to pray and ask God for courage and love for her husband. After several weeks and much prayer, another miracle happened: her husband stopped drinking!
He asked her why she was calling him Bishop. She said, “Because the Bible says that you are the head of this family. I know that someday God will make you like a bishop—a man of God.” And today, her husband is a Christian and an elder in their church! She testifies, “God answers prayer and prayer changes things and people!”
Cultures and circumstances can isolate, but Project Hannah’s prayer movement and Women of Hope audio programs create caring communities for brokenhearted women. Whether connecting face-to-face or corresponding with the sweet voices on the radio, hurting women find comfort in communion with God and fellowship with the body of Christ. Thank you for connecting with these women you may never meet as you carry their burdens to God in prayer.