The Trust that brings God’s Glory

The Trust that brings God’s Glory

    

   Denise, one of our students at Christ for the Nations, understands what it means to fully trust God, being at the brink of life or death.   Denise is one of 21 children in her family, from a small community five hours Northwest of Medellin, Colombia.  To the left is her picture with her brother Joaquin who ministers with her to the Embera Chami tribe in Colombia.

In her community,education is not a necessity.  Most people have not gone to school and do not see the importance of it. At 10 years of age, she decided that she wanted to go to school and learn, but she had to work at this tender age in order to pay for her studies, which she did. After learning, she later taught her younger brothers and sisters how to read and write.

Raised in a small, traditional, Christian Church in the community, the pastors did not believe in formal education.  They believed in learning to hear God and to be led by the Spirit, which Denise learned as well, and started ministering with the church.

When a couple wanted to reach out to the Embera Chami, an indigenous tribe two hours away, Denise volunteered to go with them.  Known for being seclusive and a very mystical tribe they ran into many obstacles.  The witch doctors of the tribe, “Los Jaibanas,” would put curses on them; strange people would bring them gifts or food.  The couple with Denise would not receive the gifts or food from the strange people, which caused them to be rejected by the indigenous group.  Denise came from a praying family.  She knew her mother was interceding for her so she accepted the gifts.  She ate food that was probably laced with poison and trusted God to keep her safe.  Her brother started to go with her but after he got malaria 5 times, he said he would not return.  Denise could not stop going back.  Even after getting malaria 8 times, she continued to return! 

Below is a picture of the Embera Chami Children's ministry.  The Embera Chami are on the Joshua Project list as an unreached people group in Colombia.  See www.joshuaproject.net 

Denise told me about a time when she went to the community and was feeling very sick.  She called her brother to come from Segovia to pick her up.  He was 1 ½ hours away on motorcycle.  He said he would come when he finished what he was doing. Then, she got much worse quickly.  She had been infected with cranial Malaria.  Her condition was grave.  She could not move and then she started convulsing.   One of her neighbors came to the house where she was, to check on her and found her nearly unconscious.  The neighboring woman was one of Denise’s disciples. She quickly called her brother to come right away to pick her up and she began to pray and intercede for Denise.  Then Denise regained consciousness and also began to pray.  Her brother finally arrived and took her back to Segovia.  A 1 ½ hour motorcycle trip became a 3 hour nightmare due to the intense pain Denise was experiencing.

The next day she went to the doctor. He couldn’t believe she was alive since her white blood count was so low! They started giving her treatment when… she had a vision of the church in the indigenous community!  She saw a woman dying in the vision. The church was confused and didn’t know what to do.  They were running around in circles, without any direction.

She decided that she had to return. The next day, her brother took her back to the tribe.  Supernaturally she regained strength! When she arrived, she found the church just as she had seen it in the vision.  She took control of the situation and rounded up the people to pray in unity and in faith.  She shared her own testimony, which gave them all hope.  They prayed for the dying woman, who had a curse cast upon her, and they all witnessed a miracle as she was completely healed in 20 minutes and the curse was broken. The witch doctor who had casted the spell was there while we were praying and when the presence of the Lord fell in a mighty way, he left.

Denise has now trained up three tribal leaders, which are now pastors.  Many in their community are believers.  Today, they are sharing their faith in other communities from the same tribe.

It has been a blessing for Denise to be able to study at Christ for the Nations, Colombia. Denise didn't have the funds to come and study, but God made a way. The mayor of Segovia, from her hometown, offered to pay for half of her schooling at CFNI. He is not a believer but wanted to support her in her dreams. As a school, we offered to pay the other half by offering her a part scholarship. She is very grateful and says, “I’m appreciative for the theological training. What I receive will be passed on to others.” 

She is now feeling called to Greece and Spain to minister to women. Considering what she has already experienced, she will be a wonderful missionary for the glory of the Lord!