In 2017, I met C at a parenting seminar. During the participants’ sharing time, my fellow participants enjoyed listening to my sharing as they were amazed I have 5 children and wondered how I managed. That’s when I thought this could be an opportunity to share how God has been a big part of my parenting journey. At the 3rd session, I shared an incident on how God prompted me to look at the potential of my erring child. During the break, I chatted with C. We found out that we stayed in the same neighbourhood and exchanged contact information. From there on, I would chat with C on and off over WhatsApp.
A year later, C asked me to bring her to church. She shared that she used to attend church as a child until her parents objected. Now as an adult, she would like to know this God again. I thanked God for her openness. I shared the Gospel with her when we met. She was not ready to receive Christ yet but wanted to know more. So I brought her to my church’s Alpha course. After the course, she said she was still not ready to accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord. We kept in touch, and met up occasionally to catch up. Another year later, she told me she was attending a church nearby.
Soon COVID came to our shores and a circuit breaker (CB) was implemented. In response to the stress moms experienced at home during CB, I organized a series of chat rooms for mothers. I invited C to join. At that time, she shared about her struggles with her son. The team who helped run this series really empathized with her. During the team debrief, one team member shared her unique insights about C’s son. I kept this insight in prayer. Within a month, God spoke to me about C and her son through various means. I decided to share this revelation with C. Thank God she received it with openness and in fact, my sharing helped her confirm a clearer direction on her son’s educational path.
Thank God C did not stop going to church during the pandemic. Last November, C asked me to lend her some Christian books for her children. I gladly passed her some. She also told me she was attending a new believer’s class. Praise the Lord!! The day I had been praying for had come.
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
- 1 Corinthians 3:6
Upon reflection of my 5-year journey with C, I saw how 1 Corinthians 3:6 unfolded. “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” I am not the only one God placed in C’s journey of faith. The church taught her God’s Word when she was a child. God kept the ‘gospel seed’ in her heart till we met at the parenting seminar. God brought her to a church through another sister so she could be rooted. God loves C and her family, and He will keep drawing her to Himself.
Other than sharing the gospel with my words, I also shared it with my life, by telling God-stories in a secular setting, keeping in touch with C, blessing her with practical help and offering her a listening ear. I realize that non-believers may not have the same views on who God is. As believers, we know God is love, but not the non-believers. So sharing about our encounters with God and His intimate involvement in our daily affairs, gives a glimpse of this loving God we believe in. Blessing her with practical help is showing God’s love in action.
- Story of Jodi, a mom of 5
REFLECTION
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