Posts
Martha teaching T4T in the top photo with Pastor Mang interpreting.
A young Myanmar woman shares her testimony in the second photo.
When her mother remarried, she and her mother converted to Buddhism. They lived what seemed to be a good life. They had plenty of money. In fact, they were the second wealthiest family in their village. But that didn’t satisfy her soul.
She met a Christian woman, who was one of her teachers in school. The teacher shared Jesus with her. She didn’t want to leave the money and lifestyle her Buddhist stepfather had given her, but something was still not right. She didn’t have peace.
When she decided to give her life to Jesus, things changed. The riches of the world no longer mattered. Jesus had forgiven her and filled her heart and mind with His peace. Today, she is pursuing her calling by attending Grace Theological College in Myanmar.
Our testimonies are a powerful way to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others. That’s why it is an important part of Training for Trainers (T4T). When we completed Day 1 of our T4T seminar yesterday, I gave those in attendance some “Hiswork” (instead of homework). They were to write out their testimonies and some would share their stories on Day 2.
The Apostle Paul gave us a great blueprint on how to share our testimony in Acts 26:4-23. Paul stood before King Agrippa and shared his testimony. He broke it up into three parts - Life before Christ, how and when he came to follow Christ, and how his life changed as a result of following Christ.
This is how Martha and I share our testimonies and how we teach it in T4T. This is one of my favorite parts of T4T, because I get to learn how Jesus transformed people’s lives, like the young woman I wrote about above.
Transformation is the key. If our lives have not been transformed by Jesus Christ, if there isn’t a change, then we need to go back to the beginning and call out to Jesus and truly surrender to His lordship in every area of our lives.
Sharing testimonies is also good in getting people out of their comfort zones. Most people are nervous about speaking in front of others and talking about Jesus. This gives them the opportunity to do it and see that they can because of the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of every follower of Jesus.
Not everyone’s testimony is as dramatic as Paul’s. And, not everyone lived a wild and crazy life before surrendering to Jesus. That leads some people to think they don’t really have a testimony, because they never did anything really “bad.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Paul writes in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All of us ... everyone of us ... have sinned. Whether we lived a so-called good or bad life before surrendering our lives to Jesus, we were all bound for Hell. What could be more exciting than a soul being saved and an eternal destination changed to Heaven? Nothing! So, nobody has a “boring testimony.”
Our Myanmar brothers and sisters understand that. Not all of them grew up in Buddhist homes. Some were raised by Christian parents. However, they knew they needed to trust in Jesus as savior and Lord to inherit everlasting life with Him.
We all have a testimony. I encourage you to write your story on a piece of paper or on your computer. Make sure you have the three different parts, and then share it with others. God will use your testimony to touch lives for Him.
In addition to the testimonies, we completed Lesson 2 today.
Click on this link for photos from Day 2 of our T4T seminar, https://tinyurl.com/ybet9jho
A young Myanmar man shares his testimony in the top photo.
Ken teaches T4T as Pastor Mang interprets.
No comments:
Post a Comment