One day in the fourth week of June, I went together with my wife to the vegetable market, and there we met an old lady in her late 60s. She was seated at the stall, and looked quite pale, stressed, and hungry.

We greeted her and offered her some bananas, which she gladly accepted. In my heart, I felt this was a good opportunity to share a word of encouragement with the lady. We asked her if she was okay and if her family was doing well. Suddenly, tears rolled over her face. She said that things were not well with her. She actually wished she was dead. The lady explained that her family had quite a number of misfortunes in the past year to date. Last year, she tragically lost her two sons to road accidents. The loss of her sons was such a blow since they were the ones who took care of her, buying her food, clothes, and medication. She sobbed as she narrated that her husband died 10 years ago and that now she does not even see the reason for her to live as there is no hope of happiness in this world.

We calmed her down and told her that God is a loving Father who hears our cries and will not leave or forsake her. The lady said that she now doubts if God hears her prayers. She is so hurt that she has since stopped praying. She has since stopped going to church as she thinks God has forgotten her and her family. I shared with her the Word of God; that God is a good Shepherd, who forgives all our sins, heals all diseases and redeems our lives from destruction. More so, He satisfies our mouths with good things. Psalms 103:3-5. I encouraged her to have faith in God since there is nothing too hard for Him. I shared with here the Word of God from Matthew 21:22 “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” I also encouraged her that God cares, so she should just cast her burdens to the Lord as the Word says in 1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you.”

We then prayed for her, and she later had a smile on her face. She confessed that as we prayed her heart was filled with joy and she felt some energy and her faith was revived. She gave her life to Christ and invited us to come to her house to meet her two daughters and grandchild. The following week, we went to the lady’s house and prayed for her family. We also shared the word of faith and to God be the glory, her two daughters gave their lives to Christ. We continue praying with the family, trusting God for peace and healing of the heart.