Greetings everyone. I tried to keep this feedback/testimony short, but I couldn’t so
please bear with me. I will try my utmost best to not put anyone to sleep. Also, I
might end up sobbing like a drama queen, so I apologise in advance. As most of you
know, on the 1 st of December until the 3 rd of December Summe and I joined Hylton
and his team on a ministry trip. To be honest when Shaney asked me if I wanted to
join Hylton in Venda, I was a little doubtful of going because I had no idea what I
would be doing. I have never ministered before, so it did feel like I was doing
something way out of my comfort zone. But the Lord knew that I needed to go on
this trip.
Upon our arrival on Friday evening, I got my first prophetic picture for Arise and
Shine International Church. The closest way to describe how I felt about this
prophetic picture I got for the church is astonishing. The team had different prophetic
pictures for the church, but they all had a similar message which was that their
church would be a place where people in their community would find the Lord’s
salvation. We then left for our accommodation.
When we arrived at our accommodation, my roommate, Jamie, was trying to get to
know me. This was when she asked me a question I was not prepared for. She
asked if I had been baptised and I told her that I hadn’t. She then mentioned that she
felt the Lord tell her that now was the time for me to get baptised. Just a bit of
background, for the past two years I have been wanting to get baptised, but I wanted
to truly understand what baptism meant before I got baptised. So, when Jamie had
mentioned this, I knew that I was finally ready to get baptised. That night at dinner, I
asked Hylton to do the honour of baptising me. On this very night as well, the team
had so much fun. There was just so much love and laughter between us. It was
incredible!
On Saturday morning during our morning meeting Hylton mentioned something that
stuck with me. He said that even though we were all there to minister to the people in
Venda, there are some of us in the team that will also be ministered too. These
words spoke directly to me because I still didn’t know what my purpose was in
Venda. Well yeah, I had finally decided to get baptised but that couldn’t be it. We
then left for our sessions at Christingle Fellowship Centre which is a beautiful church
on top of a hill with a mountain view and it overlooks the Luvuvhu Dam. During our
time at Christingle Fellowship Centre, I felt like I had been ministered too. The Lord
had really touched my heart. Later that day, we went to Pastor Khathutshelo’s house
where my baptism took place. Pastor Khathu is one of the senior pastors of CFC.
We also prayed for pastor Khathu’s wife, Athalia, who has been on dialysis for 4
years. The Lord was definitely in that room with us as we were praying for Athalia.
As a team, we witnessed the healing process in Athalia. The Lord had healed her
back pain and as a team we strongly believe that the Lord will heal her and restore
her fully.
Sunday was quite an emotional day for me. Getting baptised changes, a lot of things
and it’s absolutely incredible how quickly the changes in your life happen. I don’t
know how much of the live video was viewed here at church, but I was extremely
touched during the service. We had split into two groups and one group went to
Arise and Shine and the other went to CFC. I was in the group that went to CFC.
Hylton had mentioned that we would have to introduce ourselves to everyone.
Shammah and Asharel had finished introducing themselves and reciting their Bible
verses. Then it was my turn to introduce myself and I didn’t really know what I was
going to say besides my name and where I come from. As I was up on that stage,
listening to Shammah and Asha, the Lord had kept showing me an image that I had
gotten on our way to CFC.
Originally, I thought it was a message for me, but I later realised that He wanted me
to share the message. So, the picture I had gotten was a time lapse of a seedling.
However, at some point, the seedling started to wilt. Next to this seedling was a
stream that was always full, and this was a representation of God’s grace, love and
mercy for us. The seedling was wilting because of the extreme heat from the sun.
The sun represented loss in faith, doubt in yourself, fear of the unknown and
anything else that could hinder your relationship with the Lord. And I just felt the Lord
tell me that if I grow my roots deeper by trusting Him and not leaning on my own
understanding, I can experience an abundance of His love for me. I felt the Lord tell
me that He wants me to know that in my moments of calling on Him, He is near. That
in truth and sincerity, I should find comfort in His presence and the assurance that
He hears me.
To end my feedback/testimony, I would like to just mention how amazed I was with
what my group had to share with Christingle Fellowship Centre. It was almost like we
had planned it but there was a clear message that God wanted us to get across to
His people in Venda and I truly believe that the message was heard by the
congregants.
Thank you. Rebecca Banda