My story started when I was 4 years old. My mother left my father and I, and disappeared from our lives suddenly. She moved to a different country and I never saw her again.
For several months, I couldn’t understand her absence. Every morning I told myself it was just a nightmare and every evening I felt her absence. In a way, I’ve come to accept the situation and my father took care of me and I was able to have a good education; all the way to a good university. Although he was a good father, taking care of everything that I needed, maybe something was broken inside of me even if I didn’t realize it.
After my first graduation, I wanted to find my mother because I wanted her to be proud of me. After months of searching and hope, I found my mother. I traveled all the way to see her and was so excited to meet her but to my biggest disappointment, she was my mum but like an outsider. After 3 years of trying and regularly traveling, yet again, she rejected me without explanation or advice. I was completely shattered.
To keep my feet on the ground, I’ve continued to give my all to my studies and have built up my life. On one hand, I achieved everything that I wanted in my professional life; I had a good job, a good situation but on the other hand I was broken to the point I was devastated. I started in a silent depression and didn’t show this to people, because everyone thought I was happy and proud of what I had achieved. I wanted this deep sadness to end.
During this same period, I came across a girl who’s days were numbered due to cancer. I felt so much compassion to help her as she didn’t have the resources to pay her bills. She was a believer; she deeply wished to heal, while I only wanted to die. Her friend invited me to a prayer group with a few people in a small living room, to pray for her. At first, I was uncomfortable but they were praying. I heard a voice in my heart, “It’s me…”, all my being knew it was God. I had a few minutes of conversation with Him. It was very difficult to make sense of what was going on, but I knew there was no other way because I tried many things on my own and realized that I was still broken.
That night, on my own, I isolated myself, cried to Jesus and asked him to redeem my broken life and to show me how to follow him. As I was praying, God poured out His love in my life and I became so joyful. And after 3 days, my friend was miraculously healed. From that day I knew that God had a different purpose for my life!
My life has changed 360 degrees. I was so on fire for God !
I was baptized on Sunday and on the plane to move to Paris on Monday … but Jesus called me back here even though I had an amazing work and life there, I said yes to Jesus with a lot of peace in my heart. However, my father was not supportive of my crazy decision to follow Jesus and he kicked me out of the house, because he thought I’d joined a sect. In one day I lose everything … my house, my belongings, my family … all those things that defined my identity in this world. I understood at that moment that my father’s heart had been hardened like the pharaon, and by faith I crossed this “Red Sea” like the people of Israel did to set out for the promised land. And Jesus took care of me, put the right person on my way.
After a few months, God will ask me to go back to my mom through a vision. I obeyed Him. During my week there, it was really hard to be constantly ignored, set apart, rejected. One day before I left, I was completely exhausted. Just before the sunset, I was sitting on this porch with this beautiful view on the mountain and the sea; praying in my heart for the situation and asking the Holy Spirit to help me to overcome my feelings and accomplish what God had sent me to do; “for when I am weak, then I am strong”.My mother came back to me, very angry and told me why I continue to persist because she can’t love me and I’d better forget her. I felt the Holy Spirit fill me with deep peace and envelop me in love; and I’ll answer: “Yes, Mom, I know you can’t love me, but Jesus loves me so much that I have enough love for both of us. I can love you, let me love you Mom. And I also want to forgive you for everything because Jesus forgave me mom, I’m not perfect too … Jesus sent the one person who could hate you the most in the world, me, to tell you how much he loves you…”.
It was not about me but about His glory.
We had a heart-to-heart where my mom accepted Jesus into her life and asked me to come back and baptize her. Today I have the grace of having a mom, my mom in my life. After this trip, my father will agree to come to my birthday party after maybe 2 years. And after hearing my story with my mom, he’ll ask me “I have a question … Do you think that Jesus also love me ?” – that night, for my birthday, my dad will accept Jesus and ask me to baptize him some time later. Now if you ask my father what he wishes for me, one of the things he’ll tell you is that he prays that I’ll never leave Jesus.
All this is from God, who reconciled me to himself through Christ and gave me the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling my parents who rejected me to himself in Christ, not counting their sins against them. And he has committed to me the message of reconciliation.
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, So we are Christ’s ambassadors from my home to the ends of the earth, as if God were calling on us. I implore you in the name of Christ: Reconcile with God. – 2 Corinthians 5:18-20