After many years of suffering, a woman experiences joy in Jesus Christ.
At age 69, Aguek has already outlived all of her children. Her oldest died during war, three children died of the measles, one drowned in a nearby river, a son died of a snakebite, and a daughter lost her battle with pneumonia.
Aguek’s husband left her years ago. She suddenly developed paralysis on the right side of her body. Aguek had long been convinced that the gods she worshipped were angry with her and had placed a curse on her.
Aguek was convinced a curse had been placed on her.
Aguek eventually began drinking and begging in the local market. She felt hopeless. “There was no one who cared about me,” she said. “I found that life was useless. I was wishing to die from this suffering.”
Receiving God’s Love
A group of women in a nearby village recently reached out to Aguek. The women had participated in the Samaritan’s Purse Church-based Discipleship Initiative program that helps Christians learn how to identify and respond to needs in their communities without waiting for outside help.
Aguek, left, is now a believer in Jesus Christ.
The women shared with Aguek about God’s love for her and the hope of eternal salvation found only in Jesus Christ. But after all the trials and pain she had endured, Aguek wondered if Jesus could really change her life. The message of the Gospel seemed too good to be true.
The women from the nearby church didn’t give up. They continued visiting Aguek, encouraging her and sharing with her from the Bible. They also gifted her with two goats.
Aguek began to understand that these women truly cared about her. The compassion demonstrated by these faithful witnesses made an eternal difference as Aguek decided to trust in Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior.
“A change occurred in my life and it gave me hope again and opened my eyes to see the Lord and to know Him in my life,” Aguek said. “Now, I have been freed from the evil thoughts and evil deeds of the past.”
“A change occurred in my life and opened my eyes to see the Lord.”
Aguek has been healed of her paralysis. She attends church and participates in evangelistic outreaches with the women, sharing her story of how Jesus saved her and made her a new creation.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
