May 25

Witnessing

Just in Time

“And Jesus said unto him, ‘This day is salvation come to this house. … For the Son
of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:9–10 (KJV)

Within the dark interior of the mud hut, an elderly woman lay on a straw
mat with a thin blanket pulled up to her chin. Her face was wrinkled
by years of exposure to the hot Kalahari (kah-lah-HA-ree) Desert sun.
She was dying.

The eldest daughter was expected to tend to her mother’s needs in
these last hours. According to the daughter, her mother had not known
of a single Christian coming to their village during her lifetime. I realized
that she had never heard the message of salvation. I apologized
that no Christian had come before to share with her mother.

Beneath the blanket, the elderly woman stirred. A thin, fragile arm
appeared waving feebly in the air. She whispered in the Tswana (SWAHnah)
language, “I hear you, I hear you.”

With a sense of the God-appointed moment, I knelt by her to share
the gospel and the free gift of salvation that God was offering to her.
Her thirsty soul drank in every word. By her own simple prayer, she received
the gift. A look of peace settled over her countenance as though
an arduous race was finished. She died a few hours later.

Surely angels in heaven rejoiced as the glory of God extended its
reach and found a foothold in this forsaken village consumed by spiritual
darkness. How many more are there who have not heard? This old
woman heard just hours before her death.

Who in our family needs salvation before they die?

—Gordon, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa

Father, how many people around me are taking their last breaths? Make me sensitive to the need of salvation for the dying. Give me courage to share with
older family members who do not know You. Bring the good news of Christ in
remote villages in Botswana, Namibia and Angola. Amen.


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