Naomi’s salvation has been prayed for since she was in my
womb, since before we knew that her name would be Naomi. We have been sharing with her God’s Word and
His story that he wrote for us to know.
We have tried to live out God’s love and be examples of His mercy and
kindness, but also explain that He cannot be without sin and that we are
sinners that need His forgiveness.
When we were in Jakarta awaiting Noelle’s birth she would
bring up to us spiritual conversations about how she believed in Jesus and
trusted Him. We felt like what she said
was true but we were unsure if this meant she truly believed in Jesus as Lord
and Savior. She continued to bring up
great questions about heaven and death and whether she would go to heaven to be
with Jesus.
On Sunday, August 5th, we were getting ready for
Ultimate Frisbee. I was singing “I Have
Decided to Follow Jesus” when Naomi says, “I want to follow Jesus too.” I sat
down and started talking more about that with her, which wasn't anything uncommon that we would do. But I felt things were getting closer to her actually believing. She said she believed in Jesus that He was
perfect, he was God, died on the cross for our sins, and was raised from the dead by
God. We kept talking about what it meant
to follow Jesus. Nathan came in and
joined the conversation. He brought up
the Gospels and how gospel meant “good news.”
He explained how we are to believe in the Lord Jesus and also confess
with our mouths He is Lord. When we
talked about that more she said she was not ready.
On Wednesday, August 8th, our devotional was
about Rahab. Naomi again brought up how
Rahab believed in the One True God and was saved. We talked more about this and how if we too
confess Jesus as Lord He will be with us forever, now and in heaven. She was not ready to confess.
Tonight, Friday the 10th, Nathan was getting the
girls ready for bed as I was working with Nadia. When I came into the conversation, Nathan
explained to me that they had been talking about how Naomi wanted a Bible for
herself and was asking more questions again.
So we talked with her more in depth, again, about what it means to be a
follower of Christ. We talked about what
it meant to confess Jesus as Lord. She
kept saying she wasn’t ready. We asked
her if she was afraid or scared and she said no, but didn’t give a reason she
wasn’t ready. We prayed for her. She still wanted to talk about it more. She even talked about how we needed to tell
other people about Jesus when we believe.
So I asked Nathan to give his testimony.
Naomi said, “I want to do that!”
We explained belief and confession again. But she wasn’t ready to say anything. Yet she wanted to talk more. I felt the Lord was really working on her
heart. So we prayed for her again. Then I said, how about we talk more in the
morning and you can get some rest.
Nathan laid her down and they continued talking. I was working with Nadia, rocking her and
praying for Naomi’s salvation.
I sat
down on the couch, waiting for Nadia to go to sleep and Nathan was doing the dishes. Naomi comes out of the room and says with
much hope and joy in her eyes, “I just prayed to Jesus.” I called Nathan in from the kitchen and we
rejoiced with her. Nathan asked her what she prayed. She said, “I prayed that Jesus would be in
control of my life; I don’t want Satan to be in control.” We rejoiced more and hugged. You could see the joy all over her face, she
was beaming. I said do you want to tell anyone.
And she was excited to share the Good News. We called grandparents and aunts and uncles and friends. They all rejoiced too! Naomi would exclaim with much joy and
passion, “I believe in Jesus now!” And
then Nora and Nadia piped up too, “I believe in Jesus too!” Naomi also said “I have a new heart!”
After we settled back down again, Naomi said to me as I laid
her down, “I won’t come get you in the night, because God is with me now.” And then, “Mommy, I will obey you the
first time because I’m supposed to obey my parents. And I want to obey God.”
Oh how my heart rejoices much now! A few months ago I felt led to fast and pray for peoples salvation. As I was doing this, I felt the Lord directing me to also fast and pray for Naomi. I am so glad he laid that urgency for Naomi on my heart. Thank you Lord Jesus for your precious gift of salvation! We were dead in our trespasses yet you made us alive in Christ.
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