Nica’s New Life

Amazonian Wednesdays 🌴

A testimony from February 2002, just about exactly twenty-one years ago:

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Rister, one of our cell group leaders, shyly introduced me to Nica, a new fifteen-year-old girl, and asked if I could minister to her. “She just got saved this week,” he explained to me. He left, and she blurted out the following testimony between her tears:

“Pastor Jennifer, I want to get baptized. I need a total change in my life. There is no peace or love in my family, so I developed the habit of going to parties to try and forget about my problems. The parties distract me for an evening, but when I wake up in the morning I feel just as empty and lonely as ever.

“But I saw something different in Rister. It seems like no matter what’s going on, he’s always happy. I was so impressed with the joy that he has that I decided to come to church. I’ve never been to church in my life! But I want what Rister has. I want Jesus to change my life.”  

Nica kept coming to church, and on February 2 was baptized in a lake about forty-five minutes outside of Iquitos. She came up out of the waters crying for joy at the new Presence she was feeling in her heart. I prayed with her afterwards, and she continued to weep as the Spirit of God ministered deeply to her heart.

Completely overwhelmed by His presence, she fell back on the sandy floor and soon began speaking, almost singing, softly and rapidly in a new tongue. She got up after a little while, but had to sit down again on a bench because her being still trembled with the very real and tangible touch of the Father.

We baptized a total of ten youth that day, and almost all of them received a new prayer language when we laid hands on them afterward. With their spirits full, they then happily munched on the rice and chicken that they had brought along wrapped in the leaves of a bijauo plant. Finishing their lunch, they ran off to swim, play volleyball and soccer, and navigate a canoe around the lake.

The joy of the Lord is our strength as we work with these young people. Their life issues are complex, but their Savior is mighty to work transformation and healing in them. Praises to Him forever!