In many countries, Alliance workers can spend years building a relationship before they see the person come to faith. It is no different for Ron and Lisa, a CAMA worker couple serving in Kosovo.
Ron and Lisa have been friends with another couple, Lavdi* and Dita, for nine years. Whenever they talked about faith, Dita was interested but couldn’t commit. “I have to wait until my husband believes because we always do things together,” she said. “I’m not going to run out ahead of him.”
Illness Leads to Surrender
Recently, Dita began having heart problems. When Ron and Lisa visited her home, she was quite pale. “Dita, I’m really concerned for you,” Lisa said. “I’m afraid you’re going to die and I won’t see you in heaven.”
Lisa showed her an illustrated representation of Romans 6:23—the penalty of sin on one side, the gift of eternal life on the other, and the cross forming a bridge between the two. “Where are you in this picture?” she asked.
Dita placed her finger on the image symbolizing eternal life. “I want to be over here,” she said. Ron and Lisa prayed with Dita, asking Christ to forgive her sins and allow her to come into His presence. When the prayer was finished, Dita looked up at Lavdi and said, “Well, you better come along!”
The Spirit’s Speaking
Dita soon recovered and continues to hope in Christ. Lavdi, an atheist, has not yet come to faith. “How can I change from not believing God exists to putting my trust in Him and following Him with my life?” he asks.
However, over the course of the last nine years, Ron and Lisa have seen the nature of his questions change. He used to ask things like, “Where did the dinosaurs go?” Now he asks deeper questions, such as, “Does this verse really mean that we need to die to ourselves so we can live for God?”
“The Spirit’s speaking to him,” Lisa says. “I think Dita will have him with her in the end.”
Pray that Dita will continue to grow in her faith and that Lavdi will soon surrender his life to Christ.
*Names changed