Kingdom Proclaimers Report

Their Faith Was Rewarded

THE apostle Paul was a man of outstanding faith, and he encouraged fellow believers likewise to cultivate faith. He said: “He that approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.” (Hebrews 11:6) The following experiences from Mozambique demonstrate how Jehovah rewards strong faith and answers earnest prayers.

• A widowed sister from the northern province of Niassa was concerned about how she and her six children were going to attend the “God’s Way of Life” District Convention. Her sole source of income was selling goods at a local market, but when the convention date approached, she had only enough money for one-way train fares for her and her family. Nonetheless, she resolved to put her confidence in Jehovah’s provisions and went ahead with her plans to be present at the convention.

She boarded the train with her six children. During the trip the conductor approached her for her ticket. Noticing her lapel card, he asked what kind of identification she was wearing. The sister told him that it was to identify her as a delegate to the district convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Where will this convention be held?” asked the conductor. After finding out that the convention was in the neighboring province of Nampula, about 200 miles [300 km] away, he unexpectedly charged her only half the normal ticket price! He then gave her and her family return tickets for the other half of her fare money. How happy she was to have put her trust in Jehovah!​—Psalm 121:1, 2.

• For about 25 years, a very religious woman prayed to God to show her the correct way to worship him. The church she attended combined religious ceremonies with traditional rituals, and she doubted that this form of worship was pleasing to God.

She relates: “I had always remembered the words of Jesus recorded at Matthew 7:7: ‘Keep on asking, and it will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you.’ With this scripture in mind, I prayed regularly for God to lead me to the truth. One day the pastor of our church asked all who worked in the local market to bring him a certain amount of money along with some of their goods so that he could bestow a blessing upon them. I considered this request to be unscriptural, so I did not bring anything. When the pastor saw that I had not brought an ‘offering,’ he began to insult me in front of all the church members. That day I realized that this was not the way God wants to be worshiped, so I left the church. Meanwhile, I kept persisting in prayer to find the truth.

“Finally, I plucked up the courage and contacted a relative who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He offered me a tract, and upon reading it I immediately realized that God was answering my prayers. In time, my companion also began to appreciate Bible truths, and we legalized our marriage. Later, however, my husband got very sick. But right up until his death, he encouraged me to persevere in the way of the truth so that we may meet again in Paradise.

“I am forever grateful to Jehovah for answering my prayers and showing me the correct way to worship him. My prayers have also been answered in that I have seen all eight of my children become dedicated servants of Jehovah.”