(Thursday, January 31 2013) After each conference a time is given for testimonies from the pastors and wives. This gives them a chance to share what God taught them, affirm the accuracy of what has been taught, and give us some feedback. There is lots of laughing, applause and looking at me (usually when they laugh). I can’t understand a word of it, but in the car going home I’ll ask Moses what they said. Here are some of their comments in their own words:
“Pastors wives have never been able to come to pastors conferences before so when I found out I could come today I wanted to come. It was 8:30 so I got ready quickly and we left at 9:30. I thought today was going to be special because a foreigner was coming so I thought I would hear a good message. I wanted to hear from God. I prayed for God to use it to speak to me and He answered my prayer. I was greatly blessed by learning how to submit to my husband and how we can have a good marriage in God’s sight. I have never heard anything like this before. Now we know what God wants us to do as husband and wife. We will go home and do these things that God wants and our home and marriage will be much better. I am very glad I came. I almost missed a great blessing by not coming. Thank you very, very much.”
Her husband, Pastor Isaac, also shared a testimony about how this will help him know how to be the husband God wants him to be and make their marriage so much better. He said many pastors’ marriages are not good. If we have a good marriage we can reach the world, if we don’t have a good marriage we won’t be good pastors. He also went into detail explaining how God’s Spirit touched his heart during the spiritual warfare prayer after that session. He felt something change and God come into Him in a very special way. He said he is very grateful for the teachings.
“The prayer for victory over the demonic is a great blessing for the pastors. Now we can be free from the demons and help our people be free. No other conference ever had this kind of teaching. We are very blessed by it. The books are a wonderful help as well. Now we can read and study more. We can use them for sermons for our people. It was a wonderful blessing and we want you to come back very soon.”
“The ten topics about spiritual growth were a special blessing. Now we know how to grow. We can measure our spiritual growth and the spiritual growth of our church. Thank you very, very much. We have had many gatherings of pastors but never one where we were taught like we were here today. Thank you very much for coming and please come back soon.”
“We never knew our wives are to be our number 1 sheep. It is very eye-opening for us. We have never heard such things. Now we know how to have a marriage like God wants us to have. Please come again and teach us more.”
“It is a great blessing to hear these things. No one ever taught us these things. Now we know how to submit to our husbands from our heart, not just in what we do. I now understand that when I submit to my husband I am really submitting to the Lord. I know God will use our submission from our hearts to change our husbands so they aren’t angry and so they love us more.” – a pastor’s wife
“Now we know what God expects of pastors, how we are to lead and train others. Now we know how
God wants us to preach, how we are to prepare ahead and teach God’s Word to our people. It is wonderful to know these things. No one ever told us these things before.”
Many wives said that they now have a chance to share among the women and with the children in the church. “Our husbands have not let us minister with out gifts in our churches. Now they are letting us talk and minister in in the church to the glory of God. It is wonderful to be able to minister together and help each other. We did not know we should do this. Someone told our husbands that wives should not speak in churches so we were never allowed to say or do anything, even with the women and children. Thanks so much for speaking to us from God’s Word and showing us these things we didn’t know. We will do them and God will be honored and our church blessed by them.”
2 Corinthians 13:1-2 This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
Look for any opportunity you may have today to testify to the goodness and love of Jesus. It could be a short few words or an extended time of sharing. Ask God to give you opportunities to testify for Him and then be alert to when they come.
by Rev. Dr. Jerry Schmoyer, Christian Training Organization