Over the course of my year in EMPOWER, God took my prayer life to new depths and deepened my reliance on the Holy Spirit in ministry. Halfway through my year, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and life felt very uncertain for the rest of 2020.
The EMPOWER module on prayer fell early on in the pandemic, and the long days at home gave me ample time to spend extended times of prayer with the Lord. I chose a specific region of my host country to pray for during this time. God had opened doors for me to serve in this region just before the lockdown happened and the Lord impressed on my heart that this was a time of prayer for that region even though I was discouraged that activities were canceled.
As lockdown lifted in the summer, my team and I decided I should move to the main city in that region to work more closely alongside a team of national believers. Days before I moved, a new spike in cases began and there was a lot of uncertainty about restrictions. It was probably the most stressful move I’ve made (and I’ve made several as an International Worker!), but I pressed on despite the chaos.
Just weeks after I moved, God brought three young women along my path. One of them had just chosen to follow Christ after reading about Christianity on the internet! The other two were interested in studying the Bible. I had never seen such open doors for ministry here and I was overjoyed! The uniqueness of the situations led me to a greater reliance on the Holy Spirit’s empowering. I experienced more boldness in conversations, sensing how God wanted me to direct my times with these ladies. While one of these young women is no longer interested in meeting, one continues to walk with Christ and the other has a renewed interest in connecting with me again after breaking off our meetings for a while.
These situations were a confirmation from the Lord that I had heard and obeyed Him as he led me in moving to this city. My faith is strengthened as I look forward to seeing what God does here in the future!
-Connie is an EmpowerInternational Student