Wednesday 18 September 2013

Behavior of a pastor’s girlfriend – 6



Hello friends, to finish these series I would like to touch on an important point when family does not support your decision to serve God, the testimony of my friend Cristina, is very strong, it will help a lot.
“My name is Cristina Silva and I am 38 years and I am from Portugal from the city of Porto. I grew up in a very religious family, conservative; I was subjected to a very rigid education. My parents put me in a boarding school, because at that time they said this place had the best education and discipline. Our home was very troubled; my parents fought a lot, and physically assaulted each other in front of my sister and me.
I was a victim of physical abuse during my childhood and that lasted until my teens. I lived under a roof where there was abuse and severe punishment.
That made me a rebellious, sick, sad, depressed, very shy and eager to kill myself, for me it was the solution for all the problems at home. A real torment.
Until the day we received an invitation from my aunt, my mother went to the Universal Church, and soon after, I did.
I came to the Church as an old rag, a 16 year old with no prospects for the future. There I found refuge; it was the only place where I had peace. I went directly to the church after school, just to avoid been with my parents; it was there that I met my Lord Jesus that I love very much. I saw the pastor and his wife, as the family that I never had, they helped me a lot during my deliverance.
I carried within me a lot of hatred towards my father, and I also had many spiritual problems, I heard voices and saw shadows. I was released from all that tormented me.
Soon after came the baptism in water, I gave myself to Him completely and in me the desire to be an assistant was born. I admired the assistants and wanted to be like them, I would see the pastor’s wives and wanted to be like them, for their good examples.
That’s when everything started to get worse, since I assumed my faith.
The mistreatment and abuse from my father increased, he would leave me marked with black spots, and unable to react due to the hard blows. He broke my nose with one punch! But I was ready for everything, for I had discovered my greatest asset and would not leave it for anything.
I was willing to go through anything for the love of God and the souls. The Lord delivered me from death several times; I knew He had a plan for me. At that time I was seeking for God for help, I sought him in the school bathroom many times, kneeling to God for help. And that was what strengthened me, knowing that God was with me and would transform my father.
It was then that I received the baptism with the Holy Spirit and was raised to be an assistant, since parents did not give me money to buy my uniform; I gathered my lunch money for two months to buy my uniform. My father threatened me to death, so that I stopped serving God, often chasing me with scissors to cut my uniform. It got to the point of having to hide it in between my mattress, before I went to sleep, so that my father would not discover where it was.
My thirst for winning souls grew every day; even with all this I was able to forgive my father, because I saw him as a soul. I remember trying to give him a hug and apologize, but he remained cold and never allowed an approximation. In truth, he saw my change, but his pride was stronger than him!
It was then that I met my husband, a young pastor new to the country, it was a struggle to introduce him to my family, we faced racism, discrimination, and even being a pastor, nobody believed in my decision, they said it was an illusion and I had been brainwashed. I was against the religion imposed by my family. Actually, I knew who was behind all those accusing voices, they wanted divert me from my goal. I persevered, I didn’t feel down, the certainty inside me was so great that the Holy Spirit would provide everything; He made me face everything with my head up.
I had moments of weakness, yes, a lot of crying, but of indignation against this situation and what supported me was my communion with God. I’m sure it was my dependence on God that made me persevere until the end.
They 18 very long months, until the day of my wedding; As a Pastor girlfriend I tried to set a good example for the other assistant, and also for my family at home. They all knew of my struggles, but I did not pass that to the people, on the contrary, I always had a smile on my face.
The day before my wedding, my father hit so hard, that he left bruises all over my arms and legs, I could only protect my face. I endured all this abuse, but never gave a bad testimony in my house, I was always obedient, hardworking, and I would try not to give reasons for my parents to point their finger at me.
I was set, determined in what I wanted, but I knew that for him to accept the Lord Jesus and I could not give a bad testimony of what I learned in the church.
I got married and went to do the work of God, in other countries (Brazil, England, and Sweden), we are currently in Portugal. This year we will complete 20 years of marriage and are very happy.
I never gave up the desire to serve God in the altar, when the most difficult circumstances and everything pointed to divert me, nothing made me give up my faith.
And if you can relate to my story, my advice is to not give up fighting for your goals, assume your faith and seek for God’s direction to do the right thing. ”
Note: Didn’t I say it was strong? For those who do not know, pr. Rogerio, Cristina’s husband was the one who performed my wedding ceremony, nearly 18 years ago, I have a great affection for them, shame That I don’t have a picture here to show you!
If you also go through struggles with your family because of your dream to serve God on the altar, tell us how your behavior has been.

9 comments:

JULIANA said...

Hello Mrs.Tania
This is a very strong testimony.
Even for me it was very difficult when I took the decision to serve God, I face the same problem with my family, they opposed my decision to serve God on the altar, but as you said God had a plan for me and gave me strength to keep on going, and today here I am saving souls in Africa.

Ofentse said...

The strong desire for the work of God, the character of Christ, the devotion and yes the Holy Spirit inside of her were the things that kept the woman of God going. I trully admire such character*

This is too strong!

Thank you Mrs Tania for feeding us with more of the desire to do more for God regardless of our circumstances*

candy Skhosana said...

Dear mrs Tania
Thank you for sharing this Testimony with us. It is a great and very inspiring indeed. The devil always uses people around us to inpeed our dreams to come true but we must always keep our focus on the goal not on the problem. Praise God the strong desire she had to serve God made her not to focus on aproblem but she kept her faith.
Thank you
God bless

Asive Pukayi said...

Dear Mrs Tania
thank you for sharing,i turn to understand why God is looking for the strong(those who never gives up).and in every situation there's a revelation.
Thank you

Anonymous said...

This testimony has just answered my question the day I shook hands with my Pastor and said i want to save as many souls as I can. Is the day that all hell broke lose and satan sent all his demons my way, I had to ask myself a couple of times what was wrong with me? now I know that the one who tries to stop the work is satan.

Thandiwe said...

Thank you Mrs Tania, this testimony have helped me, I always thought that I am going through a lot of opposition in my family for my faith, but no! And this gives me strength to go foward.

Anne said...

This is so strong and encouraging thank you so much for sharing this with me, I can relate to this, except my dad is not hitting me, there was a situation where I just wanted to run away from home to the church, what stopped me is knowing that my pastor would probably not allow me to sleep in the church. I know who is behind of the behaviour of my dad, I need to work on being a good testimony! this gives to me the strength to carry on fighting!

Anonymous said...

This shows that the GOD of the bible is not followed by all, but a chosen few!!!!!

Aggie said...

It is so inspiring and educative. I have heard of persecutions many times, but this was just beyond, not to pass emotions but to put myself in her shoes. The devil knows the potential each one of us has and he he will always try to stop us, but I have to persevere and press towards my dream. Thank you Mrs Tania for sharing. May God bless and use you more.

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