Faithful Witnesses Members share thoughts on life as a follower of Christ


Every person of faith has a story to tell. In late 2015, numerous members of our congregation offered testimonies from the pulpit about walking with God. Their honest and often intimate personal remarks illustrated various themes during Sunday sermons. Their words show how faith can be difficult, comforting, joyous, and challenging. Here’s what they had to say.


EMMA HOCHSTETLER


I’m a sophomore at Parkland High School, and this past summer I, along with 19 other teenagers and four leaders, traveled to Zambia, Africa, through Teen Missions International for about five weeks. Our plan was to go into multiple villages and hold foot-washing clinics where we would wash children’s feet and give them their first pair of shoes. We also had other small projects such as Sunday School classes, English classes, and medical care, which turned into a bigger project than expected due to all the medical needs.


On July 19, after two intense weeks of training in the Florida heat, we were bused to the airport. We later spent the next two days in six different planes, trying to get to the place we’d be settling into. We were filled with so much excitement, yet there was so much uncertainty. We finally arrived and spent three days at the Teen Missions Base in Zambia sorting through 40 duffel bags filled with shoes. We also sorted through 20 trash bags filled with medicine. Then we prepared for our six-hour trip into the villages. We were not always driving on roads. Our destinations were so remote that we were just driving through small forestlike areas. We rode in a covered-wagon-type bus with openings in the front and back. Metal bars ran across the top holding the fabric in place, and that caused us many injuries, including hitting heads while going over bumps.


We spent one week at each village. Most days consisted of hours of duck-duck-goose, Simon Says, soccer, and many African games they taught us. One or two days


were set aside for our big event—foot-washing. Each foot-washing morning, we would wake up early and set up wooden benches, bowls of water, and tables of medicine. Kids were there by 7 a.m. and would normally walk up to five miles to come to us when they heard that white people (or Mzungus, as they called us) were coming to wash feet and give out new shoes to everyone. This went on all day. We had up to 300 kids running all around waiting for shoes and medical care.


The day I felt God working through me the most was at our third and final rescue unit. This unit was by far the youngest, neediest, poorest group of children we had met. All the kids were under age 10, and it was common to see three-year-olds bringing a baby sibling on their back. The first day was definitely rough. We had gotten to the point where everyone was getting on each other’s nerves, multiple people were getting sick, and we just all missed our families so much. We were physically and emotionally drained. But our leaders told us that we needed to dig down deep to find some energy for these children. Once we unpacked, we agreed on starting a game with all the kids waiting for us. I sat out along with a few other girls, and within minutes, we had piles of kids on our laps. Long story short, we sat there for over five hours with hundreds of kids, playing guitar, singing songs, getting our hair braided over and over again by each kid, and loving on them all. I was so humbled by these precious kids who really had nothing.


Emma Hochstetler ministers to children in Zambia during summer 2015. She traveled with Teen Missions International to remote areas to show the love of Christ.


I thought I had so much to complain about, but as I held a three-year- old boy named Chris who couldn’t walk or talk due to the fact that he was dying of malnutrition, my whole mind-set shifted.


In that very moment, I knew why God had brought me here. And if it was for that moment and that moment alone, then it was worth the process.


God called me very early on to follow Him in missions, and I wasn’t always sure of God’s plan. But as I began to complete my final days of service there, I felt as though I had fulfilled His calling.


LOIS HENSELER


My mother used to tell me that I lived a charmed life. Maybe she was right. After all, I grew up in a middle class neighborhood in a family that loved me, went to good schools, and was always given the benefit of the doubt


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