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Testimony

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Vera Fernandes
October 27, 2024

Sermon Manuscript

Testimony


October 27,2024
Vera Fernandes

Thank you, dear church, for this opportunity to share with you my testimony.
I will begin my story from the age of 20.
If I began from my childhood that would be a very long a story!
My 20’s were significant years in many ways.
I came to the US from India at the age of 20 and was blessed with a new life.
One day when I was attending university in Philadelphia, I walked into a meeting of Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU).
I heard the gospel there, and a year later I became a follower of our Lord Jesus.
Some years later, I attended a church, Living Word Community in Philadelphia.
At that church I was blessed with a small group of friends who were passionate for God and for missions.
Some of my friends were returning from the mission field, and others were eager to go.
I caught the vision of missions from these good friends.
In my 20’s I became a US citizen, but soon after this I began my journey of overseas missions.
My brothers and sisters could not understand why I would I choose to leave the US.
We had all left Mumbai in India, so we could begin new lives in the United States.
My siblings were successfully and quickly achieving the American dream.
But what was I doing?
I was packing my bags to leave the US.
I was joining a mission organization with no salary and no benefits—or at least no earthly benefits!
As we are now in a series of Discipleship at One Voice, I am reflecting on areas that have helped me grow in my walk with God.

I have 3 areas I would like to share with you.
The first is being influenced by the right friends.
That small group of friends in my church in Philadelphia made an enormous impact in my life and in my decisions to serve God.
A few weeks ago, Pastor Chris in his teaching on Discipleship, implored us with these words: “Don’t Travel Alone.”
We should always stay closely connected and inter-dependent on good friends in the Body of Christ.
I thank God that as I travelled to a few different nations and served in some hard places, I did not “travel alone.”
It is relatively easier in America to find good believing friends who can walk alongside you.
But I have lived in some hard and remote places overseas.
Sometimes I felt like I was in a desert, empty of good friends.
Yet, in every nation that I served, the Lord was faithful to send me a few good friends.
These friends helped me press on and stay on the right path.
I’m so grateful now for One Voice Fellowship, and for the organization where I work, For the Nations DC.
I have found a sweet fellowship of believers in this area.
After all the years of having “less,” I am now blessed with an “abundance” of friends.
As I said, I was in my late 20’s when I joined a Christian mission, packed my bags, and left the US.
I had strong impressions, words, and even dreams from the Lord asking me if I was “willing to give up everything for the gospel.”
It did not feel then like a sacrifice; It was a privilege.
I am glad that the Lord did not reveal to me then, everything he would ask me to give up for the gospel.
I simply heard His call and I said “yes.”
Along the way, I discovered that following him included making sacrifices and facing challenges.
But, I can testify today that serving others has made me stronger in my own faith.
By giving up some of my life for the gospel, I have received a hundred times more, in so many ways.
Which brings me to my second point on Discipleship.
Will you say “Yes” to Jesus, to His will, and to His call?
I hope you will be willing to DO whatever he asks you to do, and GO wherever he calls you to go.
Sometimes this requires us to surrender our rights or privileges.
But Romans 5 teaches us that suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.
In the middle of a cold winter in 1993, I arrived in Kiev, Ukraine with my mission team.
This was a little over a year after the fall of communism and the Soviet Union.
I was overjoyed to be there at that time.
I cannot describe the privilege it felt to be in the former Soviet Union in the 1990’s.
The doors were wide open then for the gospel.
We often did open-air evangelism in the main central square in Kiev, freely distributing Bibles and sharing the good news.
We never once dreamt that in that very place, in that square in central Kiev, there would be major demonstrations and bloodshed two decades later.
We never imagined the war and devastation we see today in beautiful Ukraine.
30 years ago, when the doors opened wide for the gospel in Ukraine, thousands of young people filled the churches.
Today we can only hope and pray that they will stay close to Jesus, despite the devastation of their nation.
In my first year in the Ukraine, I was visiting an orphanage in Kiev.
My team split up and I was in a room with about 20 kids all about 2 years old.
The moment I walked in the room, the caregiver decided to go on a tea break!
Now, those who serve in childcare know this is not acceptable—just one adult with 20 kids.
But unfortunately, this is common in many hard places.
I have never seen a group of 2-year-olds so quiet.
Growing up in an orphanage, they had sadly learned to suppress their emotions.
I reached down to pick up one child.
Immediately all 20 kids left their corners and came running to me with their little arms outstretched!
They were so hungry for love and attention.
That was the beginning of my call to care for orphans and children in distress.
I asked my director to release me to serve primarily in orphanages.
I was in my late 20’s then, and I was beginning a quite unconventional life.
Seven years later, I was invited by my mission organization to spend a year in Switzerland and Germany.
I was very blessed!
I got to live in these beautiful countries and had a year of just studying the Bible.
Which brings me to my third and last point on Discipleship.
To love His Word.
God’s Word is very powerful.
He promises to bless our lives as we spend time in his Word.
As I share this with you, I speak to myself also, so I will not neglect my time in God’s Word.
During my time in Germany, I spent all day in class and after class studying his Word.
Yet, I confess that later in life, there were seasons I was so busy serving that I spent little time in his Word.
But he is faithful and patient with us all.
The Lord later gave me the desire to memorize large portions of scripture and spend time in his Word.
I know that as we read, study, and memorize his word, we will be like the tree in Psalm 1.
We can be like trees planted by streams of water, whose leaves do not wither, and whatever we do we will prosper.
When I left India at age 20, I remember saying to myself, “I will never ever return to this country.”
In fact, when I responded to the Lord’s call to go overseas on missions, I prayed:
“Lord send me anywhere in the world, but not to India!”
Can you guess what happened while I was studying God’s word in Germany?
My missions team said they wanted to begin a ministry in India.
They told me about the children at great risk, in the very city of Mumbai where I grew up.
These Germans wanted to go to that hard place—and they wanted me to go with them!
As I prayed, I was confident that the Lord wanted me to bring light to that city, and the neighborhoods where I grew up.
I knew the culture well, and could blend in much more easily than my German friends.
The Lord opened doors and led me to that next season of bringing light into one of the darkest places in Mumbai.
Our team worked to rescue and restore kids who had been through severe trauma.
It was not an easy journey.
But the Lord was faithful to send Germans, Brazilians, Americans, and many Indians to serve in these hard places.
Myself and a few sisters from Brazil spent many nights at a shelter in a very dark place in the city, where children were at extreme risk.
My sisters would pray through the night, while I often slept on a table!
We were serving in areas where women and children were being exploited and in need of safe places and safe homes.
As I look back on those times I am encouraged by 2 Corinthians 4:7—
“We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
We are hard pressed on every side but not crushed.”
In Mumbai, we endured pressures on every side.
But we were not crushed, thanks to God alone.
You may ask, “what were some of the pressures we endured?”
Trauma and abuse had a terrible impact on those children.
They struggled with depression, anger, aggression, poor school performance, and even suicidal thoughts.
Our team walked and lived alongside these children overcoming trauma.
In the midst of these challenges, we saw God open doors, grant us favor with government authorities, and provide miraculously for the kids.
I was living a very unconventional life as I cared for these children.
It was impossible for me to have a traditional family life.
But I believe that God has a special place in his heart for women and children in distress.
Our God truly is a Father to the fatherless and a defender of the widow.
He is the one who truly cared for these children and continues caring for them.
I was not always strong and zealous, of course.
Countless times I have seen the Lord close doors when I was drifting in a wrong path.
Please understand that I did not stay on the right path because of my strength.
Our God is willing and more than able to keep us from wandering or falling.
A few years ago, I was looking for a less-intense ministry and a place to slow down.
Where might that be?
Well, a good friend of mine invited me to Kabul, Afghanistan!
That made no sense to me.
Why would I go from a hard place like Mumbai to a hard place like Kabul?
But as I look back, I see that the Lord led me to Afghanistan to prepare for my next season.
Before long, he called me to return to the US, so I could serve Afghans in this community.
I am grateful to God for how he is always leading me.
Through friends of friends, I connected with For the Nations DC, where I serve now.
We teach English and offer free childcare to hundreds of students—most of them from Afghanistan.
I am now actively involved in Kids Clubs for Afghan kids.
I thank God every day for this amazing opportunity.
I can live in the United States, but I can continue to reach the nations.
I sometimes share with people that I am not a bold and courageous person.
I have always been fearful and insecure.
Some people do not believe this.
They say, “But you lived in a place like Kabul, how can you be fearful?!”
I find the answer for this in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, where Jesus reminds us that His grace is sufficient for us.
His power is made perfect in weakness!
Therefore, when I am weak, then I am strong.
Friends, the Lord is not looking for strong and perfect followers.
He only asks his followers to be willing.
Because when we feel weak, then in him we are strong.
Looking back on the years I lived overseas, I do not see it as a sacrifice.
It has been a privilege and a joy.
And today I am so grateful to be able to reach out to the Nations right here in the DC area.
Today, our neighbors include people groups from places that are dangerous and impossible to reach.
Yet the Lord has brought the whole world here, to us!
I thank God for One Voice Fellowship and For the Nations.
I’m grateful to now be serving and growing here, in a safe and beautiful place with all God’s provisions.
And I am also thankful for so many friends and co-laborers that he has provided, including you.
I want to encourage you with three reminders about how to grow in your walk with God.
But please know that I am also speaking to myself, that I too might continue in these things:
1. Be influenced by good friends who can speak into your life and keep you accountable.
2. Be willing to make sacrifices for the gospel even if it requires choosing the narrow path, or an unconventional path.
3. Be devoted to God’s Word.
4. Hide His Word in your heart, every day.
I give God all the glory and honor and thanksgiving for all he has done.


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Scripture Reference:

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