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My Testimony
My name is Raida
Juan, a war survivor, refugee and an immigrant. God loves me so much but
His love, mercy and grace has been present throughout my life
without me taking notice at the time.
The most significant events that
have blown my mind were during the war in my country, Sudan. The
enemies who sought to kill us were very close, separated only by a
river. By God’s grace they did not see us and we were able to exit
safely.
In the refugee camp in Kenya, (I call it
our wilderness) there were 77 blocks of people according to UNHCR
(United Nations) residence allocation. 76 blocks were inhabited by
Muslims and only one by Christians, the one where our family lived.
UNHCR did not understand how the
Sudanese people made their way to that camp since it did not border on
Sudan and they were trying to figure out how to help us. No food
was given to my people for one year, but God understood, and He sent
birds (Quail) in large numbers but only to our block of Christians. He
also sent Helmeted Guineafowl and wild pigs, and some small animals were
drawn near to the camp for us to hunt. That was totally the work
of God! Words cannot explain our wonder and gratitude for His
incredible Greatness!
Another miracle was an unexpected El
Nino rain that created a big river in the desert where we were and it
was teeming with a large number of fish. What happened was, the roads
were muddy due to the heavy rainfall and trucks that delivered food for
the refugees got stuck so UNHCR delivered the food by cargo planes
dropped from above close to the ground. What that meant was that the
food ration for two weeks was greatly reduced. God was
supplementing that supply with fish. What an amazing Father!
When we immigrated to Canada, we found
life to be hard; a new country, a new system and the process of settling
into our new home was very challenging. Our marriage began to fail and
break apart slowly until my spouse and I separated after 20 years of
family life. But that was not the end. My 25 year old son
was poisoned by a family member and died leaving two children. I was
angry, hurt and depressed, and did not know what I was going to do.
In His love and mercy, God kept strengthening me by sending people with
money and food to support my family.
Two years ago I became very sick.
I was diagnosed with Lymphoma and HIV, and was in hospital for almost
five months receiving chemotherapy and other medications. After the
final treatment I was discharged, and my first PET scan showed no cancer
cells!
During my hospital stay, the pastoral
care visitor from my church visited me every week. After a good chat he
would anoint me and pray for healing before sharing Holy Communion.
While he was praying for me one day toward the end of my stay, I was
amazed to hear a choir singing ever so beautifully! After we
finished praying, I asked if he could hear the beautiful music. He
said no but when I told him what I heard he said with a wide smile that
he believed they were Angels singing to me, and that I was the only one
who could hear them. What a blessing that was to me!
God is good all the time… and all the
time God is good!
After all that I had been through, I
began to re-evaluate my life. I asked God for forgiveness, and I
forgave everyone who hurt me whether intentionally or not. With
the help and prayers of a friend I invited Jesus into my heart to be my
Lord and Savior. I finally found healing and a complete peace that
I have never experienced before. Now I can clearly hear God’s
voice, and His direction for what He wants me to do. I praise Him
for His faithfulness!
God tried to reach me so often by
sending people at different times and in different places. Upon
reflection I can see that His message was always the same: all He wanted
was for me to acknowledge Him and His Presence, and to know the power of
HIs love, peace and provision. And I know now that He also wants
to use me for His glory but I was unable to recognize that, being too
busy with other things and not paying attention. Today I’m ready!
I’m sharing my
story so that anyone who is struggling to believe and trust in our
wonderful God for
everything
may draw strength and be inspired to do so. Please be
encouraged to seek Him.
God is not a respecter of persons...
what He has done for me... He can do you!"
Raida shared the following scriptures at the end of the call:
Psalm 41; Psalm 42:3, Jeremiah
3:17, Exodus 14:26
Raida Juan lives in Calgary and is studying for a degree. She
attends St Luke's Anglican in Calgary, AB,
Canada.
To share Raida's story and other testimonies of
healing and articles of encouragement, click to download the Free eBook
"For a Time Such as This"
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