testimony

This is going to be a really long post, but I wanted to share with you all the testimony that I sent to WGNR radio station yesterday after having finished my 90 Days. Y'all, it really changed my life. I'm so thankful I did it. As I say in the testimony, there are many stories I could share about what I learned by reading the Word straight through, particularly the books that moved me...but instead, I decided to share how He moved in my life during the journey.

I wanted to share about the experience I had while participating in WGNR’s 90 Days Through the Bible. First of all, I will you tell you about myself. I am a Hoosier native, from Fairmount, but have been living in Nanjing, China, for the past 4 ½ years. My husband (a native of the Philippines) and I have been planning to move back to the US by the end of this coming summer, and have been in the process of obtaining his immigrant visa to the US. It’s a long, often stressful process full of paperwork, running around, and waiting. When I began the 90 days at the beginning of January, I knew in my heart that He was using this opportunity to teach me so much and grow me as a Christian. I have been a Christian my whole life but sadly, until now, had never read the Word straight through. I took this as a great opportunity to “catch up”, and immediately, I knew that this would change my life. I told my husband, “expect Him to do great things during these three months.” I could share with you all of the things I learned from the reading the Word straight through…there are many things, but I will simply focus on what He did in our lives.

It started in January when we received word that our initial petition for our visa had been approved by the American embassy in Beijing. This was step one in a long process. Then, a month later, I received word from the next office, the American consulate in Guangzhou, that our petition was moving right along and we needed to complete some tasks and paperwork to prepare for our visa interview (which would hopefully grant us our visa). So, we started with the tasks, things were going smoothly, my parents, back in Fairmount, were helping us on their end…things were good. Then we hit a snag. A very important piece of information, our case number, was missing. This case number is how visa petitions are classified, and without it, we could not proceed with our paperwork. We were stopped, completely. After making an expensive phone call to ask about what had happened, why the mistake had been made the paperwork was missing, I was told to send a fax. This worried me because I knew a response could take awhile and we were getting anxious in our waiting. I called on people around us to pray that we would get an answer. Mostly, we didn’t understand why this had happened…everything else had been going smoothly. But one tiny mistake, and something that was completely out of our control, had stopped us in our tracks.

Meanwhile, I was continuing in my Bible reading, preparing to finish in the scheduled time. And as the end neared, I wondered if He would really answer our prayers to solve the visa problem. The last day came. I was looking forward to finishing the book of Revelation that night in my devotional time. But during the day… I was in my classroom, teaching, when I received a phone call from the consulate in Guangzhou. It was a woman from the office who said she had received my fax. She apologized that the cover letter containing our case number had been left out, that it was their mistake, and they would send the letter through the mail. Then, she gave me the case number and said I didn’t have to wait for the letter to come, I could go ahead and fill out the forms and proceed. I asked her why this had happened in the first place, if it was indeed a mistake. She said it was.

Right there, the Holy Spirit washed over me, relief came, and I cried happy tears…for the first time in awhile…happy tears had replaced tears of frustration and anxiety that had been crying for awhile. He reminded me of the journey through the Word that I was ending…and that ultimately He had been showing me from beginning to end that He works in ways I can’t understand. I felt at that moment that anything is possible, that our visa will work out in the end and that for the first time in 5 years, I’ll be able to go home to the US. Nothing is impossible with Him.

I share all of us with you, grateful for what He’s done in my life, and also to encourage others to take part in the same journey through the Word. There have been many people here in Nanjing who’ve heard about the journey I took and have wanted to do the same. It’s been encouraging me a long the way to have others want to join in. I thank you, WGNR, for planning this program. Even across thousands of miles and a big ocean, it’s made an impact on a longtime believer who needed to see the Father in a new way. Praise the Lord!!

In Him,

Caitlin