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Introduction
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Dear
readers, my greatest and most sincere wish for you is that the knowledge of
these lines, not read from the extremities of the lips but with the heart, may
lead you to reflect upon the incredible power of God manifested in Jesus
Christ. |
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Teacher
Marie–Michèle EMOULOUNDOU |
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I dedicate
this testimony to: |
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● My
dear husband, Doctor Jean Marc EMOULOUNDOU (Doctor – Surgeon), whose intense enthusiasm
for Jesus now makes me very happy. |
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●
Our beloved sons, Victorine, Hugues, Rodrigue, Vèronique and Marietta
EMOULOUNDOU |
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● My
dear colleague, teacher Christine THOUNGUI, whose friendship recomforted me and
had a decisive impact on my life |
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●
All my beloved brothers and sisters of Youth for Christ to |
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Incredible
but true! |
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Since I was
born in a family which was relatively religious, from my childhood my parents
brought me to the Catholic Church where I was baptized but without really
knowing Jesus Christ. To me, baptism was nothing but simple formality. Going
to mass every Sunday was part of my Sunday duties. Nevertheless, in my daily
life there was no difference between my Christian life and the life of the
world. My heart was addicted to bad thoughts and to actions contrary to the
good sense. Christine, my colleague of service, who was already a member of a
Christian group, would constantly invite me to the prayer meetings and to the
bible studies as well. But I had never intended to attend them. And since she
had never stopped visiting me and speaking to me about the Lord Jesus Christ,
one day she invited me with much insistence to an evangelistic campaign held
by Youth for Christ in our administrative district. |
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I decided
to go to the evangelistic campaign in order to please her. To my great
astonishment, I enjoyed a wonderful ambience. Dear reader, it was
extraordinary to find a wonderful group of young Christians, all radiant with
joy, who were singing with a harmonious singing style some beautiful praises
that expressed the love, the mercy and the goodness of God toward |
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Soon I
realized that I was lost and for me it was time to become a real Christian |
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When the
preacher exhorted the sinners to receive Jesus as their personal Lord and
Saviour, I immediately invited the Lord to come into my heart to change me completely
and to make me a child of God. Then, while the preacher was praying for me,
all of a sudden I an indescribable joy and peace flooded my heart. Evidently,
a wonderful thing was happening in my life. Since then my commitment for
Christ has become more than ever inflexible. |
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Full of
joy I went back home and as usual I began immediately to speak about my new
experience to my husband and to my children. My children liked hearing me; as
for my husband he stayed calm without saying a word. I was astonished at his
attitude and I realized that he was offended by my words (however, that did
not influence at all my determination). |
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Dear
reader, at that point, and for the first time in the history of our marriage
(19 years of marriage), our relations became torpid. It was a damage, yet it was necessary (you will understand the
reason soon). Just after some moments, my husband, expressing his mood, began
to rebuke me harshly. Then I realized that he was deeply sad. In the midst of
that barrage of insults, absurdities and exaggerations that he had not
stopped speaking against me in order to make me change my mind, I soon told
him that I did not intend to retrace my steps, no matter what would happen.
Exacerbated by that answer, he began to beat me. What a strange thing! Above
all it was dishonourable for a doctor of his moral stature. |
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While I
was completely downcast, all of a sudden my husband took the car and went
out. After some time, he returned and was still furious. |
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My word was
certainly making him sick |
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First of
all, he asked me to give him the key of my bedroom (that is, one of the two
keys of our bedroom, which I had at my disposal). Unfortunately, the key had suddenly
disappeared and I did not understand how such a thing had happened. When I
told him that I had not found the key, he exploded: ‘Without this key you
will not stay any longer in this house. I command you to go away from me! You
will be able to come back to this house only when you find my key. Go away, I do not want to see you here any longer!’ |
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Odious
words of a husband! Yet we had been always so close, so full of love, that
nothing had disturbed our marriage before. I had always been the best wife to
him but certainly that evening I had not been the best wife to him!’ What had
happened exactly? What was the real cause of the radical change in his
attitude? Soon I realized that the problem of the key was nothing but a
simple subterfuge, the real problem was my commitment to Christ. Where could
I find then the key in order to regain my house? |
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Faced with
that enigmatic and numb situation in which I found myself, I immediately went
to Christine, my colleague, to spend the night in her house. My late arrival
in the night surprised her, however she received me
with brotherly kindness. Therefore, I began to tell her all my misfortune.
She was moved by what she was listening, she exhorted me to hold on and to
trust with all my heart in God, with whom all things are possible. We prayed
together, and afterward we went to sleep. Next morning, Christine brought me
to visit some brothers of Youth for Christ, who encouraged me with some
biblical passages I will never forget: Isaiah 30:15 “In returning and rest
shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength”;
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”. |
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They began
to pray for me, for my husband and for my children, and they entreated the
favour of God so that my key might be found |
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Dear
reader, that prayer session was really amazing! Once the prayer was finished,
I and Christine went back to her house immediately. In the end I had elected
domicile her house (it was Saturday). Six hours later, while I was helping my
colleague to prepare the lunch, a young man arrived, who was carrying a large
carp of nearly 25 kilograms on his shoulders. Having recognized him, Christine
said to me: ‘It’s Landry, a brother in Christ, he is a fisherman’. |
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Landry
said to me: ‘My sister, may you be blessed in Jesus Christ. Listen, I give
you freely this carp I am carrying. Bear in mind that it’s a gift of God for
you!’ Fantastic! What an extraordinary generosity! I did scarcely believe my
ears. After Landry went away, we began to scale the fish. After a few
moments, we opened the belly of the fish in order to clean much more the
fish. First of all, I saw a key like the key of my bedroom. At once I noticed
that it was really my lost key. I had gooseflesh, I was amazed at that
prodigious finding, and I suddenly began to exclaim: ‘Look! Christine, that’s
my key! The key of my bedroom! Yes, am sure it is the key of my bedroom!’ |
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Incredible
yet true! My key inside the belly of a fish! |
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What
aberration! How could the key be there? At that moment, we left everything
and as suggested by Christine we began to bless and glorify the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. |
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Afterward,
we went to meet again the brothers of Youth for Christ; they were stricken by
that extraordinary news and they began to pay homage to God through praises
and adorations. At the end of that time of prayer, they said to me to go to
meet again my husband. |
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I was
reinvigorated by that mystery and I was full of joy. I finally arrived at my
home. My children were happy because of my presence at home, they were
jubilating. Suddenly my husband came out of the room, he was very angry and
he brusquely asked me why I was in his house. I answered him that I had
finally found the key. He was astonished at those words and when he took the
key I had handed him, he himself established the truthfulness of my words.
Then he asked me where I had found it. At that moment I told him the famous
story of the key in the belly of the fish. |
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To my
great surprise, he began to weep his heart out |
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Some
minutes later, he said to me: ‘I challenged your God. Unfortunately to me,
your God won the challenge. Yesterday I threw your key in the river and today
God has used a fish to show me His sovereignty, His omnipresence and His
omnipotence. Please, I also want to become a son of God like you’. |
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At that
moment, dear reader, I was totally overwhelmed by the emotion. It was fantastic
to see my husband completely downcast and determined to follow the Lord. That
evening my husband and all my five children publicly took the decision to
receive Jesus Christ in their lives. The next morning (that is, Sunday
morning), I and all my family were baptized in the Sanga river [the most
important |
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Today, my
husband, my children and I are sons of God through the Love manifested in
Jesus Christ. Dear reader, God is able to do things that transcend the human
comprehension and intelligence, things like that which He wrought in my life.
May this testimony produce in you the perseverance, the enthusiasm and the
wish to give yourselves completely to the Lord Jesus Christ.
May God bless you. |
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The
EMOULOUNDOU family, |
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