Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting a good friend at her work place, a call centre.

I met her staff as well, and after work other ex-staff members started to drop in. One of them, Alisha, came in to say goodbye before heading off to her Muslim country for 8 weeks. My friend asked her if she wanted us to pray for her and before I knew it, we were passionately praying for this girl for protection and for God's spirit to guide her and help her. The other four staff and ex-staff members present joined us in prayer and stood around Alisha and laid their hands on her. For me it was a very special moment. The Lord was here, in the middle of the work place. It was so good to see how these people loved each other and cared for each other.

It has not always been like this. At the end of last year, my friend received a phone call from a distant friend, asking her to come and help and manage a team at the call centre, which was very difficult, over the past 12 months a number of managers had given up and left. Although my friend was not keen on this job, she felt an urge from the Lord to go there.

She started working in an office where there was chaos, where people hated each other, where people arrived in intoxicated state at work and where there was no respect for each other or the manager. However, slowly things started to turn around and the staff started to confide in her.

I remember about a month after she started working there, we  had a coffee together and she told me, Martina, they all need the Lord, they are all depressed. They are so hurt and so abused, they have no self esteem. I have asked my mother and her friends to pray for all these people and for me , that they will get to know the Lord and receive healing and that I will be strong and know what the Lord wants from me.

The first one that came to her was Tom, he was addicted to drugs, and he poured out his heart on what had been happening to him in his life. Her simple answer was, I cannot help you, but I know the Lord can help you, would you like me to pray with you? And Tom agreed, so she prayed with him and handed Tom to the Lord. After that Tom was changed and the other staff noticed.

The second one came a week later, Sam, who had been abused as a child in Christian foster homes. He suffered from severe depression and alcohol abuse and he told her his life story. He told her several times before he was an atheist and did not want to have anything to do with Christianity. Now he came to her and admitted he tried to find peace at lunchtimes and went to the St Paul's Cathedral and would just sit there for a while. He asked her if she could come with him to the Cathedral and there pray with him. Together with another new staff member, who was a Christian as well, they went to the Cathedral and prayed with him. During this praying his face changed. All the anger and bitterness disappeared .

A few months later we met again and I asked her how it was. She replied that now five out of six had now surrendered themselves to the Lord. Praise God! He was indeed powerful at work in this office, and I believe the intercessory prayer of my friends' mother and her friends had a lot to do with that.

The third person that came to Christ was Anna, an orthodox lady, divorced with four children, and a single mum. She suffered from depression and was probably one of the most difficult ones to work with.  She and Sam hated each other and verbal abuse and swearing during the day was not uncommon. However, after she had seen the change in Sam and in his behaviour, she also longed for this peace and surrendered.

Alisha, a Muslim girl was next. This girl had been sexually abused form the age of 2, by nine different men. She had no feeling of self worth, was probably the roughest girl in the office.

The next one who came to the Lord was John, a Hindu Indian student.

That was a couple of months ago. Yesterday afternoon, when I came to my friends' office, I heard about the last one, Nadia. She is a girl suffering from depression, was lost and had no guidance in her life. She came to the Lord and is now a true worshipper. "You are my hiding place" is her favourite song.   

All these people still need ongoing healing. But thanks to God they now have a reason for living.

They come together on a Saturday afternoon at my friends' place to study the bible together, pray and worship.

Last night seeing them all after hearing the stories and seeing their love for each other and for God was an amazing experience. Our God does work in wonderful ways, he will search for the lost in places where we would not generally expect it.

This story has taught me so much. As Christians we are placed by our God in the positions we hold for a purpose, as messengers of the Good news. We all are called to be a living testimony of God's love for this world. Ongoing prayer is a key to a breakthrough of the Holy Spirit. And finally, we can never expect too much, God will exceed our expectations!

By Martina Sonneveld  

Australian Marketplace Connections
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