Sabbath School Mission Story, April 25 Destination: Central and Southern Angola
SEVERAL YEAR AGO while I stayed with my youngest daughter, who was in the hospital, I passed the time reading some books that my husband had brought to me. One caught my attention and set my life on a new and difficult course. The book mentioned that the apostle Paul worshipped in the synagogue on Sabbath. That evening I asked my husband, “Didn’t Paul live after Christ?” He nodded. “This book says that Paul worshipped on the Sabbath. If that’s so, then why do we worship on Sunday?”
“Because Jesus was resurrected on that day,” he answered. But his answer didn’t satisfy me and stayed in the back of my mind.
Chance Encounter?
Three years later I met a woman who said that she was an Adventist. I knew that Adventists worship on Saturday, and I wanted to see how they worship. I asked my husband for permission to visit the church, and he agreed. I was pleased with the church service and returned every week for a month. Then my husband said, “It’s time to stop going to this Sabbath church.” But I didn’t want to stop; I had found something beautiful.
Often we argued over religion, for he was a leader in his church. But I wasn’t ready to give up. When I asked to be baptized, he realized that I was serious about this church. He became angry and told me that people were talking about how I wouldn’t obey him. Then he refused to let me be baptized. But I knew I had to obey God, so I was baptized.
Keep Her! She’s Yours.
As I came out of the baptismal water, my husband entered the church. He was angry. He pulled a knife and stabbed a deacon. Then he shouted, “She was baptized against my will! You can keep her now; she’s yours.” I stayed with a deaconess.
Eventually my husband invited me home and promised not to harm me. When I arrived home he said, “Keep the Adventist baptism, but come to church with me on Sunday.”
“I’ll obey you in other matters,” I said humbly. “But I’ve learned too much about the Sabbath to turn my back on God’s law.” I’d clean the house on Friday, but he would mess it up so the children couldn’t attend church with me.
One Sabbath my husband came to church and asked for me. I didn’t go out until church ended. Then he pulled out a stick and beat me. When someone rescued me, he turned the stick on the pastor.
I fled to another province and stayed with my brother. My husband begged me to return home and care for him and the children. But when I returned home, people from my husband’s church began visiting. They urged me to obey my husband and return to his church. I told them, “If I obey my husband, I would have to disobey God. How can I betray God and worship on Sunday?”
Some of the church members told me that if I refused to obey my husband, they would find another wife for him. This shocked me, for I realized I might have to choose between my family and God’s will.
The Showdown
My husband became distant, refusing to eat what I cooked and refusing to let me sleep in our room. I obeyed in every point I could, but I refused to give up worshipping on the Sabbath. Then one Friday evening I returned home from church to find that he had locked me out of the house. I crawled into the children’s window and slept on the floor. When he realized I was in the children’s bedroom, he beat me and sent me out of the house. “I have found another woman,” he said. “Get out.”
On Sabbath morning I went to the church. I stayed all day. After sunset I returned home and slept in the children’s room. Early Sunday morning I gathered my things and went to my husband’s brother. I told him that my husband had beaten me once too often. I was leaving for good.
I stayed with my son, who by this time was living on his own. Eventually my children joined me, for they couldn’t stand living in their father’s home any longer. Now I am at peace. Three of my children have followed me into the Adventist Church. I hope that all of them will eventually become Adventists, but I know it must be their decision, just as my own faith was my decision.
Please pray for my family, for my children, and even for my husband, that they will follow Jesus while they can.
And this Thirteenth Sabbath I pray you will give a large offering to help our church in my country, Angola, rebuild its schools so that children can learn about God even when they are small. Thank you.
MISSION POST
For almost 40 years (between 1961 to 2002) Angolans were caught up in war. Some of the fiercest fighting took place around Huambo, where Victorina lives. The war killed a half million people and destroyed government buildings, hospitals, and many schools in the country.
The regions closest to the fighting had no electricity, no running water, and often no food. People flocked to the churches for protection and hope; during this time the Adventist Church grew to be one of the largest denominations in the country.
Pray that now that peace has come, people will continue to turn to God.
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