Testimonies of Reconciliation

     Friday evening i was invited to the home of one of the pastors named Beto. Another brother prepared the classic Brazilian BBQ for about a dozen of us including children. After the meal another pastor asked one of the sisters if she would share her testimony with me. She spoke in reasonably slow Portuguese, with summaries by Wanderley in English.
     About fifteen years ago as an unbeliever in Christ she married another unbeliever. At some point thereafter they had a son. The husband abandoned the family and began living with another woman. The wife has a brother who was separated from his wife. They came to Christ, reconciled and began to pray for and minister to the first woman. (Sorry, I don't remember all the names.) Occasionally the first woman's husband would come by to see his son. At one time they were intimate and she became pregnant while he continued to live with the other woman who also became pregnant at the same time
     The first woman (the wife) received Jesus as Lord and Savior during the pregnancy. Her other relatives and friends were urging her to divorce her husband. At five months she discovered that she was carrying twins but the doctors were adamant that only one would live, and that the other would be born dead. She was urged to have an abortion. She refused and carried the children until they were born prematurely at  seven months about three pounds each. Both lived. (The church was praying mightily throughout this experience) Meanwhile her brother is ministering to her errant husband. She was invited to a retreat 40 days after childbirth. The husband came also. He received Christ, and they began a period of reconciliation. Finally he left the other woman, who had also borne him a child fifteen days from when the twins were born, to return to his wife. She is turn began to minister to the other woman, who eventually received Christ. I should mention that the wife is neither helpless nor dependent, but attractive, educated and is a professional psychiatrist with a good job.
     Today, some years later this couple enjoys a happy marriage. Her refusal to divorce or abort, and her willingness to forgive led to the salvation of at least two souls and to her own happiness. A week earlier i heard a similar testimony about a woman who had abandoned her husband, lived in an illicit relationship for five years, rejected her Christian family members, but eventually repented, came back to her husband, who forgave and received her. I trust that these testimonies speak for themselves of the power of God.