Recently Elevate and Joseph had the joy of meeting up again with a young man who, as a child, gave his life to the Lord at a CFCM Bible club. Here is his story.
Yesaya Gomani was born in 2000 and brought up in the Mbayani township of Blantyre. He was a difficult and disobedient child and by the age of 6 he was living on the streets. As he got older he started getting into trouble with the police, and as a teenager ended up at Mpemba Reformatory Centre.
It was at Mpemba that Yesaya remembers the weekly visits from the CFCM team, coming to teach the young people God’s Word, and showing them the way of salvation.
“In 2015 when CFCM came to Mpemba I knew I needed Christ and I received him as my saviour. Then after some time I was released from Mpemba to go home but unfortunately I found myself back on the streets again. My parents tried to pursue me but I wouldn’t listen to them. The police caught me again because I was doing all sorts of bad things ranging from stealing, beer drinking and bullying. Several times I was taken to Mpemba but I kept running away, back to my life on the streets.”
Yesaya was again convicted of the wrongs in his life when he attended the his father’s funeral. Again he heard the Gospel preached, and resolved to try to follow God’s ways. He went to live in Lilongwe with his sister. But once again he turned to the company of a bad crowd of boys on the streets of Lilongwe, and back to a life of wrong-doing.
“In December 2022 my friend and I decided to leave Lilongwe for Blantyre, our home city. We walked for 7 days and survived by stealing some cabbage, sugarcane and a few times begged for food. Reaching Balaka this was a turning point in my life. I remembered Jesus and I prayed – God, I have walked for 7 days, I’m tired of walking and tired of being in the street doing bad things. If you take me to Blantyre I will not be bad again. I told my friend I would no longer be a notorious boy when I’m in Blantyre.”
God was clearly looking out for Yesaya. A minibus driver, after hearing their story, took the two young men to Lunzu township, just outside Blantyre. Arriving in Blantyre 9 days after leaving Lilongwe, Yesaya spent one night sleeping in the market. But then he met a friend who was renting a small house and took Yesaya in. But then in March 2023, Cyclone Freddy washed away the small house they were living in.
Again, God’s servants were there to help. “I disclosed my new life to Pastor Frances Kalembera of City Pentecostal Church who supported me with K50,000 (about £25) to start a business. Being a street vendor is very challenging, I have to pay my rent and food, and sometimes the police confiscate our stock.” But Yesaya is determined to take his work seriously and would like to learn a skill like welding so that he can find more secure work.
Above all, Yesaya desires to serve the Lord. He is regularly meeting with Joseph and Elevate at the CFCM office, where they continue to encourage him in his walk with God. They plan to teach him to explain the Gospel using the Wordless Book so that he can minister to other street children.
Praise God for how He used CFCM in Yesaya’s journey of faith, and that He is continuing to use CFCM in Yesaya’s life. Please pray for Yesaya. God has brough him back to Himself and has a purpose for this young man’s life. Pray that he will know the joy of a life fully committed to God, that he will not be enticed back to his old life, and that he will be a vessel to bring others to Christ.
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:17-18)
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthian 15:57)
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