Good News: South Africa by Joseph Seger

From time to time we will share encouraging reports of God’s Work from around the World.  May this good news encourage you wherever you are today.

Unimaginable. Unexpected. Unprompted. Such is how our God shows up and claims glory.

This was not the first time Christina had found God interrupting her plans. Christina Trager is a youth pastor from Delaware in the United States. God had met and pursued her through her local middle school youth group.

She stayed faithful and answered a call. God knocked down obstacles and opened doors. Still, pain came. She worked, maybe overworked. Sabbath was a time to catch up on ministry duties or add some possible responsibilities. Weariness caught up with her. “I put my job before my safety. I had no time for rest.”

On her way from one ministry event to another, she drifted off and ended up in a wreck. By God’s grace her life was spared. Her leg was not.

3 surgeries, a metal rod, and 6 years later, Christina still had pain in her leg. A brace allowed her to limp through the years in anticipation of yet more surgeries.

Along the way, her faith had been fractured as well. She left the position which exhausted her. Not many peers were staying in church. Church hurt and life challenges altered her path and brought her to Avenue Church. Here she found community and space to process her pain. Here, she also received an invitation to Metanoia 2024.

Christina said yes and joined her peers and colleagues from around the world in South Africa for a time of worship and encouragement in mission. “It was wonderful to just be and receive – to be around other believers my age and to hear other’s experiences. I felt community and belonging.”

Though going to Africa had been a dream, she found herself limited. Her leg was swelling and she could not get around, but still it was a good experience. Christina heard wonderful teachers and speakers. Her notes were full. Her heart was filling. 

Then came a wonderful night of worship. “Everyone was praying and worshipping in their own language … and fervently. But I felt a little different, a little dry.” She could not focus and desired a greater connection with God.

A time of prayer came, and suddenly, she found herself in one of those moments when everything else was tuned out. God gave her flashbacks of his pursuit of her, her acceptance of Jesus. Again, she saw those moments when she encountered God. She saw Jesus running to her just as the praise band sang about the Father running to the prodigal son.

“It was crazy how it all came together at that moment. I lost it and started weeping.” She prayed for that deeper connection with her Father. She prayed to God for healing, her past hurts, her body, and the broken places inside of her. She felt that connection and kept praying.

Worship came to a close, but it was one of those nights thick with God’s glory. The band offered to continue, so did the prayer. One of the leaders came up to where Christina was sitting and offered to pray for her leg. Something was different. “He asked where it hurt. It was weird. It didn’t hurt then. I took off the brace to show where it had hurt, and the swelling was gone. I couldn’t believe it. The tears continued to flow. That very day I could not walk up and down stairs. I limped everywhere. This was why he came to pray for me. He told me to walk around. I did, and now, no pain, no limping. I was amazed. I had been healed before the prayer of healing came to me. In that moment of just God and me, I was healed.” Glory be to God.

As Christina shared the good news with those at Metanoia she learned of others who were praying for her throughout the community. She spoke with the band and found the lyrics which guided her prayer were given to them in prayer at that moment. God had shown up, and she was forever changed.

Christina returned home and to her doctor’s appointments. She was released from her knee brace. X-rays confirmed the miracle. Surgery was no longer recommended. She continued in physical therapy. In every consultation, she got to share the good news of God’s work. The doctors had chills as they heard of the Master Healer’s work.

What is more, she got to share with the youth group who she pastors. “It was funny. They had seen me in the brace more and more before I left. When I got back, we were eating together and someone noticed I was no longer wearing the brace and asked about my leg. So I told them. They were in disbelief. It created the opportunity for great conversations, renewed faith, and a presentation to Avenue.” Everywhere she shared the good news people were moved.

We at WME give thanks for the ways in which God surprises us in our lives. Not all receive the miracle Christina has, but this mystery makes her experience no less wonderful. Followers of Jesus are a people who share the good news of great joy for all the world. Let us continue in encouraging one another with the particular ways our God breaks through in our lives today.