Enthusiasm, joy, and freedom were my first impressions of Pastor Elizabeth.
I was talking to a friend I had just met that day when I suddenly heard a hearty laugh coming from behind me and then saw a black lady greeting my friend enthusiastically in French. Reflexively, I said "Je parle francais. The lady screamed, "Oh my God!" Then she hugged me and immediately took out her cell phone to take a picture with me and exchange phone calls. I was amused by the warmth of this African woman, whose personality was so different from most of my Asian friends. She told me her name was "Elisabeth" and that she was from Togo. She was a pastor and had recently been invited to preach at her church in the United States, but she was struggling with her poor English and often had trouble getting her words right. The day before she met me she got down on her knees and prayed that God would prepare a French interpreter for her, and to her surprise she met me the next day at ...... Her opening words quickly drew me to ask her to have lunch two days later.
We met at the café of the House of Prayer. Elizabeth had changed her hair, braided her head, and wore a goose yellow tank top and sky blue shorts, a far cry from the first time I saw her. But her warm personality and cheerful laugh remained, and she greeted almost everyone who came in and out of the House of Prayer, as if she had been here for a long time.
"Have you been working at the house of prayer for a long time?" I asked.
"I just came in 2018 and had served on the healing prayer team for a while, and our ministry was suspended after the outbreak." Elizabeth's French has a very strong African accent.
"I've heard there are many signs and wonders in Africa, and you must have seen many of them."
"Oh, there are so many signs and wonders. Our whole family is a priest." She said as she opened her phone to show me pictures of her family.
"Wow, are your parents priests too?" I asked.
"No. My dad is a teacher and my mom is a businessman."
"That's really unusual, how did all your siblings become priests?" I was really curious about her story.
Elisabeth simply put down the food in her hands and told me the story of her family.
Some years ago, a German missionary brought the Gospel to Elizabeth's hometown, a small village in Togo. So the whole village came to faith, including Elizabeth's grandfather. Elizabeth's father grew up in the church and became a very devout Catholic. When he was thirty years old, Elizabeth's grandmother found a woman for her son to share a room with, but he was clean and didn't touch her at all. The next day, the woman went around the village spreading rumors that the man was abnormal and sexually incompetent. So the whole village believed it and humiliated Elizabeth's father, and even his family thought he was really abnormal. One day, some visionary Arabs came to the village and prophesied to Elizabeth's father that he would soon be married and that his children would be used by God. Soon after, he did get married to a sister, and his wife soon became pregnant. However, the villagers still did not believe that his wife was pregnant with his own child, for they were convinced that he was not sexually capable. It was only after their three children were born and raised, and people saw that several of them really looked like their father, that Elizabeth's family gradually got rid of the humiliation brought by the rumors.
Elizabeth's eldest sister, like her mother, was a shrewd and capable woman. They worked together in the business of selling shoes and medicines and made a lot of money within a year, becoming the richest family in the village. One day, however, just as the mother and daughter were on their way to do business, the bus they were on was involved in a major car accident in which many people were killed instantly. Elizabeth's mother survived, crying outside the bus and begging for help for her daughter who was pinned underneath. Many people concluded that her daughter had been crushed to death because the bus was so heavy. When they lifted her daughter's bloodied body out, they were amazed to find that the girl had survived with a trace of breath. Soon after, an old woman with the gift of prophecy told her, "God chose you to serve Him, but you went into business to make money, and that's why you had the accident. God will heal you, but you need to repent and serve God from now on." That day, Elizabeth's oldest sister was completely healed physically, and she repented before God with tears and gave herself to Him.
She began to pray for people who were sick, whether they were lame, paralyzed, deaf, or blind. ...... People were healed without exception. However, the Catholic Church where they lived excommunicated the family on the grounds that "women are not allowed to serve". In desperation, Elizabeth's oldest sister had to work with her brothers and sisters to build her own church full of the Holy Spirit. At first, Elizabeth didn't know anything, she just watched her sister pray and helped her, but later she was surprised to find that when she prayed for the sick by faith, she could also release healing power. She knew that this power was not of herself, but could only come from God. People who were partially paralyzed immediately got up from their wheelchairs, people who had been cursed with witchcraft and had gone mad were immediately released to become sane, and a steady stream of people came to them for prayer, even members of the royal family in Togo. ...... Later Elizabeth and her brother began to plant their own church and became full-time ministers to the Lord.
Today, at the age of forty-two, Elizabeth is still single. In an African culture where early marriage and childbearing are the norm, she is naturally seen as the "other". "I was so busy all those years, healing people and casting out demons, I didn't have time to think about marriage. Elizabeth said to me with a smile, showing off her white, shiny incisors. I gave her a thumbs up and was sincerely proud of her.
Elizabeth said that our meeting was God's plan. I believe that too.
I thank the Lord that I have met an African princess who truly delights in God.