Faith Warrior: A Memoir of the Acts of God

By Dr. Evelyn Roberts

What will you do differently if you knew beyond reasonable doubt that your giving, singing in the choir, or serving in any capacity in church, or praying for lost souls and sharing the good news of the Gospel will not be in vain? In this book, you will find an eyewitness account of what the Lord Jesus Christ said, when He appeared to the Author.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Nov 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781640883086

Dr. Evelyn Roberts

Dr. Evelyn Roberts is a sought after career and business consultant for over thirty years. She has mentored many young adults from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, and West Africa. Helping thousands of them discover their gifts and talents. Dr. Evelyn Roberts, earned her doctorate from the University of Cincinnati and has served in different capacities as a college professor, conference speaker, founder and CEO of Transcontinental Education, Inc. She lives in Maryland, USA with her family.

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FAITH

Warrior

A Memoir of the Acts of God

DR. EVELYN ROBERTS

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2019 by Evelyn Roberts

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version. Cambridge Edition: 1769.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information, address Trilogy Christian Publishing

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, Ca 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/ TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-64088-307-9

ISBN 97-1-64088-308-6

DEDICATED to YOU, who wants to know where God is in the midst of all the pain and suffering in world. And to you, whose faith has been weakened by the circumstances of life and who feels like throwing in the towel.

Introduction

Forty-one years ago, my cousin DD spoke to me in the comfort of our living room about the meaning of Christmas. Before we had that conversation, I thought Christmas was about gifts, dresses, parties, special church services, fun, and family get-togethers. That informal conversation initiated my journey of faith, doubts, and spirituality.

You may be on your own journey of discovering spirituality, and that is the reason why you are reading this book. The road has been tough. Friends who once embraced you now look the other way. Your problems and trials are at different levels of intensity. You keep awake at night. Your heart beats faster when you hear a knock on your door. Your energy and zest are gone. You are wondering how you are going to get through the day. Sometimes, you wake up in the morning trying to figure out which day of the week it is.

It is amazing that the events of life do not come to us neatly packaged, nor do they flow in a smooth, linear progression like a waterfall. Sometimes it’s a splash, murky and foggy. Yet in all of this, you must make sense of the flow. One of the coping strategies is to seize every opportunity to be inspired by the stories of men and women who overcame their doubts and fears and won the battles they encountered in their lifetime.

In this technological age, knowledge is transmitted by the click of a mouse. New knowledge is added to every field of endeavor by the second. Many scholars, from Aristotle to our modern times, have propounded theories about the existence of God. Some believe that He is; others believe there is no such thing as God. However, no matter what your belief system is, one cannot argue with personal experience. As is often said, experience is the best teacher. When you have an encounter, and you find out that people from different cultures, ethnicities, and educational backgrounds are experiencing the same thing, you cannot treat it as a fallacy.

The purpose of this book is to share with you some of the challenges, trials, doubts, and heartbreaks that I have experienced in my personal journey of faith and spirituality. The mountaintop and valley experiences. The triumphs and the failures. The heartaches and the joys of knowing Christ as my Lord and personal Savior. Jesus said:

These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33 NKJV).

Above all, I want to share with you the keys to winning your fight of faith. Through four decades of knowing and walking with God, I have discovered firsthand insights into how to keep believing until the answer comes, or even if God does not answer your prayer the way you envisaged He would. I have learned lessons that have helped me to overcome my doubts and fears. I regained the strength to keep going until God’s will came to pass in my life.

I hope you can draw inspiration and encouragement from these stories. What do you do when your faith seems weak, and victory is lost? I hope to help you find a reason to continue, even though the question on your mind right now is, Where was God when I needed him the most?

This is a book for every man, woman, young adult—and all those searching for answers to why bad things happen to good people. To my fellow believers out there who need a reassurance of their faith and hope in an unseen (yet always present) God.

Chapter 1

To Be or Not to Be?

It was a lovely Friday morning. The sun was shining bright and beautiful over Tema, the second largest city in Ghana. Elizabeth, my mom—dark in complexion, strongly built, six foot two inches tall—lived and worked as a businesswoman in Tema. She was heavily pregnant with her third child and had worked throughout her pregnancy. The baby was due for delivery any time now. She got ready to travel to her hometown of Abetifi. Our hometown is located on a mountaintop. As a matter of fact, it is the highest point in our nation, Ghana, and has been home to many missionaries from Germany and Britain because of the cool weather. Thus, it is one of the cradles of Christianity and education in Ghana. The Basel missionaries from Germany settled in Abetifi and established a church and mission schools, and from there spread to other parts of Ghana.

The journey from Tema to Abetifi is through a maze of meandering and narrow roads. Some parts of the road are tarred; the majority of the road is untarred. Large cars, small cars, trucks, bicycles, motor bikes, and pedestrians share the tiny, two-lane road. There are no highways designated for large trucks and separate roads for smaller cars or trucks. Both private and commercial vehicles struggle to share this tiny road. Traffic is very heavy, and all the vehicles are sandwiched between each other. All the vehicles are moving at a tortoise- and snail-like pace. The potholes on the road serve the same purpose as constructed speed bumps.

As you travel along the road, there are hawkers selling their goods by the roadside. They yell to pedestrians to take a look at their goods. The hawkers from time to time rush in a mob-like action towards vehicles that have slowed down. The traders seize every opportunity to persuade travelers to buy something that they may have forgotten to pack for the journey. Others sell food to travelers to take away for a journey that takes three hours. You will often hear the different voices of both the young and the old hawkers, screaming out loud:

Some bread for the journey!

Some oranges, that taste as sweet as honey!

Some mints to freshen your mouth!

Variety of sodas: Coke, Fanta, and Sprite, to quench your thirst!

Fresh and tasty kebabs to go!

Ma’am, help me out, I have not made any sales today, pressurizing the traveler to buy something.

Soon, you leave behind the deafening noises of car horns and hawkers. In less than an hour’s drive, you have departed from the heart of the city with its hassle and bustle, businesses, heavy traffic, and pedestrians crossing in between cars, and you are on your way towards the Eastern Region of Ghana. Bordered on both sides of the road to the towns and villages of the Eastern Region are a maze of trees, farm lands, and thick forests, interspersed with both mud and brick houses.

My mom said that as she traveled from Tema to Abetifi, she glanced at her watch constantly. From time to time, she felt the movement of the child and some pressure on her pelvis, and wondered if the baby was trying to come. She hoped and prayed that she would make it to my grandma Susana, and to the renowned midwife in her hometown, Auntie Bea.

My mom arrived safely. This was her third child, so she was familiar with birth pangs and some of the other symptoms when labor set in. Upon arrival, she headed out to the home of the midwife, Auntie Bea. While there, her water broke, and the baby was on the way. On Friday, May 19, 1961, after a long journey from the city of Tema to our hometown Abetifi, I was born: a bouncing baby girl, loved and adored by my parents. I am the firstborn of my father, but the third child born of my mother, and the only girl when I was born. Thus, my birth brought great joy to their hearts.

My mom told me the story of how she had already given birth to two boys. She was divorced, and had travelled to the city of Tema to make something great out of her life. She was a trained seamstress, but she was now settling down and trying to build her clientele in this new city. She had no customers since she had relocated. So, she had resorted to petty trading while she tried to build her clientele. She barely had enough to feed herself and the two house helpers that she had brought with her to the city. It was in the midst of these struggles that she met my dad.

The two were madly in love, and shortly after that she found out she was pregnant. She felt the pregnancy would derail her ambition of establishing a successful business. Besides, she needed time to settle down in her new location. So she decided to abort the baby. She was living in Tema with her cousin, Auntie Hannah. My mom ran the idea of aborting the baby by her. Auntie Hannah had lost her baby at birth. It had been many years since her loss, but she was still childless. So, she advised my mom not to abort the baby, but to give birth, and she would adopt the baby right after