There's a companion What is a testimony morning? Sunday School video that you may be interested in.
Please note that the video is only Ruth's testimony, for the introduction and conclusion you will need to listen to the audio recording.
Songs:
Good morning to everyone listening to the Medway Church testimony service today.
We well remember welcoming Hans and Ruth van Stormbroek to our church over many years, and we always appreciated their teaching from God’s word. It is really tough, to just welcome Ruth this morning, they were always a couple, and always partners in ministry, it is difficult to comprehend that there is a Ruth without a Hans. We extend our condolences and sympathy to Ruth again, because the funeral took place under lockdown and we could not all be there to show our support.
For those listening that don’t know the background to Hans and Ruth, very briefly Hans was a teacher at Settlers High school and Ruth was a nurse before they went into full-time ministry teaching life skills and leading bible studies in prisons, mainly in the Paarl and Wellington area. They also travelled internationally to share their teaching and training skills, and they have taught others how to teach and share their faith in Jesus. They have helped many prisoners accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and they have mentored them in prison and after they were released from prison.
Please listen to Ruth as she shares her testimony now.
Ruth, thank you for sharing with us your thoughts and experiences during these past few very difficult months, I am sure it was not easy, but I am sure God gave you the strength and courage to share from your heart, so that He might be glorified. What did strike me, was how the scripture that you know and have taught, has sustained and kept you throughout the past several months, and how important it is for us to read God’s word regularly, and rely on God’s promises found in the Bible. Absolute trust and faith in God in very difficult circumstances is not easy, and to be able to praise God in all circumstances is a serious challenge to us all.
Thanks Ruth for your message, it has certainly touched my heart and I am sure many others, and yes, I did shed a tear, but I have been challenged to rely on God’s word and trust in God implicitly, even in the most difficult circumstances I find myself in sometimes. I am sure for some of us it took us back to when we lost a loved one or a partner, and reminded us of our experience and the pain, but also of God’s faithfulness and goodness even in the darkest days, so that we can praise and thank God again.
Let us pray together.
Our God and heavenly Father, thank you for speaking to us and challenging us today, through this powerful testimony from Ruth. Thank you for the life of Hans and his example of faith and trust in you, and his example of selfless service to others. Help us Lord to trust in you alone and to stand on your promises, and to know your joy and peace in our lives. Thank you Lord for helping Ruth share her personal testimony from her heart with us today, of how you have sustained her by your word through some very difficult and dark days. May Ruth know your comfort and help in the days ahead, as she returns to the ministry that you called Hans and Ruth to in the prisons, and training others. We pray that the Holy Spirit will apply these words of testimony to our hearts so that our lives may be changed, and that our trust will be in you alone. We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory for ever and ever, Amen.
