Meet Anastasia Makuya

(Unfortunately, though her husband attended the Discipleship Class with her, we were only able to meet with Anastasia this time)

This beautiful Tanzanian Pastor's wife is not only lovely on the outside, but her heart reflects the heart of her Father, God. And believe it or not, these are not her children pictured with her, but her GRANDchildren!

Anastasia has quite a testimony. As she shared with us, we watched a dramatic transformation in her demeanor from gracefully quiet to a joyful enthusiasm filled with deep conviction. Born to Muslim parents, she had a very strict upbringing. As a young teenager she attended a "gathering" with her friends, which turned out to be a church meeting.  For the first time she heard the powerful message of the Gospel, and she made the choice to accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior.  Immediately, she received the Holy Spirit in very obvious ways.  There was no question for her; she knew (from experience) this was real, and for her there was no turning back!

She was severely persecuted by her family with terrible beatings and public renunciation of her place in the family and community.  While she was permitted to sleep in her parents' house, she was relegated to the floor. She could not use anything (including furniture) that belonged to the family. But nothing could convince her to renounce her conversion to Christianity.

A few years later she met Yohana Makuya, who hoped to become a pastor (also, later becoming a member of the Unity Committee, partnering with us to organize conferences for ministry leaders across the Rift Valley). They met...and married...and now have many children. Today, she actively works in the church, teaching and leading Bible Studies. She joys in even having been given the opportunity to preach a few times!

She looks forward to having more preaching and teaching opportunities, and says the training from AIM regarding Bible Study methods has been most helpful and is easy to teach others, too! She is, however, still hoping for audio scriptures in the future, to assist in teaching those without reading skills.