May My Life Be Only for The God I Serve
My Passport To Heaven
I was born into a Christian family. My father was, and still is, a Pastor of a Church here in Zambia. He is also the Director of “Gospelink” in our country. As I was growing up, I used to think that since my father was a Pastor of a Church and a born again child of God, that his commitment to his Church and to serving God was a passport for me to go straight to heaven when I died.
I truly believed I inherited the Kingdom of God only because I was my father’s son. This led me to live a life that was not pleasing to the Lord. Though I sang in the choir and led my youth group programs at our local Church, I did all sorts of evil things away from the watchful eyes of my father and the Church I served. I lived as I wanted thinking I already had my passport to heaven because my father was a Pastor and a believer in Jesus Christ.
The Promise Granted Through Faith
--- Romans 4:13-16
13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
What Led To My Salvation
One day I went to the nearby country of Malawi with my father. We were cycling our way there. My father was carrying my younger brother on his back while on his bike and me on mine. We traveled a very long distance. We were going to visit family and friends there in Malawi. As we were heading back home that night, we came across a group of armed robbers. They wanted to kill me with a sword they threatened us with. I was able to run away from them. They got away with my cycle. This was a very scary and sad time for me.
When we finally arrived back home in Zambia, we told our story to all of our family and friends. Everyone started crying and were so glad we made it back home safe and alive. So many people came to hear our witness about what had happened to us. They were praising the Lord believing that God is good. My heart was still very stubborn towards the Lord and His grace shown to me that day. I believed I arrived home safe and alive because I was the one so clever and so good. I went to bed that night. As I was trying to go to sleep, I started thinking about the love of God shown to me that day.
--- Romans 4:23-25
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,
24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
My Salvation
The following day, we went to a youth camp 7km away from my home. During the day time, the Preacher at the camp preached about the turning point of the soul. God revealed to me through this man of God many truths from God’s holy Word. From that moment forward, I had no peace in my heart and realized that I had never known the peace and rest of Christ. I finally realized that somebody else’s salvation could not serve to me anything that was good and lasting. The righteousness my father had received by grace through the faith given him by God, would count to me for nothing.
Being a child of a Pastor or even the son of Father Abraham, would never make anyone a child of the King. When it was about supper time, the electricity went off in the building at camp. We started singing songs of praise together as one. It was so amazing how those songs ministered to me. I began to cry sobbing a pool of tears. During the singing of these songs, I met a man named JESUS!
The Elder that was present there saw me in my convicted condition. He took me outside and began to share with me his witness and testimony about this man/this God Jesus Christ. That day God did a work in me through the power of His mighty Spirit. He changed my heart from all that I had known and believed before about Christ and how salvation is received from Him. By grace I was saved that day and by the faith He gave me I was raised from being dead in my sin to new life in Christ.
I know that work done in me by His Spirit that day was sure, for God is continuing to work in me growing me to be more like Christ every day.
--- Romans 4:19-22
19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
I Grew Spiritually
The Elder who led me to Christ that day began to teach me on how I could have the assurance of my salvation. He taught me so many truly wonderful things and I started to grow in the Lord. My Father also took me with him cycling to many training programs on the Word of God. All this helped me to grow from being a babe in the Lord to a mature child of God.
--- Romans 5:1-5
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
I grew in my faith knowing I had been justified and had received access to this grace of faith to stand against any tribulation. I grew in my ability to rejoice in the hope of this new found glory given to me of a holy and good God. That hope I have in Christ has never disappointed me, for the love of God is constantly being poured out to me by His Spirit of grace who dwells within me.
How Meeting Christ Has Changed My Life
The evil things I once did; I do them no more and have no desire to do them anymore. The evil groups of men I once wanted to be with; I no longer desire to be with them. I used to fear dying. Praise The Lord! I no longer have any fear of death, for I am assured that my physical death with no longer have a sting. I am like the thief on the cross. If I died today, Jesus has said to me as He said to the thief—“Tonight; you will be with me in paradise!”
--- 1 John 5:13
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
My Call To The Ministry
As I was growing in my faith and the grace of the Lord, I began to see God working in me through my prayers for people around me. I continued to lead the youth group, I began to preach to people sharing my testimony and witness. It always broke my heart to see the lost people. God began to use me adding many lost souls to His Kingdom. It was at this point in my life, I began to hear from my friends and family that I should become a Pastor. I did not agree with them, for I needed and wanted to hear it myself from God that this was true.
One great day during our mountain prayers, I heard a Word from God saying to me—Isaac, you are called to serve nations! I did not agree to this entirely at that moment. I gave God a condition. I told Him if He would speak those words again to me, I would agree. I did not hear those words from God again. I then decided to run away from this calling of God. I began to study auto mechanics. While in the process of studying on this, I was appointed to be the chairperson for the “Zambia Fellowshipping Students.” When we were at a fellowship meeting one day, I heard a Preacher say the same words to me—You are called to serve the nations!
I no longer had any peace with what I currently was doing pursuing auto mechanics. I began to work with the “Ministry of Health” for the next two years; yet I still had no peace at all in my heart. I resigned as an engineer and went to study theology in a nearby school in Malawi. I began to have a peace that God is good and His Word is true. I submitted to His will and His authority over me. I finally agreed to the will God had for me.
God has been so good all the time. He has worked in me using me to bring hope to the hopeless orphans of Zambia, evangelizing the world as He has made it available to me, and training Church leaders. He gave me a great vision to build an Ark of Grace to the Lord where the orphans, the poor, and the elderly could come and be fed. He has sent many to help me see this vision begin to grow and give new life to many who were dead.
What a loving and gracious God I serve that could use a sinner like me through the power of this man/this God Jesus Christ who shed His blood for me and you!
Thank You!
In Christ’s service
Pastor Isaac Daka,
My Passport To Heaven
I was born into a Christian family. My father was, and still is, a Pastor of a Church here in Zambia. He is also the Director of “Gospelink” in our country. As I was growing up, I used to think that since my father was a Pastor of a Church and a born again child of God, that his commitment to his Church and to serving God was a passport for me to go straight to heaven when I died.
I truly believed I inherited the Kingdom of God only because I was my father’s son. This led me to live a life that was not pleasing to the Lord. Though I sang in the choir and led my youth group programs at our local Church, I did all sorts of evil things away from the watchful eyes of my father and the Church I served. I lived as I wanted thinking I already had my passport to heaven because my father was a Pastor and a believer in Jesus Christ.
The Promise Granted Through Faith
--- Romans 4:13-16
13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
What Led To My Salvation
One day I went to the nearby country of Malawi with my father. We were cycling our way there. My father was carrying my younger brother on his back while on his bike and me on mine. We traveled a very long distance. We were going to visit family and friends there in Malawi. As we were heading back home that night, we came across a group of armed robbers. They wanted to kill me with a sword they threatened us with. I was able to run away from them. They got away with my cycle. This was a very scary and sad time for me.
When we finally arrived back home in Zambia, we told our story to all of our family and friends. Everyone started crying and were so glad we made it back home safe and alive. So many people came to hear our witness about what had happened to us. They were praising the Lord believing that God is good. My heart was still very stubborn towards the Lord and His grace shown to me that day. I believed I arrived home safe and alive because I was the one so clever and so good. I went to bed that night. As I was trying to go to sleep, I started thinking about the love of God shown to me that day.
--- Romans 4:23-25
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,
24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
My Salvation
The following day, we went to a youth camp 7km away from my home. During the day time, the Preacher at the camp preached about the turning point of the soul. God revealed to me through this man of God many truths from God’s holy Word. From that moment forward, I had no peace in my heart and realized that I had never known the peace and rest of Christ. I finally realized that somebody else’s salvation could not serve to me anything that was good and lasting. The righteousness my father had received by grace through the faith given him by God, would count to me for nothing.
Being a child of a Pastor or even the son of Father Abraham, would never make anyone a child of the King. When it was about supper time, the electricity went off in the building at camp. We started singing songs of praise together as one. It was so amazing how those songs ministered to me. I began to cry sobbing a pool of tears. During the singing of these songs, I met a man named JESUS!
The Elder that was present there saw me in my convicted condition. He took me outside and began to share with me his witness and testimony about this man/this God Jesus Christ. That day God did a work in me through the power of His mighty Spirit. He changed my heart from all that I had known and believed before about Christ and how salvation is received from Him. By grace I was saved that day and by the faith He gave me I was raised from being dead in my sin to new life in Christ.
I know that work done in me by His Spirit that day was sure, for God is continuing to work in me growing me to be more like Christ every day.
--- Romans 4:19-22
19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
I Grew Spiritually
The Elder who led me to Christ that day began to teach me on how I could have the assurance of my salvation. He taught me so many truly wonderful things and I started to grow in the Lord. My Father also took me with him cycling to many training programs on the Word of God. All this helped me to grow from being a babe in the Lord to a mature child of God.
--- Romans 5:1-5
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
I grew in my faith knowing I had been justified and had received access to this grace of faith to stand against any tribulation. I grew in my ability to rejoice in the hope of this new found glory given to me of a holy and good God. That hope I have in Christ has never disappointed me, for the love of God is constantly being poured out to me by His Spirit of grace who dwells within me.
How Meeting Christ Has Changed My Life
The evil things I once did; I do them no more and have no desire to do them anymore. The evil groups of men I once wanted to be with; I no longer desire to be with them. I used to fear dying. Praise The Lord! I no longer have any fear of death, for I am assured that my physical death with no longer have a sting. I am like the thief on the cross. If I died today, Jesus has said to me as He said to the thief—“Tonight; you will be with me in paradise!”
--- 1 John 5:13
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
My Call To The Ministry
As I was growing in my faith and the grace of the Lord, I began to see God working in me through my prayers for people around me. I continued to lead the youth group, I began to preach to people sharing my testimony and witness. It always broke my heart to see the lost people. God began to use me adding many lost souls to His Kingdom. It was at this point in my life, I began to hear from my friends and family that I should become a Pastor. I did not agree with them, for I needed and wanted to hear it myself from God that this was true.
One great day during our mountain prayers, I heard a Word from God saying to me—Isaac, you are called to serve nations! I did not agree to this entirely at that moment. I gave God a condition. I told Him if He would speak those words again to me, I would agree. I did not hear those words from God again. I then decided to run away from this calling of God. I began to study auto mechanics. While in the process of studying on this, I was appointed to be the chairperson for the “Zambia Fellowshipping Students.” When we were at a fellowship meeting one day, I heard a Preacher say the same words to me—You are called to serve the nations!
I no longer had any peace with what I currently was doing pursuing auto mechanics. I began to work with the “Ministry of Health” for the next two years; yet I still had no peace at all in my heart. I resigned as an engineer and went to study theology in a nearby school in Malawi. I began to have a peace that God is good and His Word is true. I submitted to His will and His authority over me. I finally agreed to the will God had for me.
God has been so good all the time. He has worked in me using me to bring hope to the hopeless orphans of Zambia, evangelizing the world as He has made it available to me, and training Church leaders. He gave me a great vision to build an Ark of Grace to the Lord where the orphans, the poor, and the elderly could come and be fed. He has sent many to help me see this vision begin to grow and give new life to many who were dead.
What a loving and gracious God I serve that could use a sinner like me through the power of this man/this God Jesus Christ who shed His blood for me and you!
Thank You!
In Christ’s service
Pastor Isaac Daka,