As a Mission Canada worker to our Quebec and Francophone Canada priority, I have the privilege of speaking everyday with people who are on a journey searching for hope and purpose for living.

Have you experienced a difficult situation that seems to have no way out? This is the case of Mariam* who lives in the Ivory Coast in Africa and many other visitors who write to us via our website mesdefisjenparle.com.

Ella* is a trained online mentor (tmm.io) who has been working with me for less than two years. She was unsure if she could really be an agent of change and life transformation for a complete stranger. But God surprised her and here is her testimony...

Mariam and I had been writing to each other since May of last year. She had lost her “joie de vivre” because her marriage was falling apart. Her husband was verbally abusive, didn’t trust her and didn’t support her when she needed to talk.

She couldn’t forgive him and wanted a divorce. Before doing that, she decided to talk to someone and wrote to me via our digital discipleship website. I asked Mariam if I could pray for her. “Yes, I really need it”, she replied.

When I told her my story, of how I turned to God in difficult times, I was very happy to read her response: “Thank you so much, Ella. I want to know Jesus. I want to live for Him and want Him to be my best friend. I want to have a deep, intimate connection with Him, to be able to talk to Him and hear His voice. But I don’t know how.”

What a great opportunity for me to share the gospel! Mariam had carried so much anger and pain for so long that she didn’t know what to do. I continued to send her texts about Christ’s forgiveness and my prayers for her. As we talked, the Holy Spirit opened her eyes to see that in her struggles she could also draw close to God. She began to trust Jesus as her Saviour! Mariam’s marriage remained difficult, so much so that she left her husband. I encouraged her to turn her burden over to the Lord and pray for her husband. Later, Mariam responded by thanking me for my prayer, saying that she had asked God to heal her heart and help her sincerely forgive her husband. It wasn’t easy, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, she surrendered to the Lord and returned to her husband. Mariam sent me this message in March: “Through you, God speaks to me, answers me, and comforts me. I bless the Name of the Lord for you. God bless you for being such a blessing to me."

Then, in October of 2022, Mariam wrote to Ella to let her know that her husband went to church with her for the first time. What a joy!

Carole Amico:  It is amazing how, in the digital discipleship world that I work in, that one login (mesdefisjenparle.com), one incoming message (tmm.io) and online mentoring becomes a tool for change: Mariam grants forgiveness to her husband, she comes to the Lord, and attends a church on the recommendation of Ella. Ella’s online coaching helps her grow spiritually. Mariam’s transformation touches her husband who also starts to attend church with her and begins a journey towards Jesus.

One of my dreams for ministry is unfolding before my eyes quietly, yet not fast enough. It is to have thousands of stories like Mariam and Ella. Two people who don’t know each other develop spiritual conversations. One of them mentors the other to becomes interested in Jesus Christ to the point of joining a church and then spiritually mentoring others herself!

Now fast forward to 2023: Mariam asked to be trained as an online mentor. At the online meeting of all the mentors in April, we were surprised and overjoyed to meet Mariam! She was no longer just a first name, but on Zoom her first name had a face!

What a perfect scenario! A mentee who gives her life to Jesus, integrates herself in a church and gives of her time to mentor others. Let’s imagine that this scenario is repeated several times a month! We could saturate the French speaking world with the gospel!

I’m so thankful for Mariam’s JOURNEY TO JESUS and how He is now using her, like Ella and myself as we work in the digital space, to impact the lives of others and see His kingdom expanded.

*names are changed for privacy purposes.