This week marks 10 years since the story began! In February 2009, I was one year into what would be a two-year recovery from a tragic rollover accident that broke the top two vertebrae of my neck. I had been scheduled to move to Botswana in February 2008 as a long-term Youth for Christ missionary to fill the position of a music/drama team leader. The accident had happened just before I was supposed to leave.
The accident occurred the Sunday before my last week of training at Mission Training International in Colorado. Six of us from the training were driving to church the Sunday before our last week of training, when we were struck by another driver who had lost consciousness. Tragically, three of us (Karin, Jessica, and Isaac) did not survive. Even while in the hospital in Colorado, nurses asked me if I was still going to go to Botswana. I responded by asking, “Am I going to live?” [Yes] “Then I’m going to go to Botswana!” God had really clearly called me since 2002 to move to Botswana. (You can read a bit more of that calling story if you click on the tab above that says "July 10th Testimony").
But Was Something Shifting?
It wasn’t until a year after the accident, in February 2009, that I started questioning if Botswana was really where God still wanted me. I felt something shifting in what I would be doing, but I couldn’t put my finger on it...
The Day Ember First Came Up, God Confirmed My Call to Botswana
On February 14, 2009 I was chaperoning my church youth group kids at a youth event in Minnesota called Acquire the Fire. During the day between sessions at the conference I wrote this in my journal:
This past week (and maybe last week), I’ve also been thinking about how I don’t really have a specific vision for my ministry that God has given. What does God really want me to do there [in Botswana]? Sure “the vision” is the music/drama team, but is that really God’s vision for me? and what are the specifics?—What does that look like, what does He want to do through me in Botswana?
Then even today during worship I was kneeling down and feeling like I want nothing at all to hinder God in my life…feeling like I have to be able to yield and give up anything/everything, even my own idea of what my calling/vision is—that I shouldn’t hold onto that more than God if God were to adjust what He was calling me to do or send me in a different direction.
And that started me thinking that maybe since it’s been so long since I was called to Botswana that maybe I “missed” that calling and He doesn’t want me to go there anymore, or it was for a reason to get me where I am today, but to now re-direct me (perhaps within YFC?). I remember earlier this week or last remembering what people had asked—if I had re-considered my call to Botswana after the accident? I had always said no because of the overload of confirmation…but then not much at all has really happened this year in terms of confirmation to Botswana…so I think I even was thinking, “Is Botswana still where you want me, God?...or was the accident a way to re-direct me?? Maybe I was called there but it’s taken so long that I essentially “missed” it and am supposed to go somewhere else??”
**Right after that time of worship when I was on my knees questioning my very call to Botswana, the main speaker gave a talk about missions (the only missions talk all weekend). Near the end of his message, he had those stand who feel called to missionary service…so I stood. Then he had us yell out our hometown on the count of 3, so I yelled “Lexington!” Then he said,
“You mean to tell me that someone from [Lexington! – he had us all yell our hometown again here] is going to Africa and is going to see God change the face of that continent?” It sounded like thousands cheered.Then he spoke these words:
“You mean to tell me that someone from [Lexington!] is going to Botswana and going to see God change that nation through you, change the face of that nation?!”Immediately, I yelled triumphantly and punched my fist into the air, the ONLY person in that crowd of thousands! As I did so, my youth group kids had turned to me… “That’s you, Em!” And I realized that the doubts and questions I had JUST been wrestling with had just melted away. I AM called to Botswana…of course I am called to Botswana! It was as if the Lord used this just to remind and convince myself that, Yes, I am called to Botswana…still called, still going! The speaker ended his talk with this: “God has a plan for your life that is so much bigger than you.”
A Divine Appointment That Same Day
Later that same day at the conference, I ran into a guy named Joe that I met about a year and a half earlier while staying in Minnesota in the fall of 2007. I think I only met him for a couple hours back then, but he’d wanted to hear my testimony so I had shared my calling to Botswana story with him. I had not seen him since because we had been living in different states. Thus, it was a surprise to run into him in a crowd of about 8,000 people. I shared with Joe what had been stirring in my heart about my calling to Botswana, and he said:
“You are going to Botswana. That is for sure. He’s brought you too far to change. I think you had all the Botswana calling confirmation because you would need it. There are very few people who get that much [confirmation] and very few who go through what you did [with the accident]. I don’t doubt you are called to go to Botswana, but I wouldn’t be surprised if what you’re picturing to do in Botswana isn’t what you will really do. It may be part of what you will do, but a small part and God wants to do much more. Your vision and what He’s called you to do may not be the same.”He shared that the Lord has really been leading him to get a vision of who he is called to be, not what he is called do (i.e. being a trustworthy man of honor, being a man who confesses and repents quickly, a man of humility, a man of vulnerability, etc). He said that the Lord also wants to give me a vision of who I am to be, not just what I am called to do. As he was sharing that, what came to my mind was how I should take my name, Em, and make a vision statement using the words that start with “Em-” …along my journey with God I’d used some in my journals, like Empty self, Embrace Christ, Embody Christ, etc. but never thought to put them together into one place like a vision statement. That night and the next day, many more came to mind than ever before. “Ember” came up for the first time ever, and I believe it was the first one to come to my mind, as it was the first I wrote in the list that night: Ember, Empty, Embrace, Emulate, Embody, Empathize, Emphasize, Emanate, Emancipate, Empower, Embolden as an Emissary!
Here is the vision statement after it was fleshed out later on:
Called to Be an Ember!
The following Sunday, I was thinking about “ember” before church and then there was an announcement at church for an “Ember Service” coming up!? It read: “Ember Days are times for fasting and penitence, offering ourselves to his service.” That day, I wrote this in my journal: “I am to be an ember, burning for the Lord and setting fire to others; burn like John the Baptist” [who is described in John 5 as a burning and shining lamp].
That night I looked up “ember” on Wikipedia to read that they are hot coals that radiate a constant heat unlike an open flame that is blown by the wind. Spiritually-speaking, that is ideal—to be so “on fire” constantly that no winds of change or adversity can extinguish your passion and love for Christ. Embers remain after and sometimes precede a fire; they can rekindle a fire that was thought to be completely extinguished. During a large [forest] fire, with the right wind conditions, embers can be blown far ahead of the fire front, starting spot fires hundreds of metres away.
Wow Lord, what a perfect analogy to fit with who You are calling me to be—to burn for You…To radiate and rekindle fires that are thought to be completely extinguished – to bring revival to a place or a people who have lost their fiery passion and which may appear to be completely extinguished… To radiate a more constant form of heat, not blown about and shifted by the winds of change, adversity, persecution, and deception…to have an inner life that is burning constantly...and to be able to be sent far ahead of the fire front to start fires…as a forerunner...burning to precede the fire of revival.
Ember confirmations the Next Weekend
Five days later, I attended the Women’s retreat for Bethany College of Missions, and there, of all possible topics, the speaker decided to give her talk about a graduate of the college named Ember (the only Ember I’d ever met at that point...the second one I ever met is little Ember in Kansas named after me)!
Then the next day of the retreat, I came inside from the snowy cold and was warming my hands by the fireplace. Here is how I described it later in a prayer in my journal:
Jesus, I want to burn for You—to just radiate Your love and presence. Lord, make me an Ember. How perfectly like You to have Elisabeth speak of Ember at the retreat, and then the next day to have me come inside the cabin …to warm up my hands over the fire in the fireplace and to ask You in the silence, ‘Lord, what do You want to speak to me?’ and then realize I was staring straight at glowing embers and was able to rekindle the fire then and later that night from just one or two flickering embers. Oh Lord, may it be true of me in reality that I am an Ember. Lord, ignite my heart with an unquenchable fire that nothing can affect. Lord, I want to burn passionately hot, consistently radiating Your love to those around me, setting their hearts on fire.
Shifting the Focus to Rekindling the Ministry in Gaborone?
A couple months later I received an email from the YFC Botswana National Director, E.J., telling me that he thought maybe we should shift the focus of my ministry from starting with a dance/drama travel team to first restarting the YFC ministry in the capital city, Gaborone. (He didn't know that I'd also been feeling like something was shifting in what I'd do in Botswana). He told me that at that point, the YFC ministry in Gaborone had completely stopped, but he would like me to restart it. What came back to mind was how embers rekindle a fire that was thought to be extinguished; and “Ember” first came up the same day I’d really been feeling that shifting in what I would do in Botswana.
Gaborone, capital of Botswana:
The very same day that E.J. emailed me suggesting I consider working in Gaborone, I read a short autobiography about a Kenyan man named Sammy Wanyanyi. He lived in a village in Kenya but felt God calling him to minister in his African capital city (Nairobi). He had been resistant at first, preferring the rural villages (exactly how I felt that day!), but he went to the capital city and God blessed his ministry. I wondered if this was God nudging me to go to the capital city too (Gaborone)? Then I read several more connections in the book –i.e. he miraculously survived a rollover accident where 3 people died (as I did!--three people died in my rollover and doctors have said my survival and recovery is miraculous); he went to Bethany College of Missions in Minnesota (as I did!); and the short book mentions “ember”! He also met and received prayer from evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, the significance of which I’ll describe below…
Etchings in a Park Bench...
In early August 2009, I went for a walk in Minnehaha Falls park in St. Paul, Minnesota, and I wondered if I could still see something I’d seen 2+ years earlier. Back in June 2007, I’d felt the Lord drawing me to spend time with Him at that park, and once I was seated on this bench, I felt led to look down at the bench.
That day in 2007, to my surprise, I’d seen, carved into the wood, a heart with just “EM” written inside! I didn't have a digital camera back then, but here is a picture of it that I drew in my journal in 2007:
So in August 2009, when I was back at that park, I wondered if it was still visible 2+ years later. I was speechlessly amazed to see, freshly carved (so the wood was yellow) in all caps: “EMBER”!!! The faint outline of the heart was still visible—so it was the original EM from the heart, but it had been extended into EMBER! I still didn't have a digital camera then, but below is a photo of it from a year later in 2010, and in the second photo you can see the remnant of the original heart:
Wow! I was just speechless, and it still just amazes me!
Moving to Botswana
At long last, I left for Botswana on February 14, 2010—one year exactly from the day “Ember” first came up. A couple weeks later, I opened up my new Setswana-English dictionary randomly, and the second word I saw was legala – my eyes scanned across to see the English meaning: ember!
I’m not sure at what point exactly, but by May 2010 I was starting to think of Ember as a new name God had given me. I can tell this from a poetic prayer I wrote in my journal 17 May 2010, which included this:
Two weeks later, I read the book The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson. I had first picked this book up at a bookstore earlier that year in January, and it had fallen open on my lap right where it talked about Botswana and dedicated warriors rising up to fight against AIDS there like how Caleb had risen up to fight the giants and re-take the mountain city of Hebron in Joshua 14 (the same “Give me this mountain!” passage that E.J. had encouraged me with in the very same email where he suggested I shift my focus to Gaborone!).
I finally read all of The Dream Giver in Botswana in late May 2010, and part of it reminded me of what had happened on February 14, 2009—the day Ember first came up. The book is an allegory, and we are supposed to identify with Ordinary, while the Dream Giver is God. The Dream Giver had given Ordinary a Dream, but at one juncture, He asked Ordinary to give back his Dream. Ordinary was confused and resistant at first, but eventually realized he wanted the Dream Giver more than the Dream, so he gave the Dream back. Then almost immediately, the same day, the Dream Giver gave him his Dream back, and Ordinary could see that it had grown and was part of the Dream Giver’s Big Dream for the whole world. Then after that, others began to call Ordinary by a new name, Warrior.
This is what I wrote in my journal that night (May 31, 2010) after reading The Dream Giver and being reminded of what happened on February 14, 2009 (when, at the conference, I'd knelt down saying I wanted God more than Botswana, and then Botswana came up right away and Ember first came up that day):
**Now what happened in February 2009 is making clearer sense than ever…God wanted me to surrender Botswana to Him, to be sure I wanted Him and His will more than what I thought my Dream was and what I’d worked toward for years…and then when I surrendered it, just minutes later He gave it back to me…and even bigger…and it was that day that He gave me my new name – Ember.First Times I Referred to Myself as Ember...Just with God
Looking back in my journal, I can see that from early June 2010, I started signing my journaled prayers to God as Ember, though I hadn’t yet told anyone else that Ember was a new name God had given me:
More Confirmation at the Park Bench!
On 2 July 2010, I was back in the U.S. after my father’s unexpected death, and so I was back at the bench in the park in St. Paul (when I took the first pictures of EMBER on the bench). Interestingly, now written twice on the bench was "May 17, 2010." I looked back in my journal to see what happened on that date, and May 17, 2010 was when I had written the poetic prayer I mentioned above about that very bench and how it first had the EM in the heart etched there and later the name God gave me etched there – EMBER! That was the first time I can find in my journals where I wrote that Ember is a new name from God. Before that, I had thought of it like God just wanted me to be like an ember, not necessarily that Ember was a new name.
“What does ember mean?”..."What has God named you?"
In late November 2010, one of my 8 housemates volunteering with Youth for Christ (a German who had no idea about this Ember testimony or that God had given me a new name) asked me, “What does ember mean?” (she read it on the directions for a mosquito repellant coil). That very same night, I saw notes in my journal from a sermon I’d listened to earlier in the year about how God, like an earthly father, gives His children nicknames. “Oh, what a powerful thing to name. I wonder, what has God named you? Have you ever had God call you a name?” In the notes I re-read that day, I’d written: “Given you a name (Ember).”
Ember = A New Name Given By God
That December, I went back to the U.S. to be with my mom and brother for Christmas. On New Year’s Eve, during a time of prayer for healing at a large Christian conference, one of the people praying for my neck/jaw healing started praying, “God, You’ve given her a new name—Ember. She’s a firestarter! She will start a raging wildfire in Botswana.” The young lady who prayed that had been in a high school bible study where I’d shared about Ember over 1.5 years earlier, but I had not mentioned anything about Ember being a new name and I hadn’t seen her since then until the conference…so it was just interesting that she was praying that out of the blue during the time of prayer for healing!? Just hours later after midnight on New Year’s Day, a girl I’d just met who knew nothing about Ember asked me (as if she knew the answer was yes), “Has God ever given you a new name?”
Later that New Year’s Day, I saw my daily bible reading plan for New Year’s Eve/Day, included: “His servants He will call by another name” (Isaiah 65:15b); “And you shall be called by a new name, that the mouth of the Lord will give” (Isaiah 62:2)!!!
"Firestarter"
“Firestarter” had come up the day before as well—At the conference, I had told another girl about the Ember testimony and she had said, “You are like a firestarter – an ember that is blown by the wind of the Holy Spirit – carried by the winds of the Spirit wherever it blows and starting fires wherever you go.” That same day, I’d read a quote about “embers of revival”—that when a city has experienced transformation by the gospel, “grateful Christians take the embers of revival into surrounding communities and nations” (p196, Desperate for His Presence by Rhonda Hughey). Also, about ten days earlier, I had visited a friend in Canada and seen a magazine called Firestarters on her table.
"You shall be called by a new name..." = Bible Reading the Day Ember First Came Up!!
A few weeks later, looking back in my journal, I realized that the bible reading plan for the first day that Ember ever came up (February 14, 2009) included that same verse that was for New Year’s Day (when I was asked if God ever gave me a new name just hours after the girl said God has given me the new name, Ember): “And you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give”—Isaiah 62:2!!!
[There is much more confirmation about "ember" and being given a new name that happened in the next couple years which you can read about in the longer version if you click the tab at the top saying "Ember New Name Testimony"]
Embers Gathering at INFERNO Prayer Meeting
In 2013, I was leading worship at the weekly INFERNO prayer meeting, which had been going on for about a year (and is still burning today!). I felt the name should be INFERNO, signifying that we are embers gathering together to rekindle our love for Christ and connect with God’s burning heart and then be sent out from there to rekindle others.
Confirmation from Malaysia on Embers in Botswana!
That day at INFERNO, one of the regular attendees and YFC volunteer signed up for the Magala Mentoring Programme I was developing (Magala means embers in Setswana, as the mentors were embers kindling the flame of faith and potential in the mentees), James, told us that an elder from the church he attended while he studied in Malaysia had sent him an email in which he’d had a vision of youth in Botswana being embers!! Here are some excerpts:
As we were praying, an image of embers came to my mind, embers are the red hot glowing coals from the firewood we burn. Embers which were fired up by God when He brought different Batswana to different part of the world, through education scholarships, to be saved and to catch the revival fire. God loves and have a plan for Botswana. But after they are back in Botswana many are isolated. And we know that an isolated ember dies fast. God told me to pray, to encourage and to gather the embers which the enemy tries to scatter. God told me to gather. Gather. Gather one by one and He will rekindle the fire in us…Then the fired up embers will then fire up other embers which are gathered and as the fire grows we will be sent out to different part of the country to set the country on fire, bring revival fire across Botswana and beyond…That elder who had the Embers vision, Elder Kuan Cheen, moved to Botswana for a couple years after that and attended INFERNO sometimes. Below is a picture from the months that he offered to host INFERNO at his church, ACTS, after Youth for Christ had to move out of its centre.
It's time to gather and rekindle the fire. We are to go out to invite, to gather the embers, to come to pray to seek Him to build the fire. You will know who these people are, your friends, those who are on fire and those whose fire needs to be rekindled by God's fire.
Reinhard Bonnke - Connection to Gaborone and Ember
Back to evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, whom I mentioned near the beginning of this post. The first time I heard of him was when I read that book about Sammy Wanyonyi in May 2009 on the same day that E.J. emailed me to suggest that I shift my focus to re-starting the YFC ministry in Gaborone. Sammy providentially met Reinhard Bonnke, who prayed over him and his ministry. Interestingly enough, I was invited to a breakfast in 2014 in Johannesburg to hear Reinhard Bonnke speak and pray over us! I learned that he is like the “Billy Graham of Africa” and has preached to more than 100 million people!
The Womb of His Ministry = Gaborone, Botswana!!!
But get this! –Bonnke says that the womb of his ministry (Christ for All Nations, CfAN) is Gaborone, Botswana!! The Lord led him to preach in Gaborone 40+ years ago, and it was the first time he preached in a stadium (and now stadiums are too small—i.e. 1.6 million people attended one open-air meeting!).
At the breakfast I attended in early 2014 (pictured below, you see the back of my head to the left of Bonnke), Reinhard Bonnke started by pointing out Pastor Kgwarapi from Gaborone in the audience and sharing that Gaborone is where it all began 40 years ago (Pastor Kgwarapi, one of the most well-respected pastors in Gaborone who attends prayer walks we organise, gave his life to Christ when Bonnke came to Gaborone in 1975)!
How amazingly fitting that I first read about Reinhard Bonnke, whose ministry was birthed in Gaborone (in a book that had so many other connections too, including “ember”), on the very day that E.J. emailed me to suggest I shift my focus to Gaborone! At the breakfast, Bonnke prayed over us to take the baton and carry on the ministry of reaching people for Christ in Africa (he has now relocated to the U.S.). So like Sammy in the book, Reinhard Bonnke prayed over my ministry. I didn't meet him personally, but came about as close as possible without actually meeting him, haha. The people who were sitting across the table from us used to be his neighbors, so Reinhard Bonnke came over to meet them and stood inches from me (you can only barely see the edge of my face in this shot, haha):
Pictured below is when five of us attended a CfAN conference later in Johannesburg. Pictured with me are Bobo and Tumi, who were then YFC volunteers and who are both now also YFC Botswana board members:
Hearing Reinhard Bonnke in the U.S. - Another Ember Connection!
In late December 2014, I attended a conference in the U.S., and the main guest speaker was unable to attend. Who did they find as a replacement? Reinhard Bonnke!! A few minutes before he spoke, I felt I should go to the bookshop in the same arena, and in the first book I picked up, I opened right to where it mentions Christians being like glowing embers burning with Christ’s love!!! It shared St. John of the Cross’s description of how, as Christians, we are always burning with God’s love like glowing embers, but there are times when we can be so infused and filled with Christ’s love that the glowing embers become so hot they shoot forth a living flame.
Reinhard Bonnke Mentioning Gaborone Botswana Again!
Right after reading about embers, I went back in to hear Reinhard Bonnke speak, and he mentioned how his ministry, CfAN, began with his trip to Gaborone, Botswana! When he mentioned Botswana, I cheered...and again, I was the only one out of a crowd of thousands (15,000 this time!) to cheer when Botswana was mentioned! He said what happened that night in Gaborone was like heaven had come down to kiss the earth [thousands of people, including Pastor Kgwarapi, gave their lives to Christ that night]!
After Bonnke's message, those who feel called to missions went forward to receive prayer, and a lady I’ve never met was praying for me. In the middle of praying, she asked my name. “Ember.” She laughed as she exclaimed, “Of course it’s Ember!” She told me that as she had been praying, she’d felt like I am a firestarter (spiritually). Wow…so “ember” came up right before Bonnke mentioned Gaborone, and “firestarter” came up again right after he spoke! That was in the same arena where in 2010, the other girl had prayed that God gave me the new name of Ember and that I’m a firestarter!
As I left that arena this time, I felt the Lord ask me, “Remember the last time you were the only one to cheer for Botswana in a crowd of thousands in the U.S.?” When I thought about it, that’s when I realized that the first time had been the same day that “ember” first came up (February 14, 2009) in the vision statement I felt God led me to make! The day I was feeling a shifting…that I’d later learn was to rekindle the ministry in Gaborone! As Gaborone was the womb for Reinhard Bonnke's ministry (CfAN), which has now spread to millions across the globe, I'm excited to see how God might use His embers in Gaborone to ignite something new and spread the fire of His love to the nations.
Another Connection Between Reinhard Bonnke and ember
In November 2017, a friend of mine from Botswana told me about "Awakening 2017," a conference he was invited to attend in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. I happened to also be in South Africa at the time on a different trip and would be coming back to Johannesburg at that exact time, and the people who had invited my friend were also willing to host me and drive me from Johannesburg to the conference! The very first verse during praise and worship had the word "ember" in it! I really felt like it was "meant to be" that I was there!
The next morning was an amazing time at the conference, and later that night once back in Botswana, I learned that the preacher at my church that morning in Gaborone had talked about me and how I'm an ember that God uses to ignite the people around me! And that day happened to also be the last time Reinhard Bonnke preached in a Christ for all Nations event in Africa! It was quite amazing how everything aligned--just that I happened to be in South Africa at the right time to attend that conference, where the theme song mentioned ember, while back in Gaborone the preacher mentioned me and how I burn as an ember to ignite others, all on the same Sunday Reinhard Bonnke was preaching one last time for CfAN in Africa!! And what's pretty uncanny is that I'd seen the night before a Facebook announcement about how the stars/planets were aligning that Sunday! So indeed, it didn't just feel like the "stars were aligning" in all of that...they literally were! ;)
Ember - New Name connection on July 10th!
Earlier that year on July 10, 2017, I had opened up a new book I had just bought a couple days earlier but not yet read. I had been in a bookstore and just before it closed, I felt like I needed to buy that book (Master Potter and the Mountain of Fire by Jill Austin), even though I didn't have time to even really look at it before the store closed! This was the first time I looked at it, and I opened to where it was talking about ember in the same part about how God has named us and "Your name is your prophetic destiny, your calling"...in a section entitled "The Gift" and the gift is described in the passage as a "flaming ember", "the prized treasure," "fiery ember", "fiery stone of intimacy from the heavenly altar of Incense", "glowing ember" that awakens hearts!!! And then God gives the person a new name!!! That alone would have been amazing, but the fact that God led me to that passage on July 10th is even more awe-inspiring (the date July 10th has come up in amazing ways in my calling to Botswana-- you can read more about that intriguing testimony in the page at the top "July 10th Testimony" or here: https://hope4botswana.blogspot.com/p/the-lord-confirmed-my-calling-to.html)
Conclusion
In May 2015, a veteran British missionary to Botswana named Roberta, who had noticed my Facebook name changed to Ember, told me after church one Sunday, “I assume that Ember is a new name that the Lord has given you. I can see that it is fitting with what’s happening among the youth in Gaborone…you burn as an Ember, and others can see that and catch fire too.”
Indeed, I believe I am not the only ember, but that God is raising up many more embers who burn passionately for Him and spread the fire of His love and presence. In July 2015, I was invited to be the main speaker at a church conference in Gaborone, and though I hadn't planned on it, I felt led to share the Ember testimony briefly and that we are all embers. I prayed for God to rekindle us and send us out to start revival fires wherever we go. Later that night, Bobo (who had not been at the conference) posted a picture of fire and messaged me to say, “God is saying we need to ignite more embers. More embers need to burn.” While he had been praying that night, God had shared that with him — the same night when I’d been sharing and praying for that exact thing at the conference!
“Known by Her True Name”
Finally, as I was typing this up, I heard the song “Ever Be” by Bethel, and a lyric also stands out in it – “And known by her true name…” When I first heard that lyric, it resonated with my desire to be known by my true name—Ember.
So…In conclusion, all of this (and more details in the longer post) shows why I believe Ember is the new name God has given me, and why I like to be called Ember :). I believe it also shows how God is simply amazing!! And I'm excited to see what God will do with His embers in Gaborone and the rest of Botswana--Gaborone was the womb of Reinhard Bonnke's ministry CfAN which has impacted millions globally, and what else might Gaborone be the womb for? I heard a quote today by David Fritch: "Everything God did in the past is a precedent for what He can do again, and more!" Let's keep gathering together as embers in unified prayer and worship, keeping the fire kindled, and see what the Lord will do!
As mentioned earlier, there are more details and amazing confirmations in the page "Ember New Name Testimony." You can either click on that tab at the top of this blog or enter this URL address: https://hope4botswana.blogspot.com/p/ember.html
P.S. Here you can watch a video in which I was interviewed and shared my testimony for the YFC HIStory Project:
http://www.yfc.net/about/storiesblog/ember-emily-liddiard-on-her-triumph-out-of-tragedy/
Below are some pictures from ministry over the years (mainly in Gaborone):
