The Mysterious Lady of Malta
It was Friday, March 21, 2014, during prayer time at my “Moms In Prayer” (www.momsinprayer.org) meeting when I first noticed the word “Malta” written at the bottom of the prayer guide. Our group had been praying together for our children that morning, as we did every Friday, and we were drawing near to the close of our session. We had been focusing our prayer on the attribute, “God is Generous.” We defined Him as “One who magnanimously shares something of value; one who bestows blessings or makes abundant provision; one who is liberal in giving.” We had prayed this attribute on our children and were now focusing on a section at the bottom of the prayer guide entitled, “Moms in Prayer Concerns.” As we began reading, the section stated the need to pray for the following: “that one mom who is praying alone in Malta will be joined by other women to come along side her and pray, and that the Lord would use these mothers to grow many groups in that country.” As we began to pray I immediately felt a surge of heat flush over my body that I truly believe was the Holy Spirit. At that moment I realized that His Spirit was touching and impressing me. At that instant I knew that I was to travel to Malta, a nation below the southern tip of Italy, to meet, pray and encourage this lone woman in Malta who was crying out to God. I was so deeply impressed by this experience that I not only knew that I had to meet this woman, I knew I would meet this woman. At the close of the prayer session, I shared my experience with the group and we prayed together that God would not only reveal her identity, but that I would indeed find her, and meet with her in Malta, this small nation on the other side of the world. That night I shared my experience with my husband and told him that I believed I was to meet, pray, and encourage this lady of Malta. I continued by telling him I was certain God was going to arrange all the details. My husband looked at me a little surprised at first as some of my other friends did as well. But in my heart I knew this meeting would take place. I was certain of it!
My Moms In Prayer group continued praying for the lady of Malta, along with other prayer warrior friends who committed to pray as well. I sent multiple emails to several staff members listed on the website for Moms In Prayer International, requesting information on the mysterious lady of Malta. I continued to wait and pray as the weeks quickly flew by. Finally on May 8th, only three weeks before our departure, I received an email from Sue Iacoboni, in the field ministry department overseeing Eastern Europe, who sent me the email address and name of the lady in Malta.
Her name was Heddy and just two weeks before we left for Eastern Europe I received my first email from Heddy, the mysterious lady of Malta I was praying to find. In the email she stated that she would pick me up at the port as soon as our ship arrived, and transport me to a breakfast to meet, pray and speak to a group of ladies she had invited. It was an incredible opportunity and God certainly met us there. When my husband and I arrived at the port and met Heddy, she and I both fell into each other’s arms, laughing and weeping, in awe of our awesome and incredible God, who in His generosity and love, had brought us together for such a time as this. The very thought of it was mind-boggling!
We hurried off a short distance to Valletta, the capital of Malta, and walked through breathtakingly beautiful streets to our breakfast destination. As I walked through those streets I was overwhelmed with thoughts of Paul the Apostle of Christ who had walked this land as well; that same Paul, who had crossed the very sea that I had crossed, and eventually shipwrecked on this land. Great healing had taken place and the Bible states that as Paul ministered everyone on the island was healed and saved to the glory of God. I realized that this was a nation of great lineage; a country I truly believe will one day be transformed, restored and reconciled to Christ.
Following introductions at breakfast, I began to share and encourage the women with testimonies and stories from the Bible, of God’s goodness and His love. Following my lead a few of ladies began to share their future hopes as well as their needs and we began to pray together. We spoke of Moms In Prayer and its mission to equip and empower our children through Christ and His word. We prayed for every need and for each lady present as well as her children and family.
One lady was supposed to have departed on a trip to Romania, however, her trip was delayed a day so she attended the breakfast. She was having severe back pain during the breakfast and asked Heddy and I to pray for her. She had been diagnosed with scoliosis. After we prayed she said that she felt extreme heat on her back and that the pain had immediately left her. Since my return we have continued as Facebook friends and she still has had no more bad pains in her back. God in His generosity had allowed this lady to stay an extra day in order to send her to Romania with a testimony of God’s glory.
Following the breakfast we toured the city and visited sites about the island with Heddy and her friend from South Africa. The South African lady and her husband arrived in Malta a few months prior. After a time the Lord connected them with Heddy and her husband to serve along side them.
During our visit I learned that Heddy and her husband pastor a fledgling church. They had also just set up the only trafficking ministry in all of Malta. Heddy is an emigrants’ rights advocate and has actually presented at the Helsinki commission in Poland as Malta’s only representative. Heddy and her family migrated from Zimbabwe a few years earlier, arriving in Malta in hopes of fulfilling their mission for the kingdom. In the afternoon we visited Heddy’s home and were able to pray and meet with her husband, and three sons. The spirit of God was so heavy and powerful that day as we prayed and wept together.
You might be imagining some wealthy, high standing couple doing God’s work in Malta. On the contrary, they are just ordinary people struggling to feed and clothe their family, having endured hardships that you and I might have never endured. It’s amazing how ordinary people who surrender their lives to God become truly extraordinary! Living a modest life, Heddy leans in to God, taking one step at a time, because that is all God allows her to see. Even so, she trusts him. She is an amazing and powerful woman of God!
Isolated at times because of religious differences within that nation, Heddy and I prayed together that denominational walls would be torn down and that the nation of Malta would unite in prayer and that Moms in Prayer Groups would spread across the country. I received the following letter from Heddy when we returned home June 17, 2014. Reading this letter brings tears to my eyes. This tribute is not actually about Heddy or me, this tribute is to God and to each of you who committed to pray for Heddy and her family and the spreading of the gospel through Moms in Prayer groups across Malta. Thank you for your obedience to pray:
“Dear Karen,
Oh what a blessed day I had with you and your dear husband. I cannot even begin to tell what it was like for me. It was like a dream come true, someone coming all the way from across the globe to just encourage me and let me know that I am not walking alone. The Lord knows the battles that I have had to fight this year, right from New Year. I have been standing and defending my lentil patch. (2 Sam 23:11-12)
I was getting battle weary and I needed that push and thank the Lord you obeyed and came all the way to just bless me, my family and my church. May God richly bless you as I was truly blessed and encouraged, and so were the other ladies that attended the breakfast. Schools are now coming to a close but I am already planning some talks with ladies who might be interested in meeting up to pray as Moms. Thank you so much for making this trip and making my day a truly blessed one.”
Email from Sue (Field ministry department/Eastern Europe),
September 8 2014:
“God is continuing to do more than we can ask or imagine. I was on Skype with Heddy last month and we asked God to take down the denominational walls so that Christian women are open to praying with one another and the next day He answered! Heddy was invited to a women’s fellowship night with multiple Christian denominations and 25 women attended. Half of them want to start Moms in Prayer groups!!! So if you can pray for Heddy to be able to follow up with each one of them and get them started with their groups.”
Such an amazing God! I also followed up by asking Sue if I could do anything to be of service for Moms In Prayer International to please let me know. She recently asked me to serve in a position called, “country helper.” A country helper communicates with groups in a specific country, prays for them and helps connect moms (via email or Skype), when there is no available in-country leadership. Needless to say, I said yes!
We serve an amazing God who is by no means limited by time and space. We are the ones who put limits on what God can do by not trusting, listening or daring to believe Him. We serve an amazing God who called us by name and equipped us to do the impossible through the power of His Spirit. The original attribute we prayed the day that I first heard of the lady of Malta was “God is Generous”. Our nation should not be a limitation. God has been so generous with all of us. It’s time to rally that generosity upon others. What about the heart cries of women and children across the world? God’s mission is to reach all nations; therefore, our call as women and moms is to reach these nations, through prayer, through technology; Facebook, email, Skype; and even to be open to travel to other lands. Women have a powerful gift of influence and Moms In Prayer International is the perfect vehicle to open doors to empowering women and children across the world with the gospel of Christ! Please continue to pray for Heddy, her family and the Moms In Prayer groups rising up in Malta.
My dear friend Heddy, you truly are an Indestructible Daughter!
Please pray that:
- Heddy and her family will be strengthened and empowered to complete the mission God has called them to do, spiritually, emotionally and financially.
- Denominational walls will be torn down and that the people of Malta will unite in one Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
- Their church will grow and multiply in the power of Christ. hopechurchmalta.com
- God will bless and grow their trafficking ministry.
- Revival will come to the nation of Malta.
- Women will rise in their identity and authority in Christ as His Indestructible Daughters.
- Moms in Prayer groups will spread across Malta. (momsinprayer.org) (https://www.momsinprayer.org/Groups/International/International-News/Malta)
http://www.operationworld.org/malt
http://prayercast.com/malta.html
