Lili is convinced that the gospel is simple, and that it is alive and active today: ‘’He can use every single one of us as long as we’re willing and open to letting us be used by Him’’
Lili Sahm (22) is a fiery disciple of Jesus from Karlsruhe, Germany. After high school, God stirred her heart for missions. As a result, she has spent the last few years traveling extensively. After completing a Discipleship Training School (YWAM DTS) and joining mission trips from her local church all the way to South Africa, Lili applied for Awakening School of Ministry (ASM).
Equipped to evangelise
Awakening Europe has two core pillars: worship and evangelism. With the slogan ‘’Raising up a new army of Jesus loving leaders’’, the focus of ASM is all about being equipped for evangelism, ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit, and overcoming the fear of men. In weekly outreaches, students are trained to share the gospel locally. Additionally, they are sent out on a longer mission trip to various locations all across Europe.
Some months ago, Lili joined the Romania mission trip. The team went out for a two-week period, investing into the local churches and pastors, as well as doing practical works and ministering to the Romani people through worshipping in the streets and doing home visits in collaboration with local ministries.
Signs and wonders followed them
During this mission trip, Lili shares that God followed the team with incredible signs and miracles as the team prayed for people and simply went out to share the love of God with the locals, especially as they went out into the darker areas where the Romani people are located.
The living conditions of the Romani people are very poor. Oftentimes, the houses are tiny and the families are large. Many kids have to take care of other siblings instead of going to school and some girls have to earn money by prostitution. All in all, the standard of living is much below what most Western Europeans are used to. As the team went out into the streets, they gathered the locals by entering the villages with worship. Lili describes it as being very lowkey and simple: ‘’I did it on the guitar even though I only know four chords, super basic, nothing special, just our voices.’’
Miraculous house visits
As a result of the worship, the Romani naturally invited the team into their homes, asking for prayer. As the teams continued to worship inside the houses and talkedwith the families, they often sensed a darkness in the atmosphere, matching their awareness of the huge activity of witchcraft and the spiritual strongholds of darkness that are known to rule over these areas. Nevertheless, as the team continued to worship, the locals opened up about problems, sickness, hopelessness and gave the team the time and opportunity to pray.
‘’Two open blind eyes’’
One specific story that Lili shared is where she was cramped up in a living room with a family and a team of five or six people. They strongly sensed a darkness but as they continued worshipping, there was a sudden atmosphere shift and it became clear that God truly inhabited their praises and reigned in that house. With the help of a translator, an older lady explained that her left eye was blind. By putting their hands on her eyes and testing by showing numbers on their fingers, the team confirmed that the woman was actually completely blind in one eye.
The team started to declare healing over her and ask God to open up that eye. After the first prayer, her sight had already improved. After praying another time, they tested by showing numbers on their fingers from more of a distance, and the lady realised that she could see again. The other family members in the house testified of God’s healing power and all gave their lives to Jesus.
Isaiah 42:7 (ESV)
‘’To open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.’’
The joy of salvation
Lili describes it like this: ‘’you could see in their faces the thankfulness and joy of how the Lord changed their heart in that moment and how this whole house now belonged to the Lord’’. This miracle brought about a ripple effect. The team didn’t invite themselves in but the locals welcomed them warmly and allowed them to minister in many places, resulting in people being saved, healed and delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The captives set free
Another testimony that Lili shared took place in a high security prison near Cluj. The team joined a pastor on his weekly visit to groups of inmates, including a group where the minimum sentence was seventeen years. After a time of playing soccer and ordering pizzas as a practical act of love, students shared testimonies of how they encountered Jesus and how their lives were radically changed after giving their lives to Him. One of the students preached the full gospel with an altar call where he gave the inmates the opportunity to repent of their sins and receive the salvation of Jesus Christ.
‘’What we experienced in all of these meetings is that they [the inmates] were so open and willing to receive Jesus.’’ Lili shares that with every meeting they had, at least half of the inmates raised their hands and really wanted that change for their life, a personal relationship with Jesus.
She continued to share about the simplicity of being Jesus’ hands and feet on the earth today: ‘’Those places, you can just tell that those people are the reason why Jesus came to the earth. The broken-hearted that need restoration, those that are so poor in heart and spirit. As we went into these places, we could sense that they were so in need of that hope of the gospel, because they rarely ever experienced or ever heard of a God who really loves them.’’
The simplicity of sharing the gospel
As we ended our conversation, Lili simply smiled while she hit the nail on the head by referring to Mark 16:17-18 (ESV): ‘’And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
She finished saying: ‘’I’m just a simple person. I was never much of a person who would be super loud or outgoing, but what I have is a heart for the lost because I let Jesus give me His heart for people. I’m just simply going and being obedient where He sends me, but in the end, He’s the one filling my mouth and moving in power through me, just as an empty vessel that is filled. He can use every single one of us as long as we’re willing and open to letting us be used by Him.’’
