My name is Wasiwa Brain and I’m from Uganda. Though I was born into a Christian family and both my father and mother were pastors, I never accepted the Lord Jesus as my Savior. But later, when I attended a church activity, a pastor said that as long as we repented our sins before the Lord Jesus, we would be able to accept Him as our Savior and be raptured into the kingdom of heaven when He came again. So I followed what the pastor said and accepted the Lord Jesus as my Savior.
In 2014, my youngest brother got a serious heart disease. I loved him very much and often took care of him, but he still passed away. I felt very sorrowful, and our family life turned chaotic after that. My father had originally set up a school, which used to run smoothly. But later the parents constantly called to complain about the school. As a result, my father lost his job and was incapable of paying for the schooling of my younger brother and me. We were forced to drop out, and our family had to farm our land to make ends meet. Then, unfortunately, our area suffered a drought and we had a total crop failure, and thus became terribly insecure. What’s more, I couldn’t find a job. I often wondered whether we would end up begging in the future. With our living conditions going from bad to worse, I couldn’t help complaining about God. Just when I was going to deny God and stray from Him, I prayed to God to remove the suffering for us. That’s when I truly saw the miraculous deeds of God.
In 2016, I joined Facebook in order to make some older friends. I felt the idea was given to me by God because I had prayed to Him to help me do something positive on Facebook before I joined. Then God’s time came: He arranged for a woman named Alline to meet me, and she introduced Sister Gao and Sister Candice to me. At that time, I didn’t tell them my difficulties, but Sister Gao said that the Lord Jesus has come back and done new work, and that God has a six-thousand-year management plan. I felt very curious about all of this because I had never heard any of it before. Hence, I asked Sister Gao, “You said God has a six-thousand-year management plan. Could you tell me more about it?” So Sister Gao shared some of God’s words with me, “My six-thousand-year management plan is divided into three stages, and I work thus to achieve the effect of enabling created beings to bear witness to Me, and comprehend My will, and know that I am the truth. Thus, during the early work of My six-thousand-year management plan, I performed the work of the law, which was the work in which Jehovah led the people. The second stage ushered in the work of the Age of Grace in the villages of Judea. Jesus represents all the work of the Age of Grace; He was incarnated in the flesh, and nailed to the cross, and He also began the Age of Grace. He was crucified in order to complete the work of redemption, to end the Age of Law and begin the Age of Grace, and so He was called the ‘Supreme Commander,’ the ‘Sin Offering,’ and the ‘Redeemer.’ As a result, the work of Jesus differed in content from the work of Jehovah, although they were the same in principle. Jehovah began the Age of Law, establishing the base—the point of origin—for God’s work on earth, and issuing the laws and commandments. These are the two pieces of work He carried out, and they represent the Age of Law. The work Jesus did in the Age of Grace was not to issue laws, but to fulfill them, thereby ushering in the Age of Grace and concluding the Age of Law that had lasted two thousand years. He was the trailblazer, who came in order to begin the Age of Grace, yet the main part of His work lay in redemption. And so His work was also twofold: opening up a new age, and completing the work of redemption through His crucifixion, after which He departed. And henceforth was the Age of Law ended and the Age of Grace begun” (“The True Story Behind the Work of the Age of Redemption” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“Why do I say time and again that this stage of work builds upon the Age of Grace and the Age of Law? Because the work of this day is a continuation of the work done in the Age of Grace, and an advance over that done in the Age of Law. The three stages are tightly interconnected, with each link in the chain closely tied to the next. Why do I also say that this stage of work builds on that done by Jesus? Supposing that this stage did not build on the work done by Jesus, another crucifixion would have to take place in this stage, and the redemptive work of the previous stage would have to be done all over again. This would be meaningless. And so it is not that the work is completely finished, but that the age has moved forward and the level of the work has been raised higher than before. It can be said that this stage of work is built on the foundation of the Age of Law and upon the rock of Jesus’ work. God’s work is built stage by stage, and this stage is not a new beginning. Only the combination of the three stages of work may be deemed the six-thousand-year management plan” (“The Two Incarnations Complete the Significance of the Incarnation” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“The aim of the three stages of work is the salvation of all mankind—this means the complete salvation of man from the domain of Satan. Though each of the three stages of work has a different objective and significance, each is part of the work of saving mankind, and each is different work of salvation carried out according to the requirements of mankind. Once you are aware of the aim of these three stages of work, then you will be aware of how to appreciate the significance of each stage of work, and will recognize how to act in order to satisfy the desire of God. If you can reach this point, then this, the greatest of all visions, will become the foundation of your belief in God” (“Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
Sister Gao fellowshiped this, “God speaks very clearly. God’s six-thousand-year management plan is divided into three stages, that is to say, three ages. As mankind in the Age of Law was newly born, God issued the law through Moses and led them to live on earth, so that they knew how to worship God, what it was to commit sin and how to offer sacrifices to Jehovah God to atone for their sins. At the same time, God established the home base of His work on earth. At the end of the Age of Law, people were committing too many sins and would have been condemned and cursed under the law. So God incarnated for the first time to do His work under the name of the Lord Jesus. He ended the Age of Law and began the Age of Grace, and redeemed mankind through His crucifixion. So long as we confessed our sins and repented before the Lord Jesus, we could be forgiven of our sins and enjoy grace in abundance, as bestowed by Him. But although our sins are forgiven, our sinful nature remains within us and we still sin and resist God. Therefore, the second incarnate God has descended among mankind secretly, and now expresses the truth and does the work of judgment and purification under the name of Almighty God, thus ending the Age of Grace and ushering in the Age of Kingdom. Almighty God is doing a deeper and higher stage of work on the foundation of the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus, but the three stages of work are all being done by one God. Though each stage of God’s work is different, they are all for saving mankind. In particular, God’s work of judgment and purification in the last days is the most crucial stage of work. After experiencing God’s judgment and chastisement, we will gain discernment about the evil of Satan, and have true knowledge of God’s holy essence and righteous disposition, as well as our own corrupt substance. Meanwhile, we will be able to revere God, thoroughly break free from Satan’s influence of darkness and be saved by God. Thus, God’s six-thousand-year management plan will come to a complete end.”
Reading these words of God and hearing the sister’s fellowshiping, I felt God’s true love for mankind. It turns out that God has never left mankind or given up on saving us. He has carried out the three stages of work for the salvation of mankind, and the last stage is aimed at thoroughly getting rid of our sinful nature and purifying and saving us. From the bottom of my heart, I was eager to be cleansed and perfected by God’s words. Hence, I started to read Almighty God’s words. At first, when I saw the book The Word Appears in the Flesh, I thought it was just another book. However, as I read more words of Almighty God, I felt they were indeed the utterances of God. I began to quiet my heart before God to ponder the truth in these words. The more I read, the more enlightened I felt inside.
Later, I saw God’s words, “People always want to run headlong into the mundane world, they harbor too many hopes, want too much for their future, and have too many extravagant demands. They are always thinking of the flesh, planning for the flesh, and have no interest in seeking the way of belief in God. Their hearts have been snatched away by Satan, they have lost their reverence for God, and they are fixated on Satan. But man was created by God. Thus, man has lost the testimony, meaning he has lost the glory of God. The purpose of conquering mankind is to reclaim the glory of man’s reverence for God” (“The Inside Truth of the Work of Conquest (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Pondering this passage carefully, I realized that all my past resolutions were based on the pleasures of the flesh, and that all my pursuits were only for satisfying my flesh. Therefore, when I was faced with suffering and my desires could not be satisfied, I complained about God. I saw how foolish I had been. From the words of Almighty God, I understood that my actions were not what a created being should do because they didn’t glorify God at all. So, I came before God and repented to Him, asking Him to lead me to break free from the evil thoughts of Satan and make me a created being with value in His eyes. I prayed to God, “O God! I am not qualified to ask You to be with me, because I didn’t show any respect to You but was always complaining about You. Now I really don’t know what to say. I only ask that You change me and show me the way I should walk….” After the prayer, my mentality changed. I became increasingly fond of reading the words of Almighty God and understanding the work He has done … Later, as I read God’s words more, I knew what I lacked as a created being and what path I should walk to be cleansed. Almighty God said, “The fate of man is controlled by the hands of God. You are incapable of controlling yourself: Despite man always rushing and busying himself on his own behalf, he remains incapable of controlling himself. If you could know your own prospects, if you could control your own fate, would you still be a created being? In short, regardless of how God works, all His work is for the sake of man. Take, for example, the heavens and earth and all things that God created to serve man: The moon, the sun, and the stars that He made for man, the animals and plants, spring, summer, autumn and winter, and so on—all are made for the sake of man’s existence. And so, regardless of how God chastises and judges man, it is all for the sake of man’s salvation. Even though He strips man of his fleshly hopes, it is for the sake of purifying man, and the purification of man is done so that he may survive. The destination of man is in the hands of the Creator, so how could man control himself?” (“Restoring the Normal Life of Man and Taking Him to a Wonderful Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“Entry into the training of the kingdom means beginning the life of the people of God—are you willing to accept such training? Are you willing to feel a sense of urgency? Are you willing to live under God’s discipline? Are you willing to live under God’s chastisement? When God’s words come upon you and test you, how will you act? And what will you do when faced with all manner of facts? In the past, your focus was not on life; today, you must focus on entering into life reality, and pursue changes in your life disposition. This is what must be achieved by the people of the kingdom. All those who are the people of God must possess life, they must accept the training of the kingdom, and pursue changes in their life disposition. This is what God requires of the people of the kingdom” (“Know God’s Newest Work and Follow His Footsteps” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
After reading God’s words, I realized that God holds sovereignty over the fate of mankind and that we can never control our own fate no matter how great the effort. Previously, I believed I needed money, knowledge and farming to survive; losing them would be the same as losing my life. And I even wanted to control my own fate, thinking that I could plan for and take charge of my future. Such thoughts were from Satan. I also realized that what I did had overstepped my duty as one of God’s creatures. God wished me to accept His chastisement and judgment, and to put an emphasis on pursuing the truth and seeking changes in my life disposition. This was true belief in God, while pursuing to receive grace and blessings from God was not. Later, I made a resolution before God to entrust myself to God completely and let God preside over everything in my life. So, when faced with the famine, I was able to submit to God and thank God in my heart. Then I saw the wonderful deeds of Almighty God. We originally lived off our vegetable garden, and God made a way out for us: My father was employed as a temporary worker in some companies, and his remuneration was enough to support our whole family. I gave great thanks to God from my heart. Moreover, after three months of famine, some scientists issued reports stating that our area had suffered drought for six months, and so then they made artificial rain. From this I truly experienced God’s love to mankind, as things didn’t turn out as bad as I had imagined.
In the past, I had sought to gain God’s grace and blessings, but now I do not because I now understand the real pursuit for a believer in God is to seek the truth and obey God. My viewpoints of believing in God are gradually changing. I am willing to let God rule over my fate and obey His arrangements, pursue to understand the truth, reach a change in disposition, and fulfill my duty well as one of His creatures to repay God’s love. Thank God! All the glory be to Almighty God!