When Damaris accidentally met Jesus

From Jerry Gibson, IMM Director, 2008-2013

“When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’

The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’” John 4 :7

Damaris was a young girl of 25, well educated and Muslim. Due to her training and her hunger to work in media, she began to work in a satellite Christian Ministry with an audience of 72 million people — a channel that IMM had trained in production and directing in 2006. When Damaris found the possibility of working there, she did not imagine her life would change forever. Over the course of the next two years, Damaris couldn’t help but watch programs like People Who Met Jesus which IMM provided for them and was used for their training. (This series gave them an educational view of scripture in their own language with a local presenter.)

She heard testimonies of lives being changed by Jesus. The emptiness she felt in her own life was set in contrast to what she observed from those around her who seemed filled with joy. We listened as tears flowed down her face and she spoke of how Christ had changed her life. She declared, “Now I have more than a job; I have a ministry!” In a country where there were only a few thousand known followers of Jesus Christ, together, Damaris, IMM, and local media ministries were telling the story that changes lives.

The gospel of Christ transformed Damaris’s life forever. Her story is very similar to the Samaritan woman at the well. Damaris was a Muslim. The woman at the well was from Samaria. They both had an encounter with Jesus. For both of them, life changed forever.

How great is God that He can use any circumstance, desire, or background for good! Damaris stepped into this career just as a means to break into the media industry. But God had other plans for her endeavors.

When Damaris gave her life to Jesus, her priorities changed completely. She changed the perspective of working for a ministry to working for the one who gave her the living water. When the Samaritan woman knew the source of the living water, many others heard of the power of the living God through her.

God’s Word for Today:

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told everything I ever did”. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. John 4:39-42

Pray with us:

  • Pray for our partners to not grow weary in doing good in hard places and to continue to see their work as a ministry for Christ—not just a job.

  • Pray for IMM to hold up the arms of ministries and individuals who are getting started in reaching their people for Christ.

  • Pray you can encourage a Damaris with your story of God helping you.

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