3 January 2023 is a day I will never forget.

I had been a Christian for nearly nine years and, as you can imagine, had been praying for my family to know Jesus. My dad found Jesus two months before, and now my mum was about to step into that life-changing relationship.

My mum was staying over at our house that night and had joined my wife and me in the living room as we were reading the Bible, looking at the story of Noah and the flood.

While discussing the passage, I said to my mum, “When the flood came, it was too late for people – and if you die tomorrow without Jesus, it will be too late for you too.”

She responded by saying, “What do I have to do?”

I said, “Mum, you need to turn from your ways and turn to Jesus.”

She then cried out, “THIS IS IT – I BELIEVE!”

This is it!

I didn’t realise at the time how significant the words “this is it” were, as she later explained that she had felt for a while that this moment was coming.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I had been trying to tell my mum about Jesus for nine years, and at many points, it felt hopeless. But in that moment, it was like seeing the Lord open my mum’s heart – just as he did for Lydia in Acts 16.

For the next couple of hours, we were praying, crying, laughing, and singing. It was such an amazing time. Even my daughter, who was only one and a half at the time, raised her hands while we were singing and tried to babble the words. It was truly a precious moment.

My mum doesn’t have a dramatic testimony. In the eyes of the world, she appears to be a good person, and sometimes, testimonies like hers are overlooked.

We praise God for his work

We praise God for the powerful stories of those who’ve turned from a life of crime to Christ, but it is equally powerful when an everyday person can say to a non-believer:

“I’m not a good person. I didn’t realise it before, but I’m a terrible sinner who has broken God’s law – yet Jesus died for me.”

Sometimes a non-believer might respond to a wild testimony, saying, “Well, that person needed God – look at how they lived.” But with a testimony like my Mum’s, it rids them of that power.

What’s amazing about my mum is that, although she doesn’t have a wild story, her transformation has been so evident.

She was filled with such childlike joy at her conversion that her family thought she had gone mad and started messaging me to check if she was okay.

I said, “Yes – she’s better than she’s ever been!”

I think, to be honest, some of them didn’t want it to be true. One of my aunts even travelled to my mum’s house with a blood pressure machine to check on her, and laughed when she saw my mum’s Bible.

A faithful witness to friends and family

I thank God for my mum’s witness to her family.

My mum’s family have a distorted view of Christianity and my Mum often finds it difficult to share the gospel with them. But as she shares her conversations with me, I can hear her sowing gospel seeds even when she doesn’t realise it. It flows so naturally from her heart and out of her mouth.

While she at times feels discouraged by the lack of response from her family, I often feel greatly encouraged about how she is witnessing to them. Some of them are now starting to ask her questions and for prayer.

I also had the great privilege of baptising my mum and preaching at her baptism service.

Fast forward to 2025, and my mum – at the age of 71 – is out on the streets every Saturday, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with her church.

This is so incredible because my mum is more the type of person who serves quietly in the background and often feels nervous speaking publicly. But Christ has captured her heart in such a way that she now feels compelled to speak to others about him.