Testimony – Jen Munt

My name is Jen Munt and I gave my heart to God on Christmas Day last year (2007) … It was quite a bleak time for us - Ant being unemployed, we were up to our eyebrows in debt… and now we had to move out of our shack. To top it all off, our eldest daughter Bronte’ was diagnosed with autism and I was told she may never talk.

I now quote a passage from the Bible - Jeremiah Chapter 29 verse 11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, ”plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come to pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you”, declares the Lord.

… Our next hurdle was moving to the house - when we had moved previously Anthony had hired a truck and moved us himself but due to his bad back he couldn’t lift a thing and we had no money to hire removalists. My contact at Disability Services Queensland told us about a man he knew from a church who would help us move. It’s not the best feeling when you feel down and out and have to ask someone you have never met before to help you but we had no-one else to turn to and we rang the man. We didn’t get to meet the man (he was a very busy man!!) until the morning we moved. True to his word, on the 10^th july last year, Dave Challenor turned up with a team of people from Living Grace and got stuck in and helped us move. Ant and I felt overwhelmed that these people had given their time and energy to help us yet they wanted nothing back in return. Before they left, Dave and his crew prayed over us and for the first time in months Anthony and I felt genuine care, love and support from other human beings … Within a month Anthony had a full time position as a gardener with the council. Things were looking up in the Munts household!

We know now that God was lifting our family up from rock bottom and waiting patiently in the wings until we were ready to seek Him with all our hearts.

GLORY TO GOD!!

… I had the best pregnancy with Bronte’ but … Bronte’ arrived 9 weeks early, weighing just 3lb 8 ounces. As a baby she had sleep apnoeas, reflux and she was very developmentally delayed. It took me 12 months of persistence to get Bronte’ to eat lumpy food, no baby gargles came from her mouth and she didn’t attempt to walk until she was two. It was hard - certainly not what I expected being a first time mum and having no family in this country made me feel quite isolated … Over the years Bronte’ has been diagnosed as being developmentally delayed and I guess we always had hopes that one day she would wake up and say ‘hey mum and dad I’ve caught up’, - if only things were that simple! As I mentioned previously, Bronte’ was diagnosed with autism last year and I was told she may never talk. She had a fantastic high pitch squeal that she made great use of but no words.

In November at church I asked Edgar to pray over Bronte’ and the following days were really quite amazing because Bronte’ was attempting several new sounds and had even managed to say a word! The following Sunday I excitedly rushed up to Edgar and told him about Bronte’s progress and the fact that she’d said a word about 452 times in the past week. The word Bronte’ had been saying was ’JOY’ - unbeknown to me the theme of Edgars sermon that morning was actually Joy. Awesome!

That afternoon at home Satan was doing his best to disrupt the household - the children were grumpy and playing up and there seemed to be tension building - so I prayed to God for two things - peace within our household and also for bedtime to arrive sooner rather than later! God answered my prayers and the tension disappeared. That evening, when Elijah and Eden were snoring away, Ant and I took Bronte’ to bed.

There was an amazing change of atmosphere in Bronte’s bedroom - a calm and peaceful aura and a wonderful presence - and then Bronte’ sat up and began talking to Anthony and I in a language we did not understand. She turned to Ant and talked clearly and slowly - pointing around the room as she was speaking - and then she turned to me and spoke. Bronte’ put her hands together several times as if in prayer and we clearly heard the name ‘’Jesus” two or three times during her speech. Bronte’ talked to us for several minutes. It was the most awesome special time for us - our little girl, who up until now had barely spoken a word, was talking to us in a language given to her by God, our Glorious Father.

I give praise and Glory to God for Bronte’s progress!

… When Anthony and I met Dave we were broken people. We took up Dave’s invite to Living Grace and Dave introduced me to a wonderful lady called Kay Crighton. Kay has been a fantastic mentor to me over the past 12 months - offering encouragement and support with phone calls and regular visits. Kay has always made time for me despite leading a very busy and active life herself. I regard Kay as a close friend who has been a positive influence in my life over the past twelve months.

I think it is excellent that the Living Grace Community reaches out to new Christians like myself and Anthony, who came to know our Almighty Father through Jubilee Ministries. Another important lady Dave introduced me to is Sonya Kaiser. I can sometimes be a bit airy fairy/wishy washy and for those of you who know Sonya I am sure you will agree that she most certainly is not! I really value Sonya’s encouragement, integrity and her fantastic company. Sonya’s friendship has been a blessing to me over the past twelve months!

In September Sonya and I started a Bible Study group at my house on Mondays. Despite Satan attempting several times to pull it down it is going well and strong! We meet with Di, Jen, Lee, Sandra and Jess and discuss scripture, life stories and inspirational Christians. It’s a great start to the week - we indulge in fellowship, support, encouragment and lots of yummy food! …

I would like to share a couple of incidences lately where God has answered prayer on the spot.

For 6 weeks I had working on Eden using the toilet. She is a clever little girl but would not do a wee on the toilet! She would wee near the toilet but never on it and as a result we regularly had to check the house for puddles. About three weeks ago I prayed to God asking that if possible could Eden please get the hang of using the toilet or if not could God please guide me in a different approach regarding the toilet troubles because I was beginning to get a bit stressed! Literally five minutes after I prayed Eden came up to me, told me she needed to do a wee and then sat on the toilet as if she’d been doing it for years.

God is awesome even when it comes to toilet training! Praise be to God!

Kay was over one morning and I told her about a severe aching I had in my right leg. I have to do a lot of walking every day and sometimes it can be hard work with the double pram and 15 shopping bags! As a child I contracted osteomilitis (a bone infection) in my right leg and spent months in hospital as a result. The infected bone was removed but for years the infection kept flaring up and a plastic hip replacement was on the cards if things didn’t improve. When I was 13 I was given the all clear and no problems for years…until about a month after I started coming to church and giving my heart to God. Satan was trying to pull me down with this pain in my leg! Kay prayed over my leg and the pain disappeared. Glory to God!

Several days before I came to church to share my testimony we received a call from our real estate informing us that the owner of our house has decided to put it on the market. Our lease runs out in July and we are putting our trust in God through this insecure time of open house viewings and the inconvenience of strangers traipsing through our home.

My relationship with Anthony has gone from strength to strength in the past twelve months. We are on this amazing journey together and really feel out of the darkness and into the light. I quote from the book of Matthew, Chapter 5 verses 14 - 16.

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and out it under a bowl. Instead they out it on its’ stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven”.

I pray that each one of us at Living Grace will let our lights shine so that we can lift others with Gods’ hands as we ourselves have been lifted.

Glory to God!!!