Welcome, dear reader!
This story is simply one of those grass to grace tales every Christian loves to hear. Very basic description I’ve given you. So let’s get into it!
You know, Micah Stampley said it best in that song of his with Nathaniel Bassey, “This God Is Too Good”.
“Don’t look too far to see how good He is, just look at me.”
Yeah, I know for a fact that Micah had me in mind when he wrote that (he just doesn’t know, lol). Because there’s no doubt that the man speaking to you right now is a testimony of the overwhelming and inexplicable goodness of God. There’s no way this story could have come to fruition without God.
No way.
Hello, y’all. My name is Mawuli Brese.
I’m a child of God. Husband to a beautiful lady by name Alicia. Father to two sweet girls, Emefa and Selorm. Pastor of Greater Light Ministries, happily working alongside its founder and overseer, Pastor Tsedeq Basare.
And I’m the founder of Freedom Within International, a faith-based non-governmental organization that helps prison inmates get their lives back together. From offering spiritual guidance and counselling for them, to Educational and vocational training, reentry training and advocating for better and humane conditions of confinement for inmates as well as ensuring that they are treated fairly and with dignity, we do a lot in that field.
Is it easy? Definitely not. Considering the calibre of people we’re dealing with, it’s not always as smooth as we would like. Some inmates are just plain nasty and unpleasant to deal with, some put on an act to try and escape the system… we deal with quite a lot. As much as a lot of good happens through this NGO, there’s the occasional misfortune here and there.
But I love it. I couldn’t be any happier with my life as it is. It’s a testament to the lovingkindness of Elohim towards me, because with where I’m coming from, this surely was not the kind of life I was expecting to have.
Honestly. From the moment I was born, up to some of the darkest moments of my life, I really should have been a nothing. Absolute nothing. One of those human beings that just has weight and occupies space, but has no purpose, no destiny, no nothing.
It was like my only reason for living was to be nothing more than a stain on society. The kind of vermin that poses a danger to the average Ghanaian on the street. A prime example of the type of person children should not strive to be.
But oh, when it was time for Jehovah to step in and change my story, He stepped in and showed out magnificently! At that moment when I felt I was of no worth whatsoever… when I considered the mountains of rubbish at the burning sites to be of way more value than me… when I felt I didn’t deserve to live, and that this earth would be better off without me…
… He saved me.
Showed me that His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary was meant for the likes of me. Misfits who deserved absolutely no good thing.
And brought me into His kingdom, giving me a new heart, a new mind and new desires. That stony heart has been taken out, and a heart of flesh is its replacement.
A new creation, that’s what I am.
It’s just like what is written in the book of Ephesians. I was dead in sin. Following the ways of this world. Fully deserving of wrath. If God poured out the real reward I was meant to receive, I could honestly have no complaints about it.
But… thanks to the great love He has for me, and the richness of His mercy, He has made me alive in Christ. Saved me by His grace. Seated me with my Saviour in the heavenly places. Made me a king and a priest.
And all I can do is be thankful, and live my life for Him.
Anyways, it’s time to give you my story. I know I was on a bit of a roll for a moment there, but chale, once you know my story, you’ll understand why there’s so much joy in my heart whenever I think about what the Lord has done for me. He really is a specialist in raising the poor from the dust and seating them with princes, that’s for sure. And I am a prime example of this.
Okay now, let’s get moving!
Well, time to hear Pastor Mawuli’s story…
