He is Our Peace 

How one sister saw five family members become disciples

Editor’s note: The following is shared from ICOC HotNews. After 16 years of being the only disciple in her family, Ruth Hewitt, a sister in the Johannesburg Church of Christ (South Africa) cried out to God and expressed her loneliness in her physical family. God answered her prayer and over the eight years that followed, she’s seen her older sister, her brother-in-law, her niece, her own daughter and her 82 year old mother become disciples. Ruth, now a disciple for 24 years, shares how God encouraged her in her faith: I’m the youngest of five children, my sister Wendy is the eldest and we have three brothers between us. The eldest brother died in 1986, three months after we lost our 51 year old dad to a heart attack. Because of the undisciplined environment, I was in, I became a rebellious teenager and then a hard and malicious adult who had lost trust and faith in humanity. Oddly, I was pursued by a very decent guy who I married in 1990. I have two stepchildren and two daughters of our own.

When my youngest was two years old, a friend of mine stayed over for a weekend and pointed out that she was naughty. My friend is German and I believed her discipline was extreme so I defended myself, saying it was ‘just the age she’s at’ but soon after I realised it to be true. Having grown up without discipline made me clueless about being a parent, and God put it on my heart to seek him. I was met by a disciple, Michelle Harvey, soon afterwards and invited to study the bible. Through the studies, I remember feeling relieved that God had a secure plan and was trustworthy, and I was baptised in 1994.