The Weight She Didn’t Know She Was Carrying
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”
Ephesians 2:8 (ESV)
When Cheryl came to EPW’s training in Hyderabad, something wasn’t right. As a pastor’s daughter and worship leader, she was deeply embedded in church life. But behind the activity was a heaviness. Her face carried more weariness than joy.
She had done everything right, or so she thought. She had performed the role of a Christian with sincerity and diligence. What she had never understood was that performing the role and receiving the gift are not the same thing.
As the week of teaching unfolded and the gospel was preached with clarity, something in Cheryl began to shift. By the end of the training, she said it plainly: “I realised that I was not actually a Christian. I thought the Christian life was about doing the right activities. Your preaching helped me to see that I was not saved. Now I see that it is about what Jesus has done.”
The heaviness lifted. In its place came joy: real, visible, and overflowing.
But it didn’t stop with her. When the next training came around, Cheryl made a decision that said everything about the reality of her new faith: she missed a family wedding to return. And this time, she didn’t come alone. She brought her nieces, longing for them to hear what she had heard.
From misery to joy. From religion to faith. From attending alone to bringing others.
This is what EPW’s training does in places like Hyderabad and across Pakistan: not merely sharpen ministry skills, but preach the gospel so clearly that even those who have been inside the church for years finally hear it for the first time. Cheryl was already in the building. She just needed someone to open the Word.
Prayer
Father, how many Cheryls are sitting in our churches right now, faithful in attendance, hollow in assurance? Send Your Word with such clarity that the performing stops and the receiving begins. Let the gospel do what only the gospel can do: bring the dead to life. Amen.
Take Action
Some of the most unreached people in the world are sitting in church pews. EPW trains pastors to preach the gospel with the clarity that transforms religion into faith. Support that work at EPWUSA.org.