Gwen Willis

Mama Africa Gwen Willis

Mama Africa gets an audience with the King.

Have you ever desired to bow in the presence before the King of all kings and share it all with him?

Growing up in a Christian home and church, I was taught the power that comes from an honest, fervent prayer. Prayer can be sometimes a simple moment in our day that we might just stop and whisper a concern to God. Prayer can be even more powerful when matched up with fasting; God hears us. He answers prayers.

It started with a little prayer at a desperate period of my life. The book Mama Africa revisits a twenty-year span of my life. I talk about my childhood because it's what shapes and molds you into the person that you are today. This book tells my journey from the struggle of singleness, a single parent, a woman in the workforce to marriage life and then divorce, learning the conflicts that come with crossing the boundaries in cultures when marrying. Being a good-hearted person does not create the relationship or fellowship God is seeking with us as individuals.

I tell my story of how God continues to favor me in spite of my failure to place him as the first priority. He required obedience as he continued to honor me and started the process of steering me back into his protective arms of love and grace. He lavished me with his unconditional love while sheltering me from the consequences of bad decisions, the pain of separation followed by divorce. He made his presence known as he constructed his compassion toward me making my heartfelt desires his biggest concern. What a great God we serve!

I call this journey "my modern-day Hosea story." Lord, teach me to love my husband.