Jesus is the source of my strength

I’m Toa Ulamoleka and I’m from Tonga. I’m a single mother of two beautiful daughters. The elder is ‘Ilaisaane Palu Moala (10) and her younger sister is Angela Lovely Ulamoleka (7). I’m currently at the School for Officer Training in Fiji as a cadet in the Disciple of the Cross session.

I grew up in a Methodist family. When I was five, my family started attending The Salvation Army Fua’amotu Corps. We came to The Salvation Army by my parent’s decision, but I made my own decision to accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour after I was invited to a youth camp. That’s when I realised who I truly was and that I am ‘a child of God’. My spiritual journey was very difficult because of peer pressure, but through circumstances I allowed God to restore me again.

Making myself available to God’s guiding led me to respond to his calling after hearing a Candidate’s Sunday message about Jesus saying, ‘Come, follow me.’ I believed that God had a plan for me—‘a plan to prosper me and not to harm me’ (Jeremiah 29:11). Though I wasn’t ‘qualified’ for this call, I believe this calling has qualified me for God’s service.

1 Samuel 16:7 (GNT) has confirmed this call for me: ‘But the Lord said to him, “Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.”’ Obeying God’s call has led me to serve him full time through The Salvation Army.

I see myself in John 15:5, where Jesus says, ‘I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.’ I’ve come to realise I can’t do things on my own—I need to depend on God daily.

Every day I realise there are challenges I can’t solve on my own. I know I need God’s strength to cope with everyday situations. I need God’s wisdom to make right decisions and to do then things that give God pleasure. I need God’s Holy Spirit to walk alongside me. I need to spend personal time with God, so I can have spiritual power for spiritual warfare.

My life depends on Jesus. He is my source of strength, my source of light, my source of wisdom and the source of my life. There will be no fruit in my life and service if I don’t remain in him. Jesus is everything to me—without him I won’t succeed and fulfil his purpose for my life.

I can see how God is taking me out from the ordinary into the extraordinary. Becoming a Salvation Army officer will take me out of my comfort zone. Nevertheless, I’m willing to take that opportunity to serve God’s kingdom. Though not all of my future experiences will be pleasant, in each and every one, I will have the opportunity to rely on Christ.

Having the opportunity to rely on Christ as an officer is what makes me a disciple of his cross. I and my daughters are counting on Jesus!

By Toa Ulamoleka