Perseverance - Ministry Night Four

 The last night of ministry was marked with divine appointments, salvations, more miracles, and celebration. We split up once again to our respective teams and drove from the hotel in separate vehicles with our translators. The night before set the stage for even more and greater works that God had in store for us.  

To even think for a second that God does not work miracles is laughable and will never be a question for this crew as we cannot deny what our eyes have seen. Our God is mighty to save, heal, restore.  

Tonight there were a couple of new appointments and several follow appointments but all divine appointments. I was struck by the fact that God had specifically planned for us to be here at this time and with these people.  

Katie and Darryl had two brand new appointments and many were saved. They were excited to share about all the brand new salvations and the prayers offered up to the lord for healing and deliverance. Joie and Bradley had follow up appointments and in those there were salvations and miraculous healings. Bradley could hardly contain his excitement for what God had done as the prayed for and witnessed healing after healing even a partially paralyzed man who began to walk. They also cast out demons and witnessed the greatest miracles of all in new salvations. Beau with Charles also had follow up appointments and trained small house churches in bible study and prayed for the sick.  

The teenage young man who we had prayed for the night before are the healing service showed up at a house that Beau was presenting in. Imagine that God answering our prayer for this boy the very next day! They cast a demon out of him and He gave his heart to Jesus and went home with his parents. Amazing! 

Charmonique and I saw God save, heal, and deliver once again. I was not feeling well and the enemy was trying to keep me down but God kept me going. Charmonique was so kind and gracious helping me stay strong when I felt very weak. On our first appointment we prayed for a little boy who had a bad injury on his head.

We prayed over a sick baby whose parents did not believe. There was a dark spirit following this family. We sent it away but they will need to turn to Christ. Then we went to a home and led a Hindu women and her oldest daughter to faith in Christ. Her youngest daughter was five and had a serious heart condition. We prayed over her for healing and I believe God touched her body. We will see. After that I was not well and getting worse by the minute but God gave me strength for one final divine appointment.  

As we approached the door of this home we were warmly greeted by a man who was very impressive. He spoke fluent English and had a dynamic personality. He also happened to be the uncle of one of our translators, John. His larger that life personality made us feel welcome but also a bit intimidated because of his strong Hindu beliefs. You see he claimed to love Jesus but had just added Jesus to all of his other God’s and thought that Jesus would be pleased with that. He introduced us to his family. There were eight of them there in all including the grandfather who was definitely not impressed that we were there.  

They sat us down and this man formally introduced us to all of his family and we introduced ourselves to them sharing stories of our lives in America and South Africa. On the way there John had told us that his uncle had requested for us to come and pray for his youngest son who was ten and had cycle cell anemia. He was not well. We talked about this and I told the man that I was happy to pray but that I would only pray to Jesus about this. He seemed fine with that. Then I asked him if I could share the story of Jesus to his family first. He agreed and so under the power of the Spirit and Charmonique’s prayers I stood strong to my feet and shared the gospel with this precious family. The grandfather got up and went to bed shortly after this and did not seem interested but the rest of the family was intrigued. The father knew the Gospel and yet did not see Jesus as the only way. He argued with our other translator Mary who was doing and excellent job of defending the faith. She is a strong young woman and powerhouse for the lord. During this Charmonique and I could only guess what was being said, pray, and drink the delicious tea that had been served to us.  

God began to speak to Charmonique and I during this rather lengthy debate between Mary and this father. First Charmonique heard God whisper the Exodus 34 passage where God warns His people not to make idols and not to worship other God’s. She read this passage to the man and it concerned him. Then the Lord whispered to me to ask the man if he would get rid of all of his Hindu Gods and worship Jesus alone if God healed his son. I wanted to be sure this was from God so while Mary and this man continued to argue I told Charmonique what I had heard and told her to ask the Lord for confirmation and ask God to give her and yes or no.  

A couple of minutes later she leaned over and whispered yes. That was it. I interrupted the man and said sir I have a question. If God heals your son will you cast out all other idols and worship Jesus alone? His face went pale and his countenance changed as he went and sat down unsure how to process what I just said. He looked up and said yes. I was immediately filled with Holy Spirit fire and stood up. I told them to bring the boy to me. We then anointed the young man with oil and cast off curses and evil spirits and boldly prayed for his healing.  

A room that had moments before been filled with confusion and chaos fell peaceful and full of the glory of God. We watched God touch and young boy with cycle cell anima and his family was filled with hope. God had spoken one final word through Charmonique as we were leaving. She confidently shared that the Lord had healed this man’s son and the boy’s life would be a testimony of the amazing work of Jesus. We were all awe struck at wonder of God.  

Driving away emotions ran high. We were overwhelmed feeling grateful and blessed yet exhausted after an intense spiritual battle. Every time I preach or come up against the enemy I get attacked in my neck and on top of all this I wasn’t feeling well. John, who was this man’s nephew and our translator was so overcome that he had to almost pull over as tears rolled down his cheek. We all thanked God for what had just happened. Our hope is not in a God who is far off. He is near. He pursues those who are open and we are sent to tell them. I think the verse that characterizes best what was happening on this trip is  

2 Corinthians 2:4, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.”  

Celebration, Sadness, and Joy  

This trip yielded over 80 salvations, 8 house churches, numerous healings, and deliverances.  

After our final appointments on our final night of ministry the entire ministry team including translators, team leaders, and drivers spent a couple hours celebrating late into the night at Uttam’s house. Uttam had organized and planned this entire trip along with Charles and I but he did most of the leg work. His wife and family are delightful and hospitable. As more than 25 people packed into a small room in his house we thanked God together for all he had done. We prayed, laughed, cried, shared, and worshiped and the place where we gathered was filled with glory of God. Joie led us in the worship song ‘gratitude’ and as we sang it began to rain outside, as it rained harder we were all keenly aware that this was more than just a rain but it was a symbol of God’s favor and blessing. There was an outpouring of God’s Spirit here and we were under the torment of His love and mercy. Uttam received life giving rain for his tea crops and we received an outpouring of God’s Spirit. There were tongues of fire and hearts of gratitude going up as the rain came down. It reminded me of Acts 4:23-31. I guess we are a continuation of what began there. We were living Acts 29 that is still being written by the immaculate grace of God. Our hearts burned and we were blessed as we celebrated all that God had done.  

I was feeling ill and weak after this long night of ministry. When I stood up to speak all I could do was cry over all that we had just witnessed. I thanked them and shared that they were an inspiration to us and that was all I could get out. Sometimes tears speak louder that words…We then exchanged gifts. Small tokens of mutual love and affection for our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world. Struggling with my health quickly deteriorating I mostly just sat and soaked it all in. I don’t often get to do that and I must admit that sometimes it’s nice to simply be a sheep watch as my shepherd tends to his flock. He was leading me beside His quiet waters, He was refreshing my soul, He had indeed prepared a table before and we were literally surrounded all week by enemies who had no idea we were even there.  

As Charles and I spoke the last couple of days we were amazed that God had hid us from opposition. There is no logical way this could have happened as there are informants everywhere here. In fact when I was here in March we had an incident but this time with 4 teams out doing ministry there were none! There reason for this is because you were praying. If you were praying for us you were part of this trip. Lorence, an Indian leader in the ministry and an anointed evangelist wanted me to specifically thank the church for praying. He said that he could feel your prayers this week. We were carried along under the covering of prayer. God won another battle! This is a miracle of God. What is clear is that our God reigns. 

Our young team was fearless. One night Beau prayed before we went out, “Lord, we did not come here to play it safe, we are not afraid, we want to you see move in power to save, heal, set people free!” This was the heart of everyone, Beau, Kaytie, Charmonique, Bradley, Darryl, and Joie. Fearless warriors for the kingdom of God. I am a proud Pastor for the people in this church who are stepping out fearlessly in faith. What a group. There was not one argument or frustration. This was the most unified mission team I have ever been a part of. We gathered one last time in the airport to pray and sent Charmonique off to South Africa. I looked briefly into the faces of this brave bunch together one last time but not for long because I didn’t want to cry again. We prayed for her and sent here off. As she headed back to South Africa to her wonderful husband Paul she left here changed, we will come back to Nebraska to our wonderful families and church forever changed. If something seems different when we see you know that we can’t help it. We have been loved, protected, and awe struck by our amazing God.  

Now as I type this on the plane the familiar but fitting tune is playing in my heart and mind just as it was on my way here, “How Great Thou Art.” My emotions are all over the place. But this I know. God created us to feel them all deeply, so I will sit here in a pool of tears until God wipes them away and sets my feet on a rock. I have been forever changed by this trip. I am resolved to live my life even more radically for Jesus. There is nothing I would rather do with my life than to lay it down. He willingly laid down his for mine. How can we do anything less.  

Sincerely, Your Changed Pastor