Miracles - Ministry Night Three

Last night our ministry took our entire team to a remote village in a broken down school building for a school building for a evangelism/healing service. This was bold considering the opposition we could face. The place was dimly lit with a few light bulbs hanging from old wooden rafters, a Merry Christmas / Happy New Year banner hung on the back wall. Plastic chairs filled the room and chairs of honor were neatly positioned at the front along with Congo drums an old wooden bench completed the setting. Our hearts were burning with anticipation for what was about to happen in this place. As we exited out vehicles we were led to a dimly lit back room of the mud hut house behind the barn. We sat in plastic chairs and on the edge of a bed to have tea and snacks before the meeting. This gave time for everyone to get there who would be walking long distances in this remote setting. As we were being served so graciously by our hosts we prayed, laughed, cried and bonded as a team.
I think there is something special that happens as Christians walk together in ministry. We grow together as we experience the highs and lows. I think Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego probably understood this better than anyone. Walking into to the fire takes courage and our strength is often a source of hope for others and sometimes someone else’s strength is a source of hope for us. We were all a bit on edge, at least I was, as I have experienced incidents of danger in the past. After all the reason our meetings were being held at night all week was because of the radical Hindus and the government which has outlawed evangelism and healing. These are the things that we were here for to win people to faith in Christ. This is dangerous place to be a Christian.
After about an hour we were led out of the house back to the barn with the plastic chairs. Except now all of the chairs were filled with people from all walks of life. Moms, dads, teenagers and children. The thirty some chairs were full leaving some standing and leaning against the slivery wall. We were here for outreach yet some who came were believers who needed a touch from God. It was crowd mixed with Hindus and Christians.
The service began with the traditional presentation of scarves for us the honored guests. We have much to learn from these precious people about hospitality. I introduced the team and talked a little bit about each of their beautiful lives. All six of them have a special place in my heart, Beau, Bradley, Kaytie, Charmonique, Joie, and Darryl . After that I had Kaytie open our meeting in prayer. We then entered into a glimpse of every tribe and tongue as Pastor Moti and his daughter Lisa (23) led us in worship. It was a heavenly moment. The Spirit of God had entered the dimly lit room.
We knew that Hindus would be there seeking healing or possibly invited by a Christian neighbor. In anticipation of this I had the young evangelist Beau share the gospel. At the end of his presentation four Hindus gave their hearts to Jesus. It was a special moment.
After this Lisa, Pastor Moti’s precious daughter gave her testimony of how God had miraculously healed her from Lupus. We could not understand her words but we could see her heart as grateful tears streamed down her smooth cheeks, everyone was moved. God was rising faith in the room for people to believe that He was mighty to save, heal, and restore. I cannot begin to express what God was doing in that moment. Divine understanding does not always need words.
In faith we stepped forward offering to pray for the sick. The day before the lord had shown me that there would be someone with a bad hip that would receive healing. I was slightly bummed when no one on the team came back yesterday reporting that this had actually happened. The lord reminded me of his word to me none the less as I stepped to the front. I stepped out in faith as he whispered “hips” to me again. So I released this saying that someone here is suffering from a bad hip and the lord wants to heal you. To my surprise God didn’t want to heal just one bad hip but five. Four ladies and one man. We anointed them with oil and prayed in faith. A couple with noticeable limps, others not, but all were healed! I am not sure why this surprised me. These people walk everywhere and work in tea fields. Mathias was the man whose hip was healed. He is a blind man who lives in this village and loves Jesus with all of his heart. I met him when I was here in last March. He has been anointed with the gift of healing and often sees God move in power even though he can’t see in the natural. His faith, his smile, and his heart are remarkable. His hip had been bothering him for a while and he said it felt like a badly pinched nerve. He walked outside then back in to test it out and reported, healed! We prayed for those having demonic nightmares. All four ladies jolted as the demons came out. We prayed for a family whose teenage son had gone crazy and left their home.
This dimly lit broken down barn had become a hospital for the broken, lighthouse for those in darkness, and a glorious Cathedral for the awe struck. His power, majesty, and love were on full display as we became partakers of His divine initiatives to save, heal, and restore. The light had pierced the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. Praise be to the God of love.
-Pastor Matt