MY beautiful team and I: TEAM REFRESH!
It’s nearing the end of our time in Kuala Krai, Malaysia and I am really going to miss this little town. We will be moving to Kuantin via a 7-hour bus ride on Friday evening, to assist another pastor in another church, so please be praying for safe travels for us. I have to admit, ministering in a small town where we’re the only Americans kind of makes us feel like celebrities. Wherever we go, whatever we do, every one stares at us and smiles. Many times when we try and talk to people, they just giggle and run away and many people buy us food, beverages, and one man even gave all the women on my team jeweled broaches. This town has been so hospitable that it will be a hard adjustment going back to the States, and walking down the street without anyone inviting me into their home for tea and cookies. This month has definitely felt the most “New-Testament-disciple-like” to me because we are constantly on the move, never staying in one place for very long, ministering in lots of homes and preaching wherever we go.
A few days ago our ministry took on a small boat across the nearby river to a village next to Kuala Krai for a nutritional milk powder distribution. This particular powder tastes a lot like chocolate milk when mixed with water but has more vitamins and minerals in one glass than I’ve seen in any other food or drink. We were at the village school, passing out the milk powder to the families and children and the pastor told us he would finish up distribution and we should all go on a prayer walk throughout the village. We started down the dirt road, praying for the families and waving at everyone we came in contact with, until one woman waved us over to her house and invited us in for a party she was throwing. The entire house smelled of incense and I saw a small Ganesh (Hindu idol) at the outside of the house with food and burnt offering around it. We entered the home, praying and talking with the woman and her entire extended family.
It turns out, it was her sons 19th birthday party that evening and they were all so overjoyed that we would be apart of it. They asked us lots of questions about America and I talked to them about Hinduism and my experiences in India. When it was time for the birthday cake, the son blew out his birthday candles, cut the cake and went around the circle, feeding each of us like American couples do on their wedding day. It was so funny and strange for the seven of us Racers but we loved the cultural experience, giggling the entire time. When we told the family at the end of the night we wanted to pray for them, the daughter came to us with a particular prayer request. She had been having throat problems for a long time (I’m thinking strepthroat) and medicine didn’t work so the pastor told her that we believed Jesus could heal her. She shook her head, saying she was alright with us laying hands on her and praying over her. We prayed in Jesus’ name that her throat would be subject to our prayers and declared the pain was removed from her thoat and after we were done praying, she smiled and said the pain had left her. Happy and rejoicing, she went to the back room and grabbed a glass of soda, drinking it down to see if maybe swallowing would give her any pain and sure enough, the Lord had healed her completely!
After this we praised God and turned around to find that a neighbor had been brought over by one of the family members to receive prayer for the tendons on his leg. He had hurt it badly playing football (soccer) and couldn’t walk well or bend his leg at the knee at all. Again, we layed hands on the young man, speaking to his tendons and commanding them to heal in perfect alignment with Biblical truth, all in the name of Jesus Christ, and all seven of our hands became very hot and the Pastor declared that manifested presence of God was thick in the room, upon us. Mac, who had his hands right on the young man’s tendons, felt them move, and we all continued to pray harder. After our prayers, the man was completely overwhelmed, saying that his leg was healed, and that we had healed him. We said, “We have not healed you, but Jesus Christ has healed you. Bend your knee and try and walk.” and he was able to do both things with complete comfort and ease. We praised Jesus Christ and His miraculous power when we saw that more and more people were pouring into the tiny house, and that all of them were talking about the miracles that had taken place.
One woman had been brought to the house by a family member who had seen the young man healed and said she needed healing for her chest (respitory problems) and was having a lot of pain in her legs. We prayed over her and my entire body began tingling all over, and I knew the Spirit was heavily on me and in the house. The woman was able to take deep breaths, for the first time in years, and was completely healed from head to toe. Finally, we prayed for another woman who had come into the house with hip problems. All the women layed hands on the woman’s hips and I prayed that the Lord would heal another one of His children, bringing all the glory and honor to the name of Jesus, and bringing the entire family and their neighbors to the Lord. We finished praying, and the woman began to cry saying “I am healed, no more pain, thank you!” and we again declared, “The LORD has healed you, by the power of Jesus Christ, go and tell everyone you know what Christ has done in your life tonight.”
We left the house, walking down the dark dirt road towards the river, thinking to ourselves that the evening was the epitome of a “Luke 10” experience. We were invited into a home, were offered food and drink, had fellowship with the family that had us as guests, prayed over people, and by the mighty power of Jesus people were healed. Then, more and more people from the area heard of the healings and were brought to us at the house, and the Lord continued healing, bringing all glory, honor and praise to Him and Him alone. Without a doubt, that evening was one of my favorite World Race experiences so far and I am humbled and privileged for the opportunity to witness Christ’s healing power, not just once, but over and over again within a short time.
At debrief a few weeks ago, the World Race director, Michael Hindes talked to us about the importance of cultivating the manifest presence of God and bringing Kingdom wherever we go. We were encouraged to find our voice and speak out as mighty warriors of God, on offense against the Enemy. This evening, our team succeeded in all these things, and I am so overwhelmingly glad!! Glory to God for bringing me and my team this far on our adventure with Him…I honestly cannot WAIT to see what He will continue to do in us and through us for the next 5 and a half months. The beginning of Luke chapter 10 definitely sums up our month so far, and I am praying we will continue to do similar ministry in our next location in Malaysia:
Luke 10:1-9 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
at the 19th birthday party with the family!
