Below is the somewhat condensed version of my journal entry for February 5th. I wanted to share with you my thoughts and my heart, so you will see more of my journal entries as the days and weeks go by. My journals are not a secret, but a way to remember and process all that is taking place this year. The following entry may sound crazy to you it may not, but here it is…my night with the Holy Spirit.
Nancy, Bira, and Kathleen…I’ll explain these names.
Right now it is 3:05am. We just returned home.
At 5:30 we headed out with Carl (our host) to a community named Beswick about 1.5 hours away.
I didn’t really want to go and was mad when I was told I couldn’t stay back. I decided to wait for nothing to happen so I could tell my team “I told you so.” My thoughts were that it wouldn’t be very important…boy was I wrong.
After getting there around 8pm (we had a few stops to make on the way) we met up with another team of ours who was staying there. We were eating our taco dinner when the music on the street started, announcing the beginning of that nights service. The other team went first so they could build the relationships without overwhelming the locals with too many white people at once.
We waited about an hour before heading out to join the rest. Even then I still wasn’t expecting much to happen, just going to watch this service from the sidelines. Over an hour into it, after the singing, the leader asked for any locals who wanted our teams to pray for healing to come forward. With two other teammates, I prayed for a woman named Nancy. She told us she was in kidney failure and was on a donor list. So we prayed. When we started praying I had my left hand holding her left arm and my right hand on her shoulder. At some point I felt I should move my hand from her shoulder and place it on her lower back by her kidneys. As soon as I did that she lost her balance and we had to catch her to keep her from falling over. We kept praying. We helped her sit down and we continued prayer for her and her sons as she told us of their illnesses.
Later, after some testimonies, our WR teams were asked to come to the center (middle of the road) so they could pray for us. As they prayed a woman kept yelling out. I was trying to figure out what to do, if anything at all, about her.
After I was prayed for I looked up and saw a woman who looked wobbly. I went over to her, placed my hand on her back, asked her if she was ok, and put my other hand on her arm. When I did that she raised her head to me a bit. I saw nothing in her eyes. I know it was dark at night but it was more than that, I saw an empty darkness, not a woman when I looked at her face. The next moment she fell to the ground. I knelt right there on the street with my right hand on her back (she was on her side) and my left on her forehead. I prayed, that’s all I knew how to do (well that and make sure she was still breathing, which I did). She shuttered and twitched as I continued and I prayed until she sat back up (5 minutes or so).
As I began to speak to her she told me her name was Bira and I prayed for her again, that the Lord would protect her and fill her with Him. She now had a beautiful face with bright eyes and smile. During this time the woman who was yelling was still struggling and fighting with something and she was stumbling all over the place. While still sitting next to Bira I stretched out my hand toward Kathleen (the woman yelling) and began praying for her. A few other teammates had stood by and were reaching out and praying for her as she continued to yell and stumble.
I wanted a stronger unified prayer so I went and embraced Caitlin and we prayed together. When Kathleen stumbled by (or into) me I tried to keep my hand on her as long as possible. After a few moments I looked down and she was on the ground at my feet.
I knelt and laid my hands on her and again just kept praying. Two other teammates joined me and I prayed until she become alert and sat up. She told me her name and I prayed for her and she kept twitching and moaning for a little bit, then a friend of hers came over. I helped her to her feet, gave her a hug and said goodbye. I promised to keep her in my prayers.
I’m grateful that I came, that my team didn’t let me stay back. Look what the Lord had for me that I would have missed had I remained selfish.
Thank you Lord for revealing yourself like you did tonight. Forgive my bad attitude. Thank you for letting me take part in your powerful work. I pray for continued strength, power and wisdom for the next time and the rest of my life.
The End (of the beginning)
This is a lot to take in I know. Caitlin (teammate) was nearby and saw what was happening and couldn’t wait until we got back home to talk about it as a team. She had me tell the team what took place. Some are still wary about it, but I can’t be. I saw the Holy Spirit move in Beswick that night and there is no denying it. The weird thing was that it wasn’t weird. When the second lady fell to the ground I was ready to run and get help but God just told me to stay there and pray. As much as I wanted another person there with me, there was no way I was going to take my hands off of that woman.
Though it was hot, as I prayed sweat was dripping off my eyebrows. I couldn’t help but think of Jesus praying in the Garden. My eyes were filled with tears, my nose was dripping straight onto the ground, and it was the best feeling in the world. Crazy I know; I’m still journaling things about it as I remember or think about them.
Please keep these people in your prayers. Witchcraft is a big thing with the Aboriginal people…it’s part of their culture. Please pray for me and my team as we begin to see more things like this take place, here in Australia and into the next countries.
Thank you for all your prayers and support. Though I can’t talk to you all much I know that you are back home supporting me.
