It was day two of ministry in the city of Lilongwe, Malawi. We walked through the streets with a sense of expectancy for God to move, and nerves for all the new things we were experiencing. The vision for this month’s ministry is to visit the village communities, share the gospel with the people, and plant a church there. Everywhere we went we came across several opportunities to pray for people. They were so hungry for the love of Jesus. I was standing beside my teammate Sara praying for a man who had staggered up to us in the street. He told us he wanted to stop being drunk all the time and he wants Jesus to give him new life. As we stood there praying on this red dirt road with hoards of people watching and children clinging to our sides, my mind went back to a vision God gave me at training camp.
Halfway through the 10 days I spent in Atlanta preparing for the World Race, I went up to this girl Sara. She was always beaming with joy and striking up conversation with whoever was nearby. She had already become someone I knew I could get along with, but I had no idea at the time that she would be picked as one of my teammates to walk alongside this year. We had just come from a worship session and God had given me a vision of the two of us, so I began to share it with her.
I saw the two of us walking down a dirt road in a village. There was a huge mountain in the distance behind us, and simple village huts were lining the streets on either side of us. As we were walking, we stopped by every person that we saw. We would hold out our hands, motioning that we wanted to give this person something. As he/she reached out their hands in response, we would place our hands on theirs and they would immediately light on fire. After this exchange, the person turned and did the same to whoever else was nearby in the village, and that person in turn would also pass it on. As we watched this happen, I realized what God was speaking through this picture. Sara and I were giving away handfuls of fire. We were igniting others with the fire of the Holy Spirit and every person was lit up with a glory they couldn’t contain, so they had to give it away.
It’s not often that God speaks to me in the form of visions, but this one was so clear I couldn’t deny that it had a big significance. So I shared this with Sara and she lit up with excitement and affirmation. I didn’t know what that meant for our future, but God put us on the same team so we could see this come to pass.
Skip back to our prayer in the village. As we prayed over this man, I began to be filled with joy and compassion. As this man took a step of faith to ask for prayer, God was equipping this man with freedom and fire. The vision God had given was happening in front of me. After our ministry time, we jumped back in the van and I asked Sara, “hey, do you remember that thing I told you at training camp?” Before I could complete my thought, she jumped in and started chattering away. We talked about it and reveled at how God speaks.
This month has been all about giving away this gift and weapon of fire. It’s no coincidence our team name is “Arm the Masses”; that’s exactly what we have been doing. The atmosphere in Malawi is very tangibly spiritual. Where there are believers, the presence and joy of the Holy Spirit is there without a doubt. But in the areas that have not been exposed to the love of Jesus, witchcraft and darkness have easily had influence over the people. Spirituality and the supernatural are not in question here at all- the people know it’s real. The question is where does the real power and authority come from? Which power gives life? And if they haven’t been told about the true power of God, why would they not experiment with the power of darkness?
Since we have been doing ministry in the villages, we have prayed a hedge of protection over countless children and rebuked several demonic things. Witches practice their curses over the children because they are vulnerable. Adults go visit the witch doctor when they are sick and open themselves up to all sorts of demonic practice. These things get passed down to their families if there is nothing to break off its power. We went to a part of a village one day and met several women who had all been experiencing the same illness for years- serious fainting, dizziness, headaches. As we prayed for woman after woman with the same problem, we found out they were all related. Someone in the family had visited a witch doctor with this problem in the past- since that time, this illness began to spread to her family. We saw this pattern and realized this was a curse that had been passed on. We prayed the blood of Jesus over these women for healing, and broke off the generational curses.
Another crazy thing here in Lilongwe is a group of young men who call themselves the “Guli Wamakuli”. These guys are appointed by the chief in their village to practice dark things. They do spiritual dances around graves and practice hexing on the children of the village. They cover themselves with tribal-looking clothes and wear masks. They even hide in the forests at night and have been known to attack people and steal children from the villages to turn them into one of them. One particular day, we saw a huge mass of children following these guys into a forest to watch them do one of their spiritual dances. Another day, we saw hundreds of people running down the street away from them as they were being chased. It has almost become a game to run from the Guli Wamakuli or to dare to follow them and watch what they do, but the reality is that children who have come into contact with them have experienced very demonic things. We have prayed over several children, by request of their parents, who have gotten involved with these men and have been tormented by nightmares ever since. You can sense the spirit of fear on them when we pray. Demonic things have been transferred even to very young children.
We have also prayed over many women who have dealt with demonic things. I have only ever watched deliverance happen- never been a part of it. But two weeks into our month here, and I have laid hands on women who have started to manifest demons. It is intense and heart-breaking. But through all this, with the pastors and leaders present to help, I have seen the presence of God come and set these women free. There is a point you can tell something changes and there is a peace of the Spirit that settles into these women and replaces the darkness that once resided.
My heart’s cry for this year was to see captives set free, see the miraculous, see lives changed for Jesus. I have prayed that as I move in obedience to the Spirit of God, He would equip me to hand out the fire that I saw in that vision. God has been so faithful to answer in the most tangible way. We have had no choice but to jump in and ask, “What next, God?” It has been a thrilling, nerve-wracking, joyful, stretching, difficult month. But this is exactly what I asked for and exactly what I want ministry to look like for the rest of my life.
Please pray that this fire continues to burn. My prayer for this month has been to look more like Jesus and love how He loves. I feel like I’ve gotten a small taste of that and it has left me hungry for more. Pray for more. Pray that this fire continues to grow so that it cannot be contained- that I would have no choice but to give it away and that those I touch would do the same.
The fire of God is real and it is spreading. May we all continue to be consumable by the fire of God so we see His kingdom come.
