Yo! I spent the month of September in Malawi and I want to share with you an excerpt of what God did in just a 3 day period. Let me set the stage real quick. I was working with a team who would travel to a different village each week and plant churches. Throughout the week they would go to different spots in the villages, share the gospel, pray for the sick, and share with them where the location of the new church would be on Sunday. People would gather there on Sunday, worship together, and a leadership team would be selected and they would begin to take ownership of their church.
The scene starts on Friday afternoon…
We were in this village sharing with people and I walked up to a group of 15 or so men who were bike taxi drivers. Feeling in my spirit that one of them had lower back pain I walked up and asked if one of them currently had this pain. Sure enough a guy raised his hand and said it had been hurting for many months. I asked him to stand up because I believed Jesus wanted to heal him. He let me pray, and right there in front of all these men Jesus healed this mans back pain. Afterward he kind of looked at me in shock, and asked if I would pray for the pain to never come back. Once The Spirit had manifested His presence we had a platform to now share the gospel because it was no longer just talk to these men but power.
I shared the gospel and after sharing there was a man who wanted to accept Jesus. This man wasn’t just a local kicking it at the bike taxi station, this man was Chief Mkaka! The Chief of the neighboring village. According to the chief we were working with, this guy is now the only other Christian chief in the whole area! This man of influence just accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Say what?! We began to share with him how to begin to walk with Jesus and encouraged him to come to church on Sunday. However, it remains to be seen if he would actually come…
Leaving that Holy Spirit led encounter we draw another crowd of 30 people (it happens pretty easy in an African village). We share the gospel and many started following Jesus and experiencing his power. A lady came up to me and explained how she had suffered from stomach ulcers for close to 4 years and they were currently giving her a lot of pain. So…we prayed. Jesus touched her ulcers and right there she begins to loosen her wrap that was around her waist. Her wrap had been tied soooo tight to keep pressure on the ulcers so they didn’t hurt as bad. Now, she is free. A few seconds after that ended, a man walked up who suffered intense head and neck pains for the last few months. He often would walk and fall forward because he couldn’t stand the pain. The doctors had told him to go home because they couldn’t heal him. He had no other hope. He walked up and asked for prayer. So… we prayed. His loving Father removed the pain and healed him right there. THE MAN BEGAN TO DANCE!
Cool thing is, the story didn’t stop there…
Sunday morning rolls around and we drive to the designated spot that the new church was to start gathering. Not too long after we arrived the people from the village began to trickle in a few at a time. These villagers were about to form a body more powerful than they had ever dreamed of. One of the many that rolled in was none other than Chief Mkaka. I had to do a double check. The Chief sincerely accepted Jesus and was now walking back to this village to worship His Lord and Savior with other believers. While there he received a bible, formed a relationship with the Chief of the village (and pastor of the new church) we were working in, and committed at the end of the service to be apart of this community of believers! This man who is a CHIEF of a village is following Jesus! What does God have in store for this man’s village?!?! Think about what this means!
One of the best parts about African churches is at the end of the gathering they have a time of testimonies. Well during this time 2 people stood up to share. Can you guess who they may be?.. Yep! The woman who was healed of ulcers on Friday proclaiming God’s healing and how she hasn’t had pain since, and the man who had intense head and neck pains who proclaimed he came to church today to be a testament of the healing power of Jesus and to share that he wants to follow Jesus everyday as His Lord and Savior!
The Father is at work y’all. He is expanding His Kingdom. Let’s get on board!
