Today we went to a location in Medan where refugee families from Burma and Iran are living. It’s used to be a kind of hotel, but has been repurposed to house several families. Most of the families had been there for three years, but have been in the country longer than that. A few families just arrived a few months ago.
*I’ve changed the names of some of the people at their request for their protection.*
Manijay (think “manager” with “jay” instead of “ger”) was the first person we met. She was by herself, and we learned that her son had been killed by the Iranian government. Her application for refugee status has been rejected twice, and she may be sent back to Iran because of it. She also requested prayer for her friend who has cancer right now in Iran.
Mary* has been at the location for three years. She is staying with her daughter Tia*, and one of her sons was with her, but went back to Iran two months ago. She has not seen her other son and her husband in three years. She was Muslim in Iran. She was introduced to Jesus, but still prayed with her friends. One day, as she was praying to Jesus, she felt pressure in her heart. As she prayed, “help me, Jesus” she took as shower and was healed. She also did not want to get baptized, but had a dream that she was going to get baptized, so she did. Later she was sick and could not get out of bed, but she prayed boldly to be healed, and was. She was feeling rather defeated and lonely and prayed for good news, and we came the next day. Her faith and devotion to God was amazing.
Mondona was a young woman that had been there for three years. Her refugee application has been been rejected once. She has a dream to go and share the holy community wherever she possibly can. Last year, she was seeming ghosts in her house, but a team came and prayed against them, and she has not seen any since. She has an uncle in America and would like to go and visit him if she gets the chance. Her name used to be “Zetap”, but she is now known as “Mondona”, which means “friend.”
Farhod, Mariam, and their two daughters was so happy to see us. Their refugee application has also been rejected once. He said also that they did not feel God’s love for their first thirty years of life, but now they feel his love and it has changed their lives.
While we were visiting with these people, one of the Muslim women, whose family recently arrived from Myanmar, asked why we were there. Our contact explained that we were going to various houses praying for people who had issues, or were sick. She asked if, with the permission of her husband, Nathan*, we would pray over her son, Eli*. He always seemed to have a fever and had hard lumps on either side of his throat. Her husband agreed and asked that we pray for him also, because he had a cough that would not go away. Us girls prayed over Eli* and his mother, and our male contact and our translator prayed for Nathan*. This was because of their culture. We were praying hard for the healing of the lumps in Eli’s* throat, and also for his appetite to return. As we neared the end of our prayer, Joanna managed to get her hand on the back of his neck, with her fingers specifically where the bumps had been. We are not positive, because we didn’t have a lot of time to check, but we could not find the lumps anymore, and later I saw him eating. PTL!
While we were in the house of the Muslim family, we also prayed for Amelia, a mother from Myanmar whose husband had been sent to a detention center in Burma, and her son, Mohammed. Mohammed was also sick a lot, so we prayed for his healing.
The next family we visited (Adam*, Maria*, Matt*, and Honey*) already had their refugee status, but did not have permission to live in another country. They need to get a letter of consent from Adam’s* first wife, to be able to take Matt* with them. This family was amazingly hospitable. They served us cake and tea, which was the Persian tea, and also offered us dinner, although we already had dinner plans and could not stay. They loved us to much and it felt a lot like a living room setting with close family all gathered together.
The last family we visited was that of our Persian translator, Mohsen. He and his wife, Monsuray, and their two children have already been approved as refugees and recently completed their medical check up. This means they should be approved to move to Australia shortly. Now they are praying about where to live there. Monsuray has had a dream that her family was living in Melbourne, near friends. Wherever they go, they want to end up where God wants them to show his love.
Please pray for these people either to come to Christ and following him, and/or to continue to follow him.
#GodIsInControl
#redefiningdisciple
#IAMTHIRD
