Month 1 in Africa, I got hives. Month 2, amoeba parasites. Month 3, malaria. With less than a week left, Africa gave me something else, something that cannot be treated with medicine. Something that is definitely present throughout all of Africa. Africa’s going-away gift to me was the Holy Spirit. Yes, you read that correctly. The …. Holy …. Spirit. I guess after the physical trials of this month, and those prior, Africa realized that it owed me big. In prior blogs, I feel like I’ve made it clear that while Africa has been tough on me physically, spiritually, I’ve been growing and learning. It’s not that I wouldn’t expect more spiritual growth in Africa, but to unexpectedly be anointed in the Holy Spirit, I definitely didn’t see that coming. Yes, unexpectedly.
Before I explain, let me give you a little background info and back things up just a little bit. It’s been no secret that I’m weirded out by all the Holy Spirit stuff. Prophecy, speaking in tongues, laughing in the Spirit, casting out demons. You name it, and I have resisted it. All of this has always seemed so far out in left field for me, but then I started to slowly see how the Holy Spirit operates in other ways that didn’t seem so much of a stretch for me. For instance, I could handle the idea of praying for the Holy Spirit to come in and give me the words when preaching at church or when evangelizing to people in their homes. Then I met an African prophet, who told me things that he could have not known without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was continuously gently revealing himself to me, without causing me to run for cover.
I decided it was time to stop being so resistant, and I suggested to my team that we do a prophecy game. I couldn’t believe it was me asking to do this when I had avoided the idea for nearly 7 months. We did the game, and it definitely wasn’t as “weird” as I had expected it to be. Ever since I decided to be less resistant to exploring aspects of the Holy Spirit, He has presented me with opportunities to learn more and experience more. Now I find myself getting words or images for people. Sometimes they make sense, and other times, they don’t. One of my teammates got a book about moving in the Holy Spirit, and as she read it, she shared and processed it a lot with me. As my knowledge in the Holy Spirit grew, my encounters with the Holy Spirit became that much more intense. In the last week, I’ve helped cast demons out of 3 people. The first time, I felt some fear, but each time, it became less intimidating. With the most recent one, I had no qualms about embracing the woman to keep her from hurting herself or anyone else.
That brings us to present day and to the night where I was unexpectedly baptized in the Holy Spirit. I was at church for a prayer service, and we broke up into groups. Those who have and/or speak in tongues went to the back of the church, and the rest of us stayed in the front. There really wasn’t any explanation to what was going on, but this was the point in the service where we would all pray. The group in the back was praying in tongues, and us in the front were praying in our native tongues. Seemed pretty self explanatory. All of the sudden, about 15 minutes into praying, I felt Pastor Freeda take my hands and lead me to the stage. She cupped my face in her hands and began praying over me. I began to hear mumbling about anointing and Holy Spirit, and next thing I know, I’m nearly on the ground. I lost all control of my legs. Freeda sat me down for a moment and continued praying. I was giggling and tearing up all at the same time. I then stood up and hugged her. As I was hugging her, she placed her hand upon my chest, and again, my legs went out from under me. I didn’t fall, though, because she had her other arm around me, holding me up. At this point, I knew what was going on, what had happened. I seriously had just been slained in the Spirit! Freeda anointed me and then the Holy Spirit slained me.
You still with me?? I know this will seem crazy and weird to many of you, and believe me, it did to me. But that’s not all. The story isn’t over yet. 🙂 Somewhat understanding what was going on, I went off to the side of the room and got on my knees to pray. My eyes were tearing up, and I was softly giggling again. I began to pray and the words that came out of my mouth were not of me. I abruptly stopped in bewilderment. I knew what was going on, but I just couldn’t believe it. In disbelief, I tried again. Sure enough, I spoke out unrecognizable words. I was praying in tongues! I know, I know – crazy! What’s crazier is that those words felt more right than any English words I would have spoken out.
So there you have it. My unplanned, un-instigated anointing of the Holy Spirit. The irony in all of this is that my teammate had said just this week that she really wanted to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and I had said that I definitely wasn’t at the point yet. Apparently, God knew better. I have no doubt that if I had been asked, I would have passed on this chance. This all just happened last night, less than 24 hours ago, so I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it. Yes, it’s crazy, even weird, but it’s so liberating! I, of course, am still learning and understanding the complexities of the Holy Spirit. Prophesying, casting out demons, praying in tongues – it’s all still a learning process. I may not get everything right the first time, or second or third, but what matters most is that, once again, I’m just being obedient. God just wants us to be obedient. It all comes back to that … obedience.
