“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” – Luke 4: 18-19
Much of our ministry this month revolves around door-to-door visits and walking for miles through the countryside to preach in homes. Our time with the people here has been absolutely amazing. It’s been so amazing that I would like to offer you a sneak peak into a day in our life of door-to-door ministry…
May 12, 2011…
After breakfast, morning tea, and team prayer Pastor John picked us up for house visits. We began trekking through the “bush” to find families to share the Good News with. After twenty minutes or so, we came upon an elderly African man sitting on a bench in the middle of the woods. We stopped to talk with him, found out that he was also a Believer, and one of the girls in our group shared an encouraging word with him. Before we left, we asked if he had any specific prayer requests. He mentioned that he has severe joint pain and diabetes. We laid hands on him and prayed for healing…
“… and these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well…” – Mark 16: 15-18
When we finished, he began laughing out loud. He said that a few months ago the Lord gave him a dream that a group of young angels laid hands on him and he was healed and he believed that our visit was his dream coming true! J
We left that man, promising to come back and visit the next week, and walked awhile longer until we found a mud hut. Literally. Thatch roof and all. Two ladies lived there- one around thirty and one elderly lady who was lying sick in bed. The elderly lady had recently given her life over to the Lord, and was baptized that very morning. We were told that she very rarely got out of bed because she had stomach cancer and it was very painful on her to move.
All of a sudden I felt a very strong urge that the Lord wanted us to pray over her again (we had already prayed once when we first entered the hut). I used our translator to relay the message that the Lord wanted to get across. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: You mentioned earlier that you are a born-again believer, is that correct?
Lady: Yes I am.
Me: Do you believe that God has the power to heal you?
Lady: Yes I do.
Me: Do you believe that He can heal you in this very moment? I ask this because I believe that He brought us here to tell you that He wants to heal you today.
The lady raised her hands and said that “of course she believed He could heal her today!”
So our group laid hands on her and prayed for healing and that the Lord would continue to strengthen her and her faith, and use her testimony to bring Him glory. When we left we felt that the Lord had healed her of the stomach cancer, and we were excited to hear follow up stories about her next doctor visit. The next day our pastor went back to that lady and she reported that her pain had lessened drastically from the “norm.” Praise God! I know there is not a way for us to have proof of her healing without her going to the doctor again, but we are whole-heartedly believing that the lady was healed that day. 🙂
“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. Prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” – James 5:15-16
