Disclaimer: the stories you’re about to read deal with miracles. In Romans 12:6-9 and 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 it talks about spiritual gifts. I believe that because I have the Holy Spirit in me, I have access to all of the gifts but God can make some of the gifts more prominent in me during different seasons, like the gift of healing and prophecy. God has given His followers the authority to do miracles for God’s glory. And it’s amazing that God trusts us with that. Check out Mark 16: 17-18 to see where Jesus talks about the miraculous signs that will accompany those who believe in Him.
Here’s a collection of stories of what God did in my first few days of ministry:
The Stoners.
This was my first day of ministry with Impact Africa in the squatter camps. My team consisted of my translator, Pastor Simon-Peter, Mason, Anna W and me. We went to a house where we saw six men sitting outside smoking weed. We asked if we could sit and talk with them. We sat with them for about 45 minutes just getting to know them and their stories. After awhile we introduce why we were there (we were there to spread the good news) and gently brought Jesus into the conversation. Some of them were so genuinely curious about who Jesus was and why we should even care about him. It was so amazing to see how God was able to use the team and I to answer those questions and to instill curiosity into the men. Finally we asked if any of them were interested in saying the salvation prayer and all of them wanted to! So I got to walk them all through the salvation prayer and we got to prayer over the men to help them stop smoking weed.
It was so cool that we got to meet them right where they were at, in front of their house, smoking pot. But that’s how Jesus did it. He went to the outcasts, the sick and the forgotten to bring them hope.
The Woman and the Group under the tree.
On our second day of ministry in the same squatter camp my team was Luke, Efra (an Impact intern), Beauty (our translator) and me. As soon as we stepped out of the school, Efra asked us what we wanted to see today and my immediate response was that I wanted to see physical healings and boy did the Lord provide. All before lunch we saw five physical healings! The first woman we talked to and prayed over was healed from her stomach pain which was particularly amazing because she didn’t even tell us she was having pain. She actually came and found us about an hour later while we were with a different family doing their laundry to tell us that she was healed.
A few hours later we were heading back to the base when we ran into a group of men and woman sitting under a big tree. We talked with them for awhile and eventually found out that four of them were in constant pain. One couldn’t fully extend her arms, two had knee pain and one had feet pain. We then asked if we could pray for them to be healed and they said yes, so we stood in a big circle holding hands and prayed for healing. After our prayers we asked if they felt any better and they all did! The woman could fully extend her arms, the two with knee pain said they felt nothing (one of them stood up and danced because her knees felt better) and the one with the feet pain said she could run a mile! It was a miracle!
The Gogo and her Neighbor.
On the first ministry day back from being in Pietermaritzburg (refer to my last blog about this) we went to a different squatter camp. Today my team consisted of Harleigh, Drew, Lyle (he is on the World Race but he’s from 11n11), Jeff (our translator) and me. The morning was pretty slow but after lunch we met a Gogo and talked with her for about a half an hour. After getting to know her she told us that she has a growth on her tongue that has been there for three years causing her severe pain. The pain was so severe that it was hard for her to eat. She started crying while talking about it because the doctors haven’t been able to help her and she was scared about what the growth was. We asked her if we could pray over her to hopefully receive healing. We all sat on the ground around her, my hand on her cheek and we prayed. Half way through our second time praying for healing she interrupted us by hugging me. She told us that she didn’t feel any pain anymore and we celebrated together.
With our faith high, we left and went to her neighbors house. We sat with them and read bible stories and answered their hard questions about God. After about a half an hour the Gogo we were with earlier came over to get something to eat from her neighbor. The Gogo told the woman we were with that she was healed! When she heard this she kicked her feet out and said that her feet needed healing. They were horribly swollen and she said they hurt really bad. After we explained to her what healing is and that it comes from the Lord, not us, we prayed over her feet. When we finished praying she was amazed and shocked. The swelling clearly went down and she was pressing hard on the top of her feet and said she didn’t feel any pain anymore. She later told us that even poking her foot made her cry from how painful it was.
