“Outreach begins now.” – Ken Drisner (Pacific Academy Outreach Director)
Well, Africa is just two days away, and I still know next to nothing about the language or the culture of the countries we’ll be visiting. Nor have I given much thought to packing at all—the last couple weeks have been taken up solely by getting my three replacements set for the time I’ll be gone.
But even in the midst of this flurry of paperwork and general busyness, I find myself preparing (or rather, being prepared), for this trip in some unique ways!
Today, for example, transpired to the point where I found myself having lunch with a Sudanese man (whose name I won’t try to spell) at a little place called A Taste of Africa. Although it was western Africa I was tasting, it was still good to experience some food and fellowship from the continent—both whet my appetite for more to come.
I find myself being prepared spiritually as well. Thursday was a good example. Though I was completely swamped with work, and could hardly afford the time, I just felt compelled to head into Surrey with the Nightshift street ministry group. So a friend and I went out, offering prayers, food, and some delicious carmel vanilla mocha to any who could use them.
Some people went for the mocha, others the prayer, others both ... the prayer times were powerful, reaching deep into people’s hearts ... one man was really touched by the Father’s heart for him and his daughter, and another guy asked for prayer for his ankle, which he said had been bothering him for five years. He was healed instantly by the power of God. Another woman saw it happen and asked for prayer for her elbow, which was also healed. She said “that is so weird that is so weird that is so weird ... I can feel all that positive energy all over!” and then she said, “I used to go to CLA (the Christian Life Assembly church in Langley), and now I’m going to start going back.” Go God!!!
Then there was Friday. I got a chance to go with a friend to Richmond to pray for a sick Cantonese man who had just been discharged from the hospital and was waiting for further treatment. Our instructions had come in from HK via his cousin: “Pray with him and lead him to Jesus.” Simple enough! After he told us he often reads the Bible, but he doesn’t know why, we shared Psalm 23 with him, and prayed for his healing and restoration. He knew about Jesus (his brother, after all, was one of those touched by Jackie Pullinger’s work there), and said he had a small amount of faith. So of course I told him Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed, explaining that Jesus could take even the smallest amount of faith and make it grow. He seemed interested in my church and especially in the healing rooms, and I expect to see him there soon.
And, last but not least, two weeks ago, Saturday. I was hanging out with a friend, and he began talking about a problem he was having with anger. He just seemed to snap, he said, in the heat of the moment, and would often have no memory afterward of what he had said or done. It almost seemed like another person was doing those things, he said. This wasn’t the first time he mentioned this to me, I can remember several occasions when this happened, he went completely berserk and said and did things he would otherwise never do. Anyway, he really wanted to be free of this, and was asking people for help. Some had told him he just needed to see a counselor, it was an anger management problem, clear and simple. Others had said it was just a phase of life that would pass. But I knew this guy really well, he was a good Christian guy ... not a really angry person in general, that just wasn't him at all. It seemed clear to me that there was a spirit behind this, and the more I asked him about it, the more evident that became—I sensed a definite spirit of anger was bothering him! But though half of me said it’s too late for this, you’re too tired, the words just came out of my mouth: “let’s pray for that right now.” So we did. I just put my hand on his shoulder and we began to pray, binding this spirit and telling it to leave.
“How do you feel?” “I feel huge amounts of pain where your hand is, it’s like pain is shooting into my body right there.” “Really?” “It also feels really heavy. It feels like a huge weight is pushing down on me right there.” But I was not pushing down at all.
We kept praying, and he spoke words sealing off whatever caused the thing to enter, and I had a crazy picture come to me. I saw myself lovingly dealing with this spirit, speaking to it sweetly and kindly, almost hugging it, as I tied it up, giving it a little kiss on the cheek, saying goodbye to it, and lobbing it away (in the picture I was throwing it off a deck into the water) ... quite a crazy picture, but then I realized that we should come in the opposite spirit of anger ... in kindness and gentleness .... then together the friend and I tried to remember 1 Corinthians 13 ... During which he began to feel really queasy, and the next thing we knew, he was down on the floor. But we kept praying, commanding this thing to go. Soon he began to feel electricity shoot through his arms and legs, and for a bit he lost all feeling in his left arm .... “This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever felt!” he said, “this is so weird!” We kept praying, and eventually the electricity worked it’s way up through his whole body, until he said, “It’s done. I can feel it, it’s done.”
So I left there pretty amazed and pumped, of course (wouldn't you be?) ... but then I heard God clearly say, "that was just some practice ..."! Whoa! I kept thinking of him though and lifting up prayers for him over the next few days, and the next time I got a chance to talk to him, he said, "it’s incredible, people tell me I’m like a different person now! My mom even said my eyes don’t look as dark as they used to, and I feel lighter inside, I feel like the anger thing is gone, and will never come back!"
In the words of the late John Wimber, "Attababy God!!!!!!!!!" ^___^
