Taking Jesus to the BUSH, BUSH!

I went on an evangelistic outreach last weekend in the bush, bush. (The reason that they call it the bush, bush is because it is really out in the middle of nowhere.) There are only grass huts, no electricity, and no running water. There were many people in this area who were starving, malnourished, and extremely impoverished. My heart was deeply burdened and broken as I witnessed the needs in this village.

This outreach experience was a very exciting trip! I saw God work in amazing ways during the three days that we were gone. It was also wonderful to see God take all that the enemy intended for harm and use it for good.

One of these situations happened about twenty minutes after we left the IRIS base. We had almost 30 people crowded in the back of our truck, so we blew out a tire as we were driving down the road. (Praise God that it was not one of the main tires, so it didn't cause an accident!)

The first place that we stopped to get the tire fixed temporarily was a small village. While we were waiting for the tire to get fixed, we began praying for people to get healed. There was a lady who had a knee and back problem. We prayed for her, and she got healed. She also did not know Jesus. We shared God's love with her, and she accepted Christ into her heart. You could see the joy in her face as she moved her leg freely. Then another lady came who could not see clearly out of her one eye. We prayed for her, and her vision improved. A third lady had a problem with her kidneys. After we prayed for her, she told us that she felt better than she had been feeling. We believe God for total recovery in the near future.

We had to stop at a second place to fix the tire properly. This time a quadriplegic was brought to us for prayer. We all prayed for him very intensely. As we were praying, we did not see him healed, but I do believe that God's love was made real to him that day. While I was praying, God laid it on my heart to wash this man's feet. One of the Mozambican interpreters helped pour water on his feet while I washed. This was a very sacred moment for me. It really touched my heart. I prayed and wept as I washed his feet. I was very thankful that I was given the opportunity to show God's love to this man. When we left, the man thanked me for washing his feet, and he had a smile on his face.

One of the things that I have found to be very difficult in praying for healing is that if their illness isn't cured, I feel as though I have not given them anything.

However, on this trip, God has been showing me that healing in the heart is just as important as physical healing. Everyone needs to be touched by God's love, and God's love is a gift that I can always give to the sick. I can always give them a taste of Jesus and his love.

When we arrived at our destination, we were able to have a service that night for the people of the village. We shared the gospel message through a drama and testimonies. Then one of the IRIS people preached a sermon. There was an altar call at the end of the service. We prayed for people to receive Jesus and also prayed for the sick.

I was able to pray for many people. Most of the people that I prayed for seemed to have headaches or stomach pain. I didn't always have a translator, so sometimes I had to guess about what the problem was by where they pointed on their bodies. Almost all of the people told the translator that they felt better or gave me some hand signal to say that they were feeling better after I prayed for them.

I must share that this was the first time that I have really engaged in healing ministry, but I can say that I truly did feel the power of God upon me as I prayed for people. I have never experienced anything like this. This weekend I was able to see three people walk, who had not walked for a long time. It was an amazing experience for me. I was filled with joy as I continued to pray for people. I also saw many people be filled with joy in their hearts. I belive that God's love touched people's hearts and that they experienced inner healings as well.

The second day I was able to pray for more people and lead 4 people to Christ who had never heard about Jesus. There was also a baptismal service for the people who got saved the night before.

I will end this blog with two stories that touched my heart the most. The first one is about a lady named Julietta. She was an elderly lady that was extremely malnourished. You could clearly see her bones through her body, and she had tattered clothes. My heart was deeply moved as I looked at her. I asked the interpreter if he would ask Julietta if I could pray for her. She said that I could. I sat down in the dirt with her and began to pray for her. I then asked the interpreter to ask her if she knew Jesus. She said that she didn't know about him, but she would love for me to tell her about him. I shared about Jesus and what he had done for my life. Then I asked her if she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart. She said. "Yes." After I finished praying for her, she told the translator that she was very sad before I came and prayed, but now she was very happy. I could tell from her facial expressions that a change had truly taken place. She also told the translator that she knew that Jesus was here. I was so touched that I began to cry tears of joy. This experience blessed my life immensely! I give all glory and honor to God for his faithful love and compassion. It is a beautiful thing to see the love of Jesus bringing hope to the despairing. During on final service the next day, I danced with Julietta. It was such a joyful experience. We laughed throughout the whole experience. (The Africans always laugh at me when I dance with them. I am going to try to get one of the Africans to give me dance lessons so I can improve my dancing skills.)

The last story I want to tell is about an infant that I prayed for. I was not sure what was wrong with her, but I knew that she was very sick. I could feel that she had a fever, and her mother pointed to the baby's head and stomach. I began to pray for her. I sensed that I should ask the mother to hold the child in my arms. I found an interpreter to ask the mother if it was fine for me to do this. The mother agreed. I held the little baby in my arms and prayed fervently for her. I imagined that it was Jesus who was holding her and continued to pray for healing. I rocked her in my arms for about five minutes as I prayed. Then I felt her forehead. Her fever was completely gone! I was so excited that I shouted for joy. Then I gave her back to her mother. Her mother was also very happy!

I praise God for being so good and faithful. He is truly an awesome God!

The final thing that I want to share about this outreach is that I had another opportunity to experience the compassion of God's heart. As I looked into the people's eyes and touched them and hugged them, my heart broke so many times. I continued to pray that I would look at them with Jesus' eyes of love and compassion. I believe that God answered this prayer because even now I still can remember the desperation in their faces and my heart hurts for the great needs that so many of them have. I pray that God will continue to send people to come and help those who are needy and have little hope (both pysically and spiritually). There are needy people all around us, but we have to let Jesus' love and compassion capture our hearts so that we are compelled to bring life to others and to search for the treasures that exist in the darkness.

I have personally been challenged to keep opening up my heart to Jesus so that his love will abudnantly pour out of my life.