We just returned this evening from another outreach to a small village about 3 hours from Chiang Mai. It really was amazing to see how God spoke to the hearts of the people. We arrived in the Buddhist village and went to the only contact that we had there. She was the aunt of one of the children in the church's children's home. We didn't really know her, but she had warmly welcomed us. As soon as we arrived she said from the little she knew about Jesus, she wanted to have Him in her heart and learn more about the one true God! She said many in the village had been waiting for the gospel but nobody has yet come, before today!
Our pastor received a word of knowledge (1 Cor 12) about others with various illnesses (neck pain, a problem with the eyes, breathing problems, left arm pain) that were to be prayed for.
The lady said she was the one with neck pain and knew of the others that we had received a word about and would take us to their homes.
First things first, we prayed with her to accept Christ, then prayed for healing of her neck, to which God granted a miracle- more freedom of movement in her neck and a decrease in pain!
She then led us through the village house by house and every house that we went into they accepted Christ!
The second house that we came to, there was a woman, about 40 years old, who was completely blind and bedridden from diabetes. We prayed with her for she asked to receive Jesus too. Afterwards, we prayed for her eyes. Guess what? God had begun healing her eyes and she could recognize the people in the room! You can imagine how surprised she was!
The third house we visited an elderly man about the age of 90 years with breathing problems. He told us that before he was born, a missionary had come about 100 years ago and his mother had become a Christian. Nobody bearing the Good News has since visited and the village had returned to Buddhism and spirit worship. He said right away that he also wanted to become receive Christ, so we prayed with him too.
The fourth house that we visited was a family of five, the young husband of maybe 20yrs had a broken arm & leg which hadn't healed properly and was preventing him from doing strenuous work and sufficiently supporting the family. They all wanted to learn about Jesus and again, prayed to accept Him into their hearts. By this time there were some other villagers that had followed us there and were peeking in the doors and windows. We're not sure how many accepted Christ there, because when we were praying with the family, some others were seen also mouthing the words.
God must sure have been moving on the heart of the first lady we prayed with for at that point she asked us for scissors to cut her spirit strings. We didn't have any, but Anders, thankfully had his leatherman! The Buddhists all have strings around their wrists which the monks put on them and are supposed to keep the "bad spirits" away. She was making a very bold statement, because when the villagers would see that her strings were gone, they might ostracize her thinking that she would now bring bad luck to their village.
God sure was moving in an incredible way, I'd never seen anything like it before! It was so amazing to us how each were so ready and hungry to hear the Word of God, and how the Holy Spirit spoke to their hearts and each earnestly desired to accept Christ and turn from Buddhism. The regional pastor came back to visit 3days later to follow up and encourage them in the Word! He will be returning on a regular basis to reach more villagers with God's Word and amazing power.
So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Luke 7:22
