When Witches Encounter Jesus...

     Next door to Pastor Moshi’s house, where we always set up our tents in Kama, is a house of Tongwe people. This house becomes a party house when their banana liquor has finished fermenting– they drink the one or two 50 gallon drums dry in a 3 day binge. It is the same house where the witch doctors of the village have their meetings, and it is also the home of a female witch (but we didn’t know about her yet). Javen has felt drawn to show love to the husband of the house, making an effort each day to speak him in his own tribal language, Kibende. Last year, this man gave a gift to Javen and has continually softened his demeanor towards our team.

    

      Coming over to greet us one morning, he said that his wife was ill. Our request to pray for her gave him pause for a moment, but he agreed.  We mentioned to a member of our national team (a former witch doctor of the village) that we were going to go pray for this man’s wife. Horrified, he said, “You can’t! She’s a witch!” Once he found out that the husband gave permission, his jaw dropped to the floor. 

     

     We arrived at her house with an entourage of followers, all waiting to see if the witch would allow us to pray for her. Little did we know what God had in store…

    Arriving at her house, I recognized the witch. She is a woman who I greeted almost daily in the village and had sat with at 2 village funerals in the last 3 weeks; yet, I had never known much about her or who she really was. When asked if we could pray for her, her response was, “Do what you want to do.” Not exactly the most welcoming response, but it was all that we needed. As we prayed, the focus of our prayer was not the fever that she was suffering with or the pain that she had physically, we prayed for her heart.

    

     Laying my hand on her shoulder, I began to speak life over her and something happened. As I prayed, I saw a picture in my mind of a little African girl, crossing a river, and as she crossed this river, she witnessed something horrible. It was a traumatizing experience for this little girl, but I never saw what it was that happened. I felt that this picture somehow related to this woman and that God was looking to heal her heart of every hurt from her life. So, I shared a little with her about God healing her heart but never said anything about the picture I had gotten in my mind.

      

     The next day, we went over to check on her, and all that I had been able to think about for the last 24 hrs was this picture of the little girl. As we went back to her house to check on her, I wrestled with myself, knowing I needed to say it. Even as we talked with her, the war inside me continued. It’s one thing to ask God to use you… it’s totally different to actually LET HIM. Finally, I explained what I saw the day before and asked if this meant anything to her, before my interpreter finished speaking, she blurted out, “It was my mother. The little girl was my mother! She told me of this experience when I was a girl.” She looked on with a face of reliving what had been spoken to her at such a young age.

  

     I was then able to say that God loved her so much that He sent a person all the way from America to come to her house, because she was physically in pain, so that He could actually heal the pain in her heart.  Whatever this pain was that affected her, her mother and their family, I (practically a stranger) could never have known it. But God revealed it, so that He could show her how much He loves and cares about her.

Because it doesn’t matter if they are murderer, a church goer, a rapist or a witch…

He Still Loves to Save the Lost.

4 Village Blast

We are kicking off our 4 Village Blast on Wednesday, July 17th.

Here is a look at what the ministry has in store:

Village 1: Kama (Our Base Village)

Follow up visits to the sick families that we prayed with and treated on our Medical Expedition two weeks ago, as well as, showing the Jesus Film.

Village 2: Esther's Village

Many of you may remember us sharing Esther's testimony last year. Once completely insane, now set free by the power of God!

Last year, the people who came to the Jesus Film that we showed in her village were threatened that they would be killed if they accepted Jesus. Javen was asked to lead about 6-7 people to the Lord in secret behind a hut.

Our Goal: Personally visit every hut in her village for relationship building and inviting them to the Jesus Film that evening followed by prayer for the sick. 

Prayer Focus: Pray for miracles to be done and lives to be changed, that the power of fear and witchcraft would be broken from their lives.

Village 3: It Started with the Youth

You may remember this picture from last year. These 7 young men gave their lives to Christ in a village with only a 1 member church in it, and Javen spent 2 days pouring into them. They asked for Bibles when we return.

 Village 4: New Village

Meeting with the Chairman of this new village is our first priority. We will fellowship together with him for the day, get his permission to return with a team and invite his village to the Jesus Film showing that night on their land.

Prayer Focus: Pray for God's favor with this village. Our indigenous missionary pastor to Kama, Pastor Moshe, has been to this village and shared with one man about Christ there. We are so excited to break ground in this new place! 

Thank you for your prayers- Can't wait to share all the testimonies when we get back!

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory..."
Ephesians 3:20-21a 

A Witch Doctor's Invitation

Having a doctor on our Medical Expedition was a key used by God to unlock even the darkest of hearts. Within 10 minutes of arriving in our host village, we were handed a baby who was covered in a contagious skin condition. Since she was returning to her village the next morning, the baby's mother invited the doctor and our whole team to her village (a new village for us) to come and examine the baby further.

Hiking an hour and 45 minutes, crossing a river and a stream, sighting leopard dung along the way, we arrived at a homestead containing 15 people; yet, we had unknowingly stepped into a great plan from God. While, Tim Roberts, our guest physician from the States examined the entire family, gave medical advice and prayed for the sick, Javen and John met with the elder grandfather of the homestead. After sharing with him that this is what we do (show God's love to villages) and that we want to be able to do so in his, with a soft heart, he gave permission for us to return. Needing permission from the surrounding homesteads in the area as well, he offered to go there himself and obtain it for us. Hearing about our desire to show the Jesus Film in his village, he invited us to a larger village where "more people could have the opportunity to see it", and all the surrounding villages, including his village, could gather and watch it together. At the end, God gave John a word specifically for this man and his situation. All he could do was thank us.

Walking back another hour and 45 minute, this time we sighted fresh leopard paw prints at the stream we had just crossed, no more than 40 mins before. Arriving at our host village, we shared the story of our afternoon to the pastor there. He said, "Do you know who you just received that invitation from? That man is one of the most powerful and feared witch doctors in the entire area. Everyone lives in fear of him. Your access to share the gospel in that area just came from A Witch Doctor's Invitation."

The Lord gave me this scripture before our first expedition this year for when we go into the mountains:

"Even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you." Psalm 139:12

God is taking the darkest hearts and piercing them with his light. I never saw a dark heart in this man- I saw only a soft one.