Christian Praise Church is one of the faster growing churches in Kuantan. It is headed by Elders and Deacons who have done a very good job in training the members for growth. The first night of Elijah Challenge training drew a group of 30-plus believers. Since most of the participants understood only Mandarin, I had to interpret my English instruction into Mandarin. It was very tedious for me as I was not really versatile in Mandarin. Thankfully, from the second evening, Elder Tan interpreted for me throughout the training.
Elder Joshua Wong, one the Elders had attended one of my training seminars in October 2007 and he was the first to greet me and my team which consisted of my wife, Grace and her parents, Brother and Sister Ong. The participants who came for the first night were filled with curious anticipation. It seemed that the reputation of The Elijah Challenge had preceded our visit. The first night was crucial because the participants had to be placed immediately onto the path of faith-building. Few realised the importance of systematically assimilating the words of God during the seminar. In spite of the ease in teaching the method or showing the formula, nothing could take the place of the participants, meticulously building their faith to heal in the name of Jesus. At the end of the first session, to demonstrate the power to heal, I invited the infirm to come up. Five people responded. Having placed them in chairs upfront, I then invited the newly trained participants to lay their hands and heal the infirm themselves. Explaining that God had also given them the authority to heal, I then proceeded to lead them in the authoritative commands to heal.
A brother who had a knee problem received healing immediately. Everybody was surprised when he suddenly walked out of the seminar hall. Later, when he returned, he testified that he had gone to test his newly healed knee by climbing up and down the stairs. He just wanted to be sure before he gave his testimony. A sister smiled with joy because she was healed of her stomach ailment. Another sister was healed of her ankle pain. A lady pastor from another church was healed of her sore-throat and mouth ulcers. After the healing session, a couple came up and asked me to pray for them. They wanted the Lord to give them a child.
The following night was a lot easier for me because Elder Tan helped with the interpretation. An elderly man of 65, Elder Tan did not look his age. Grace and I thought that he was in his early 50s. Among the participants were some Korean Christians. The faith-building session went smoothly with a very attentive audience. I made sure that the participants understood clearly that we were not teaching about the gift of healing but the authority to heal in the context of evangelism. Sharing with them that our faith was so often like that of Peter’s faith, I challenged them to strengthen their faith. Peter sank even though the Lord had given him the power to walk on the water. I encouraged the participants to ‘walk on the water’ that Jesus assigned them.
It was time for the healing demonstration at the end of the session. Somehow, some participants had sneaked some infirm people into the training. Seven people came forth to be healed by faith. Once again, the trained participants were asked to lay hands on the infirm. When the authoritative commands rang out, people began to receive miraculous healing. An elderly lady was healed of her arthritic knees while another was healed migraine and chest pain. When I asked the latter whether she was a Christian, she said, “yes”. I then asked her how long was she saved and her answer shocked me and those around her. She said, “just right now!” This lady had given her life to Jesus the instance that she was healed in the name of Jesus.
Another lady was healed of her back pain while she believed the Lord to heal her husband of cancer. A man received healing ministry and the pain on his side disappeared. Some trained participants were ministering to a lady, who had pain in her head, neck and back,. Suddenly she screamed at the top of her voice and promptly collapsed to the floor. Initially, I thought that she was demonised and proceeded to cast out the demons. However, the Holy Spirit confirmed in my spirit that the lady was not demonised. Her scream was not the result of demonic activities but the intense conviction of the Holy Spirit. Later, when Grace and I helped the lady up from the floor, she said that all her pains were gone. She later confirmed that her scream was the result of the conviction of the Holy Spirit. She acknowledged that she had not been treating her workers well and the Lord told her to change and become a better and kinder person. I was glad to see the Korean believers ministering and receiving positive healing results. A family of unbelievers had sneaked in and the elderly mother was healed of her leg pain. I vividly remembered the younger sister who had a nagging back pain. As the ladies laid hands on her, she was instantly healed and turned her waist to test whether the pain was there. When she could not find the pain, her eyes grew large and a happy smile broke on her face.
On the third night, the crowd had grown significantly – with numerous uninvited visitors. The news of divine healing had spread and people had come hoping to be healed. After the training, about ten people came forth to be healed. By this time, the trained participants were exercising tremendous faith. They seemed unperturbed by the different infirm people in front of them. When the instruction came for them to proceed with the healing, they took full control and miracles began to happen.
A few middle-aged ladies were healed of arthritic joint problems. A lady with a trembling right hand had, for three nights, asking to be healed. She began to experience great reduction in the trembling. The participants rejoiced when the quivering hand was under control. Since she was a Christian, we instructed her to ask God forgive her of her sins and continue to seek the healing of the Lord. Quite a number of people with pain in their limbs were healed and they testified to the glory of God.
Saturday was the final day of training. Part of the lesson was taking the participants through the ‘Way of the Master’. There were two aspects to this training – the first was to allow the participants to deal with their own sins and seek repentance and forgiveness. The second was to show them how they could use the Laws of God to reveal sins and the Grace of Christ to bring salvation. They especially loved it, when through hand symbols, they memorised the Ten Commandments.
One of the unique teachings that morning was also how to heal the sick through distant- healing method. To exercise their faith for such healing approach, I asked the participants to face the direction of the infirm person whom they wanted to take authority. These infirm people could be their unsaved loved ones and they were at that time situated in other places. The participants were asked to take authority and then later to call these infirm people and find out the results of their action. This type of exercise helped built the faith of the participants. Everything they did, they had to find out the corresponding results.
The trained participants were now ready to become a part of the healing team for the rallies. I concluded the training with a special prayer for all the participants – asking God to use them mightily in winning many souls through Power Evangelism provided by The Elijah Challenge. That evening all the participants joined those from the Advanced Training in a combined healing rally held at Wesley Methodist Church. For the report on those meetings, please click here.
Reported by
Rev Albert Kang
Coordinator
Elijah Challenge Asia