Note: In the vast foreign mission fields of the world where you will encounter billions of gospel-resistant Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and idol-worshipers, the Lord Jesus can perform miraculous healings in response to prayer. Just as He did in the gospels and Acts, the Lord demonstrates to them through such miracles that He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6, 11). When resistant people groups witness the miracles that their gods or religions cannot do, their hearts are open to believing on Christ as only Lord and Savior. They are not unlike the Jews of the gospels about whom Jesus said, “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe” (John 4:48).
On December 27, 2014 Brother Al and his team in New Delhi taught The Elijah Challenge Training to about 60 servants of God and committed disciples. This was the first time Al taught for The Elijah Challenge in such a setting. Below is his report to us:
“Everything went well will the training. I was able to get through the entire training. I started after 11 AM, and even though we had over a one hour lunch, I was able to finish by 4 PM. I had the translator read the scriptures, so that saved a lot of time. I observed the audience, and they appeared attentive. I had had all the people from Houston, and a few others demonstrate healing prayer over the sick before lunch, and at that time I had asked all the sick to come forward. And so when I asked the pastors to do the same thing at the end of the day, there were only a few people with infirmities left to pray over, so the pastors did not get a lot of practice in ministering healing to the sick. We did experience many miraculous healings from the Lord in response to prayer. I wholeheartedly endorse your idea of training the trainers to teach The Elijah Challenge…
…There was a lady who had headaches and fainting. She felt a spirit leave when prayed over, and the headaches left, and she felt renewed.
Another lady had foot and knee and joint pain, and all were healed.
Another lady had depression, tremors, and headaches. The pain was all gone and afterwards, she was dancing and singing and worshipping God.
Another lady had arthritis in her hand, and felt oppression. Afterwards she felt lighter, and had more movement in her hand.
A man who could not move his arm above his head, was able to lift his arm all the way up.”
Report on their subsequent trip to the state of Orissa
“We hosted about 35 people for the Elijah Challenge Training [on January 31], of which about 15 were pastors. Only a few people came forward for healing prayer, but we had a great prayer time with about 5 pastors. As we prayed over each one of them for their safety and ministry, they were quite moved and were weeping. They all need a lot of encouragement and prayer. One of them came from 500 miles away, and it took him 15 hours to get there.
The last night we were there in Orissa, we went to a colony. Subodh knew someone there, and we were going to pray for his wife, who had difficulty breathing. As night fell, the whole village of 75 souls gathered around us. What happened next was totally unplanned and surprising to us. (Our daughter) Victoria sang a few songs, Subodh gave a short message, and we prayed over 10-15 people who had infirmities. All indicated that they felt better or were healed afterwards. I then gave an altar call, with Subodh interpreting, and most all of the villagers raised their hands to accept Jesus Christ. Praise God and hallelujah!
Subodh will be going back with clothing and Bibles, and will start a regular Bible study there. Even though the colony was close to the city, the people there have no electricity, no plumbing, and have dirt floors in their one room houses.”
On January 9 two weeks later, Subodh wrote Al:
“Rosy and I had a blessed time again at that colony (Raisingpur) where we had gone together when you were still here. Praise God many of them testified that the Lord healed them that day and now their health is doing well. They remember you, your family, and Grace. We had a good time sharing about Jesus, ministering to them and talking with them. Many things they shared with us. Today also many more infirm people came for prayer. Praise the Lord for opening that village for us.
We came to know that the village belongs to the (untouchable) Dalit group, and so the government has neglected to provide electricity, roads and other necessities for them. In line with that most of them are not able to read or write. We will provide CD or DVD players for them [to listen to the Bible].”
On January 10 Subodh wrote us:
“I have received a report of a great miraculous healing from Pastor Junul who attended the Elijah Challenge Training you held at our home on December 31st. He had come from his mission field seven to eight hundred kilometers away.
Near his area there was a very poor Hindu man who had suffered from malaria after which other diseases also developed in his body. He did not go to the hospital as he was very poor. Gradually his health deteriorated, and people thought that he would not survive for long.
After returning home from Bhawanipatna where he had received the Training from you Pastor Junul was very encouraged and welcomed an opportunity to pray over a sick person. As soon as he heard about the very sick Hindu man he went and ministered to him. He did not see any result at that very moment, but early the next morning the man got up from his sickbed where he had lain for several days. He went to the toilet, brushed his teeth, and took a bath.
The Hindu man believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and accepted Him as his personal Savior. Praise the Lord for this great work.”
On January 13 Subodh wrote:
“After Pastor Philemon attended The Elijah Challenge Training in our home on December 31, he began the return trip to his village accompanied by another believer. They needed to take a bus for a few hours followed by a few more hours on a motorbike. Finally they would need to walk four more hours to reach his area. But after a few minutes on the motorbike, the headlight went out. They were very confused as to what they could do in the middle of the night. They called me over the phone for prayer. They believed that it was the work of the devil, so they exercised the authority which they had been taught earlier in our home. They spoke to the lamp in the name of Jesus Christ with mountain-moving faith (according to Mark 11:23). Miraculously the light on the bike came back on, and with no further problem they reached their destination. They were very much encouraged seeing this.”
Then the second miracle which led to a Hindu family accepting Jesus Christ
“There was a Hindu man whose mind was not working properly for months. He had been taken to many places for treatment as well to a witchdoctor. Because of the expenses they were forced to sell some of their land. The doctor was unable to cure him. The witchdoctor kept reassuring them that he would be alright, so they waited for a long time for him to improve. Finally they called Pastor Philemon and shared with him what had happened. By the grace of God Philemon ministered to the man for a week, and he recovered completely. The family accepted Jesus Christ.”
We are very thankful to the Lord who has used Al and his team to train his Indian servants so fruitfully and effectively for the sake of the harvest during these last days. In mission fields like India, God is still doing miracles in response to prayer to show gospel-resistant peoples that He is the only true God and that Jesus Christ is the only way to Him. When Hindus and Muslims witness the miracles which are not seen in their religions, many turn to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.