November 2015
A man in his forties totally deaf since birth was brought forward for healing prayer at the Elijah Challenge Training Event in Amritsar, the capital of the state of Punjab in India and the center of the Sikh religion. Here tourists flock to visit the “Golden Temple” of the Sikh religion which centers its worship on various gurus who have passed on. Some Sikh men wear turbans to cover their hair which has never been cut.
Pastor Simon Haqq of Delhi brought together about 250 Punjabi servants of God for this Training Event. They had received the teaching very enthusiastically, breaking out into praise periodically during the teaching. Even though it was based solely on the scriptures which detail the ministry of our Lord Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons, it was eye-opening for them. During the demonstrations of healing in the morning and afternoon, various believers came up to the stage and were prayed over. Every one of them testified that the Lord had healed them.
The Punjabi servants of God were highly encouraged and accepted the challenge to take the gospel to the thousands of unreached villages in Punjab according to the command of Jesus to his disciples: “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘the kingdom of God has come near to you’ ” (Luke 10:9). “So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere (Luke 9:6).
At the end of the afternoon we asked for people with hearing problems to come forward for healing. No one stood up, but after several moments a pastor dressed in a white robe stood up. He walked back a few rows, and then pulled up from his seat a man whom he knew. He led the man to the front and then up to the stage. From his slightly abnormal appearance we knew that he had been deaf and mute since birth. (Not quite what we normally get in our Training sessions.)
This deaf and mute man had actually been reluctant to come to the event. He had been prayed over many times in previous meetings for his hearing, but he was not healed. The pastor had to literally drag him up from his seat for him to come forward.
On the stage in front of the crowd we had two servants of God insert their fingers into the man’s ears as Jesus did in Mark 7. We then led them in commanding his ears to be opened and his hearing to be restored in Jesus’ name. Immediately he shook his head indicating that nothing had happened and he could still hear nothing. We ministered in the same way a second time. He shook his head vigorously again. Again we ministered, with the same result. After several more tries without any change in the man’s hearing—that’s what you call pressure in front of a crowd—our teammate Shelly Ragen from Iowa stepped up to the plate. She inserted her fingers into the man’s ears and commanded his ears to be opened. By this time the crowd had stood up joining us in issuing commands in Jesus’ name. Still nothing. But Shelly and we kept going round after round because the Lord teaches His people to persevere (Matthew 7:7).
After around the eleventh round, suddenly the man’s countenance lit up and he was nodding vigorously. He could hear well!
Jesus Christ is the same—yesterday, today, and forever.
The climactic open-air evangelistic event in Punjab on the third day
The Evangelistic Events in Punjab undertaken by these servants of God following this Training:
a
India: over 500 Punjabis accept Christ in three Feeding Events
Shelly enjoying very fresh coconut water