Reports from Elijah Challenge Asia Coordinator Pastor Albert Kang
11 September 2010 -–- The Rain Stopped for Outdoor Evangelism in Mandaue, Cebu
Pastor Butch Nacua and his assistant pastor, Pastor Deo, have been conducting a feeding program in this poor area of Mandaue City which is a part of the Province of Cebu. The young people and children are very responsive to the feeding program and bible study. The night that we were supposed to share the Gospel, the rain came. After commanding the rain to stop, we were able to continue our outdoor ministry. However, the borrowed band decided not to play because of the fear of more rain. In spite of our assurance, the band members stacked up their musical equipments and sound system. Pastor Deo grabbed the guitar and began to sing. The people came out of their houses and the children were right in the front. That night, I shared the gospel and challenged the people to be healed. Two children came forward and they were instantly healed. The rain began to come again and the crowd started to disperse. But once again, we utilized the mountain-moving faith to stop the rain. We told the people to stay and the rain held. After laying hands one by one on all the children, our miniature rally came to a conclusion. The adults mingled among us and passed very encouraging comments. They wanted us to return. We packed up to go back to our hotel and the rain just poured. We had commanded for the rain to come only at the end of the outdoor rally and it dutiful did that. The mistake was that we should have commanded for the rain to come only after we get back to the hotel.
12 – 13 September 2010 –– Sharing about ‘The Elijah Challenge’ on Radio in Cebu City, Cebu
Pastor Butch Nacua invited Grace, her father and me to join him and Pastor Noel Pintor on DYRB (540 kHz Cebu City) Radyo Asenso for the 8.00 AM Christian program. This is an AM station owned and operated by Radio Corporation of the Philippines and the studio is located at 479 C. Padilla St. Cebu City. We had half-hour to share about the power and authority to heal in the name of Jesus in the context of preaching the Gospel. There was an opportunity to heal the sick too. On the second day, we were hosted by Pastor Noel Torresos. We continued to present the Word of God about the power and authority to heal. Later, we received reports of positive responses from pastors and church leaders who had listened to the radio program about this ‘new concept’ of healing. There were some reports of healing but we did not get the details of these miracles.
12 September 2010 –– Healing Miracles at Lord of the Harvest Christian Community, Cebu City, Cebu
Grace and I were told that it was an informal meeting with a local pastor. However, when we arrived at Lord of the Harvest Christian Community, a full worship service was in progress. Many young people had gathered and the worship was extremely dynamic in spite of the afternoon heat. Pastor Nestor Paculba is the overseer of this group and he was very open to the teaching of Elijah Challenge. After giving a brief introduction about the authority and power to heal the sick, I invited the infirm to come forward to be healed. The infirm responded readily. All in all there were twelve people healed of various ailments. The believers laid hands on their fellow Christians. After receiving specific instruction about how to heal, they proceeded and exercised their ‘mountain-moving’ faith. A lady with pain in the upper arm received immediate relief. People who suffered from back pain, shoulder pain, arthritic knees, joint pain and headache were also healed immediately. Even simple maladies like sore throats, cold, coughs were immediately healed. Those healed were happy to testify about their healing. The congregation responded with equal enthusiasm. Praise God for confirming His words with signs and wonders.
13 September 2010 –– Healing Miracles at Word International, City of Naga, Cebu
The Word International Ministries is shepherded by Pastor Poly Calonia, an amiable brother who has a real desire to learn. Pastor Butch Nacua was instrumental in making this even happened. There were quite a number of pastors and church elders from the surrounding regions who attended this Elijah Challenge seminar. The weather was very hot but the people arrived for the training. They stayed from 10 AM right through to 3.30 PM. The infirm came by faith. After Pastor Nestor Paculba, who joined us on that day, had led the infirm in a prayer of confession and repentance, the commands began. Once again, the Lord confirmed His Word by signs and wonders. Every time there was a healing, our hearts leapt with joy. We would be surprised if nobody was healed. A good number of people had backaches and shoulder pain because they had injured themselves by lifting heavy burdens and carrying water from distanced well or government-sponsored water faucets. Stomach ailments were common too but the Lord healed them all. The believers who were helping in healing were encouraged by the miraculous results and positive testimonies. After the healing, different pastors approached us to comment that this was the first time they had ever learned about commanding and healing the infirm.
14 September 2010 –— Healing Miracles at the Ministers Fellowship, Lapu Lapu, Cebu
On Tuesday, we crossed the Mactan-Mandaue Bridge to the City of Lapu-Lapu that is situated on the Mactan Island. More than 300,000 people live in this city and there are hundreds of churches serving them. The local fellowship of ministers was held at the premises of Maranatha Christian Fellowship. Pastor Alex Esmoso is the chairman of the ministers’ fellowship. He gave us the opportunity to share with his fellow ministers. That day, about 25 ministers attended. After sharing from the bible about the ordinary believers possessing the authority and power to heal, we were ready to demonstrate to these servants of the kingdom the actual power of God. More than ten people wanted to be healed. After a simple explanation and challenge, the other ministers came forth to lay hands on the infirm. Pastor Alex led them in the prayer of confession and repentance. The healing miracles, as expected, began to manifest. Many pastors had never experienced such immediate results to healing commands. One by one, those who were healed, testified to the glory of God. Migraine disappeared instantly, chronic back pain left the infirm immediately, heart pain was gone, hurting arms healed and a pastora who had a bad throat broke out in song after being healed. She kept saying, “no more soreness in the throat!” We praise God for healing these ministers because these miracles caused them to reconsider their theology. After the healing, many pastors asked whether we would return to Lapu-Lapu to train them thoroughly. We told them that if God opened the door again, we will return.
16 and 17 September 2010 –– Healing Miracles at NOGAP – Nook of God’s Awesome Presence. Buenvista, Mindanao
In the evening of 14 September, the five of us namely, Pastor Butch, Pastor Deo, Brother Ong, Grace and I had taken a 12-hour ship journey to Mindanao from Cebu. It was almost 8.00 AM when we arrived at Nasipit International Seaport situated in Agusan del Norte. The Church – Nook of God’s Awesome Presence, better known as NOGAP, is situated about half an hour away from the seaport. We rested on the day of arrival and the following day, we were ready to conduct the Elijah Challenge seminar. The pastors of NOGAP are Pastor Conchito E. Quimzon and his wife, Pastora Jasmine B. Quimzon. Conducting the seminar in their Church was the primary reason why we came to Mindanao. In March, we had visited this Church for only two hours and conducted a brief healing session there. Since then, the pastors had requested that we come back to provide further training. There was much anticipation and according to their faith, many were healed by the Lord honoured. Once again, the common ailments were back pain. Life in the barrios is hard and many have injured themselves doing very hard works. An epidemic of sore eyes was in progress and quite a few were suffering from conjunctivitis. The trained believers did exactly what they were told – they commanded with lots of faith. The spirit and power of Elijah had come upon these precious people in Buenavista, Mindanao. The two-day seminar did not only produce many healing miracles but also many Elijah Challengers. Many participants said that they will use what they had been taught to share the Gospel. They will not be afraid to heal the sick and cast out demons just as Jesus had taught and commanded His disciples when He sent them into their nation to proclaim about the Kingdom of God.
18 September 2010 –– Sharing about ‘The Elijah Challenge’ on Radio in Butuan City, Mindanao
It was good to meet Pastor Lorenzo Oalican, my course mate at Haggai Institute in Maui. He was the first minster to invite us to teach Elijah Challenge in Mindanao. Once again, we were invited to speak on radio. This time, Grace did not come because she was down with sore eyes. Interestingly, we were to learn why God allowed Grace to heal others in His name but she herself suffered from this eye ailment. My father-in-law, who is known as Brother Ong to many, Pastor Butch, Pastor Yoyong and I went with Pastor Lorenzo to Real Radio Station – 88.7 mHz. We shared the healing message and even encouraged the listeners to believe and be healed in the name of Jesus. According to post-program reports, there were people healed. We are glad for this opportunity to share the Gospel and power of God to heal on radio in Butuan.
19 September 2010 –– Sharing ‘The Elijah Challenge’ BECMA Joint Worship Service in Mindanao
Once every quarter, churches from the Buenavista region gather as one congregation to celebrate and worship God. On 19 September 2010, the churches worshipped together at a local basketball stadium. There were over one thousand participants and the atmosphere was energized by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Butch Nacua and I shared the pulpit on that day. The reason was because our mission team had to rush to the airport by 10.30 AM. We had to fly to Manila for the connecting flight home. After sharing about the power and authority of God to heal, I challenged those present to have faith in healing the infirm whenever they share the Gospel. Then as a demonstration of God’s power, I told them that they would be healed in His name. As there was a large crowd, I asked those who were suffering from pains and infirmities to lay hands on themselves. After commanding all the pain and infirmities to go in the name of Jesus, there were some who were healed. By that time, we had to rush to the airport. We received report from Pastor Butch that after he took over to preach, there were indeed people miraculously healed during the ‘mass’ distanced healing.
September 21 — Healing Miracles at AGSOM, Bulacan Campus
On September 19, my wife Grace was grounded by the airline in Manila because she had contracted conjunctivitis. She was not allowed to board the plane for fear of infecting other passengers. Grace’s father, Bro Ong had to travel alone back to Malaysia while I accompanied my wife in Manila until her eyes clear up.
The strangest thing was that no matter how I rebuked, her sore eyes refused to clear up. This was a little beyond me because we had, through the authority and power given by Jesus Christ, healed some with conjunctivitis while at Mindanao. Pastor Rick Alay was also one of those who were healed of conjunctivitis after we laid hands on his eyes when we were in transit via Manila to Cebu on September 10. Grace and I felt that there must be certain unfinished tasks that God wanted us to do in Manila.
Just as we expected, God did tremendous healing miracles at the Assemblies of God School of Ministry (AGSOM). Pastor Rick who is the President of AGSOM had invited us to minister at his Bulacan Campus. Pastora Flordeliza R. Samson who came along with us was limping because the articular cartilage that helped lubricate and cushion the surfaces of her knee joints was damaged. The reduced lubrication and cushioning had caused pain in her knees. When we reached the campus which was actually a church, Grace and I laid hands on her knees and commanded the pain to go. After a few times, Pastora Flordeliza said that the pain had left her knees and she began to walk. Later she testified before the student body about what God had done for her.
After sharing from the Word of God about the difference between the authority to heal and gift of healing, I encouraged the students who needed healing to come forth. There was a slight hesitation because they did not expect an instantaneous demonstration of God’s power to heal. With some encouragements, almost twenty students came forth to be healed. They were expected to be prayed for but instead I asked them to heal each other by commanding the pain and infirmities to go in the name of Jesus. After the first command, there were five students who were instantly healed. One female student was healed of shoulder pain. Another shared about the leg being healed. Yet another, the headache had left immediately even though in the morning, she had felt so terrible. More commands by faith and more students were healed. After all the students were healed by the power and authority of the Lord, they were like still in a daze. Many shook our hands and apparently still in the twilight zone, they said that they had never experienced anything like that before. They could not believe that they had actually healed the infirm by their own faith. Many felt that from then they should be able to heal the sick every time they evangelize.
September 22 — Healing Miracles at AGSOM, Cainta Campus
Our final day of ministry was at the main campus of AGSOM at Cainta. Apart from Filipino students, there were four students from China. In a simple session, I shared about how ordinary faceless and nameless believers have been given the authority and power to heal in the context of evangelism. Once again, God confirmed His words through signs and wonders. About ten students and faculty members sat on the ‘healing chairs’ to receive healing. The rest of the student body and faculty were briefly taught how they could lay hands upon the infirm and heal them with the authority and power of Jesus. One by one, the infirm were healed by the evidenced power of God. Pastora Mercy Esguerra Peregrina, the Academic Dean of the AGSOM, received healing for her left knee. A sister with ailment in her eye was also healed. Once again, there were quite a few who were instantly healed of back pain.
One of the Chinese students was greatly disappointed because after most people were healed, her back pain persisted. From the scale of 0 to 10, her pain had remained at 10. When Grace laid hand on her, the pain dropped to the level of 9 and then later 7. However, to activate mountain-moving faith, we needed to be persistent. With another moment of laying of hands and rebuking, the pain left the Chinese student completely. Praise the Lord. We trust that the Filipino and Chinese students will continue to use their God-given authority and power to heal the infirm whenever they share the Gospel.