“We are now in the coastal city of Fortaleza, known for its beautiful beaches as well as having the highest rate of violence in all of Brazil. Our host is Pastor Jose-Gomes of the Renewed Presbyterian Church, who recently planted a church in a particularly resistant area of the city where Fatima is worshipped. Pastor Jose-Gomes had just attended our Training in Canindé last week where the Lord used his own teenage daughter to open the totally blind eye of a woman—as we reported to you earlier.
The Lord is continuing to do the same works here in Fortaleza through the believers of this Presbyterian Church. Toward the end of our first training session, we asked for someone with a heart condition to come forward to be healed by the Lord’s power and authority. A man with an enlarged heart in his forties came forward. Normally he would not be able to run a short distance without feeling exhausted. We had men come forward to lay hands on him and to exercise authority over the infirmity in the name of Jesus Christ. After the prayer we told him to run around the sanctuary. He took off running and circled the sanctuary not just once, not just twice, but three times. When he arrived back at the front we asked him how he felt. He said he felt fine. Ordinarily just running one-tenth of that distance would have exhausted him.
After the morning training session, the believers fanned out in the immediate area going door-to-door to heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God. They visited 80 homes where the sick were healed in Jesus’ name and 18 souls accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
A young worship leader whose shoulder the Lord had just miraculously healed the evening before visited an older woman he knew who was unable to walk. Her badly swollen leg had already turned a very unhealthy shade of green. He ministered to her with the Lord’s authority and power. The swelling miraculously subsided and she stood up and was able to walk. Then he visited another woman who also had similar swelling in her leg as well. She also got up and walked, prompting her brother who was elsewhere in the home to come out to see what was going on. Now the brother was deaf in one ear. The young believer inserted a finger into the ear and commanded it to be open in the name of Jesus Christ. The man was astonished he was suddenly able to hear through that ear.
At our evening service later in the church, many more were healed and testified as the Lord confirmed the preaching of the gospel to those who had gathered. An elderly business owner and his daughter had come. He was completely deaf in one ear. During the time of ministry our host Pastor Jose-Gomes ministered to him, inserting his finger into the ear and commanding it to be open in the name of Jesus. At that moment his hearing was miraculously restored. Visibly touched, both he and his daughter knelt down on the floor weeping and giving thanks to the Lord Jesus. They then testified to the people who were there at the meeting.
At his office the very next day the business owner gathered together his 200 employees. He had one of the young pastors on the staff of the church the night before share the gospel with them. Employees were seen weeping as they listened to the account of God’s love for them. The owner has scheduled a meeting every Thursday in his office where his workers will hear the gospel.
Through such miracles the Lord is opening doors for precious souls to come to Him in this gospel-resistant part of the city of Fortaleza.”
-January 28, 2016
N. B. We have not done any “strategic-level spiritual warfare” directly against powers and principalities in the heavenlies here, but rather simply obeyed the clear commands of our Lord to “heal the sick who are there and tell them, “the kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ” Jesus never commanded his disciples to engage in such spiritual warfare when he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. It can be a dangerous practice.
Received from participants in The Elijah Challenge Training:
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Report on Visitation of God in Canindé
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The Elijah Challenge in Brazil