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.
[Photos to be added soon]