Sidang Injil Borneo in Sipitang, Sabah, Malaysia
March 2010
The Elijah Challenge in Malaysia
The event was held in the district of Sipitang outside of Kota Kinabalu
in East Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia not shown)
Video 1 | Video 2 | Video 3 | Video 4 | Video 5 | Video 6
The above videos are all in Indonesian & Malaysian dialects
The first day of the Basic Training
Reported by a nameless disciple
One hundred and eighty-one leaders and disciples gathered in the Sidang Injil Borneo Church (Gospel Assembly Church of Borneo) in Kaban in the district of Sipitang. At first, the disciples seemed to me a bit intimidated by the challenge that I set before them—that the Lord wanted to use them as part of an army to fulfill the Great Commission in the state of Sabah. Most servants of God who serve in a church are primarily concerned about their own flock—how to minister to the infirm in their flock and how to increase the size of the flock. Their focus is typically narrow. But I challenged them to go to unreached villages in their areas to heal the sick and to proclaim the kingdom of God as their part in fulfilling the Great Commission. At the beginning of the day they appeared a bit unsure of their ability or perhaps even their desire to do such challenging things.
Disciples gather for the Basic Training
But at the last session I had everyone who needed healing to come to the front. Over 15 people came forward. Then I asked for believers to come up to lay hands on them to heal them—two people ministering to each one. Initially it was a bit difficult to get them to come forward. But finally we had enough people to minister. As they laid their hands on those with infirmities, I led them in issuing authoritative commands for the people to be healed in the name of Jesus Christ. The Lord was gracious, and many were healed and testified publicly that the Lord had touched them. Some even felt the power of God go through their bodies. After three times of ministering in such a way, it appeared that all but one man had testified of being healed.
By the end of the day, the people were encouraged by what they had heard through the teaching and excited at what they had seen as people were healed by God’s power working through them. When again I challenged them to take the gospel aggressively to unreached villages in the power of miraculous healings, many were now willing to accept the challenge. They knew that the Lord had given them power and authority, and they now understood how to use it effectively for the proclamation of the kingdom of God to the lost. They had a spirit different from the spirit I had seen in them at the beginning of the day.
The second day of the Training
At the end of the morning session on the second day, I asked for people with hearing problems to come to the front. Two ladies and two men came to the front. Then I had eight people come forward to open up their ears using authority and the laying on of hands. As Jesus did in Mark 7:33, they inserted their fingers into the ears of the afflicted people. Then I had them issue authoritative commands for their ears to be opened and their hearing to be restored in the name of Jesus.
The two ladies were healed quickly, and both of them testified that they could hear clearly. The two men were ministered to again in the same way. Afterwards, one of them said his hearing was restored. After another round, the last man standing also testified that he could hear clearly as well. All those present were greatly encouraged at what the Lord had done through “nameless, ordinary” disciples. The power and authority given by the Lord to the disciples in Luke 9:1 for the preaching of the gospel to the lost were demonstrated to be real and in operation today. The fear and doubt that had paralyzed them (and most Christians, for that matter) were losing their grip on these disciples. How could they doubt after seeing what God had done?
In the afternoon session after lunch I capitalized on what the Lord had done by explaining to them the seriousness of the Great Commission. God had called them to His harvest field in Sabah. He had equipped them and entrusted to them powerful weapons to heal the sick and cast out demons. Now they had to obey His command to disciple all the tribes (nations) in their respective areas. To whom much is given, much is required. I pushed the envelope and with great urgency challenged them to obey Christ’s last and Great Commission.
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end shall come.” (Matthew 24:14)
In the evening there was a Revival Service where another servant of God preached as I rested in my motel room. After he preached, the trained disciples made it a point to heal the sick who were present, wanting to apply what they learned in an actual public service. At the Revival Service—with me absent—about 30 people testified that the Lord had healed them as the trained disciples ministered to them.
The third day of the Training
In the morning the Lord confirmed the teaching through various miracles of healing. I wanted to give the disciples some training in ministering to those having problems with their vision, so I asked people to come forward. At least half of the people came up to be healed. I asked those who had remained in their seats to come lay hands on them. After two times of ministry many testified that the Lord had restored their vision miraculously.
Later after the morning break, we demonstrated healing-at-a-distance as Jesus did in Luke 7 for the servant of the centurion. I had the pastors come forward and with the Lord’s authority we ministered to the infirm who remained at their seats. Ten people came forward immediately afterwards to testify that the Lord had healed them. The Training was now complete.
At the final meeting in the evening—the climax of the Training—I preached the gospel to the lost and backslidden and the trained disciples healed the sick to demonstrate that the gospel is true.
The Evangelistic Healing Service
The church was filled with the crowd spilling out to both sides outside the sanctuary in the open air where chairs had already provided for the overflow.
SIB Sipitang District Supervisor Agong Sakai
Believers celebrate with indigenous xylophone & bamboo flutes
Wind instruments made from large stalks of bamboo (background)
Before we ministered to the infirm, I preached a message of repentance to the mostly Christians who had gathered. The Lord is coming soon, and it will only be through repentance as preached by John the Baptist that the Church will be prepared for that great and terrible Day. I told them that by no means not all who attend church and call themselves Christians are saved…
Luke 13:6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 ”‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
Luke 3:9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Many Christians, I argued, are not producing good fruit for the Lord. They are not living holy lives, and they are not obeying the Lord’s commands. They will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Luke 13:22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“ But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
Then we prayed and asked the Lord to confirm His word through miraculous healings. Some infirm people had come from hours away by car. We ministered to the infirm in two separate stages. First we ministered healing-at-a-distance to the infirm in the crowd as Jesus healed the centurion’s servant in Luke 7. Those whom the Lord healed came to the front to testify and to give thanks to the Lord. View the healing-at-a-distance and the subsequent testimonies in the Malaysian language on YouTube below:
Video 1 | Video 2 | Video 3 | Video 4
For the second stage I had the trained disciples come forward to lay hands on those who were not healed during the first stage. Many more were healed by the Lord. That evening between forty and fifty people altogether testified that the Lord had healed them. One woman testified that her cancer had disappeared. Some publicly repented of their sins on the stage even as they testified of their healing. You can view the one-on-one laying of hands and the many ensuing testimonies of healing on YouTube below:
Video 5 | Video 6 | Video 7 | Video 8 | Video 9
Hearing the testimonies, people in the crowd repented of their sins and decided to live lives worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Lord’s help. It was quite a glorious evening for the SIB Church in Sipitang.
This is just the beginning. The leaders are going to start a “Free Healing Clinic” in Sipitang to draw the lost to Jesus Christ. Other pastors and leaders will return home to plan to reach out to unreached villages with the gospel for the fulfillment of the Great Commission as I challenged them time and time again.
On the next day in Kota Kinabalu, I had lunch with Jerry Dusing, the President of SIB in the state of Sabah who had invited me to conduct the Training. They want me back later in the year to hold another Training in another District of Sabah. They have learned that it is not always necessary to wait for a visitation of God for such miracles to take place. But if we simply obey the Lord’s commands to heal the sick and preach the gospel, the miracles will happen.
In the aftermath of the Training…
(Reports in the Malaysian language)
May 7, 2010
“Shalom, terima kasih atas teknik otoritas yang pak pendeta kongsikan di dalam seminar di SIB Kaban Sipitang. Kami telah mempraktikan teknik tersebut dan ternyata kuasa Tuhan itu nyata, sehingga orang yang 6 tahun menderita sakit di kedua-dua tapak kakinya telah sembuh total dan ramai lagi yang lain iaitu gunung yang kecil dan sederhana.
Bahkan pada 4 April yang lalu seorang jemaat Tuhan yang telah meninggalkan Tuhan untuk memperhambakan diri kepada kuasa kegelapan telah mengambil keputusan untuk kembali kepada Tuhan setelah jin-jin peliharaannya seramai 44 ditambah 2 roh pahlawan negeri Sabah yang telah meninggal dunia, hendak mengambil cucunya dan isterinya. Sehingga cucu dan isterinya sakit tenat. Dia telah menyerahkan semua berhalanya termasuk 2 bilah keris iaitu salah satunya didakwa diwarisi sudah 7 keturunan dari Indonesia. Semua berhalanya telah dibakar dengan api di dalam kuatkuasanya Allah. Semasa upacara pembakaran dilakukan, tiba-tiba hujan turun disertai dengan kilat dan guruh. Namun semuanya telah sempurna dibakar.
Kemudian cucunya dilayani dengan doa. Hasilnya, cucunya telah sembuh sepenuhnya manakala isterinya (Puan Tabita Antikoh) terpaksa ditahan di hospital kerana kandungan gula dalam tubuhnya terlalu tinggi. Mari kita sama-sama doakan agar kandungan gulanya kembali normal.”
June 4, 2010
“Puji Tuhan dengan kuasanya Allah Puan Tabita kini telah sembuh sepenuhnya dan sekarang En. Mangi Kapu yang telah meninggalkan berhalanya kini giat dikunjungi oleh orang ramai. Mereka begitu tertarik dengan kesaksian beliau. Bahkan ramai jemaat yang diberkati dan tidak kurang juga yang meninggalkan berhala mereka. Kita terus doakan saudara Mangi agar dia diberikan kekuatan iman untuk bersaksi tentang kasih dan kemahakuasaan Allah. Sokong kami juga dalam doa kerana pelayanan ini semakin mencabar.”