India '08: Day Four

The open air crusade began yesterday evening with two suprises: The second one came when Pastor Charles was closing down his preaching with an excellent illustration that was driving home his final point. The power at the venue went out! Everything from the lights to the sound system was gone, leaving the 1,000-plus attendees in the dark and in silence. We knew it was a spiritual attack. Spontaneous praise songs rose up from the crowd and for the next fifteen minutes we waited and prayed.

The power came back on, and Pastor Charles picked up where he left off. His message ended and we had a powerful altar call. Before I describe it I must tell you about the first surprise.

Less than one hour before the evening service was to start, our host Pastor Daniel, told me that I was sharing the preaching time with Pastor Charles. Well, I heard that he does this sometimes so I was ready, and with the Lord's help I brought an evangelistic message to the crowd, telling them about the man who was sick for 38 years. Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed. I ended by asking the crowd the same thing and then turned the message over to Pastor Charles who picked up and complemented what I had said with an excellent word.

The altar call saw many come froward to receive Christ, and then we had a time of praying for the sick. Pastor Daniel asked me to assist him in praying for the sick and needy. We prayed for over 100 people with various needs and every 25 or so, Pastor Daniel would have a few testify to what the Lord had done in their lives. One lady (pictured at the top) said that she was healed of pain that had in her back for over a year while I was preaching. She didn't come up for prayer during the altar call. She didn't need it anymore! The Lord is a great God!

This morning we were blessed to have two of the local pastors teach, followed by Pastor Charles encouraging us to make walking with God our highest priority. The teaching was strong and went right into our spirits.

After last evening's service Pastor Daniel asked me to preach at the next afternoon's healing service (more notice this time) and then wanted me to pray for the people with him assisting. So today, I preached about the 10 lepers whom Jesus healed, telling how faith demonstrates itself in obedience, thanksgiving and praise. Then we began to pray for the sick.

Two ladies had traveled over 400 kilometers to attend the crusade and both had physical problems. One said she had a tumor on her uterus. We prayed and she testified that she "felt something hot come off of her insides" (pic on right). We believe she was healed. Another woman who wore thick glassed complained of cataracts. I laid my hands on her eyes and prayed for the Lord to open them up so she could see clearly. She came back to the stage five minutes later and said that she could begin to see clearly in the center of her eyes. During the next few minutes her vision became clearer and clearer! Thank you Lord. These are just a few of the many miracles that the Lord performed among the people as they sought Him.

Tonight we have another crusade meeting where Pastor Charles will preach and I will pray for the sick. I know it will be a great meeting. Check tomorrow's Blog for details!