Dear friends,
Grab a cup of coffee, sit for minute or two, and join us as we visit a woman who through a curse was left crippled and childless, but whose life was radically changed by God.
If you recall the newsletter sent some months ago, I mentioned in there a lady whose father went to a witchdoctor to have a curse put on her for fear of her getting married. And being the only daughter, the father did not want her to marry, for there would then be only his wife in the home to take care of him. This curse was intended to make her unattractive so that no man would want to take her as his wife.
After the fathers visit to the witchdoctor and paying his fee, he went home with expectations.
Now I am not sure what you believe or what your theology is, but when this young lady woke up the following morning she was unable to move. From the waist down she was paralyzed. The father is now upset at the witchdoctor because his daughter could do virtually no work around the house due to her condition.
For the next twelve and half years this young lady remained in her paralyzed condition. Living in a remote area, she had no access to wheelchairs or any other kind of handicap facilities. She had to be carried everywhere and was placed under a tree to wait for the day to go by. She was of no use to her father or to any man that may have wanted to marry her. She remained crippled, single and childless. And in this society this is very shameful and disgraceful.
Well ,one day about five months ago, someone came to her village; his name was Jesus and what an awesome road to healing it has been for this young woman.
Now for the ‘Rest of the Story’. Should I make you wait?
It was about 4 months ago that Mishack, one of the TTN staff, went off in his really tiny truck to a village for a ministry weekend with the ‘Jesus Film’ on board off. Mishack after the film showing and a few minutes of preaching made an alter call. After some time this lady was brought up to the front and put on the ground. There she began to share her heart and told Mishack that she needed that Jesus that she saw on the film.
After the evening meeting and most people found their way home in the blackness of night, she began to tell Mishack of her difficult life, the same story I told you earlier. Mishack agreed with her that they would pray together and break this curse in Jesus’ Name. Together they prayed and that was that. The following morning Mishack got in his really tiny truck and came home.
Two weeks went by and Mishack invited me to come with him to this little village, so off we went this time in a not so tiny truck. On our way he told me this woman’s story. We both hoped to see this lady again. The night came and so did the rains. We slept in the little crude church where the grass roof only half covered the building, the floors and pews made of mud. Well, we all got wet, and the dry mud turned into wet mud, then we got even more wet. I tried to pray and tell the rain what I thought, but that did not make any difference. So what do you do other than to pack up your things and run into the nearest village hut? Which we all did about 2 o’clock in the morning. It is not fun to get drenched at 2 am trying to find a hut somewhere to get into. I barged into this little hut and the poor family all sit up on their mats that were on the floor, all shocked to see this wet mzungu (white guy) standing in there door way telling them, “ Scoot over I am going to sleep in your hut.” This is probably the first white man that has ever slept in their hut. “So just enjoy it and stop staring at me like that.”
Guess who showed up for the service next morning, it was our friend. She had just walked about 6 km to get to church, it took several hours but with the help of others she came slowly. God had already begun to restore her legs and she was able to walk albeit in a somewhat crippled state.
I drove her home after church and sat in her mother’s house for a visit and she also began to tell us of her daughter’s difficult life and all the extra work that she had to do as a mother. The mother said it was a curse and there was no doubt. “But after you guys have prayed, this Jesus has broken the curse.”
Soon the grandmother showed up, she looked as old as the hills and she probably was. Her toothless smile as she sat in silence, the mother was talking and showed us the blanket her daughter slept on these past many years.
Before leaving we prayed for continual healing into this woman’s legs and body. We said our goodbyes and off we drove in that not so tiny truck.
Four months passed and the pastor from this village asked for us to come back for a visit. Off we went once again to encourage the church and hopefully visit our friend.
We had a great time of ministry the night of our arrival, dealing mostly with spiritual warfare type things. The amount of witchcraft and child sacrifices that take place there was astonishing. The fear of the strongman was evident; but that is a whole other story.
The following morning we had another service then off we drove to a hut for a visit. Upon arrival I saw a lady busily going in and out of the house bringing little wooden stools for us to sit on under a small mango tree. We all took our stools and sat there for a while, no one else was there except us and this lady who had brought these stools for us. She quickly went inside and got her own stool and came and sat with us. After a few long moments I asked Mishack if he could ask our hostess if the lady who had been paralyzed was around, perhaps sleeping somewhere.
This is when I felt a bit foolish for Mishack looked at me and said, “Simba (my African name) this is our lady, she is the one.” In shock and disbelief I looked at this woman again, there was no way this could be the same lady! (Shows you where my faith was…) She had gained some weight, looked healthy and walked with only a slight limp. As I sat there now looking into this woman’s face I could not help but get emotional, the joy within to see this lady once so crippled by a curse but now delivered by a blessing.
In our closing moments with her we gathered around her and prayed for her once again, but this time my prayer was not just for continual healing but it was now for a man to come into her life, a man of God, to see this woman fully restored into her society. This woman has been a testimony to me and strengthened my own walk in the Lord. To know where this woman was and to now see what the Lord has done and continues to do in her life.
Through all this I am left with questions that truly disturbs my thoughts, and I hope that these questions disturb your thoughts as well.
What would be the condition of this woman today if Mishack had never gone to her village? Would she still be sitting under a tree with no real future, no hope, all because someone did not pray with her? Can such a curse be put upon another person and never be broken throughout the cursed ones’ life? How can a father even think about doing such a thing to his own daughter? Does God really wait for people like you and I to go before He moves? Does God really rely on us that much that one person should suffer her whole life all because we do not go into the world and preach the gospel, heal the sick and cast out demons?
Would God really allow others to suffer the curse due to my lack of commitment? I am afraid the answer is yes, God is waiting. He has limited himself to work through us as his creation, his servants. Either God has limited himself because of others, which doesn’t seem very smart , or, God has such a deep committed love for his people, to see us grow and move in the authority he has given us, that he chooses to wait even at the cost of life. I choose to believe the latter of the two. What a responsibility we have!
I continue to think just how many thousands of souls continue to sit under trees or live in their cursed state of life all because of our laziness and passivity, not going out do bring deliverance to the thousands. How much more does it hurt the heart of God? When will we go and reach out?
There are people all around us whether we live in Africa or America, who need deliverance. Delivered from bitterness, hatred, addictions, from fear, rejection; and this list could really go on and on. Jesus gave his disciples authority to do only four things really; preach the gospel, heal the sick, to cast out demons and raise the dead. But these days we all know how to preach our messages, fewer heal the sick, fewer still cast out demon and raising the dead, well… We have made God so complicated we drown in our programs. So busy living ‘for Christ’ we have forgotten how to live ‘In Christ’. This I believe is where we have missed the mark.
This story is meant to encourage and challenge us all, to begin to live out our faith. Many say that their faith is the highest value in their life but did you know that 85% of church going Christians have never shared their faith with anyone, much less pray for the sick? We may value our faith but it is often only in principle not in action. Lets’ take our faith outside of our church walls. There are aspects of God that one will never find in church or from any conference. They will only be found on the streets giving your self away, and believe it or not it is that fire that many are looking for in their life is out there on the streets. It is in the alleyways, in the dumps, in the desert, on the wrong side of the tracks, its there that God will meet you, not always on the mountain top where we all want to be.
When I ponder all the people who are in bondage it is staggering, often my tears flow, not only because of those in bondage but because my own lack of love for the lost.
Lord I/we have gone to many seminars and conferences, and God only knows how many church services I/we have been to, but God, my heart has grown cold, my life is so busy it is hard to find the time. I see the desperate souls around me but the fear of man is still within. Help me Lord to overcome this old man that still entangles so much of my life. Help the lost to burden my heart, to keep me up at night, may I love them enough to fall on my knees, then get up and go, to see their eternity when I drive to work, to see my community as you see it, that I may reach out and give away what you have given me what I have taken advantage of for my own good. Lord forgive me. Amen
Pray and doors will open, then all we have to do is walk through them. It is not our job to save anyone, all we are supposed to do is to ‘prepare the way of the Lord’ and he does the rest, simple really. May we become so consumed in our love for Christ then all the rest will fall into place.
Blessings from the whole family
Lyle
