| ‘I saw the people in the crowd dressed in dingy, gray clothes. God’s love began to hover heavily over the worship team and all those attending the conference. As the revelation of His love came upon each person his or her clothes immediately became bright and vivid. People were awakened to his love. God’s love was manifesting in tenderness and gentleness, as he came to each one.’ | |
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This prophetic word given before the conference inspired our confidence and our prayers, and we were not disappointed. We anticipated God’s presence dwelling among us, establishing Bangula as a place of justice and righteousness, a place where love and faithfulness dwell together, where righteousness and peace kiss each other (Is.33:5-6, Ps.85:9-11).
As we prayed on opening day, drizzle began to fall, and a beautiful double rainbow gave witness to the promises we had received. People began to arrive in spite of unusually cold temperatures, and showers. Many walked all day, and were sore and tired by the time I walked around to pray in the evening. Still they were happy to be at the conference, and ready to worship. Others scraped together their own transportation money, since we did not provide transport this time. Those who came were hungry indeed, hungry enough to spend their hard earned kwacha on transport instead of food. |
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Thursday night, the ground was damp from the rain but the people sat for four hours to hear the word from Mo and then watch the Jesus film. ‘What have you in your house?’ asked Elisha when a distraught widow sought his help. The widow thought she had nothing, but then remembered a small jar of oil. It is easy to think we have nothing when there is no food and no money. But the widow believed the word of the prophet. Fetching jars from all her neighbours was the widow’s act of faith. Paying off her debt with the proceeds was her act of wisdom. These two became themes for us: faith and wisdom, acted out in love. |
Close to 6000 people worshipping in the cool drizzle rain |
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By faith Moses climbed Mt. Sinai to meet with God while the Israelites shook in the camp. God called Moses and the seventy elders, ‘Come up to me.’ They saw God, they ate, and they drank. God called Moses and Joshua further up. For six days the glory of the Lord covered the mountain. On the seventh day God called Moses again, ‘Come up to me’ and Moses proceeded into the thick darkness. After spending 40 days in the presence of the Lord, Moses went down the mountain. In his next conversation with the Lord, we might well be amazed to hear him say, ‘Teach me your ways so that I can know you more,’ and, in the next, ‘Show me your glory!’ He was not satisfied. Let us not be satisfied with what we now know. Let us cry out for more revelation! |
Prayer began in earnest for sore legs and backs, deaf ears, and blind eyes. God’s glory was poured out as people were healed, and others worshipped. Heidi Baker spoke from Zechariah, reminding us that the Lord is a wall of fire all around us, and a glorious presence within us. How quickly we forget! She described Joshua’s dirty rags. The angel of the Lord removed the guilt and filth, and clothed him in clean garments, placing a new turban on his head. The mind of Christ is available to each one of us who believes in the Lord Jesus. What would the mind of Christ think in Bangula. ‘Not by might, not by strength, but by my Spirit!’ says the Lord of Hosts. |
Hungry for more of Jesus |
Never have we seen such focused attention among the crowds. People pressed forward for ministry. Oh, church of the west, this is something the beautiful poor can show you. They know how to wait. And they know that the Lord of Hosts is worth waiting for. I sat with two blind women on the steps at Heidi’s feet. As far as I know, they were not healed, but they sat there for more than an hour. I prayed for a little boy whose head was crusted over with sores. I prayed and I washed his head. The next night he found me, snuggled between Rebecca and I and promptly went to sleep. The sad part is that no one came looking for him, even though he slept at a pastor’s house that night. Another little boy of 18 months had no strength in his legs. After prayer, his legs were not rubbery anymore. We anticipate that he will walk. . |
Heidi praying for deaf ears |
Rolland Baker called us to exercise our faith in love every day. It requires discipline. We must choose joy in the face of suffering. I met a woman on the steps whose husband had beaten her because she wanted to come to the meeting. He had attacked her with a broken shard of pottery. I guess she shielded her face with her hands, and they roughly stitched and still bleeding. We prayed, crying out for her protection and healing. Rolland hugged her with the Father’s love. I dressed her wounds. The biggest miracle is that she was able to forgive her husband, not to return to him, but to offer him the greatest gift of all: undeserved forgiveness. |
yield to the Holy Spirit.. |
| It was a joy to have Supresa Sithole with us, one of our International directors for Iris. He is a Mozambican who spent many years in Malawi and now lives in South Africa with his beautiful wife and children. We so appreciated his African way of story telling, and the wisdom he was able to impart. Particularly memorable was his story of a man who had 200 cows. He loved those cows, and enjoyed looking at them every day. His children were hungry, and couldn’t go to school because they had no uniforms. He had been blessed greatly, but he did not have wisdom to run with the blessing. A great sickness came, and all of his cattle died. What was he left with? The Bible tells us that anyone who lacks wisdom should ask, and so that is what we did, for hours in the hot sun. Kneeling, standing, crying out, weeping, we called on the Lord Jesus to give us the wisdom we lack. It was wonderful to see our own Iris children persist in prayer for each other. |
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This church conference with almost 6,000 people present was the best yet. “We thank you Lord for revival. Now that we have tasted and seen Your goodness, we ask for more!” |
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