Houston, Texas
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Dear Brethren in Christ,

This morning we returned safely to Houston after our two-week-plus trip to Malaysia and India. It was a long and tiring homeward journey, but we are thankful to the Lord for another very fruitful mission trip.

On Monday evening before we left Malaysia, we had dinner with three of the Cheras pastors who hosted the Basic Training in Malaysia. Through the event the Lord had set a fire burning in the churches, and the pastors are intent on keeping it going. In the past they would have to rely on specially-anointed evangelists to come to minister to the infirm. Everyone else would sit and watch the evangelist. Many would come to be healed, but since only the evangelist could do it, the meetings could be a bit drawn out and not all who came could be ministered to. Through the Basic Training an army of 550 believers had been trained to heal the sick as Jesus taught His disciples. The Lord’s wonderful grace resulted in two electrifyingly explosive evenings where many were healed simultaneously and the people filled the stage to testify. We saw the beginning of the fulfillment of John 14:12—those who believe on Jesus will do the works that He did. The lost repented and put their faith in Christ when they saw the miraculous healings. Such miracles had never happened at the hands of believers in this way in Cheras before, and the pastors want this fire to keep burning and grow even bigger. They recognize that it is not enough simply to do it in church worship settings, although that is certainly a beginning. Since the lost normally do not come to church, the power of God must be taken outside the walls of the church.

Malaysia is a country where the Christian minority is dominated by an oppressing majority—the sons of Ishmael who follow the “religion of peace.” Public evangelism is strictly forbidden by law. So to plan to heal the sick in public places as part of the proclamation of the Kingdom of God is a radical step for them. But they are going ahead with it. For one thing, there is an annual outreach event the Cheras churches are hosting called the “Community Carnival” where they offer various services to the community. This year the event—scheduled for next month in August—will feature a new service: Free Healing!

Please pray that the Lord will give the pastors other strategies for reaching out to the lost via miraculous healing as well as the boldness to carry them out. This is in obedience to the Lord’s command in Luke 10:9—”Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’” We are in the end times, and the Lord is restoring His power to the Church for the fulfillment of the Great Commission to the most gospel-resistant peoples on earth.

Only July 20 William will be leaving for Kazakhstan, the former Soviet republic in Central Asia. There he will be equipping the church to reach out to the majority sons of Ishmael.

Thank you for covering us with your intercessory prayers, dear ones. Returning home today, we see that the situation at home is good and our loved ones are well. This was not always the case in the past when we came home from a trip. The Lord is good. And we see the Cheras meetings as potentially one of the most fruitful Training events ever. This is in part because of the sacrificial price the Cheras pastors have paid for unity. And we believe we will be hearing wondrous reports from the pastors in India who were trained as well on this trip.

Sincerely in Christ,

William & Lucille

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 9:05 am and is filed under Elijah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.