Micah 2:12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,like a flock in its pasture;the place will throng with people.
The topics Cosmas Solamba assigned for Neil to teach at the pastors' conference in Nairobi next week are Healing and Deliverance. Neil has not felt totally confident ministering in either of those areas. However, this week while teaching in the small village churches on the Kenya's East coast near Mombasa, God has been giving Neil opportunities to become more experienced in both.
Through generous gifts from friends and churches, Outfitters for Adventure has been able to send funds to purchase modest sound systems for 20 small churches. At the cost of $1,500 USA dollars, Francis Owuor was able to purchase the following components at cost: 2 speakers, mics, all the cords and attachments, the sound board, a keyboard, and a generator to power the system. The churches do not have electricity, so the generator is also able to power lights in the churches. Three of the systems were brought along in the van on this trip, and Francis has been installing them. Francis not only is a pastor and overseer of the churches Neil visits; he also owns and operates an electronics business. He is a man of many talents who attributes his effectiveness to Jesus. He is a devout man of prayer with a servant heart. He has wept when he witnesses the delight of the people as they receive their sound systems and begin praising Jesus with joy.
Yesterday, as Neil was teaching, a woman who was oppressed by demons stood up and the demons began manifesting through her. She was very agitated, and began screaming loudly. Neil stopped his teaching and called for her to be brought to the front. Neil had been explaining that Jesus did not want his disciples to be watching from the sidelines. Jesus involved them in the ministry. Neil had some of those in the church come forward and they began commanding the demons to be quiet and to come out of the woman. After a few minutes, she quieted down and became peaceful, so she was able to go back to her seat and remained calm throughout the rest of the day.
After the service, Francis brought Neil to visit a man who had fallen out of a coconut palm tree a few months ago and had broken his back. He and his wife have 4 children to raise, and now he is unable to work. In addition to his physical pain, he had the anguish of not being able to provide for his family. In his frustration, he said unkind things to his wife and treated her harshly. She took the children and returned to her parents' home. The man does not have a good relationship with his wife's parents, because he had never paid the bride price which he had promised, and there were a few other unpleasantries added since the marriage. So the man's parents asked Neil and Francis to see if they could help bring about a better working relationship between the families. Our friend Bernie would say, "What a mess," but for the Holy Spirit it was a wonderful opportunity to allow Neil to become more experienced in deliverance ministry.
After visiting with the man who had broken his back and with his parents, the man's parents agreed to bring Neil and Francis to the wife's parents' home to hear their version of the story. As they approached the humble mud house with a thatched roof, the man's wife was standing just outside the door. But when she saw them coming, she quickly fled and her mother came out of the house screaming. Once again, Neil and Francis were observing the manifestation of demons. Francis is a gifted counselor and calmly asked to speak to the wife's father. He came out of the house but was noticeably upset. Francis assured the parents and the wife that they had not come to force her to return to her husband. Rather, they wanted to give the wife and her parents a chance to tell their story and then pray with them to ask the Holy Spirit to be their counselor. Both the man with the broken back and his wife as well as their families are Christians. The wife and her father were willing to talk it over and calmed down while the mother continued to rage and manifest demons. So, Francis and Neil asked if it would be ok with them if they commanded the demons to leave the mother. That seemed like a good plan to them. Francis and Neil began rebuking the demons in the authority of Jesus' name, with the confidence that Satan's power truly was defeated when Jesus shed his blood on the cross in full payment of sin. At that point, the demons were not given a choice and they had to leave. The mother became calm and was able to join in the conversation.
Although more forgiveness is needed for full reconciliation to happen, the wife was relieved that Neil and Francis had listened to her and seemed to understand why she had fled her husband. No one was judging her, and that seemed to begin to lift the tension. They had not come to plead her husband's cause, and even his father did not press the issue further. Francis and Neil put the matter into prayer with the family and counseled them that even though we need to forgive each other, trust takes time as it is earned by our good behavior as we learn to walk together in love and respect. That is difficult for African men who have not had Christian models of men loving and honoring their wives with kindness and gentleness. Men in every culture do well to follow Jesus in that way.
Please pray:
- for healing for the man with the broken back. He has regained some use of his legs, and needs prayer for the healing to continue.
- for healing for the relationship between the man and his wife and between their families.
- for those who received deliverance ministry to remain free.
- for rain for the crops. The current crop has died but pray that there will be good rain so they can replant their fields.