Well, here we are in Tarkwa. It has been an amazing time, and with a different flavour from the previous villages. As we approached the place, we prayed for an open heaven.
We had been delayed leaving Kondoa by the discovery that the Landcruiser had a flat tyre. We were so glad that the puncture had not caused an accident as we came back in the dark yesterday night.
The road to Tarkwa runs through tsetse fly country. So the windows got wound up completely and we had to endure the sweltering heat because there was no air-conditioning in the vehicles. Imagine the relief when after ¾ hour of bouncing up and down in a turkish bath the windows could be wound down and the cool air rushed into the vehicle.
The welcome was enthusiastic and sincere - they had been waiting in the heat for three hours so it was gracious of them. Two of the women were seated at either end of a large log and they were using something like to enormous double-ended wooden spoons with which they made interesting sounds by scraping them back and forth on the log in time to the singing. We were drawn into the circle of dancers, who swayed and sang a welcome song.
After chai at the pastor’s house, it was over to the church. Ian taught on the Holy Spirit and we invited people to come forward and receive prayer for the in filling of the Holy Spirit. About 75 people came forward. Many were obviously touched by the power of God. One woman manifested a demonic presence and we partnered with the the local pastors to try and free her, but there was something stopping her getting free easily, so we decided to pray for her less publicly the next day.
We went back to the “motel” for dinner and a much-needed night’s sleep. It was lit by electricity from solar panels. I was alarmed the next day by the owner grabbing the bare wires of a flight to twist the together to make it work, but Ian reassured me that there would be only about 5 volts so no danger. Still, bare wires gave me the heeby jeebies!
Today was quite packed. Breakfast at the pastor's house then over to the church. I had re-written the talk on forgiveness last night as Ian slept. I decided to dramatise the reading from Matthew 18, with Bishop Given playing the king, Peter playing the unforgiving servant, Anne the servant who owed a small amount, and two pastors playing the jailers. It went really well, with Moses reading the scripture in Swahili and one small child crying because Peter was being treated so roughly at the end.
Afterwards, after answering some questions, I led them in repentance from unforgiveness and then in forgiving people who had hurt them.
Then Ian taught on healing while I, Peter, Anne and a local pastor helped to deliver the woman from yesterday. It was easy because we followed Derek Prince’s instructions for people to self-deliver. It was good to have a framework as well as Anne’s words of knowledge ministry bring to light things that would otherwise not have been dealt with.
We re-joined the team after the deliverance and helped mop up the last of the healing prayer engagements. One old blind guy was delighted when his arm started to be pain-free and he could lift it above his head. Several kids started to pray for people with good success. Lindy made great strides learning healing prayer. We encouraged many to pray for others before they were completely healed and those praying received more healing as they prayed. That allowed the local people to participate in healing, grow in confidence and discover God would work with them to heal people too. As they gained confidence, we released them in pairs to pray for others who were waiting. All in all, about 30 people were healed today. Only about 3 people had not gotten up to receive healing, so we could not invite others to come and pray. It was a bit chaotic, but fun!
We finished at about 3:20 pm and dismissed the crowd instead of doing the third session. On the way home, Ian fired up the iPad and played “10,000 reasons” and we all sang lustily. Moses loves that song, having learned it on a recent trip to the UK.
After we drove home, I did some foot-washing and refreshed the team. Ian had done it for me and I wanted to pass it on. Just with wet wipes, but very refreshing. Cleaning sandals as well was a good idea because they get so incredibly dusty hereabouts.
Sunday 28 Sept
The cold which has been passed around the team has finally hit Lindy and Anne. They are sharing a room so if one is coughing, the other will be soon. I woke at 4am and found that I had omitted to bring either Otrivine nasal spray or anti-histamine to stop post-nasal drips. So I had to resort to prayer (!) After that, we settled down and though I was awake for quite a time listening to the cocks crow, I heard only two coughs, which was quite a change.
This morning’s church service was a joy! So celebrational, as we heard from 13 people about how God had healed them yesterday. The congregation burst into applause after each testimony and the sound man gave a short burst of loud praise music at the same time.
The woman who had been delivered shone with joy as she gave testimony of how good God had been to her. The old man who had his shoulder healed was determined to come and testify even though he was still blind.
Ian taught on dealing with curses and bondages and prayed over the whole congregation to set them free. Then thanks and appreciations were expressed all around, and we again gave Bibles to the three congregations represented at the service.
After the service, we were asked to pray further for some individuals. A swollen foot went down at least 50% and pain had virtually gone within 5 minutes while pain in a lady’s ear radiating down her neck went.
Ian was asked to pray for a blind man at the end of the service, after his patience and energy had run out :-) Praise God, the cataracts diminished and the old man was thrilled that he could see the Bishop’s face and tell what colour his shirt was as well as how many fingers were being held up for him to see.
We came home today over the same rough road and tsetse country with joy at what we had been able to be a part of and the good results we saw.
We had been delayed leaving Kondoa by the discovery that the Landcruiser had a flat tyre. We were so glad that the puncture had not caused an accident as we came back in the dark yesterday night.
The road to Tarkwa runs through tsetse fly country. So the windows got wound up completely and we had to endure the sweltering heat because there was no air-conditioning in the vehicles. Imagine the relief when after ¾ hour of bouncing up and down in a turkish bath the windows could be wound down and the cool air rushed into the vehicle.
The welcome was enthusiastic and sincere - they had been waiting in the heat for three hours so it was gracious of them. Two of the women were seated at either end of a large log and they were using something like to enormous double-ended wooden spoons with which they made interesting sounds by scraping them back and forth on the log in time to the singing. We were drawn into the circle of dancers, who swayed and sang a welcome song.
After chai at the pastor’s house, it was over to the church. Ian taught on the Holy Spirit and we invited people to come forward and receive prayer for the in filling of the Holy Spirit. About 75 people came forward. Many were obviously touched by the power of God. One woman manifested a demonic presence and we partnered with the the local pastors to try and free her, but there was something stopping her getting free easily, so we decided to pray for her less publicly the next day.
We went back to the “motel” for dinner and a much-needed night’s sleep. It was lit by electricity from solar panels. I was alarmed the next day by the owner grabbing the bare wires of a flight to twist the together to make it work, but Ian reassured me that there would be only about 5 volts so no danger. Still, bare wires gave me the heeby jeebies!
Today was quite packed. Breakfast at the pastor's house then over to the church. I had re-written the talk on forgiveness last night as Ian slept. I decided to dramatise the reading from Matthew 18, with Bishop Given playing the king, Peter playing the unforgiving servant, Anne the servant who owed a small amount, and two pastors playing the jailers. It went really well, with Moses reading the scripture in Swahili and one small child crying because Peter was being treated so roughly at the end.
Afterwards, after answering some questions, I led them in repentance from unforgiveness and then in forgiving people who had hurt them.
Then Ian taught on healing while I, Peter, Anne and a local pastor helped to deliver the woman from yesterday. It was easy because we followed Derek Prince’s instructions for people to self-deliver. It was good to have a framework as well as Anne’s words of knowledge ministry bring to light things that would otherwise not have been dealt with.
We re-joined the team after the deliverance and helped mop up the last of the healing prayer engagements. One old blind guy was delighted when his arm started to be pain-free and he could lift it above his head. Several kids started to pray for people with good success. Lindy made great strides learning healing prayer. We encouraged many to pray for others before they were completely healed and those praying received more healing as they prayed. That allowed the local people to participate in healing, grow in confidence and discover God would work with them to heal people too. As they gained confidence, we released them in pairs to pray for others who were waiting. All in all, about 30 people were healed today. Only about 3 people had not gotten up to receive healing, so we could not invite others to come and pray. It was a bit chaotic, but fun!
We finished at about 3:20 pm and dismissed the crowd instead of doing the third session. On the way home, Ian fired up the iPad and played “10,000 reasons” and we all sang lustily. Moses loves that song, having learned it on a recent trip to the UK.
After we drove home, I did some foot-washing and refreshed the team. Ian had done it for me and I wanted to pass it on. Just with wet wipes, but very refreshing. Cleaning sandals as well was a good idea because they get so incredibly dusty hereabouts.
Sunday 28 Sept
The cold which has been passed around the team has finally hit Lindy and Anne. They are sharing a room so if one is coughing, the other will be soon. I woke at 4am and found that I had omitted to bring either Otrivine nasal spray or anti-histamine to stop post-nasal drips. So I had to resort to prayer (!) After that, we settled down and though I was awake for quite a time listening to the cocks crow, I heard only two coughs, which was quite a change.
This morning’s church service was a joy! So celebrational, as we heard from 13 people about how God had healed them yesterday. The congregation burst into applause after each testimony and the sound man gave a short burst of loud praise music at the same time.
The woman who had been delivered shone with joy as she gave testimony of how good God had been to her. The old man who had his shoulder healed was determined to come and testify even though he was still blind.
Ian taught on dealing with curses and bondages and prayed over the whole congregation to set them free. Then thanks and appreciations were expressed all around, and we again gave Bibles to the three congregations represented at the service.
After the service, we were asked to pray further for some individuals. A swollen foot went down at least 50% and pain had virtually gone within 5 minutes while pain in a lady’s ear radiating down her neck went.
Ian was asked to pray for a blind man at the end of the service, after his patience and energy had run out :-) Praise God, the cataracts diminished and the old man was thrilled that he could see the Bishop’s face and tell what colour his shirt was as well as how many fingers were being held up for him to see.
We came home today over the same rough road and tsetse country with joy at what we had been able to be a part of and the good results we saw.
RSS Feed