Tuesday,
July 22, 2015
Gikomero,
Rwanda
The Spirit of
the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me . . . (Isaiah
61:1a)
This
is it. Today is the day we go to Gikomero
to do what we came to Rwanda to do. Pray.
Sure, we’ve been praying at various places and for various people since
we arrived in Rwanda, but today is the day we go to Gikomero to lay hands on
those who have come to receive healing prayer.
This time will be similar to communion prayer time at COTA and RAC, only
it will be extended by about 3.5 hours. As
I eat breakfast with the team before we leave, I can feel the Holy Spirit at
work in me. He is telling me that he has
already gone ahead of me to select the people I will pray with and for and that
He will put His word in my heart and on my lips. Now go;
I will help you speak and will teach you what to say (Exodus 4:11). With that, I am ready. Not anxious. Not apprehensive. Just ready.
We
arrive at Gikomero and go directly into the sanctuary where we join some folks for
a short time of worship and to hear a brief teaching on Jesus’ healing of a
paralytic as told in Luke’s Gospel.
(Luke 5:17-26) Then it’s time to
divide our team into two prayer groups.
As we do so I pray – “Lord may these groups be divided according to your
will and for your purposes.”
Prayer
team #1 – Pastor Eric, John, Teresa, Elizabeth and Patterson – is to go to the
Pastor’s house to pray along with some Gikomero church members and a
translator.
Prayer
team #2 – Pastor Curt, Barbara, Will, and myself, along with Pastor Alfred and
three other Gikomero church members – are stationed just outside of the
sanctuary – in the sun – and about 50 yards away from an outdoor stable housing
about 8 very chatty cows. Before I can
even ponder (i.e., freak out about) all of the distractions surrounding me
(school children are now starting to swarm), the Lord puts a hymn on my
heart. “For the beauty of the earth, for
the glory of the skies . . . Lord of all, to thee we raise, this our hymn of
grateful praise.”
I
(silently) call on the Holy Spirit just before we begin and immediately He
sends a steady, cool breeze and the women inside of the sanctuary begin singing
and I know He has surrounded us. Time to
get our prayer on.
He has sent me
to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim freedom for the captives and release
from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and
the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for
those who grieve in Zion. Isaiah 61:1b-3a
Our
first patient (not sure what the appropriate noun is in this situation) is a
woman requesting prayer for healing from a tumor in her belly. Got it. Prayers are said. Amen. Who’s
next? But then the Spirit moved in
Pastor Curt and he asked if the woman was a Christian. And thus the proverbial floodgate was opened
and we were introduced to our first of numerous persons requesting prayer for healing
and protection from the effects of witchcraft, curses, or demons.
This
woman had attended a wedding in which a “healer” was also in attendance. She was healthy before the wedding, but soon
thereafter developed a massive tumor in her belly ("Massive" as in she looked
about 5 months pregnant). The culprit?
Witchcraft. And she had been questioning
her faith in God ever since.
Being
the logical person I am, I was quick to slough off the idea of witchcraft. My response was to chalk these ailments up to
something that I could understand.
Something I had experience with.
Something – well – logical. The
only thing I could wrap my brain around was a medical diagnosis (I’ve read
enough on WebMD.com. I know the
drill. You’ve got a common cold, cancer,
or you’re pregnant. Easy enough.) Before
I could finish assessing this woman’s symptoms, the Lord interrupted my
thoughts with Scripture from Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not again
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms.”
Almost
instantly, I could feel the darkness pressing in on all sides. There was a spiritual battle happening around
our prayer circle and the presence of evil was palpable. But stronger still was the light of Jesus
Christ. “The light that shines in the
darkness and the darkness has not understood it” (John 1:5). It was clear to those of us praying what the
task before us was. So with full
confidence in the power of Jesus’ name, we entered into prayers for spiritual
cleansing and protection knowing full well that it is only because of Jesus’
shed blood that we were able to rebuke Satan and his effect on these people’s
physical and spiritual health. Jesus
Christ died once and for all. The enemy
has been defeated and Christ is seated on the right hand of the Father. The strife is over, the battle won.
And
so it was for the remainder of the morning.
At times the Holy Spirit prayed through me as I interceded for
patients. Other times it was necessary
to intercede for the other members of our prayer team as they fought against
the forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
It was at these times that I had a clear vision of Aaron and Hur holding
up Moses’ hands as he prayed on the hill top when Joshua and the Israelites
fought against the Amalekites. “As long
as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he
lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
When Moses’ hands grew tired . . . Aaron and Hur held his hands up”
Exodus 17:11-12
Periodically,
the Lord would give us a small respite from the battle. One which was particularly memorable came in
the form of a woman who was a week past her due date requesting prayer for the
safe delivery of her child. I had the
good fortune of laying hands on her very pregnant belly and feeling her baby
move (leap for joy?) at the mention of Jesus’ name. It was a beautiful experience and most
certainly a gift from God.
There
was also a young woman whose family was Muslim but she wanted to receive
Christ. What a joy and honor it was to
walk alongside this young woman as she confessed her sins and received Jesus. We later heard from Pastor Alfred that she
was going to go home and share the Good News with her family. Yesu ishimwe!
Despite
the weight of many of the prayer requests we received, I left our time of
healing prayer confident in God’s faithfulness to his promises.
He will bestow
on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of
mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a
planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3
Although
I may not ever see how the Lord responds to our intercessions, I know that He
will. How do I know this? Because I’ve experienced His supernatural
empowering of my prayers through His Holy Spirit. He was there while we prayed. He heard our cries to him for mercy and
healing and he did not turn a deaf ear to us.
And he will answer our requests in ways unexpected, because He is able
to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. Thank you, Jesus for your great love for us!
Can
I get an Alleluia, Amen, Imana Ishimwe (Praise be to God)?
---Taylor
Waren
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