I’m no expert on wine. I simply don’t imbibe. However, I do have a background as a chemist; so, I enjoy fun facts about how chemicals interact and make things happen. Well, enough of that. I do understand that grapes grown under draught conditions actually produce better wines. Okay, so what does that have to do with our Middle East mission?
The MBBs (Muslim Background Believers) we were working with have come to their faith in Christ under some very oppressive conditions – much like the grapes that endured the draught conditions. And – just like for those grapes – these conditions have produced some of the sweetest Christians we have ever met. The husbands of many of the women divorced them as soon as they discovered that their wives had left the Muslim faith to follow Christ. Many of the young men and women shared with us that they had been kicked out of their homes and rejected by their families because they had become what their parents considered “heretics.” Of course, there were also stories of reconciliations because the families had witnessed such impressive transformations in their lives after their conversions. On the bigger scale, these believers live every day under the threat of rejection by their friends, loss of employment, arrest, and even worse if the “wrong people” discover their faith, their secret gathering to study God’s Word and worship, or their social media connections with other believers both in their home country and abroad. For them, the conference where they were able to gather in a safe place to decompress and enjoy fellowship, encouragement, and training is a welcomed lifeline and a high point in their year.
As you can imagine, many of them brought with them some serious issues – the result of living under constant pressure and rejection and not being able to have regular fellowship and spiritual instruction. When Peggy ministered on breaking strongholds over our lives, it seemed as if everyone in the room wanted prayer for rejection, a totally anticipated result of living in “survival mode” in an external environment that isolated them from their true inner feelings. One dramatic example was the young girl who told us that she said that she felt as if no one loved her and was suffering from depression and had not found relief through medication or counseling. When I reminded her that God loved her enough to give up His only Son for her and that Jesus loved her enough to die on the cross for her and that her mother loved her so much that she would run into a burning building to rescue her, she began to cry uncontrollably as that depressive bondage broke off her. Soon, she was rejoicing and celebrating her newfound freedom.
In addition, many had physical ailments and needed healing. We also found that they all responded almost immediately when we laid hands on them – a manifestation of the kind of faith that had been produced inside them due to their “pressure cooker” environment. One lady came to the camp with her arm in a sling because of a broken bone. I shared with her the testimony of how I had experienced an instantaneous healing of a broken shoulder blade and was able to lift my arm – which was hanging useless by my side – fully above my head with no pain whereas, minutes before, I had experienced excruciating pain from trying to move it just four inches from my side. After hearing that testimony and praying a short prayer, she lifted her arm above her head and discovered that there was no pain and that the all the symptoms of the break were totally gone. Another young girl who been experiencing stomach issues since she was a baby was instantly healed and had not more pain for the rest of the conference. A lady with damaged vertebras in her neck that limited her mobility caused numbness in one arm instantly regained full range of motion and normal sensations in her arm after prayer.
We also ministered deliverance from demonic activity in which a young lady who had fallen into a lesbian relationship was set free. The control was so obvious that Peggy actually felt that she was a boy when we first met her, and my translator kept referring to her as “he” until I corrected him. In fact, there was a visible expression of shock on his face when I told him that she wasn’t a boy. After the deliverance, her countenance was observably transformed so that there was no longer any gender confusion.
The conference ended on Pentecost Sunday with a great celebration in which thirty delegates – including an eighty-two-year-old man – were baptized in water and seventeen were baptized with the Holy Spirit. When the Apostle Paul explained baptism, he described it as baptized into Christ’s death. (Romans 6:3) For these believers, such a bold expression of their faith could literally result in a death sentence. On the other hand, the apostle also promised that the Holy Spirit gives life (Romans 8:2, 8:10; II Corinthians 3:6, Galatians 6:8) – a promise that gives victory in this life and hope even after death.
Peggy Praying
Peggy Praying
Delron Praying
