Real Honor and Real Humility

Last night we were privileged to attend a local house church. The pastor is one of last year’s graduates from the Bible College here. We had him as a student when we were teaching here last year. He told us he had started a small work from his home and asked if we would speak at a service. We agreed and last night we went to his home. He started this church last year after graduation. In the last seven months he has baptized 16 people in Jesus name! That number includes his wife who was 5 months pregnant when he baptized her. Here marriages are arranged so many of our young pastors do not have wives who believe the message their husbands preach. Isaac (the pastor we visited last night) is very blessed to have his wife on fire for God! She received the Holy Ghost 10 days after she was baptized and now her family is starting to serve the Lord. Two of her brothers and a sister have been attending services and have been baptized and received God’s spirit! It was exciting to watch this young couple working together for the gospel. It was exciting for us to see over 40 people in service! Not bad for a new work! The church is still meeting in the pastor’s home! Which brings us to the thought of true honor and true humility. In services over the past 2 months I have been “honored” with marching bands, fireworks, rose garlands, carriage rides, horseback rides, wedding hats, etc, etc. But none of these things really honored me in anyway. Not that I feel I need to be honored but the concept here of honor is all about the host, not the guest. So last night was unique. I actually felt honored by the pastor. As we watched his family we were very aware that this is not a couple that has much to boast about in a worldly sense. The house meeting was in his bedroom. It was the only room on the second floor that had a roof. When we left the bedroom we were immediately standing in the rain. They truly have a humble abode. It was also apparent that they are not a wealthy couple. After the service the pastor’s family served everyone a meal. It was obvious to us that the food they provided us for one night would have been more then the family had eaten the entire previous week. That was true honor. When someone is limited in resources and they chose to feed you instead of saving the food for their family… we couldn’t help but feel honored. Honored and humbled. The thought never escaped my mind that this was a tremendous sacrifice. I only took a small amount of food, as I knew I didn’t need the meal as much as the pastor did. However, seeing I only took a little bit he practically begged me to eat more! It was a humbling experience. Please pray for Pastor Isaac, he is truly hungry to see God move in his community. He has such a good spirit and a true desire for God’s work. Isaac had been in Bible College in the early 1990’s. He had completed two years when his father was in an accident and died. As the eldest son it was his responsibility to go home and earn money for his family. 16 years later he felt God’s call on his life and returned to complete his training. Now God is honoring that sacrifice and allowing him to see lives changed by the gospel. To God be the glory!

Chinese Anyone?

Last night we were blessed to go out for diner with the pastor who lives next door to us. He took us out and showed us some of the famous sites in the city. We saw Mogul buildings which dated from before the 10th century! And they are still standing, still in use!

We also went to a very classy Chinese restaurant. 6 of us had all we could eat and there was food left over (which for me means there was LOTS of food!). The bill came to less then $20 including a very good tip! I will miss the prices when we come back to Canada. The same diner at home would have been about $80 before tax and tip.

Ladies Meeting Part 2

Tuesday night Amanda and I attended another ladies meeting with District Superintendent Prame Daniel. The pressence of the Lord filled that house and we enjoyed the benefits. One lady was dancing in the spirit and was slain out during the song service! That was amazing to me becuase here, there is dancing in every service but it is obviously of the flesh. The people are sincere and they are doing what they know to worship, but they are very much in control. Many times young boys will get into fights at the altar because one guy bumped the other while they were both dancing. Obviously, that is not of the Spirit. So to see a lady actly caught up in worship… it was a moving experience.

Amanda taught a great message to the ladies and then we prayed for the sick. One lady with pain in her body came to be prayed for and God touched her as Amanda prayed. She was also “slain out” in the Spirit. This is the first time we say this happen to anyone in 2 months so it was amazing to see two different people touched so strongly in one service.

Another lady came with a bad headache but as we worshipped the Lord together the Lord healed her and the pain went away! God is doing great things here!

My Great Honor

A pic to go with what I wrote before about being “honored” in the services.

Sunday

Sunday was another powerful day in the pressence of the Lord. I was invited to speak in one of the larger churches in this city. It just so happens that “Rev. Raymond Wad Word” from Capital Community Church has his name on a plaque in the building for helping raise the funds to build. We had a tremendous service. I spoke about the operation of the gifts in the local church and the people really responded. There were about 60 people at the altar dedicating themselves to mature in Christ and yield themselves to the moving of his spirit as the church grows. I was very excited as we saw God putting his hand upon many lives and the gifts were in operation. It is always great to be able to report a certain number of healings or people who got the Holy Ghost. I have no such reports from Sunday, but I know God was helping people to grow in Him. I am just as excited to report growth spiritually as I am to report numberical growth. To God be the glory!

Parking Violation

I was just reading about an Italian politician who was fired from his post as head of Rome’s parking division. His crime? Parking in a no parking zone while using an expired hanicapped parking tag that belonged to someone else!

Well, over here they have a unique way of dealing with parking violations. The city police in charge of parking drive through the city on forklifts. Yes, forklifts! If they spot a car violating parking laws they just drive over, lift the car with the forklift and drive it off to the impound. Now that is effecient!

Honor?

It is convention season here and we have been blessed to be to a number of churches which we will discuss another time. Last night, however, we had an interesting night. We did a convention on the Army base. We had to travel some pretty bad roads to get there, and believe me; the good roads aren’t so good, so the bad ones really stick out! We had to go through security to get on the base. Then when we finally arrived the pastor decided to really honor me. You have to understand that, here, hospitality is defined as doing whatever it takes to make the host look good in the eyes of his neighbor. The comfort of the guest has no bearing at all. So to honor me the pastor gave me a wedding hat that was so small it just sat on top of my head. Then he made me get on a horse and ride through town lead by a marching band. Well, I had never been on a horse, in fact I had never been on one because I was frightened by the prospects. But, that did not matter, I was the guest and had to do whatever he thought would impress his neighbors. And we did not fail him! The pastor ordered the band to march me all through his community. At one point we even stopped and went back through a street a second time because not enough people came out to see me. After I got over my fear I was dealing with complete embarrassment. You have to understand I am the biggest man most of these people have ever seen. Many of the pastors told me that they were praying for the horse the whole time I was on him! So seeing this big man, wearing a tiny hat, parading through town with a marching band certainly drew a lot of attention. In fact, I’d say that all together I had about 700-800 people pointing and laughing at me because of how stupid I looked. We had called the pastor a head of time and told him we had to be done by 10PM because my interpreter had to be at work for 11PM and it was about an hour’s drive. So, just to be a good host, he decided to have a group of local politicians come to the platform and give campaign speeches. That lasted for 35 minutes. When the politicians were done the pastor decided he didn’t receive enough money in the first offering so he took another one. I think you are getting the idea of the kind of honor he was showing. Anyway, since he promised we’d be on the pulpit at 9 so we could finish at 10, he turned the service over to me at 10:01PM! The interpreter had to call and tell his work he wouldn’t be in, because for me not to do what the pastor asked would have been dishonoring to him, regardless of what he had done to us. But thank God that he doesn’t operate on our feelings. I prayed and believed God that since I had sold my dignity that night to preach the gospel to those people, He would show up and honor my sacrifice… And he did! Those people were so hungry for a move of God it was amazing. I preached for 30 minutes, which is 5 minutes less then the politicians were given and I had to wait for interpreting, and then the people just began to worship. At the end 12 people testified of receiving the Holy Ghost for the first time! Thank God that his ways are higher then our ways! And even though I didn’t feel the so-called honor of my host, I was definitely honored by what God did last night.  

I can’t believe my eyes!

We’ve seen some pretty odd things here so far. I will be posting a few funny store signs later on. I’ll also be posting about the transportation another time. But something caught our eyes two days ago that really stuck out. We are used to seeing many people on the street with monkeys that they train to beg for them. Basically the idea is the monkey does a few tricks and you give the owner a few rupees for the entertainment. Well, the other day we were driving along and we say a man walking a bear. Yes, a BEAR. The bear was dressed in a little colourful outfit and was wearing a collar and a leash. No one else even looked twice but that was honestly the first time I’ve ever seen a man out walking his bear! I wish we had brought the camera. I’ve said it before, you just never know what you will see here.

Another New Experience

Well last night was something new for me. I attended my very first Ladies Meeting. I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect but I was kindly told by our guard that no man who loved his wife would send her to ladies meeting alone. That is not entirely true of course. There were about 70 people at the meeting. About 35 ladies, 15 men, and 20 or so children. Amanda preached a great little message and then I had to speak for a few minutes. All in all it was a good time.

The highlight of the evening was the testimony service. One lady spoke about how she had prayed and prayed for her husband to stop smoking. Finally the Lord gave her an idea. She told her husband that every time he bought cigarettes she was taking the same amount of money from his wallet. Her husband agreed. After one year she told her husband that she had saved all the money he had given her. She took the large sum of money out of her purse and then she pulled out matches. She told her husband, “For one year I have watched you burn up our money in smoke, now you can watch me do the same.” He got so convicted he quit that night and has not had a cigarette since!

A Busy Day

This past Sunday we had a busy day. We preached in two services, which is not normal here. Here the local churches have one service, usually in the morning. I preached in the morning service at the church on the same grounds as the Bible College. There was a really good crowd in attendance, probably between 250 and 300 people. God moved in a mighty way with many people claiming healings and miracles. The pastor felt that we had truly delivered a word from the Lord and even gave us an offering to show his gratitude. We received the equivilant for $8 Canadian.

In the evening we had the privledge to preach at a brand new work. The pastor has only been there a few weeks and is still in the middle of building his house. He has come into some financial difficulty and we ask that you would pray with us for a miracle. His house is literally half built. Here the houses are mostly brick, so he actually has half walls built the whole way through the house. The bathrooms are the only thing completed. Just the walls though, no plumbing or fixtures. Anyway, he needs $3400 to complete his house and I know he will appreciate your prayers.

Altough the church is brand new there were over 60 people in attendance for the special Sunday night service! God laid it on my heart to teach about building spiritual foundations. When I finished there was a word of prophecy comfirming the word and we spent about 40 minutes praying for God’s blessing upon the church. Currently they are meeting in the living room of an old house. The pastor plans to hold services on the roof of his house (when it is finished) and then buy a piece of property to build a house of worship. Obviously, things in the church are very different here, but I cannot explain how exciting it is to see people with no worldly goods giving all they can to see the kingdom of God grow!