Healing hands...

How much of God do you want? You can have as much as you want...

Look at my hands. They're small; short chubby fingers. The works...nothing special. Yet God has called them healing hands...and that is what I've been seeking from God lately. In prayer. And fasting. The gift of healing, He promised so long ago. A gift He offered on the cross with His blood!

Sunday, while at the conference, someone encouraged me to go pray for one of my young friend's mother, who has been having problems. (She has had so many surgeries and operations over the past few years, and was struggling with some problems that weekend it was a miracle she even came to the service Sunday!) I don't know why I didn't even argue the point in my point, I just went over to the mother and prayed for her. Don't really remember what I said, anymore; it's probably irrelevant anyway. All I know is that is she was healed! Praise God! And then this past Monday I got a phone call, and apparently she had a doctor appointment later last week. And--of course--the doctor confirmed that she was healed!

So, again, look at my hands...it's not about them. They are just hands. My hands...What I found where God's hands. Big, strong, powerful hands! Hands that can move mountains!

We can have as much of God as we want...
So how much are you seeking for Him in your life? Did you find it yet?
Whatever you do, don't quit!

God...

Have you ever just stopped and listened? Focused on the past, but the good and not the bad? Just stopped, or even kept going, but thought of God as you did?

I'm excited. In about two days I'll be on the road for six hours with nothing but music, God, and a friend who enjoys both as much as I do. Then we'll meet two other friends and hang out with them almost two days, just us four (yes, it'll be another reunion of the Friends of Four, or FoF--see TEAM: Africa 2008). And I know God will show up in amazing ways! Even when it is just the fun of hanging out with close friends, it is still God-ordained! In laughter and fun--clean, Christian fun, that is--with friends, God is still glorified and always shows up. After all, He's not just a judge, He's our savior and I'm certain He takes joy in our joy just as much as in our sacrifice. Think on this: if when we give a coat to a person in need of a coat we give God a coat, then in pure fun, laughter, and hanging out with friends, whose to say you are not also doing the same with God? Especially if He is everywhere? And He should be in you, and in your Christian friends. So are we laughing with our friends, or are we Christ in the flesh, and truly just laughing with Him?

Can you tell I'm excited to hang out with my friends?! I see them as a blessing. Each one different, unique in their own way. Each one stretches and strengthens me in different ways, and I pray I do the same with them...

May God be ordained in our friendships, daily! And may this conference coming up this weekend, which the FoF will attend, also be a blessing...To everyone in attendance, and hanging out afterward! ...Thanks You, God, for Your many blessings and gifts!

Amazing Grace: My Story, Healing

NOTE: Read ­Amazing Grace: INFO before reading this post!

As my profile says, I was in a wheelchair for about three years...
It all started when I was eleven years old. We had just moved back to our old hometown, three hours away north, and into an apartment on the second floor of an old building. Then shortly after we moved in the Arthritis decided to flare-up, as the doctor’s call it (it means your joints get fat with fluid, and mad sore at every movement. So, basically, your body does the same thing it does with allergies: it over-reacts. In this case your own joints and the surrounding muscles are attacked, for little to no apparent reason!)

My hips got the brunt of it. But so did several other joints; and if a joint on the right side was under attack, the left one was too, and vise-versa. The middle finger on both hands, both wrists, both big toes, both ankles, and both knees where all hit together and hard, hurt most of the time, and most where eventually permanently damaged (i.e. partially or completely subluxed); meanwhile almost all my other joints where effected at various times in minor ways, and also permanently effected though not as obviously damaged.

It was not easy. I have had this problem since I was diagnosed with it at eighteen months old; I’ve developed a high tolerance of pain…but that only applied to the joints, not the heart; I felt rejected and left out. In such a short time, we had moved. I had left my friend’s, we were stuck in the second floor of an building which only had stairs leading to it, and I had no way to get out and relate with new people or “hang out” with my sister, and best friend, anymore. We had not been there very long, before I needed help to get around, and by the time I was twelve—only a few months after we moved—I needed a wheelchair!

We moved into a house, shortly after that. It was a ranch house, and my dad quickly put in the short ramps necessary for me to get in and out of the back door. I still struggled with not feeling as though I fit in, but in part, it was probably my shyness and how content I seemed to just sit and watch…At any rate, shortly after the move, I felt the call from God to be a missionary; especially the call to Mexico. Also, I had always wanted to attend the Bible College my parent’s worked at; most of the buildings were not handicap accessible, and some where considered historical and thereby unable to easily or cheaply be made handicap accessible.

I may have never stopped believing that God would heal me. Nor did I stop praying for it. And fighting for it. And getting frustrated that it had not happened yet. Constantly I wondered what else I could do, what system I could follow (forgiveness? More faith? What?) that would finally bring my healing to pass! I mean, what was left? What had I not tried?

I still remember the one night we had a youth meeting. I do not remember if it was a Friday or Saturday night, and if it was just a “hang out” event or if it was supposed to be a Bible study, but I do remember being there. At least in person, though mostly not in spirit or thought…I was sitting there, but in my head and heart I was hashing it out with God. All my arguments, all my frustration. And especially, the why’s—why had I not been healed yet? I was rather certain I had tried everything I knew to try: I had been prayed for several times, I continued to believe, I searched my heart for all kinds of junk like unforgiveness or anything. I had been scolded for not having enough Faith (yet I kept telling my doctor I would not have hip surgery because I knew God would heal me; though there were times I doubted even my own words, I could not back down now or what testimony would that be of God?). I had heard all kinds of sermons on diseases. Looked at several books by the third year I was in the wheelchair (a mixed blessing and curse of working in the library!). Yet, still, nothing!

So I gave up. Literally! Told God that. That was it. No more! Didn’t know what else to do; what else was there?!

Then Sunday, January 7, 2001, came. Teen Church was a struggle; I constantly fought over wanting to be healed, sensing God wanted it, and yet I wanted to stop focusing on it and just relax in God’s presence, focus on Him and praise Him during the service. By the end of the service, I believe I did finally focus on God. Then I forgot all about the struggle…for a couple hours. Then I was alone in my bedroom, after lunch sometime, and feeling frustrated again. Such a short time left to the day, almost Youth Group time back at church, and yet I had really thought God wanted to heal me that day. Yet still nothing! Well, I carried that frustration to our Youth Meeting. And there, eventually, I gave it all up, once again...

Yet, God did not give up!
See, in the end, it is always all about God. His Glory! He will not compete with our methods. Nor be defined or put in a box. What might have worked for one person—one who wrote a book on how you too can be healed—might not work for the next. Why? Because God is not about methods! He’s a jealous God; it is all about Him!

Yeah, in the end, a friend named Grace felt the Lord led her to pray for me. The youth all gathered around and our pastor prayed. Afterward, our pastor asked me to stand up just to try; there is nothing wrong with trying, after all, for the worse case would be that nothing had happened. As it turned out, though all during the prayer time, my right hip and my left knee had been serious pain, when I stood it was all instantly gone! And to the pastor’s surprise I let go of his helping hands, and walked on my own…I have been walking ever since!

And it was all God!

Praise God! In the end, there was absolutely nothing I did that made it happen! Praise God that He still performs miracles, and chooses to be glorified using us!

Amazing Grace: INFO

The posts labeled Amazing Grace:         (I will be adding more posts under this title as more stories become available to share) are written to emphasize God, and how in the end it is He and He alone that does the work...

However, it is important that before we continue with the stories that we recognize the importance of our involvement. Though the emphasis is on God, and God alone—not us—doing it all, I want to mention that I am in no way saying we have no part nor that we should not be involved! In the end, it is all God! But, He uses us too. We should always be ready to pray for a friend in need, to push through for deliverance, to go and do the great commission, and live as the person God wants you to be!

God used my friend Grace, at the appointed time, to rise up in faith, step out of her comfort zone, and ask to pray for me. God used no power that we know of for the deliverance of my friend's friend, Kati, but who is to say that someone had not been praying and interceding on her behalf for years, though that person may not have even known Kati’s struggle or, perhaps, they did not even know Kati at all! God has delivered many people from various different situations, and who is to say that once again someone else was not also interceding on their behalf? I know that my prayer and perseverance probably played a small part too, in the posts, past and present, that involved me...

But in the end, no matter what books you read, how much you pray, where you go, what you do or don’t do, what systems or lists you follow—even ones that someone else wrote that worked for them—in the end, it is all about God! Thank God He is in control, and not us!

May you be blessed by the testimonies of God’s Amazing Grace, and may you, too, know the fulfillment of Him in your life too. No matter what your struggle, God is in control, and He WILL deliver you!

Christ's love to y'all,
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Team: Connections & Philippines 2006

It's amazing to see what God does, how He worked and orchestrated things in my life and the people around me! How He answered prayers, how quickly things have been falling into place, and people brought together, "For such a time as this!" I mean, I....you know what, why don't I start at the beginning! (I can give more details, then you might care for, but hey...there's nothing like a good story, eh?)

It was the fall of 2006, and I was having a rough day. Wanted some time with just God and I. Normally I would not suggest anyone skip church--sometimes we need people when we are down, and the encouragement of Christ that fellowship with the Saints can bring--but that Sunday, that is exactly what I did! The night before, I had managed to talk Mom into letting me have the car in the morning so I could drive to church myself. But then that morning, all I wanted to do was be alone with God, in the most secluded place I knew (where I could sing and shout without annoying anyone!): in the car while driving. So, instead of going to church, I called my pastor and told him I wasn't going to be coming to church (so he wouldn't worry when I didn't show up, since his wife was usually my ride and she wasn't around that weekend). And I went on a drive...A long one. Out onto roads I've never been on--and hoping and praying I could find my way back since I'm quite directionally challenged! And during the drive I had a long talk with God. Some of it was about my wanting to do something significant; about wanting to go on a mission’s trip, though I understood that I was valued and needed here and nothing was more significant in the Kingdom then any other thing. Nonetheless, I still asked for it. And that somehow He would work it out with someone who knew me and my abilities (or lack there of) and would be all right working with me...He spoke too, but mostly He listened...

And He heard me!

Of course I did not know how much till later that day. I got home to hear my Aunt and Uncle and Cousin were coming over briefly so my Dad could look at some kind of electronic problem my Uncle could not figure out (they're both geeks, but I guess my Dad is more so then his brother). Well, as it happened, not but two seconds after they popped in, my Aunt Debby turns to me and asks if I want to go to the Philippians with her in November!

Oi! You bet I said "YES!" For without a doubt, it had come as the answer to my prayer! And quicker then I had thought! But it was well it was asked then, for I did not have long to raise support and get my finances in order to go.

I went to one of my Aunt's women's conferences in Olean, NY to familiarize myself with her teachings and how she operated in the ministry (I have no idea why I had never done so before!). Then a couple weeks later I stayed at their house for a couple days before flying out of Buffalo. This all helped me familiarize myself with a couple of people that would be on our team, as well. And later, I would see what else it worked into (isn't God amazing how He works, sometimes? What seems so insignificant can mean so much in the long run!).

The Philippians was an awesome trip! The flight was LONG (16hours for one flight alone, not to mention all the connections) and we skipped about 12hrs through all the time changes and the International Date Line. But once we were there, we did several conferences. Went to several churches and did multiple services. And traveled all over the island to do so....I experienced for the first time, what it was like to have God "knock people out" when little me laid hands on them! God used me! How cool was that?! ...But I also learned a lot on the trip. Having been sheltered and homeschooled most of my life, learning how to work as a team and as a friend (and talk in a way that made sense and didn't hurt people) was all still new to me. But through it all, I learned what a source of wisdom and understanding Aunt Deb was--which would also be valuable later on--and built a great friendship/mother-daughter relationship with her as well as a good friendship with the others!

I had gone on the trip, planning for quite some time before to try and move out of my parents' home and get my own place. And at least a couple hours away. But I used up every penny I had to go on the trip. So during the trip, I learned how to trust God in a newer way: let go. Whenever my hope to be able to move out would arise while on the trip, followed by a thought of how impossible that would be since I had almost nothing to live on, I would turn it back over to God and shove it aside. Verbally, when Deb would ask how I was doing, I would (in faith) tell her that "Somehow God'll work it out, and when I get back it will just fall into place!" (I had told God, more then once, that I did not want to be home much longer after the holidays, and the sooner the better!)

Well of course, once again, GOD HEARD ME!

On the flight back from the Philippines, Deb and I got to talking. She and Fred were in need of help to keep their growing ministry running...I still don't remember how or when exactly it came about, but the next thing I knew I had grabbed my stuff from their house, and was back at my parents' home planning on moving out shortly after Christmas! AND in with Deb, Fred, and my wonderful cousin Marie-Louise! ...I had less then a week, before I moved some of my stuff their house and helped Fred send out their mailings (I had always loved to do bulk mailings! so simple!). Then I went home, had Christmas and went to church to tell my beloved church family "hello" and "goodbye" in one turn (I miss them so!). And was back two days before New Years, moving the last of my stuff into what used to be Fred's office (they did some shuffling over the Holidays; so sweet!) and then had a night all to myself (I had arrived to an empty house, and would not expect them back from late Christmas celebrations till the next evening)....

SEE how important it was that I had been at their house before and after the trip? I was now familiar with the surroundings and how the house worked! ...what's more, one of the other woman on the trip, who had been at the house before and after the trip too, is someone I discovered came up every weekend (Cathy Hoffman) with her husband to go to church with Fred and Deb since they consider that church their home church and are still trying to move up here! Good thing I connected, eh? 'Cuz I got her for another mom now, in case I need another one. And I had connected with the church during the conference earlier. And now they are my new church family!

And that is just the beginning!

Team: Davis & Friends

Like I said before, that was just the beginning.

Shortly after I moved in, I ended up traveling with Fred, Deb, and M-L all over.

Gospel Crusades (the organization Fred & Deb are affiliated with) had a conference in FL, apparently as they do every year, the first week in January 2007. Then Fred & Deb were invited to teach a Bible School on a resort in MN for a week in the summer. On the way we stopped at friends in OH. Over all, I met a lot of new and great people on the way to and from both places and at both places. (We always drive, when it comes to traversing the US). During some of the spring/summer Fred was off in Africa. And during some of that trip, Deb and I joined him for three weeks, in which I first got my passport stamped and visa's for all three countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin (And formed a really awesome friendship with Florence Gake during our week in Togo).

And we just kept traveling! (I know I'm probably missing some places, but for a couple months there at least, it seemed we never stopped--I was having culture shock just in constantly meeting new people and seeing new places in the US alone! I'm the hermit, or at least I'm someone who likes her privacy and organization--or so I used to be!)

Through it all, I was forming a relationship with Bill and Cathy too. Every weekend we were around, that is, and the times they traveled with us. (Bill to Africa; Cathy to some of the conferences in the fall when it was just us ladies). And of course, when he was in the same area, Cathy's son Tim Wright (if you don't know him yet, you will!) also on the weekends and twice in Ghana!

But meanwhile, I was praying for a friend. I'm not saying I didn't have any friends already. I had formed a friendship with Deb's niece who had lived here the first couple months I was here; and there were some friends from my old church family who I saw a couple times that year; and then of course, there were several friends I kept in contact with over the phone. But there is nothing like someone I could see often, who adds another dimension to my friendships. (There are the kind of friends who pat you on the back, or are ointment on the wounds, or relate with you because they've been there before, and then there are the ones who give you the friendly slap on the face, or wake you up, or the iron sharpens iron kind; a person always need friends of different kinds to relate with on different levels, after all, its just as important to heal from old wounds as to grow up! And nothing does it like relationships). Angie had tried to start a Christians young-person group to meet more people in our area, and it flopped...Tim was great for talking into the late nights about God and the Bible and struggles we were having--and for a few months, we were going through very similar things. And there was Deb and Cathy for talking things out to, also...but there was still someone who was missing in my life too, someone my age.

So, of course, I prayed. Told God what I was looking for--someone nearby, or who didn't mind traveling so we could hook up often (I don't have a car, and can't drive most vehicles anyways!); but mostly, a Christian who would add a dimension to the relationships I was missing and needed stretched on (I'll leave the exact details of that between God and I).

And so God wove a plan; and was orchestrating a team....he, he

Team: Revival

That year Debby was planning two trips to the Philippines. And the second one I would be on. And so would Bill and Cathy, and her son Tim…But Debby kept feeling like there was supposed to be a 6th person on the team...and so far, two people who had at first both said maybe, ended up saying no. And so she continued to search and pray.

At first I thought she was weird. I mean, how can you know the exact amount that are supposed to be on the team? ...And the time was drawing closer and closer till time to leave. We'd even already got all our tickets already. How could anyone else join now, anyway?

We had several ladies conferences planned for the weekends before we were to leave. The first being in OH. Then Debby's one here in Olean. Then one in NH.

But first God had to tell me something in a dream...yeah, there was supposed to be a sixth person! What's more, I heard that person’s full name! ...If only I could have remembered it when I woke up in the morning. (I knew I should have woken up and written it down even in the middle of the night!)... So I told Deb. And then we tried to call a couple other people I knew and ask if they wanted to go (there was something oddly familiar about the feeling I'd had associated with the name of the person; if that makes any sense?). But they said no. And I was left stumped and frustrated! I felt like I should know the person, and yet not know them. More like I had never met them before, but knew enough to feel like I had? All I can say was that it was odd... And so I continued to pray for that, now, as well as the friendship/s I was seeking.

I remember feeling frustrated even the morning before we left for the conference in OH. I woke up and was lying in bed staring at the ceiling. And I asked God, that whoever that sixth person was, that one way or another (consciously or unconsciously) God would bring them our way and that I would some how recognize them upon meeting. And if I didn't know how or why I recognized them, that in my spirit I would desperately want them to come with us to the Philippines...little did I know! ...And then I gave both requests over to God and decided for the rest of the weekend I would not worry one bit about it. It was in God's hands... though, I could not shake the momentary feeling that I was going to find the answer in OH!

Well, once again God heard me! (I think it's what happens when you and Him are in line with what you both want for your life!)

On the drive out to OH, God broke through (figuratively) the vehicle Tim and I were in and began to speak to us. I began to cry, and I think I cried for nearly two hours of the four-hour trip! And God broke me of something personal (perhaps I'll tell you sometime what that was)...And when we arrived in OH, I found out that in the other vehicle, God had been speaking to Deb, Cathy, and M-L in some profound ways too! ...What God started as a revival in our hearts, though we had little idea of such at the time, was about to spread to other peoples' hearts through the conference in OH!

You see, revival doesn't jump from place to place, or spread from building to building. It's a heart issue. And it starts with your own, and spreads and overflows from there!

Anyway, we had awesome services there in OH. God delivered one lady of a demon, healed several others of different afflictions (including tumors!), and continued His work in many hearts including our own! I, for the first time, danced in the front during worship; I could not seem to get enough of God, of praising Him, and I for the very first time, did not seem to care what anyone thought--but a person will find if their sole focus is on God, no one else is even in the room sometimes (just like they say in romance novels between two lovers, eh? That's as it should be: between God and us!)

And as if that weren't enough, He was still working out the Philippines team (and more later) and, of course, the answers to His precious daughter's prayers (that would be me)...

Team: Forming

In steps Emily Ingole...

We were staying at Mike and Becky Ingole's house (where we had stayed on the way to MN, too; such awesome people!), but their only child lived two hours away in Columbus and worked as a nurse. I had never met her before, nor did I know she was even uncertain about coming to the conference (no wonder I had prayed so earnestly before we left Olean, that I would meet this person; but I'm getting ahead of myself, eh?), but come she finally did. And, oddly enough, I recognized her. Though, like I said, I had never met her, and any pictures I had seen of her hardly did her justice (she's much better looking in real life!), I somehow knew instantly she was Becky's daughter. But I also knew something else which only became tangible later as we were hanging out around the diner table back at the house; for some strange reason I kept wanting to encourage her to go to the Philippines with us!

Yes, apparently when I leave something to God in prayer when I'm in one state in the US, and then go to another state, I forget it completely! I could not seem to put two and two together; in fact, I forgot both prayers completely for over a week afterward!

So, like I said before, we had awesome services in OH. During breaks in the services and late nights/meals at the Ingole's house I met several people from the church--one was Michelle Harter, but that's later--and then Emily Ingole came to one of the last services. And of course, she was then at her parents' house for diner...Becky had shared with me that she had told Emily my testimony of how God had healed me from the wheelchair, but that she would probably love to hear the more detailed version from me. So during one of our first meetings, that's pretty much what I did: shared my testimony and life with her. But later, as we were sitting around the table, and most of the group had left and headed home, I turned to her and Tim and all I wanted to do was encourage her to go the Philippines. It kept popping into my head while I was sharing my testimony of what we were doing next, and yet again it was there. So finally, I figured it wouldn't hurt to say a little something.

"You know, I wish you could come with us to the Philippines!" Right after I said it, I thought of the conversation I'd had with Deb before about how careful she was who went on trips with her. And now I had just suggested that someone I had barely known for a couple hours should come! Oi! I was in so much trouble...that is until I realized Emily had just brushed it off as a "maybe someday," thing...I thought I was saved, but I could not get the idea out of my head. And I believe I must have annoyed Emily over the next week and then some about it. I never really thought she would, but yet I could not get the idea out of my head that she should! (I think I was just as annoyed with myself as she was with me by the weekend of Deb's conference at her home church in Salamanca.)

During the last day or two in OH, I had mentioned to a new young friend I had met there that it would be cool if she could come to Deb's conference. But in the end, when the end of the week rolled around and people were arriving for Salamanca's women's conference, only Becky and Emily Ingole ended up coming from OH. Which was great, because then they both got to stay here at the house with us, and I had wanted Emily to come so I could get to know her better (again, another time she didn't want to come to a conference but God gave her the boot, in a matter of speaking, and she came!).

Well, once again, I was bugging her about the Philippines. That is until one morning, when I was in the shower. I realized how annoying I had to be to her (I was so annoyed with myself, she must have felt crazy!) and was talking it out with God in the shower. And this is when I finally remember the prayer I had last prayed before going to OH: the one about the sixth person. And in a non-audible way, it was like God said, "Remember that dream you had? Which bugged you because you could not remember the name of the sixth person?" Of course as soon as I said yes, it was like my brain clicked. And I remembered all the times I heard Becky speak of her daughter—even during a brief meeting several years before as Deb and her were driving through my old hometown—and I laughed! The name had been Emily Ingole, of course.

Well, I decided to take it easy and not bug her so much about going. I knew she was supposed to go, so I just figured God would have to tell her; I had bugged her so much, I knew she wouldn't know it if I suddenly got serious about it...Wouldn't you know it, that's exactly what God did in the next service!

That evening, as a small group of us were sitting in the living room talking into the early morning hours, she not only shared her testimony and life with us, but she told us what God had just told her earlier that day...Well you bet that early the next morning Deb got the ball rolling. And, though over the next couple days there were glitches in getting her tickets (in the middle of that we had another awesome women's conference in NH), in the end there were six of us, all going off to the Philippines.

Yes, a team of SIX...God heard, and answered—yet again!

Team: Philippines 2007

A large team of six, consisting of Bill & Cathy Hoffman, Debby Davis, Tim Wright (Cathy's son, the soon-to-be widely renown musician and worship leader!), Emily Ingole, and of course ME! But in the middle of that team was another team God wove into a tight knit unit of young people; Tim, Emily, and I were not coincidently thrown together nor did we "just happen to be" the same ages (all within three months), but God brought us together. And from it--you guessed it--I got two wonderful friends!

God not only made a team for the Philippines 2006 trip, but He graciously wove two friends and gave me three close (sometimes too close) weeks with them to get to know them better and grow in a stronger, more clear, friendship (if I had thought I had known Tim before that, it was just an image of who I thought he was--he, like Emily, really began to show his "True colors" in the Philippines.)

Of course, God did a lot of work in each of us in the Philippines (I learned to trust God to a newer level, which had me either on the floor or drunk with the Holy Spirit, almost as much as I wasn't!). Emily and Tim also fell under the power of the Holy Spirit. And we all saw miraculous signs and wonders, through us and/or around us! One young lady was delivered from lesbianism, although not a word was spoken or even prayed on that issue! And many others were touched in other ways. At the end of the first week in the remote island in the Palawan District of islands in a little town called Chey (pronounced Chew-y), we heard several testimonies of people who had come to the meetings (some just for the free food we provided) intent on not falling out under the power of the HS (if they even had heard about it, before!) crawling out of the church long after the service was over! Since we have been back in the States, we have heard from our guide, friend, and interpreter, Pastor Jun (who has to be one of the funniest people you will ever meet!) that the pastor of that church has said, since we left there, they have been having meetings every night at the church and they're still feeling the Power of God moving in their midst!

We also saw many awesome things happen back at the largest island of Palawan (where we had been the year before). Had an awesome, and spontaneous, long dancing services for one of our last meetings at a Bible School; during it one of the girls jumped so far and back she ripped a Christmas banner!

On the way to and from Chey, and to and from the Philippines, we met with several oppositions and delays. But we also saw miracles and had the opportunity to pray for several people! One lady got on the bus-truck we took to Chey with Mastitis that had left her so weak she could not hold her head up and needed help to climb into the vehicle. We prayed for her and Emily gave her some medication. By the time she got off at her home, she was proudly holding her head up as she smiled and waved at us till we were out of site--there is no doubt God had healed her already!)

So, God heard me and gave me another friend. He heard Deb, and provided a wonderful addition to our team. And He kept the birthing of the revival kindled in a small group of people's hearts during a long road trip in the middle of a highway on the way to a meeting--where we usually think God-things start: a building--and kept it overflowing and growing. Into OH, NY, NH, and then all the way to, there, and from the Philippines! (I can't say how many times we had revelations and God-times on the airplanes and in the airports! I even got drunk with laughter on an airplane for about half-hour!)

And yet, like I said a couple posts back, He wasn't done yet! Not with the team (which had more to come, still!) and not with our hearts! Praise God! He's still moving on this earth today. And He's still using us, ordinary human beings, to do His extraordinary work! It's like John the Baptist said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30) Why else would God use us? Unless we were willing to die to our flesh, to be simple human beings limited by our means, But to allow Him to work beyond our limitations and, therefore, we will become instruments to bring glory to His Name!