A Healing in Andranavory!

"Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” And he laid his hands on them and went away." (Mt. 19:13-15)

Jesus SO loved little children. And he LOVED to pray for little children. Perhaps it was because of their innocence. Or their truly childlike faith. He loved them like a father, like His Heavenly Father. What did Jesus pray for them? Was it a blessing? Was it for healing? Did he speak words of life into their spirits? Whatever he prayed, his prayers were certainly perfect - exactly perfect. 

On Friday and Saturday we were blessed to be able to minister to many beautiful Malagasy children. Abigail shared wonderfully in our last blog post about our time ministering to 200 children this past Saturday morning and a bit about our ministry the night before. So I figured I'd share today about two amazing experiences that happened while praying for children on both days. 

On Friday evening, we held a healing service in Andranavory followed by a showing of the Jesus Film. We had two teams praying at the service. One had Shay, Abigail and Bishop Todd, and the other had me, Avery, and Victor (a deacon/evangelist). A young boy came to my team for prayer. His head was hanging low and he was holding his hand. He showed us his hand and said (via Victor translating) that he was in lots of pain. The pain was clearly evident from the strained expression on his face. On his middle finger was a wound of some kind. It was swollen and clearly very infected. It wasn't clear what the cause of the wound might be. It might have been a cut or abrasion that became infected with bacteria. Or perhaps he had gotten a fungal or viral infection that resulted in the wound. Whatever the source, the wound and infection had somehow caused his ring and pinkie fingers to curl up to his palm. He was unable to straighten them out, and any attempt to do so was extremely painful for him. The ultimate effect of the wound/infection was to make his hand un-usable. 

After asking the Holy Spirit to guide our prayers, we began to pray for him. I struggled with an internal dilemma over whether or not to touch the boy's hand. Was it contageous? But God put on my heart (and Avery's as well, I later learned) the account of Jesus touching the leper. So I placed my hand on his, and we prayed for healing. Then an amazing thing began to happen. As we prayed the healing love of Jesus into his hand, I felt his curled fingers slowly begin to loosen. As we continued to pray, the fingers began to straighten. Avery and I could both feel the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through us. I lifted my hands off the boy's hand, and his fingers had straightened about half way back to normal. He could move his fingers more freely and without pain. We prayed again, and once again the fingers began to loosen and straighten. When I removed my hand, the boy's fingers were straight! He stared at his hand looking completely dumbfounded. He had no pain, and was able to move his fingers freely. We all stood there amazed and then praised God. Praise be to thee, Jesus the healer! 

On Saturday here in Andranomena, I was blessed to be able to pray personally for each of the 200 kids who were present (and also most of the adults). There were supposed to have been several prayer teams to share the load, but there was some kind of miscommunication. So there was only one prayer team and only one person was on it - me. When the reality of this overwhelming fact hit me, all I could do was pray that desperate (yet effective) prayer "help me Jesus!"  As it turned out, it took over an hour and a half to pray for everyone. I was completely exhausted by the end, and felt both humbled and blessed. Was I feeling what Jesus felt after he prayed for the multitudes? I can still remember so many of the adorable faces of the children as they came up for prayer. One boy was particularly memorable. He was very small, and dressed a bit better than some of the others. As he stepped forward, he closed his eyes and had a look of expectation and peace on his face. As I placed my hands on his head and prayed a blessing over him, his eyelids began to flutter and he began to sway. The Holy Spirit was clearly coming upon him powerfully at that moment. My prayer was brief, and as I finished he jerked as as if he was startled. His eyes flew open, and it seemed as if he had awoken. From a vision perhaps? He smiled a big, beaming smile, turned and walked off. I haven't seen him since. I can say with certainty, though, that that little boy came to Jesus for prayer (not to me), and Jesus blessed him. How humbling it is that Jesus chose to work through me to bless that little boy. Praise be to God! 

After a bit of a break today, our ministry continues tomorrow. During the next four days, we will be teaching on healing and conducting healing missions in local villages. That's it for now....

-Bruce

Flowers and Zebu

It's been a busy past couple of days. Yesterday, we had our first art session with the kids from two local churches. We weren't really sure how many of them would attend, but there turned out to be about 200! It was a really great experience, and I'm excited for next week. The kids loved to draw so much that some of them drew up to 10 pictures. The most popular things that were drawn were flowers and cattle (zebu).  Some of the kids didn't even know how to hold a pencil. It felt so great to know that we were impacting a child's life in a good way. I've had a little bit of trouble trying to adjust to this type of poverty, but this was an activity that I enjoyed and felt that I could really connect with.

On Friday, we drove to a village about an hour away from where we are staying. There, we had a healing service and then showed the Jesus Film to the people in the village. It was really cold outside, so we sat in the truck for most of the film. There were no lights in the village so you could look up and see the stars so clearly. It was very beautiful. The church where we prayed for people had no roof too, so it gave the service an interesting effect. When my mom and I looked up in the church, we saw that the Southern Cross was right above us. There is a completely different sky in the southern hemisphere than in the north.  It seems that everything in the sky is intensified down here. For example, the sun and the stars seem much brighter.

Last night we went to a pizza place in town, and I think that they have some of the best pizza I've ever had! When you are there, it's hard to believe that you are in Madagascar, but then you are reminded of it when you see the guards by the door and a wall around the restaurant. Afterwards, we got gelato and it tasted so good. I'm enjoying myself, but I have to say that I'm exhausted. I'm looking forward to the adventures that we have planned for the next few days!

Abbie

The Wind

"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8)

Today it was windy, very windy. In fact, it was also windy yesterday, and last night. Our bedroom windows rattled, sometimes forcefully, sometimes playfully, all night long. Bishop Todd said that it hasn't been this windy since the cyclone hit in March.  

Wind can be a destructive and deadly force. It can blow hot, or cold. It can also bring incredible refreshment and cleansing. As John writes, we don't know where the wind comes from or where it goes (science may have an answer for this, but that misses the point. John is, of course, speaking of the Holy Spirit.)  As I listened to the wind, I reflected on how our family over the years has been led by the Spirit in such unexpected directions. I could never have predicted our living in the UK, or ministering in upstate NY, or taking mission trips to Madagascar. There have been so many other surprises along the way as well. The Spirit has blown us along a path that has been filled with both joy and difficulty. But, looking back, we can honestly say that when we have listened and responded to the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit, we have never been led astray. Blow where you will in our lives Holy Spirit! Lead us on! (Life in the Spirit is a guaranteed adventure.)

Today was a day of rest and preparation before our ministry begins tomorrow. We spent much of the day out on the veranda watching the wind pick up the dust and whirl it around as the local villagers got on with their daily lives. I have to say that I am truly amazed how one small boy can drive a whole herd of Zebu (cattle). Shay was busy preparing Saturday's children's program, and I finished up Sunday's sermon and began preparing other talks and sermons for the days ahead. Tomorrow afternoon we head out to a village an hour away to hold a healing service and show the Jesus Film. I can't wait to see what God will do. Please join us in praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit -- and that many will be saved and healed!

-Bruce

Here's a picture of Avery and Shay flying a kite on the grounds of the Bishop's Gathering Place. (The kite actually flew much higher.)

A Gift of Love

We have finally arrived in Toliara.  It is not easy to get to this part of Madagascar, and we are thankful to have arrived safely.  When we arrived at Bishop Todd and Rev. Patsy McGregor's home outside the city, it seemed as though no time had passed.  We were greeted by the same friendly faces and treated to a familiar Malagasy meal of rice and loka.  Avery immediately inflated one of the soccer balls we brought and began to kick it around with a friend he had made last year.

Tonight, as we sat down to eat, I was reminded that during our last visit we would each share our "God moment" of the day as we gathered for dinner.  It was a wonderful way to reflect on how we could see God working during our trip.

My "God moment" today occurred before we even reached Toliara.  Early this morning we boarded a flight in Antananarivo that would make one stop along the eastern coast before heading to Toliara.  As we walked out onto the tarmac, I noticed a group of French travelers waiting to board.  Many in this group were wheelchair-bound, and there were several others who appeared to be assisting them.  After allowing us to board first, the men and women who were assisting them took turns carrying these disabled passengers onto the plane.  They were a happy bunch, clearly excited to get to wherever they were going.

When we arrived at our first stop, we stayed on board as the French travelers disembarked.  After they had left, Bruce turned to me and said, "What an interesting group, and what a blessing for them to be able to travel like this."  I was thinking the same thing, but I wondered what they could be doing in such a remote area of the world.  Traveling in Madagascar is not easy, and it would be especially difficult for someone with a significant disability.  If they simply wanted to visit a lovely beach, the French Riviera certainly would have been a lot easier.  Yet, whatever the purpose of their travel was, I couldn't help but be moved by the compassionate dedication of the people who were assisting them.  They were sharing with these lovely people a wonderful, Christ-like gift of love.  Their joy was contagious, and I can only pray that their time in Madagascar is full of abundant blessings.

--SSM

JNB to TNR

It is amazing the difference a year makes. Today as I watched the mainland of Africa disappear behind us and the waters of the Indian Ocean stretch out ahead, absent from my mind was the fear of the unknown that had occupied my thoughts during last year's flight from Johannesburg to Antananarivo. Instead, I was filled with an abiding peace in the knowledge that not only have we done this before, but that God was amazingly faithful in the way He took care of us. Whatever might lie ahead, we know that we are in God's hands.

We are overjoyed to now be back in Madagascar. Since the day we left last year, all we could think about was our return. Even though I was rather sick by the end of last year's trip, I didn't want to leave. It is probably the children that I have missed the most -- their smiling faces, their beautiful songs, their ever-running noses. So many of the kids are sick and there is little medical care available to them. I remember last year holding a beautiful little infant in my arms. The child's chest was distended and deformed and its breathing betrayed lungs filled with fluid. There was little chance the child would live much longer. But I prayed for that precious little one, trusting in the truth that Jesus is the healer. I never saw the child again, but believe that the child is in Jesus' arms - either on earth or in heaven.

Tonight we are overnight in Antananarivo. Tomorrow we fly to Toliara. On Friday, our ministry begins with an evangelistic healing outreach in a local village. We will be showing the Jesus Film and then praying for the sick and demonized. Come Holy Spirit! Lord, confirm your Word with miracles and power! On Saturday, we spend a day teaching local village kids. Shay or Abigail will post a future update on fun things we have planned for them.

Thank you everyone for your prayers. We feel incredibly uplifted.

Blessings and peace!
Bruce

Further Up & Further In

South Africa is a land of breathtaking natural beauty.  Nelson Mandela, acknowledging his obvious bias, once said that he believed it is the most beautiful place on earth.  I cannot disagree.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to hike the Cape of Good Hope.  We saw baboons, wild ostriches and even penguins, but it was the majesty of the land itself that left me speechless.  As we began our final ascent before reaching the end of the cape, I looked out over the windswept cliffs and gleaming ocean and the only words that came to mind were,  "Further up and further in."

If you are a CS Lewis fan, you will know what I mean.  These words are used in The Chronicles of Narnia to describe the ascent into Aslan's country.  CS Lewis believed that when we are awestruck by natural beauty, we are experiencing a longing for our true home -- that place where all of creation is made perfect, no longer veiled in shadow.

I have indeed been awestruck by the beauty of this magnificent land, but I know that I have only been given a shadowy glimpse of what is yet to come.  What joy it will bring to one day truly go "further up and further in."

--SSM

JFK to JNB

This morning we left our car in a remote lot at JFK and boarded a shuttle to the terminal.  We were the only people on the shuttle, and as we pulled out of the lot, we heard the familiar sound of Chris Tomlin's "Your Grace is Enough".  Weird.  I know I've never heard that playing on an airport shuttle before.  We sang along and felt that God was reminding us that His grace would indeed be enough for all that we will encounter on this trip.  Next stop Johannesburg...