They had told us to bring voice recorders so that we could quickly talk about our experiences after they occured so we would not forget. Because they warned us that we would forget, even miracles done right before our eyes, if we didn't keep a record of it. We could even forget before we got home to record it by hand in a journal. So I brought a really cheap recorder and it never worked correctly and completely broke on the second day. So there are many things which I have probably forgotten. But many are lodged into my mind and heart very deeply. And I prayed that the Lord would quicken and protect my memory of the events I was witnessing, to encourage both myself and others in the future. For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. I think that means that the testimony about what Jesus does is along the same lines as prophecy, to encourage and empower, etc. And I have found that very often the fresher the testimony is, the more powerful it is. I witnessed many miraculous things first hand, especially healing. And God used me in many of them. One that sticks in my mind is an elderly woman who approached me the first or second night up near the front of the church. She was probably about 60 and was wearing a nice blue suit and she had glasses. She explained to me through an interpreter that a lump had developed slightly below her armpit in the last couple of weeks. So I had my interpreter (who was a woman) lay her hand on the lump and I laid my hands on her and we prayed. I think this was one of my easiest (shortest) healings and most powerful for me because it was right at the beginning of the trip. After only maybe a minute or two of prayer, commanding the lump to disperse and leave in the name of Jesus amongst some other prayers, we asked her to check for it. So she did and the lump could no longer be found. So we praised the Lord for a short season and then moved on, with more confirmation and knowledge that Jesus is alive and healing in Brazil. The majority of healings I was used for involved things like aches and pains. I remember many sore backs being healed, some knees, shoulders, etc. I think that maybe God led these people to me, at least for one reason, because He knew my faith level and experience, etc. He knew just what was right for me. He is such a good teacher. There were many emotional healings that took place as well. One lady I prayed for had a sunken right side of her face. Basically the muscles had given up on her. So the right side of her face kind of sagged. I commanded the muscles to rebuild and be strengthened in the name of Jesus amongst many other prayers. This one took many sessions of prayer and then asking how she felt and then more prayer, asking, prayer, etc. But after some time it was clear that the Lord had restored her face to normal. She said it felt 100% healed. The basic formula we used for healing goes like this. First, you interview the person to try and get to the root of the problem. Basic questions like "where's the pain?," "how long have you had it?," "did anything change in your life when it came?", etc. The goal is to get to the root of the problem as specifically as possible without having them bring out their whole medical history with all the technical terms and all the discouraging stuff the doctors have told them. Very often I found unforgiveness to be a root problem. Then you pray. Then you ask them questions like "do you feel anything?" Sometimes they feel fire or electricity. That's a good sign. Sometimes the pain even does strange thigns like move. That's good, becuase then you know it's a stubborn spirit of infirmity that doesn't want to leave. I had one case of this and it was so weird. But we chased it around and finally out of a 18 year old girl. You ask them to tell, as best they can, what percent better they feel. No matter what percent, let's say only 10%, we give thanks and praise to the Lord for that. Then we ask if they want more prayer. We will continue this process for as long as they want. Sometimes it takes hours for them to be totally healed. Then we give thanks to God at the end and, if necessary, give them some direction and encouragement for the future. If nothing happens, that's ok, we tell them not to lose heart, to come back, etc. There have been tons of cases where they are healed on their way home or even days later. You just never know what God is going to do. You just be faithful to do your part, and He will take care of the rest. God actually told one of the men on the trip, "You do your part, and I'll do mine." One huge thing I learned in this process is that healing ministry is a win-win situation. If you pray for someone and the Lord touches them in any way, both win. If you pray and nothing happens, you get humbled and put in your place and faith is challenged. That should be no problem. It gives both parties a chance to express their unconditional faith in God. I learned so many other lessons from this experience. I had to be so completely dependant on God every day. I learned that it all depends on Him and not me. All I do is believe, regardless of the outcome. I learned even more to simply say, "I don't know" and be ok with that. I learned a lot I didn't know about Randy Clark. What a fascinating story he has. And he is not ashamed of any of it and doesn't hide or shy away from the strange things. I heard him share bits and pieces of his testimony and experiences over the time I was there. He is very open and honest. You get the impression that he has nothing to hide. The man from "Focus on the Family" was struggling with some theological-type of questions and I got to talk with him some about what he was experiencing. It was comforting for me because I think he was even more inexperienced than me in much of what we were experiencing. He had a very healthy attitude that really encouraged me. He commented one night to me, "This is really just a big love fest, isn't it?" Yep. That's a big part of it. He also realized later on in the trip and commented to me something like, "Randy didn't just fall off the apple cart." He explained to me how he had talked some with Randy and realized that this man had a tremendous amount of knowledge and understanding. I learned that Randy was a Baptist pastor for many years. That he had gone through something like 7 years of theological training. That the steps he made to get to where he is were very challenging and humbling. His story is that of a man hungry for God and willing to do what it takes. I gathered from some others on the trip that he had to lose nearly everything, especially reputation, to get to where he is. I only got to talk to him twice very breifly one on one. I just asked him some questions about William Branham and the healing revivals of the 40's and stuff like that. He comes across as just a normal guy, very sincere, who knows a big God. All of the fruits of the Spirit are evident. I hope to join him on another trip someday.One other thing I wanted to mention was the Brazilian people. They are really great. The supernatural is so normal for them. They seem to have great expectancy for the Lord to do stuff in their midst, and He does. They are also so hungry and desperate for the Lord. For more. Not to mention they are beautiful people in appearance and very loving in deed. The food was also very good. One man on the trip mentioned how he needs to get out of North America at least twice a year to keep his faith and expectancy fresh. That statment would probably have bothered me before this trip, but now it makes sense to me.I just got this in my email today:"These are the testimonies of the 51 people on the Global Awakening team that went to Curitiba, Brazil in August, 2003. Conservative totals for the results of the trip are as follows: Called into ministry -- 426 Rededications -- 72 Salvations -- 1006 Emotional/Inner Healings and Deliverances -- 1000 Physical Healings -- 2100" Many other amazing and wonderful things happened that I haven't written here. I would love to discuss any and all of this more, with anyone who wants. Please feel free to send me a private message if that is more appropriate or start a thread to discuss a specific topic in another sub-forum.
