Turbo, Kenya Day 2

From Doug:
Before our trip, I was praying and God reminded me of some of the amazing things we have seen Him do through the years. Then He said, in reference to this trip, “Don’t assume you’ve seen everything yet!” He assured me there would be surprises on this trip. Today, those words came to pass.
The pastors and other leaders (some 51) arrived early and were in high worship when we entered the building. Ben Bahati, who had called the meeting, began by asking for testimonies of what the people had learned yesterday and what the Holy Spirit had been saying to them.
Richard will give snippets of those testimonies after my wonderful contribution…
The initial three testimonies astonished us, as the people reported what God was doing. Two years ago, post-election violence swept through the area. Many of the people were targets of political gangs. One pastor’s wife was murdered, their home and church burned. Another had her home, church and orphans school burned. And on and on.
What we had not realized is that since the violence the churches had been totally disrupted and bitterness and hatred severely divided the Christian community. So much so, that many of the leaders who came to the meeting had not spoken to one another in two years and refused to shake each other’s hands at the door. One pastor reported later that it was an astonishing event to see all these people in the same room.
BUT…the teaching we did yesterday on “God is Creating One People for Himself” and “Forgiveness as Central to the Christian Faith” was projected into the hearts of the people by the Holy Spirit. During and after the Monday meeting the Holy Spirit convicted (apparently) all of the leaders of the necessity of forgiving all their offenders and embracing one another as spiritual family.
To say that this is one of the most profound experiences we have had in our Christian lives is an understatement.
Richard gave an overview of the prayer model. Then I gave examples from my experiences in prayer to illustrate that TP is God’s tool to enable us to far better do the ministry of Jesus: i.e. evangelize the poor, heal the sick, peel the darkness off people, heal wounded and broken hearts & demonstrate that the season of grace inaugurated by Jesus is still in effect.
Particularly surprising is the response of all to our take on dealing with the demonic. Demons in Africa feel little need to camouflage themselves and the ministry to expel them is aggressive and loud. The demonic is viewed as a constant adversary needing constant vigilance.
The model we are introducing is quiet and hardly engages the demonic at all, rather looking for the root of the activity and having eliminated that cause to expect the demons to leave without much ado.
To our surprise (as in Mombasa and Nairobi) the people enthusiastically embraced the teaching, repenting of the way they have been ministering and rejoicing that God has already defeated the foe (Colossians 2:13-15).
After lunch we had announced plans to do 3-4 demonstration prayers for the group. However, God had other plans in mind!
Ben asked for additional testimonies, and the most astonishing flood of reports poured out for the next 2 ½ hours: twelve stories of God’s confrontation in the night; of deep repentance for feelings of hatred, bitterness and desire for revenge; of deep grief that they unwittingly had individually and collectively prevented God from working in their churches and the community at large for two year.
Again, Richard will report on specifics, but we are humbled and frankly a bit “fried” having never seen God in such a brief moment in time so dramatically initiate healing for a town and region. Many agreed this was their first experience of Christian unity, and declared that this is the message that can save Kenya and must be preached to the nation. They all agreed to begin in their own churches, then to consider having a community-wide service of confession-repentance-reconciliation, and pledged to take the word beyond their area.
Ben summed up the message that the group had collectively embraced:
There is only ONE Gospel
There is only ONE Ministry (Jesus’, not ours)
There is only ONE Nation of Kenya (not 42 autonomous tribes)
On that foundation he called everyone to unity to receive God’s forgiveness and healing themselves, minister healing to their churches and bring healing to the Turbo area.
I closed with an exegesis of 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 and a long period of prayer during which the Holy Spirit continued to speak and minister to the leaders.
We took up an offering for one of the pastors who leaves tomorrow for evangelistic meetings with Muslims in a very dangerous, remote area of NE Kenya.
Thank you all for your prayers. You cannot imagine how God is fashioning them to give us exactly the right words and timing for ministry, and for the extraordinary favor and protection we are enjoying.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2010
Turbo, Kenya Pastors Conference (Cazzell)
We certainly had a fun time with God & the pastors yesterday. There was stuff like Doug’s opening session where he told everyone he was going to teach the entire Bible in just 5 minutes. There was the “cell phone blessing” by Ben in which he instructed everyone to turn them off. After lunch when I spoke, I passed out chewing gum for everyone to exercise their mouth & not fall asleep while I taught. As we drove from Eldoret to Turbo today (appx 25 minute drive), Doug told me to explain the 16-week prayer ministry training course to the group this morning in 30 minutes. I said “How can I do that???” Ben chimed in, “That should not be a problem. Doug taught the whole Bible yesterday in 5 minutes.” Then we laughed the next 10 kilometers! These guys are so neat to be with, because they are really fun-loving, and genuine. What you see is what you get.
Well, today’s meeting felt like some sort of sci-fi sonic wave blast that could surely be felt all the way to Campalla, Uganda. I’ve been in conferences in Australia, Colombia, Singapore, Hong Kong, many places in the U.S., and several times in Kenya………………….. and I’m telling you that I have never experienced anything like what took place today. If Paul can match the pics w/the testimonies, hopefully you can get a little insight. Love you all. Thanks so much for your continued prayer support. In Christ, Richard