Searching For Elephants in the African BUSH-BUSH!

This last Friday-Sunday we had an optional outreach for anyone who wanted to go. Because I love outreach AND was told that the place we were going might have elephants, I signed up right away.

This weekend our group was accompanied by the medical team, a first for me to get to see them in action and learn how to work with them. Friday night we showed the Jesus film in the first village, preached & prayed with many for healing and salvation. Saturday we returned to that village and helped the medical team set up their tent. Because the lines are always so long to get into the tent, we stand outside and pray with people before and after they can get into the tent for treatment. We stayed there all morning and after lunch the medical team moved to a different village. There were a FEW notable things that happened before lunch, namely 4 blind people received their vision in the name of Jesus! 2 older woman and 2 younger kids saw that morning and all glory went to the Lord. (Ps. 146 – He STILL opens eyes that are blind…)

As the day kept progressing, we knew that the presence of God wanted to come and work through us more and more. What God has been writing on my heart throughout these whole 3 months is that expectations of what walking with Him and partnering with the Creator of the universe looks like are still WAY TOO SMALL. Mt. 5:8 says “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will SEE GOD.” First, He’s made it obvious that His will is for us to be PURE. But second, it is also His will that after having been purified and made “holy as he is holy”….He wants us to SEE Him. Not just “pie in the sky,” yes, one day we will see the Lord and yay it’ll be great, but to SEE Him! Now. And work with Him as a “friend” like Moses did and as a “co-laborer” as Paul put it.

Saturday night as the Jesus film was playing, six of us girls went behind the screen to intercede and pray for the presence of the Lord to fall upon us and our anoint our hands that it may be JESUS’ very hands touching people when the movie was over, and it would be not us but JESUS walking through the crowds and praying for their hearts. The Lord kept laying it on my heart, “I am NOT far away” One of the girls felt that she should pour out one of our bottled waters on the ground to symbolize that Jesus’ PURE and living water would come to this place. Because the sun had been down for awhile, the ground beneath us was cold, but when one of the girls touched the water that was on the ground, it had turned hot. Soon our hands were trembling and hot. Later when we prayed over individuals, we knew the presence of the LIVING God was working through us. He never ceases to amaze me and even makes me laugh! And I just want to set out a challenge: LOOK for Him! He is EVERYWHERE!

In. Ex. 8:22 He declared that He was working signs and wonders in Egypt that they may know “that I am the Lord IN THE MIDST of the Earth…” (other translation - “that I the Lord am IN THE LAND”) The signs and wonders are not significant necessarily in themselves, they’re just an outward manifestation of the fact that GOD IS HERE! As John the Baptist said, “But AMONG YOU stands one you do not know”! (Jn. 1:26) You don’t even KNOW, he was saying, that someone and something GREAT is in your presence right now (like Jacob - “GOD is in the place and I did not know it!” Gen. 28) It would make absolutely no sense for God to create His beloved Earth but then never visit it; there are many ladders all over this planet just like the one Jacob saw. And He may manifest Himself in something as small and weird as a burning bush and hot water or as beautiful and magnificent as the pillar of fire that saved Israel (Ex. 14:24…He didn’t just create a pillar fire, but actually inhabited one- “the Lord IN the pillar of fire and of cloud (looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw them into panic)…”)

Because GOD showed up in the village that night (not because WE showed up), many people were healed and saved. And because Jesus is living in their hearts, He is certainly living in that village. And when Jesus comes to a village, He cleans it up. One of the women took me to see their villages’ water supply, and it was the most pitiful thing I had ever seen, and it broke my heart. No doubt, AIDS and other illnesses are rampant in every “bush bush” village we go to. In the past, people have turned to witchcraft to solve their problems (stop a drought, avenge their enemies, heal their diseases, etc.) and it’s obvious that asking Satan for help only makes things worse. (“Give him an inch, he takes a mile” as they say…) These people’s burdens have only compounded over the years. Please pray that as the years go by, the presence of Jesus would bring complete transformation and healing to that village. Pray for the baby Christians to stand strong against persecution and especially against fear – fear that the demons and spirits will harm them because of their acceptance of Christ. Pray that they would have confidence to know that the blood of Jesus is enough to protect them from harm and they don’t need to seek help from the kingdom of darkness.

Sunday morning before we left we had a church service and guess what? Probably 80% of our little church was under the age of 10! We prayed over the children and blessed them as we went. Praise God that He is raising up a new generation and doing a new thing in Africa! And how amazing that we don’t have to say like the Chaldeans told Nebecchudnezzar, “No one except the Gods can tell you your dream and THEY DO NOT LIVE AMONG THE PEOPLE…” (Dan. 2:11). God lives in our hearts and He lives in Africa. He always comes when His children call. “Hallelujah, Amen.”

P.S. We did get up at 4am to look for elephants, but only found their footprints…