On the Homefront

So much has happened recently here at our home church that it’s difficult to keep up with. So what I’ll do is just tell you what we have been doing recently in our community and let you in on some of the miracles.


BOYZ (AND GIRLZ) IN DA HOOD
First of all, in the last couple of weeks we have made a transition from a routine we developed in the last couple of years of visiting local area trailer parks. We made the change because we realized that many of the people that we have been ministering to over the last couple of years do not have a hunger for more than just a “blessing” at their door. They would happily receive us and receive their healing, deliverance or salvation, but when it came time for them to make changes and pick up their cross and walk with Jesus, they simply didn’t want to move.

Over the last few weeks we have been going through all of our neighborhoods and trailer parks that we have been in over the last couple of year sand pretty much finding more of the same; very little spiritual hunger. You can tell these people everything about themselves through prophetic words, get them healed of impossible sicknesses and diseases or get them delivered of things that have hounded them for decades and it doesn’t seem to make a dent in their religious mindsets. When it comes time for sacrifice, serving Jesus, going to church, reading the Bible, worshiping God, etc. they fall flat.

So we have been scouring our community for another demographic to preach the Gospel to and give them a chance to respond and change! We have annihilated the poor, white trailer folk that dominate the Woodstock area and are making progress in the poor Spanish speaking communities little by little. So what does that leave us with? Government housing, otherwise known as, the Hood! I’m excited as we have gotten in there over the last couple of weeks. In many of our outreaches in south and central Atlanta, we have had great results in the hood and I am looking forward to seeing what these folks will do with the Gospel. Already we have had salvations and miracles, but I am looking forward to the stories of disciples coming out of the Hood!

Now, on to some of the recent miracles…


EPILEPSY AND BI-POLAR DESTROYED
On one of our recent outreaches into a local trailer park (and probably one of the last visits we will make there for awhile) we encountered a family of good Baptist people that didn’t really believe in miracles and the supernatural. However, they told us that their son (who was sitting right there) was epileptic and has seizures every day. Their discomfort towards miraculous healing was obvious, so we went about it by saying, “so, do you believe that God answers prayer?” “Of course we do! God’s answered lots of our prayers!” they replied. We responded, “Well, here’s how it works. We ask God to heal your son (we actually don’t ask God to heal the sick, we just heal the sick) and if He answers our prayer, then he will be healed!” They all agreed and allowed us to pray for the boy. He was maybe about 8-9 years old.

Then they said, “While you’re at it, Grandpa lives in the trailer next door and he is diagnosed with Bi-polar disorder, you need to pray for him!” So we went next door and asked Grandpa what the symptoms of the Bi-polar disorder were and he said that he had severe depression and he heard voices all the time! He allowed us to pray for him and as we prayed, the Presence of God descended on Him. His entire countenance changed as we proclaimed freedom over him.

Fast forward two weeks. We went back to check on them and we find the young boy who had epilepsy and ask how he has been. “Great! Not one seizure in two weeks! He’s been well since you prayed for him!” They said it so matter of factly that you could have missed the miracle! So we went next door and checked on Grandpa. He came to the door and you could SEE the difference! He looked like a different person! I asked him how he was and he said, “Great! I have been happy every day and not depressed at all”. “What about the voices?” (Mind you, this was a guy who couldn’t sleep because the voices would haunt him 24 hours a day.) “No voices” he said.

Epilepsy and Bi-Polar disorder, healed by the blood of Jesus!


MIRACLE WEIGHT LOSS
This isn’t the first one of these that we have seen in the last couple of years, but it is pretty dramatic… A woman in our church prayed for a lady who was suffering with problems with diabetes and other thyroid conditions. She was overweight and having difficulty losing weight. This happened two months ago. The lady from our church saw her at an appointment and was shocked at the transformation. The lady she had prayed for had lost 50 pounds in two months, all while eating normally!


BLIND EYES OPEN ON THE JOB
One of the gentlemen in our church works for a local cable company. He was at a client’s house and was having to inform them that their cable would be cut off due to improper installation. His sales training at the company conditioned him to never take no for an answer; "everyone needs cable" is their mantra. When he informed the lady that their cable was going to be cut off she said, "Go ahead and cut it off, I'm legally blind and can't watch it anyway." Inspired by his sales training his immediate response was, "That's no problem, we can take care of that". He then realized what he had just said and then inspired by the Holy Ghost went on to say, "Let me pray for you." She allowed him inside of the home and laid hands on the woman, praying for the complete restoration of her sight. After prayer, she opened her eyes and said, "I can see!" After verifying the miracle and praising God, he went on to complete the sale!

Now that’s service!

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Onward and Upward

I know that I have been sparse with the updates concerning the work here at the church. If you assume that’s because nothing is happening, then you would be wrong! Tons of awesome God stuff is happening all the time! In fact it’s overwhelming just to come up with a few stories out of the many that come in every single week.

AN OVERVIEW
Late last year I surveyed the work that we were doing in 28 different neighborhoods in and around Woodstock. What I found out was that we had a highly committed core team of evangelists that had blanketed these neighborhoods and in most cases, knocked on every door and talked to every willing person in the neighborhood. The average neighborhood had 4-6 months of work done in it and some of them had over 2 years, sometimes going every week but definitely every other week. We had scores of new believers and pages of miracles and healings that the Lord had done. The breakdown came when we tried to get new believers to make the next step; discipleship.

In discipleship, we hit a wall. We discovered that there are a bunch of people that want the benefits of the Kingdom of God, but don’t truly want to give their lives to Jesus! In many of the neighborhoods we would eventually get a meeting going, sometimes after weeks and months of begging and pleading with people to come. In all of the neighborhoods, maybe half of the new believers would actually even show up! The bottom line is that many of the people we were working with were simply unwilling to take up their cross and die daily. In persisting with them for sometimes up to two years we ran the risk of burning out our team! Nothing is more difficult and tiring than investing your life into people that don’t care about what you are living for.

So, throughout the work only a small percentage of people were willing to go to the next level and many of them are walking with us today. They come to church with us, read their Bibles and live devoted lives, worshiping Jesus. Many of them have started to lead others to the Lord and pray for the sick with remarkable results. The ones that decided to not go forward have our phone numbers and know where our church is, but we cannot continue to sow seed into bad ground. The Bible says to not throw your pearls to pigs. The pearl is the pearl of greatest price, the Kingdom of God. The Lord says that, “…as a sow (pig) goes from the washing back to her mud…” Meaning, pigs are people that get spiritually clean, but go straight back to their filth. Jesus says that “to whom much is given, much more will be required”.

This year we start afresh. With new eyes to see hunger or lack thereof, we first hit all of the old neighborhoods again and see if there are any who are desperate for Jesus. If there are, we will work with them. If not, we will move on. So far, in just a few short weeks we have worked through most of the old neighborhoods and not found many willing to pay the price and serve Jesus. We already have scouted out some new neighborhoods with a different demographic and we are praying that these will respond with hunger and thirst for the Kingdom of God.

But even in the midst of lukewarm people, we have seen some awesome miracles.

GRANDPA AND GRANDSON
We were in a really rough trailer park; one that we have been in for awhile. We were working our way through, looking for hungry people when we came on a trailer full of folks. After talking to them a few minutes we found out that they were good Baptist people that didn’t really believe in miracles and the supernatural. This came up because I tell people that the Kingdom of God is at hand and we will show them by giving them a demonstration of God’s power, especially with those who are sick. So they told us that they really don’t believe in all that. I asked them if anyone in the house had a sickness, disease or condition that I could pray for. They told me that their son (who was sitting right there) was epileptic and has seizures every day. I told them that this was a perfect opportunity to see the Kingdom.

There discomfort towards miraculous healing was obvious, so I went about it by saying, “so, do you believe that God answers prayer?” “Of course we do! God’s answered lots of our prayers!” “Well, here’s how it works. I ask God to heal your son (I actually don’t ask God to heal the sick, he told me to do that!) and if He answers my prayer, then he will be healed!” They all agreed and allowed us to pray for the young man. He was maybe about 8-9 years old. Then they said, “While you’re at it, Grandpa lives in the trailer next door and he is diagnosed with Bi-polar disorder, you need to pray for him!” We happily obliged and went to the trailer next to them. We talked with the gentleman and it was obvious that he was troubled. You could see it on his demeanor. He didn’t look balanced. I asked him what the symptoms of the Bi-polar disorder were and he said that he had severe depression and he heard voices all the time! He allowed us to pray for him and as we prayed, the Presence of God descended on Him. His entire countenance changed as we proclaimed freedom over him. We asked if we could come back and check on him and he agreed.

Fast forward two weeks and we show up at their house once again. We find the young boy who had epilepsy sleeping in an easy chair and ask how he has been. “Great! Not one seizure in two weeks! He’s been well since you prayed for him!” They said it so matter of factly that you could have missed it. This was a young man that was having seizures EVERY DAY. Now, it had been over two weeks and he had not had one seizure since we prayed! We walked over to the house next door to check on Grandpa. He came to the door and you could SEE the difference! He looked like a different person! I asked him how he was and he said, “Great! I have been happy every day and not depressed at all”. “What about the voices?” (Mind you, this was a guy who couldn’t sleep because the voices would haunt him 24 hours a day.) “No voices” he said.

Epilepsy and Bi-Polar disorder, healed by the blood of Jesus!

Update On Edouard

I’ve had many people asking me about how Edouard is doing since we returned from the Congo last month. We have been in constant contact with Edouard and just recently have received some disturbing updates, full of both good and bad news. First I will tell the good news.

THE GOOD NEWS
The good news is that Edouard and his church are doing the Gospel! Almost every day there are reports of miracles, healings and salvations. Edouard reports that since we left and the persecution that followed, several uncommitted members of his church have left. However in a very short period of time, their absence has been filled with highly committed and highly motivated new converts! Several in his church have taken what we brought them to heart and now bringing the kingdom is part of their daily lives! The pastors that were there when we were have taken the Gospel of the Kingdom to their cities and the work is growing!

Here are a few recent testimonies that Edouard told to David:

INSTANT HEALINGS!
Recently, a lady came to Edouard that had severe stomach pain. It was so painful that if you touched her belly she would writhe in agony. Edouard told her the Gospel of the Kingdom and as soon as he finished telling her he asked her to check her belly for pain. The pain was instantly gone. He said he did not even have to pray, the Gospel was enough. Another woman was having severe ankle problems and Edouard asked one of his leaders to pray for the young lady. When she prayed the lady was instantly healed.

MALARIA HEALED!
A young man who had suffered with a severe case of malaria was brought by his family to the church because his fever was so high that it was scorching to the touch. He had also showed many signs of madness. If this man did not receive healing, he would be dead in a short while. They rebuked the fever and it instantly left. They also cast out the devil that was causing the madness. That night he stayed in Edouard's house so that they could watch him. His sanity returned and he was miraculously healed.

MORE WITCH DOCTORS
Edouard found a man who he said was surrounded constantly by calamity. Nothing seemed to go right with this man; he was constantly sick, terrified, and stolen from. When Edouard and one of his leaders began to pray for him, the form of a man appeared in the room! The form of the man said "This man is mine, he belongs to me, leave him alone!" The man quickly acknowledged that he had been controlled by this witch doctor for years. Edouard rebuked the manifestation saying that this man now belonged to Jesus and the man was instantly delivered and has already begun to show fruit.

So, all in all, the Gospel has been rolling forward, full steam ahead! But this has not come without a price. The enemy has stepped up his attacks on Edouard and launched a full frontal assault to abort the move of God there.

THE BAD NEWS
The bad news is that Edouard has had to fight for his life. I already told you of how he lost his only child to the attack of the enemy that his wife had left him and his church was destroyed. As of this moment, his wife still has not returned and they have had to look for a different place to meet. Ultimately they need to purchase their own compound so that they can have a base that is protected and we are praying about how we can help them do this.

Immediately after our departure, the persecution increased. The accusations that Edouard and his church were involved in witchcraft reached ridiculous levels. People all over their city are calling them names and persecuting them. This did two things; it sent the uncommitted church folks packing and strengthened the rest of the church. What we don’t talk about here in the west, but what is known all over the world is that the persecuted church is the strongest church, so the enemy’s plan backfired. Edouard was actually brought to court on charges that he was practicing witchcraft, which is just crazy! He was cleared on that charge, but it did cost him a great deal of money to defend himself.

His wife still hasn’t come back. In fact, she recently has gone on the attack, rallying her family members in opposition to her husband, accusing him of witchcraft. What’s ironic is that many in her family are involved in witchcraft themselves. Since the accusations of witchcraft have not succeeded, she has switched her accusations to something even more debased. Now, Edouard’s wife is rallying her family to accuse Edouard of selling corpses to us Americans! Edouard had the authorities come and accuse him of this and he actually had to take them to the grave site of his son! He is now embroiled in his defense to clear him of the latest charges and needs our help!

HOW WE CAN HELP
Edouard’s integrity is above reproach. He has proven that he will not back down from opposition, but has pressed in regardless of the situation he is facing. He is already planning on reaching other areas near Brazzaville and wants us to come back soon! Throughout all of this, he needs our support, in prayer and in finances. So I am asking you two things:

#1 - Would you commit to pray for Edouard and the work in the Congo?
If so, let me know by replying to this posting.

#2 – Would you consider donating to help Edouard financially?
His recent legal defenses (for the sake of the Gospel) are costing him money that he doesn’t have and he could use our help. We have a system for him to get 100% of the money securely. He could really use regular monthly support, as well as a one time gift, whatever you can do.

*You will be giving through NorthGate Church of Atlanta Inc. which is legally registered as a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization. Donations are tax deductible and you will receive an official giving statement for all contributions over $50.

Click the button below to make a donation to the work in Congo.

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