HOPE KUCHING: HEALING MINISTRY TRAINING
This year, we are really expecting God to move in a greater measure in Hope Kuching and Hope Eastern Region (Borneo, Malaysia). We believe Jesus’ words in Mark 16:15-17 when he gave the disciples the Great Commission. The passage says,“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
We also take to heart Jesus’ words in John 14:12
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
We realize that we need to equip our people so that they are able to step out to preach the gospel with the power of God. We believe that with the gospel, the fullness of God’s love will manifest in signs such as deliverance and healing. We believe that this is for every believer of Jesus Christ.
In order to teach and equip people, we invited Ps James Loke, the National Mission Coordinator for Thailand and Philippines, to train us in the healing ministry. He is a dedicated intercessor and has served in various healing teams. He spent one full day with us on 17 May 2014, to teach us the biblical basis and mindset for divine healing. For example, he showed us from the Bible that healing is a part of the Great Commission and that every believer is to heal the sick. He also cleared a common misconception that in some cases, the sick are not healed because it is not God’s will. He emphasized from scripture that healing IS the will of God. He also guided us in activation exercises to receive and release word of knowledge from God to people. After that, he taught us a 5-step prayer model on how to minister to those who need healing.
To cap it all off, he arranged a “treasure hunt” to activate us further in the receiving and releasing of the word of knowledge. We were organized into groups of 5 to 6 people. Each group prayed and asked for words of knowledge from God. It could come in the form of pictures, names, specific conditions, locations, etc. After that, every group was sent out to look for the treasure that God has revealed to them. Many groups came back with stories of God’s amazing love and power. They reported that they found their “treasure” and ministered to their treasure.
The following is a testimony of one of the TREASURE HUNT groups led by Owen Than:-
Our team prayed and sought for downloads from the Almighty God for our treasure hunt. He gave us quite a few downloads. He gave us many pointers such as MJC, Yamaha, station, downstairs, a couple, lady with long hair wearing light beige top, white-coloured spectacle frame, man in blue jeans, lost and empty, struggling and heart crying out for help. After praying and receiving these clues from the Holy Spirit, we agreed to proceed downstairs to the coffee shop. We checked off two clues while we were there as we saw a Yamaha motorcycle shop and food stalls lined up like stations. But as the other location clue, which is MJC, it still baffled us.
Another clue was checked off as we stepped foot into the eating area. We saw a person wearing a white-coloured frame glasses. Several other clues were checked off. The person wearing the glasses is a lady, with long hair and a light beige top (off-white) and there were 2 couples. The older man was wearing a pair of blue jeans.
We were actually fearful of approaching strangers. We spent a few minutes hesitating. We then sadly and shamefully walked away, walking around other buildings to find some easier ‘targets’ but we found none. At that point we had to make a choice; either to go to the location called MJC, which was the unchecked clue, or to go back to the lady.
Praise God for the few “fire-starters” among us and being ignited in our faith we went back, stepped out, took the plunge and connected with the lady. Initially, the lady (named Joanne) was shocked and looked at us like we were aliens. Interestingly, words just came out of our lips. We explained to Joanne that we were looking for God’s treasure and that out of the hundred thousands of people in Kuching, God has showed us and chosen her as His treasure.
He wanted to release His blessings upon her. Joanne was touched by the Holy Spirit and she was in tears. The Holy Spirit released Word of knowledge “calling her to come back”. She was then tearing even more and told us that she had somehow been away from God for the past one and half years. We prayed for her, released the love of Jesus upon her and encouraged her to connect back with Jesus. Her mother-in-law was touched and called for a celebration. In the midst of the refreshing cold drinks, God revealed two things and confirmed that He was at work.
Firstly, we found out that they VERY seldom patronize that food outlet and somehow did not know why they ended up there. When asked where she lived, she replied, “MJC” (that was one of the clues). We were speechless. God really left us astounded and amazed! As a result of this training, many people’s faith was built up. However, this is not the end, as we continue to encourage believers to exercise what they have learnt. We are gearing up for our regional conference at the end of the year with the theme GREATER, believing in a greater manifestation of His love, power and glory in this land of Borneo through His people.
