The Largest Campaign in the History of Egypt
August 2002
"The Merging of Christ's Compassion and Power to Reach the Lost"
Testimonies & Recommendations of Team Members
Pastor
Billy Burton, Senior Associate Pastor of the Encourager Church, Houston
I would encourage both Pastors and lay persons to take advantage of
any opportunity to go on a trip like this. As a Pastor I had opportunity
to experience God in a new way and I think our entire team did as well.
It is very challanging to be in the midst of such need and see the faith
of people reach out to God for a miracle that would change their lives
forever. It was great to see the miracle healings but to see the the
number of salvations that we saw was awesome. I saw people with deafness
healed, eye problems healed and have had reports of diabetes (tested
by the Dr.) healed.
I was blessed to see these miracles, but the greatest blessing (regarding
healing) was to seet the girl with polio take off her brace and walk.
I would personally promote anyone going on future mission trips because of the "spiritual growth" that will take place as well as the lives that will be touched and changed. I would also say to people that traveling with this leadeship is also safe. To go on a trip this size requires a lot of coordination and ongoing effort especially when you get in country. Brent Knapton did a tremendous job in both areas. I felt a strong sense of "covering" and I believe the entire team did.
Rev. Deborah Wallace,
Evangelist, Northeast Texas
The trip was certainly a positive experience. It put me in a place where
the Lord could stretch me beyond myself. I had been asking the Lord
to stretch me beyond my limits and this trip did just that. This trip
really taught me what teamwork is about and how the Body of Christ is
really to function. Where one team member left off, another one picked
up.
I had been asking the Lord to teach me more about deliverance. Praise
God He took me to "hands-on deliverance school" with the Holy
Ghost as instructor and also used other team members to help teach me.
This trip truly showed me what God's genuine true and pure love is all about. I can't really explain it, but how my perspective as a Christian is truly different. For all of us our only hope is Jesus and when I saw the desperateness of the Egyptian people and their only hope is Jesus - it stirred me and my focus is truly different towards ministry. And it stirred an urgency in me that I thought was already in me. I really just do not know how to describe what I want to say. I just know I have been turned inside out, and as I have shared with many this week about what the Lord did in Egypt the only thing that mattered was Jesus. And as I saw their faces and the tears they shed as they heard the testimonies - no one cared what denomination we were part of, who had the most salvations or healings or largest crowds, but they only were concerned what Jesus did.
There is so much that the Lord did and started. I am so looking forward to going back to Egypt. I feel my heart was knit with the Egyptian people. I had been asking the Lord to teach me about deliverance and to put me where I could learn from Him - not just what the books say, but truely learn from the Holy Spirit. Well, the first week in al Minia my learning began with the Holy Ghost as instructor. God is so good! My life has been so changed by this trip. The Lord did something in me that I really don't know how to put in words. Everything looks different since I've been home. And I really don't want to be the way I used to be; I want the Lord to continue to change me. I don't want what took place in Egypt to be just in Egypt, but in my home and church and city. My church has really gotten excited about what took place on the trip. And a part of the church has rallied and wants to be a part of the next trip. We have two fund raisers set to raise money for the trip. It is amazing God didn't just work on me during the trip but also began a work within the body of believers!
I think every born-again believer should go on a trip like this. It should be mandatory. This trip truly opened up the Gospels and it taught us as believers to walk in the power and authority the Lord has entrusted to us. I feel I can "whoop" any devil that tries to run me over in the Name of Jesus! I know that sounds silly --- but the Lord has put a confidence in me that it is His power and authority and in His name, I don't have to be intimidated nor step out of the way when the Lord says do it! A trip like this truly takes a believer out of his comfort zone and stretches us beyond our limits. It has been great and I can't wait for the next trip. So to answer the question --- I would promote and encourage others to join future trips, and I have already started in letters I've sent out to family, friends, supporters and prayer warriors.
Steve Austin,
Steve Austin Ministries
Most of the "big" healings I saw occurred when I personally
ministered to people at the medical clinics, after church and in the prayer
room. I had several people who could not move a limb (mostly arms) - that
is, they could not raise the limb or use it for all practical purposes
- get healed. I ministered deliverance to this woman who was so possessed
by demons that she could not walk, talk or use her arms. They had totally
incapacitated her! I had never seen anything like it. When I cast all
the demons out, she was able to talk and I got her to confess Jesus Christ
as her Lord and Savior and other confessions like that. She was also able
to lift her hands and praise the Lord. Then, I held her hands and she
stood up and walked. We were surrounded by over 100 onlookers who started
screaming and shouting when she walked. They were amazed, as was her family.
Jesus had completely delivered and healed her!
Brenda Powell, Encourager Church, Houston
I have nothing but wonderful thoughts about the Egypt trip. It was a very
positive trip, well-planned and well- organized. I now realize that there
was a tremendous amount of planning, discussions, etc., that took place
that we were not really aware of before going.
I believe now that I have a much better understanding of our authority
as Christians over disease and demons. I now pray with more confidence.
The entire trip made me realize that God has
given me authority. I had heard and read about healings, but to pray and see them happen was life-changing. I have already been promoting future trips with The Elijah Challenge and Window of Opportunity to all my friends and my boss--who says he wants to go next year!
For me, the most dramatic experience was Basma (a young woman with polio) coming out of the brace she had worn for years and seeing her walk away in my shoes. That truly blessed me. It was a total team effort (6-8 team members praying) and seeing God honor those prayers was awesome.
Also, praying for the woman who was demon-possessed. That was my first experience praying against demons. At first I felt as though I wasn't qualified to handle this but God showed up and took care of it all!
Thank you so much for partnering with me in prayer over the last month. I feel like I've spent the 3 weeks in Egypt dragging my chin on the ground and rubbing my eyes to make sure they're working. 1 Thessalonians 1:5 says "For our gospel came not unto you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." Many of us wept as we saw God heal people right before our eyes and set them free from demonic forces. 1 John 3:8 says "...the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." We were witnesses of Jesus being manifested in the lives of so many Egyptians and it has changed our lives as well.
The first 8 days of our journey were spent in El Minia (located about 4 hours south of Cairo). We began by training and bonding with the Egyptian believers who were our partners
in ministry. Then we had 4 days of clinics and tent meetings. It was estimated that approximately 20,000 people attended the tent meetings, which were held twice daily for each of the 4 days. During those 4 days, it was estimated that over 10,000 people responded to an invitation to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and receive him as Savior and Lord (John 1:12). There were so many miraculous events that took place, many of which I'll never know about. It was literally impossible to keep up with all that God was doing. Yet, I cannot overlook the miracle that God has done in my life as a result of this trip. It's impossible to experience what I've experienced and not be changed. I believe God is taking me to a deeper level of spiritual maturity and he's asking me to die to a lot of the things I've held onto for so long. God is drawing me to a greater passion and intimacy with him, something that has been lacking in my life for some time. Hallelujah!
Charlotte
Chandler, St. John's Downtown United Methodist Church, Houston
....it seemed the first time you all came to St. John's it was like God
had hi-lighted The Elijah Challenge to me and later I saw why, it was
because
of this mission.......I thank God that I answered the call when Jesus
passed by and said "Come and I will make you fishers of men".........because
I feel that a great blessing and fulfillment was poured out over Egypt
as a result of our visit and we could probably never know the impact we
had on the entire country........it was definitely ordained by God.....and
I really believe that it was meant to be just as it was.....each one of
us that went was supposed to be there, no one else could have done what
we were chosen to do by God......I feel a mighty breakthrough for that
country started and a strong breakout ot the Gospel will begin.....we
truly ignited something
as well as imparted a spiritual manifestation in the atmosphere there.....truly Divine and of God Almighty......
I just wanted to tell you that God is continuing His mighty works.....Sunday at church (after I returned from Egypt) Pastor Rudy Rasmus had me come up and share a little about my trip and the signs and wonders. Afterwards he asked me to minister healing to the congregation. I ministered the corporate mass healing to the congregation with "MOUNTAIN-MOVING FAITH" without any hesitation. It went forth with a mighty move of God; afterwards he asked people to stand if they were healed and about ten people did stand with two testimonies......God is good!
In
late October, 2002, nearly two months after returning from Egypt, Charlotte
Chandler wrote: "I just wanted to mention again about feeling
impulses like electricity flowing through my hands as I prayed for and
laid hands on some people. I prayed for lots of women among whom many
had miscarriages; I prayed for them to be able to have children; I prayed
for God to open their wombs. It was during these prayers that I could
really feel the power of God flowing through my hands and I was absolutely
certain that they were healed. There were (2) women with whom I prayed
for specifically, one being about (6) to (7) months pregnant and the other
about (5) months. I prayed for them to be able to hold their babies and
not miscarry as they had previously done......it was mighty, my hands
were tingling and at times numb, sweaty, and hot. It was at these times
that I really knew that God had healed them.......it was truly an awesome
experience. I want to minister healing to people and I am content to wait
for God's covering and direction, as well as His divine training and timing.....Thanks
so much for allowing me to be a part of this mission trip ministry.....it
truly has changed me forever....."
Amanda
Ortiz, Encourager Church, Houston
This trip coupled with The Elijah Challenge teachings changed my perspective
as a Christian dramatically. I realized we as Christians pray for one
another's sicknesses, but we do not cast out (or heal, rebuke) the
sickness in the name of Jesus. I learned there is a time to pray and a
time to cast out (heal) in the name of Jesus. Most importantly,
I realize I need to draw closer to Jesus to receive revelation of the
authority He has given me, because I exhausted myself when ministering
healing to the sick. Just imagine if all Christians knew their authority
in Christ.
I would personally promote and encourage others to join one of the future
mission trips because it takes you out of your comfort zone. It
also exposes you to another culture, which gives you insight of how to pray for that country. In addition, as you give of yourself, you allow God to grow and use you.
One of the most dramatic miracles of healing I witnessed as I ministered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in Minia (Upper Egypt) was with a man who had a lump on the right side of his shin. The lump was about the size of a medium lemon. I placed my hands on the lump and began to cast out (rebuke) the pain and swelling. I did this several times, but the lump and pain were still there. At one point the man said he felt something come from my hand into the lump. By this time, my interpreter and I got our second wind of confidence and continued to cast out (and rebuke) in the name of Jesus. The Lord was faithful to move on our behalf and the lump went down to the size of a grape. Praise the Lord! This might sound like a small miracle, however this was my first experience of seeing a mountain actually move. I give all glory to Jesus Christ!
Heidy,
believer in al Minia, Upper Egypt
The
Lord used Sister Haidy, a seventeen-year-old believer in Egypt in the
following way after she had been trained in our Healing Encounter and
Evangelistic Campaign in al Minia:
The
Lord used me when I prayed for a man who had a heart attack. He felt pain
in the left part of his body. After we prayed together he felt no pain
in his body at all. The Lord removed all the pain in his heart. Thanks
to the Lord!
Man Deaf from Youth Hears Clearly
Mark 2:1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
Teammate
Donna Elms wrote:
"I am reminded of the scripture above where the paralytic was brought
to Jesus by his friends. While I was in El Minia, a man ( who I will refer
to as the friend for this account) approached me who could speak very
good English and ask me to pray for a deaf man. . The man had not been
able to hear from his youth. These two men had been friends all their
life. At the time the friend asked me to pray we were on our way to the
tent so I instructed the friend and the deaf man to attend the crusade
meeting and if the deaf man was not healed in the meeting, he could bring
the deaf man to the prayer hall and that I would pray for the deaf man
after the crusade meeting.
When I returned to the prayer hall later, the first person in the prayer
line was the friend who approached me before the meeting on behalf of
the deaf man and his wife. In speaking with the friend I found out that
the deaf man could read lips very well. (I first gave some instructions
to the friend and told him that after I ministered to the deaf man in
the name of Jesus, I wanted the friend to talk to the deaf man, but to
be in a place where the deaf man could not read his lips. So the friend
stood behind the man who was deaf. The friend would speak something to
him in Arabic but the deaf man could not see or read his friend's lips.
I used this as a hearing test to determine the improvement in his hearing.)
I placed my fingers in the deaf man's ears like Jesus did in Mark 7:31
and 32, and commanded the ears to be opened. The first time I spoke to
the deafness he could hear sounds in the room. After each time I commanded
the ears to be opened, the deaf man could hear with a greater clarity.
After I commanded 4 or 5 times for the ears to be opened in Christ's name,
his hearing was fully restored. He could hear his friend call his name
and speak to him plainly from about 14 ft away even with all the noise
in the room. Now the man is no longer the deaf man but now he is healed
through the power of the Name of Jesus. Praise the Lord! Thank you, Jesus,
that you are still working miracles in the earth in 2002."
...It was definitely a positive experience for me. I was overwhelmed as I watched the Lord touch many people. Not only were people healed physically, but I literally watched God touch and heal hearts. There were times when I laid hands on people and knew immediately they were healed. I felt I had a new level of discernment come upon me as I laid hands on people in Egypt.
The trip changed my perspective as to what it really must have been like when Jesus ministered. I never really understood the desperation of the people before. It literally made the New Testament come alive to me. The people were so desperate and
went to great lengths to be prayed for. They also had a faith to believe for their healing. As we ministered in the prayer hall, the level of faith would rise as some would get healed and those standing in line for prayer would actually see this with their own eyes, therefore when it came their turn to be prayed for, the level of faith had risen. It was so evident that faith was increasing.
The most dramatic healing I witnessed was Basma, the young women with polio. She wore a full leg brace on her right leg. Her shoe was attached to this brace. She also had scoliosis. Let me share this experience with you. There were several of us who ministered to her as a team; Brenda, Charlotte, Deborah, and I. We began to minister healing to her. After a while, Deborah had a word that we needed to command one of her legs to grow out. As I knelt down and began to command this leg to come out, we watched it happen. As I was doing this, I noticed that her big toe on her right foot was drawn up and locked in this position. She didn't stand with her foot flat on the floor; she walked on the side of it and it was turned way out. I began to command this toe to be released yet nothing happened. We continued to minister to her. At one point, Deborah sensed we needed to just sing a song of worship to the Lord. About this time, Billy came and he began to speak to Basma. He took authority over some things in her life and all of a sudden Deborah and I looked and Basma's toe straightened out and her foot turned in noticeably. We all began to shout with joy. She began to walk without her brace. When we finished ministering to her she still had to use her cane, but she could walk without her brace. As she was preparing to leave, she was going to put her brace back on as her shoe was attached to it. Quickly, Brenda pulled off her new Nike tennis shoes and socks and gave them to Basma. Of course they fit her perfectly! She walked out of their with the first pair of real shoes and no brace!!
There are so many stories I could tell of the healings that took place in Minia. One of the things that was also so powerful was when God didn't physically heal but touched a heart. Two of these are etched in my memory. One was in the prayer hall. A man came to me who was a deaf mute. He had been prayed for that night by someone else. I spoke to his infirmities and nothing changed. His wife was with him. I heard the Lord telling me to have his wife tell him that God wanted to touch his heart and I was going to lay my hand on his heart. As I did that, I literally saw God touching this man's heart. Both of us were changed forever. He gestured with his hands thanking the Lord. Another example of this was the last night at the tent crusade. I prayed for a lifeless baby. This night I was surrounded by several of the young workers and they too joined with me as I spoke to this child's infirmities. When it was time to leave the tent, the Lord had me tell the parents how much He loved them for loving this child. The father told me that he would never forget this night and to remember them and to continue to pray for their son. How the Spirit had connected our hearts as we joined our faith.
My life has been changed forever. I don't know what the best part was, the healings, training others, the salvations, or simply watching God touch the hearts of His people! I would recommend everyone to go on a mission trip like this. I know God has changed my life through the things I experienced. I have come away with a greater compassion for God's people. I know that it is God's heart that we also have a heart for the nations. What a better way to get that heart than to go on a trip like this.
The difficult part is trying to share such an awesome experience in a few words. There are no words to describe this life changing experience. It was definitely a defining moment in my life and ministry and both have been impacted for eternity. It was the beginning of what the Lord began in me months back in going to the nations. During these days the Gospels literally came alive and it was if I was walking with Jesus through them. How awesome it was to daily see the kingdom of God expanded through the power of the gospel in its simplicity and purity. It was great to be a part of the body of Christ working together in unity to see the kingdom of God expanded by doing the works of Jesus, preaching the gospel, laying hands on the sick in faith, and thereby releasing the miracles of God.
The memories of this experience will never go away. I find myself constantly
reflecting on the thousands of people packed in the tent crusades in Minia
and the approximately 10,000 that responded to the gospel by standing
and receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior. I had never seen such hunger and
desperation and through the power of the gospel each person received hope.
It was a glorious experience to witness the greatest miracle of all take
place in multitudes of lives.
Along with the miracle of salvation, it was awesome to see the miraculous physical healings. I saw the power of God manifested on many occasions as I laid hands on the sick. The first lady I prayed over was a lady with very huge swollen glands around her throat and she was in much pain. After commanding the pain and swelling to go in Jesus name, myself and about fifty other people waiting to be prayed for, watched the swelling completely disappear. Another girl of about fifteen years old came and she had a spot on her throat about the size of a nickel and it was oozing. It looked as if she had a tracheotomy at some time but her mother said she was born with it and was always in pain. As I was praying for her she said she could feel something moving around in her throat and the pain disappeared and she was healed. The awesome thing was after that every time we ministered in the prayer room, she would miraculously make her way through the masses of people and get in the prayer room and join me in praying for others with infirmities! Another blessing was praying over a ten year old boy that was born deaf in his left ear and to see his hearing for the first time in that ear. Both him and his mother were beaming with joy. And I saw a man that was totally mute according to his family members began to make sounds as he tried to speak. Glory to God!
I thank God for calling me to serve and minister in Egypt and know this is just the beginning of going to the nations. Thank you for this opportunity to join you in kingdom work. We are already asking, seeking, and knocking, for the doors of heaven to be opened in order that we can join you in taking the gospel to the nations in the near future.
I will definitely
be recommending others to join you on future mission trips to reach the
nations for Christ and to support your respective ministries in every
way possible.