
John Pena, Calvary Community Church, Houston
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!

Sister Heidy of 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!”

Donna
Elms of Medic
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."

Pastor Jennifer
Campbell, Open Door Fellowship, Katy, Texas
...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 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

Pastor Randy Campbell, Open Door Fellowship, Katy,
Texas
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.