Other
reports from Lucy
Lucy is co-founder of The Elijah Challenge.
Testimonies
from participants after attending Lucy's Basic Training in June 2010
Thomas Keiffer is a former attorney now with e3
Partners
"One
day in Venezuela, Lisa, Charley and I teamed up with local believers
and our two translators and presented the Gospel to 95 people. 91 of
them made professions of faith. Planting churches can be exciting,
but no one ever told me about Dengue Fever.
We encountered a girl walking down the street with her mother. The
girl was wearing a jacket shrouded by a blanket in the blazing heat.
The translator informed us that she had Dengue Fever. We noticed
the IV port taped to her wrist.
We asked
her if she wanted to be healed, and not surprisingly she said, “si.” We
were led to a nearby house, where we were presented with an elderly,
bedridden woman
suffering from diarrhea
and other ailments. She was trying to eat some soup.
The
Dengue Fever girl sat on the edge of one of the twin beds in the
grandmother's bedroom. She described her headache
and joint pains.
In Jesus' name, I commanded the Dengue Fever and related symptoms
to leave and for her body to be healed. And then I held my breath. “How
do you feel?”
Did
I mention that there were three other ladies in the room praying
as I ministered healing to the girl? I don't
know Spanish, but I
heard a lot of “gloria’s” and “hallelujah’s” and “Jesus
Cristo’s.” I have no before and after medical records,
but here's what happened.
The girl looked up and calmly responded that her headache was gone.
She shed her blanket and without prompting removed her jacket. Standing,
she reported that her joint pain was gone as well.
When the girl walked out of the grandmother's bedroom into the next
room, both she and her mother prayed to receive Christ as their Lord
and Savior. Out of one room into another. Out of darkness into light.
Out of death into life. All who sent and prayed for us played a part!
But
this was not my favorite experience in Venezuela. More on that
later..."
Another testimony from Thomas while in Venezuela
"After
the first day of door-to-door evangelism in the oven-like heat,
we attended an evening service with about 25 people under shade
trees in plastic chairs. It was there that I was presented with
Eljory, a 13-year-old boy who could neither hear nor speak. “Can
you help him?” Gulp.
This is where the rubber meets the road. Time to put up or shut
up. My first impulse would have been to pray for the boy and hope
for the best. But I recently had been trained on the basis for exercising
the authority to heal, instead of simply praying and asking God to
fix the problem. Sounds different, I know.
Every pore in my body seemed to open at once. Dripping with anticipation,
I looked Eljory directly in the eye and mentally reviewed my training
as I would if I were to administer CPR for the first time. (Do I
tilt the head back first? What about sweeping the mouth for obstructions?
Four breaths, then two chest compressions?) You get the picture.
I put
my fingers in the boy’s ears and commanded, “ears
be opened … hearing be restored.” I thought about sticking
my fingers in his mouth, but instead I touched his jaw and cheeks,
saying, “tong be loosed … vocal cords be healed.” I
didn't know what else to do.
Sounds wacky? I understand. Well, what do you do when faced with
a deaf mute boy looking for relief?
The translator standing behind Eljory clapped his hands, and Eljory
immediately turned toward the noise as if he had heard it. The crowd
gasped. He did not speak, so I repeated the process of commanding
and this time the translator said the boy's name (fairly loudly)
behind his back. Again, the boy quickly turned toward the sound.
I then
prompted Eljory to say “hola,” and he said something
sounding like “aughooaaowa” – like you would expect
to hear from a deaf boy without practice.
Although
Eljory’s parents were not present,
his aunt explained that he could hear nothing without a hearing
aid that he was not
wearing at the time of this encounter.
What
exactly happened? I wish I knew for sure. But I know that I got
out of the boat based on my limited understanding and attempted
to walk on the water. I think I did, but I'm such a novice at trusting
Jesus."
Dave Diamond is the former head of Northlake Christian School in
Covington
"Dave was at a prominent church in Covington this morning.
The pastor's granddaughter had peripheral blindness caused by migraines.
Dave felt emboldened and asked her in private if he could pray for
her. He commanded the blindness to leave. He asked her to test her
eye. She could see fully! Tears flowed as she told her dad and grandad!"
"A volleyball coach at our Bible study last night was healed of
a painful knee injury."
Mark Meyers is an attorney for Shell Oil Corportation
"Thomas
told me that he had a brief vision as they were praying with Lucy
at the end of the session on Saturday.
He saw an alligator with its mouth open showing lots of big teeth,
and then a bright shiny large gold ring in its throat. The meaning
is obvious - in order to come into our destiny, in the fullness of
what God has done for us in sending His Son, which encompasses healing
and casting out of spirits, we must risk all - reputation, rejection,
man's approval, etc. And this is what the Elijah Challenge is about
- risking all as one decides to fear God above the approval of man,
and be obedient to the Great Commission.
We were both very encouraged by the vision."
[Note:
At first we didn't grasp the import of this vision given to Thomas.
But then Lucy was given its meaning, likely from the Lord.
The gold ring can be likened to a king's signet
ring---symbolic of authority as we see in Esther. The authority the
Lord has given the Church is in the throat of our enemy the alligator.
For us to retrieve that authority from the throat of the alligator
through the rows
of sharp teeth is very dangerous. But as you pointed out, we must
risk all to get it back and use it to obey the Lord's Great Commission.]
Luke
10:9 "Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The
kingdom of God is near you.’"