Testimonies of some graduates of The Elijah Challenge Seminar

"Yesterday we had one of the most beautiful Thanksgiving services for the recovery of little Precious, one of the girls in our orphanage.

Theresa testified how you called her up for prayer and how her hand was healed instantly. She said, "I went for a course on a believer's authority in the afternoon and thereafter immediately for practicals!!!" She told the children how fear gripped her when the nurses and other patients in the hospital looked at the condition of Precious and just shook their heads in despair, she wept and wept thinking we were going to lose the child, when the Lord just brought to mind all she studied that afternoon.

She said it was like using a new tool and she wasn't sure it would work!!! But she tried it, praise God.....and she became more and more confident and less fearful. Then after we, Janet and Kevin went to pray, her confidence really rose high and she started to rebuke the sickness with authority.

Not only did Precious get healed but there was much opportunity to witness to many other women because of this. It resulted by many women coming for prayer and opened a door for Theresa to go to their homes also to witness. All our children were encouraged by her testimony. There was much joy and praising the Lord with thanksgiving."

Mrs. Ranji Chara, Director
Ebenezer Child - Care Trust
February 2005

 

Historic Crusade
"On the third day in Vietnam there was a large Evangelistic Crusade where non-believers were invited to come to hear the gospel and receive healing prayer. This was the very first mass meeting since the fall of this country to communism decades ago in which a foreigner was invited to speak. It turned out to be even more historic than that. Never before in the history of this country had such a meeting been known to take place…

My wife and I were taken to a hall completely crammed with thousands of people who had been waiting an hour before the start of the meeting. There was no place to sit down even for us. People with various debilitating infirmities had been physically carried to the meeting; the area to the side of the speaker’s platform was filled with people in wheelchairs. One pastor said that never before had so many gathered for a gospel meeting in this country during communist rule. Never before here had so many infirm people come to be healed by Jesus Christ. There was an air of expectancy.

Jesus heals the sick en masse through local pastor
The praise and worship, led by the local pastors, was vibrant and powerful. One of the pastors who had attended our Healing Encounter training was so stirred that he read to the crowd the New Testament account of blind Bartimaeus who had been healed because of his faith. He then told the sick in the crowd to cry out to the Lord by faith as he prayed over them. The Lord Jesus began to minister as never before seen by anyone in the crowd, perhaps as never before in the history of this country. Miraculous healings broke out "spontaneously" in the crowd. Cripples, paralytics, and stroke victims began to walk; some had not gotten up or walked in years. Many people were healed directly by the Lord without anyone laying hands on them or praying over them. A man deaf and dumb for over forty years could hear and speak, an emaciated woman with terminal cancer who had been carried to the meeting by eight people walked up to the platform with arms raised to Heaven to testify that she was healed. The crowd roared with delight and gave praise to God. After several such testimonies, I was handed the microphone so I could preach. But time and time again, before I could begin speaking, commotion broke out in the crowd as another and another and still another person was healed and came up to testify. I could only stand there in awe at what I was witnessing. I couldn’t help laughing and thinking to myself that the Lord wasn’t about to allow me to speak. Even my host asked me if I actually had anything to say after all the miracles the Lord did…certainly it would be anti-climactic!"

---Brother William

Dr. P. R. is a physician practicing in Missouri who trained with The Elijah Challenge in Crusades they held in Togo, West Africa in January 2002. Since then the Lord has used him in miraculous healing as he preaches the gospel in overseas Crusades. Below he reports on his meetings in India, where he ministered in March and April.

"We held two open air meetings in Punjab—one in Makhu and the second in the large city of Moga. Between 275 to 300 received Jesus Christ as Savior in Makhu and about half that many in Moga, a total of around 400 to 450 in all. These meetings were attended by Sikhs and Hindus among others. God demonstrated His power by miraculous healings, which pointed honest seekers to the reality of the true God of redemption. On the first night in Makhu one elderly man regained his eyesight after years of blindness.

On the last night in Moga one young man drove up on a motorcycle and said he was going to come back with others to disrupt the meetings. Many of our young men stood at the entrance ready to intercept them if they arrived, but they never did show up. We later learned that Hindu dissidents were in the audience and reported the event of the meetings to the newspapers. They hoped that the sympathetic anti-Christian media would generate problems for our evangelistic efforts.

Reporters were especially interested in the physical healings. They interviewed those who testified in the meetings of healing, and could not find any case that was not valid. So they reported this and gave a positive account of our meetings which was published all over Punjab, one of the states of India. God thwarted the enemy's attack! The claims of Christ were broadcast throughout the state, reaching a much greater population than those present at the meetings."

---Dr. Paul Rains

About 3 months ago we had an evening service at church and at the end, I went forward to minister at the altar. A lady who sings in the choir came to me and she said she "knew" she was to come to me for prayer. She told me that she had been on medicines for 3 years for breathing problems ( I believe she said she had allergies, sinus, and asthma) and that she had a chronic cough. I placed my hand on her upper chest and throat and starting commanding all the congestion to come out and for her bronchial tubes to open and she bent over and started expelling phlegm and had to hold a large amount of kleenex to her mouth. I kept commanding that all of it come out and it did. She clearly was being relieved of the congestion. I spoke healing to the sinuses and bronchial area, etc.

I had totally forgotten about praying for her until Sunday a week ago when she came up to me after church and told me she was completely healed and no longer has to take any medicines. Praise God.

Another healing took place. Gwen, a lady in my singles class has a young grandson whom she brings to church. Gwen stopped me in the hallway one Sunday morning and showed me the infant; he was born with a skin disorder which caused his upper chest, neck and part of his face to have blotches on it. She told me that the Lord had "put my face" before her so she sought me out to pray for the baby, Christian. Gwen and I went into a room in the nursery and prayed. Again, I prayed as you have instructed us to do. I was away from church for several Sundays so didn't know what had happened. Again, Sunday a week ago, Gwen brought little Christian to our class and there he was clear as could be and a big grin on her face. God is so good. I found out later that she had testified in class to the healing that took place. All praise be to God.

---Brenda Powell

"I know a man named John. Like the Son of Man, he has no place to lay his head. John has been in the streets of downtown Houston for a few years, believing in a God who was watching over him, but up to recently, not aware of his covenant rights, and not receiving the GOOD NEWS of the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ. His clothes, shoes, and food have come daily from the hand of another man...though the God of Heaven - El Shaddai is entering his world in the Name of Jesus. I know of a group who has been preaching the Good News in his presence for many months now. John has received Eternal Life according to the scriptures, and He is now a regular "member" of this Church of the Holy Spirit - Open Air. He has learned how to stay sober and through faith see the better things to come.

Several weeks ago, he came asking a third time for Tylenol when the green van with the evangelist drove up. He got the handful of Tylenol in a little baggie and the preacher asked what was hurting him. John opened his mouth to reveal an angry red knob that covered half the roof of his mouth and caused one side of his face to be swollen. He said it was so painful that he could not eat. That day in the church without walls, the evangelist told the pastor that the Power of God was present to heal. His faith level concerning healing was very high, because it was only one day after an Elijah Challenge Encounter he had attended at Encourager Church. The evangelist took the microphone and said that as a proof that Jesus was risen from the dead with Power to forgive sins that anyone that was sick should come forward and Jesus would heal them. John was one of several that came forward. After a short thanksgiving prayer along the lines of Isaiah 53...thanking and glorifying God for the Servant who died for sins and carried infirmities away...The preacher spoke to the abscess...commanding the pain to depart and the abscess to dissolve. John testified over the PA, to the crowd that the pain had left...though the abscess remained the same size after the meeting was over.

Two weeks ago, John told me that after that service, the abscess "popped" and he had spit out a large mass of blood and puss. The pain had never returned and the knot shrank away over that next day. After that testimony others gave their lives to Christ, praying the prayers of repentance and.....faith in work of Jesus Christ at the Cross alone for salvation. All Glory and Praise and Thanksgiving goes to the Lord Over All. - Jesus Christ the Only True God and Savior."

---Charles Schaub

During the Crusade meeting on a Sunday evening in Word of Power Church, a brother named Bob led a Solemn Assembly outside the church where intercessory prayer and spiritual warfare was conducted. He had agreed to do this at our planning meeting two weeks before the Crusade. Shortly after the planning meeting, Bob was savagedly attacked by the enemy. He wrote:

"Never have I experienced such attacks of the enemy, as when I agreed to follow you in what the Lord is doing and going to do.

From scrambled [email] transmissions to multiple auto accidents...

Last Tuesday I was side swiped on IH-10 near McCarty. About $2400.00 damage to my Durango... Then last Friday evening I was involved in a "T-Bone" collision when a lady pulled in front of me. Disabling me for work and disabling my vehicle. I am so sore I can hardly lie down and rest. The legs, back, neck, ankles, and knees do not want to work without pain. Also the enemy has disabled my vehicle and the lady I ran into says she does not have insurance.

The enemy has deprived me of my income and financial resources, so I may not be able to make the meetings.......I do not have a vehicle, except the Lord provide."

We went to see Bob to pray for God's healing grace. After prayer, we laid hands on him. This is what happened according to Bob's testimony....

"It is my joy to share a personal miracle. I confess I have been a bit skeptical of the reality of miraculous healing in our country and time. Until this morning.......I searched scripture and thoroughly examined Luke 9:1 and I claimed that scripture for myself.

I asked our Father to remove all of my doubts, fears and hesitations to stand in His authority and power.

'John and Lois' came to visit with me, after my two recent automobile accidents....

I was suffering with ribs separated from the sternum, whiplash in the neck, pain in the lumbar region from having seatbelt bruising and an airbag exploding in my face. The physicians have prescribed three different anti inflammatories and pain killers.

'John' prayed for me... 'Lois' echoed the prayer. I agreed in faith and demanded that the enemy stop tormenting me with pain and inability to move..

It is really hard to place a physical description on what happened next...

I felt a surging of power, as I have never experienced... I envisioned a stream flowing from the glory of Heaven and washing over me....

I felt such release, such peace, and I knew in my heart and mind that I was free from pain, and inability to move or stand without difficulty.

I then stood and bent when asked by Bill to do so!!!!!! I felt no discomfort, only a little tightness in previously torn and strained muscles and ligaments...I could take a full deep breath without the sharp sternal pains..

I am standing as an example of what our Father wants to reveal in the upcoming crusade. Our God is truly a miraculous God. I stand in amazed awe of His greatness and Glory...Be prepared for truly wondrous things as He reveals His power, Glory and Grace in bringing the lost to himself..."

We later spoke with Bob. He had gone back to his doctor at the VA Hospital, where X-rays had been taken just after his accident showing the injuries to his sternum (breast plate bone), back, neck, and ankle. He requested new X-rays to be taken. His doctor, a Korean man who was a Buddhist, was astounded. He called the technician to make sure that the new X-rays and the old X-rays where from the same patient. They indeed were. The doctor could hardly believe what he saw: not only miraculous healing in the injured areas, but new bone growth (of the sternum) in the X-rays!

---BOB SNOW

"It was indeed our pleasure to be a small part of what our Lord and Savior is doing thru The Elijah Challenge. Yesterday I had additional confirmation that God's plan for our lives is that we are to walk in his grace, love and authority every day.

Listen to this. Yesterday, as I was sitting at my desk, trying to wrap up things to go home, in walks a long time client. By the look on her face we could tell she was obviously under a great deal of stress.

When Suzie, my office manager, asked her what was wrong she started crying uncontrollably. We gave her a glass of cold water and Suzie offered to take her home. Still she was crying so hard she had difficulty talking.

As Suzie shut down her computer, I asked the lady if she would like me to pray for her. Without hesitation she said, "Yes, please."

I knew she had been under treatment for depression in the past, so I asked if she was still under a doctor's care. She said, "Yes." I then asked what she wanted Jesus to do for her and she said, "I want him to give me peace, I really need peace."

After I confirmed that she had a relationship with Jesus, I put into practice what you taught us in the Healing Encounter training. In Jesus' name, I spoke to the depression, the fear, the confusion and several other symptoms I can't even remember. To the glory of God, in less than 30 seconds, her countenance changed and a big smile appeared on her face as He lifted the depression and confusion and replaced them with His peace.

I asked her what happened to the depression and she said, "Jesus took it all away." As she walked out of the office with Suzie, she still had a big smile on her face.

Thank you Father God for allowing your children to overcome all the works of the enemy, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ."

---Bill Willis, a Deacon at Houston's First Baptist for 15 years

This is the testimony of "Barnabas," a committed Christian layperson who in his spare time preaches the gospel with his team on the streets of Houston as well as by knocking on neighborhood doors. He attended our Healing Encounter in June 2002.

"On our Tuesday outing last week the Encourager Church intercessors carried the Secret Place of the Most High right into the neighborhood - by following us there in vans! The Power of God was there! My team was led to an appointment in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit led Diane to a door - which by our Evangelism Explosion questions - gave us a door of entrance to a bedroom. A woman named Eva was bedridden, ashen faced and tired - her speech slow and thick - next to her bed which had taken the odor of constant occupancy - this was two days before her scheduled appointment with the neurosurgeon. We found she had a tumor in her head and was suffering intensely. She was out of work - Her 22 year old son is supporting her and her 13-year old son.

On September 24 we shared with her the Isaiah 61 story - the Good News from Isaiah 53 - the fact that her sins and sickness were both nailed to a cross a long time ago. She said she had faith in that. I told her that mankind sometimes has more faith in cancer than in God - Just because they think they know a lot about cancer. We shared how the name of cancer was a demon name which was below the name of Jesus. She understood. In faith we commanded that hellish affliction off of her. In this case there was a powerful flow of Virtue that saturated the room as I laid my hand on the left back of her head.... The bold and forceful commands against that evil name, cancer, were as inspired in your seminars. We said we would return in a week to see how things were going.

On Tuesday night we were greeted with three big smiles, and they were so excited. Her son said that after the group left, she sat up in bed! She started moving around. Two days after the group left she went to the hospital, still having some symptoms, but feeling much better. The doctors put her again through MRI but couldn't find the tumor in her head. They thought there was a problem with the machine! I understand she has some type of plate in her mouth that they removed thinking it was interfering with the machine's detectors. They still could not find the large tumor! Praise the Healer! Her doctors are befuddled! She returned to work! Her son, Chris, a 13-year-old, became a new creature in Christ On October 1 after seeing the undeniable power of God in his own house. His testimony:"After the group left everything changed!"

The report is that the countenance of Eva is joyful - she is back at work. This will help this fatherless family catch up on the bills. The doctors still do not know what is going on with her - but cannot deny the return of health and strength, the light in her eyes - that happened in a matter of days. Chris is all smiles.

I know a healed woman, Eva, who - expecting death, heard a Rev. 3:20 knock at the door. She answered, and is now eating the children's bread - supping with the Master. Jesus is exalted! The Father is joyful!"

---Charles Schaub

"I hope you remember me. I met you at John Thomas' in his home before I took a team to India. As you prophesied God used me to minister healing at the "mass level." It was awesome. I hope you had heard from John about our trip, as you come up in our conversations often. God used us in such an awesome way, I was in complete shock to see team members even 17 years old healing the sick and driving out demons. In one instance the pastor of the church told us to leave a demon-possessed person alone as he thought it was going to take too long. But God delivered her after almost an hour of prayer."

---Gideon Stanley

"After you taught about healing at Pastor John Thomas' house several weeks ago, I went to India to minister there at meetings organized in the villages in Tamil Nadu. I was there at the same time you were in India. The Holy Spirit moved mightily there and after the Word was preached, I asked for people who were sick to come forward and I laid hands and prayed for every one of them (I spent several hours). I saw instant healings; pains---chronic and acute---leave them. Many came to know the Lord in those meetings after the word was preached and many more took their faith very seriously after healings. The youth were set on fire that night..

---Chris Deepak

 

Elizabeth Lim, Melbourne, Australia

"Luke 4:18,19 was ‘the’ verse that God spoke through to me in ’74. I love sharing the gospel with unbelievers but had my reservations when it came to ‘healing the sick’. Praise God for a fresh understanding of His word through the ‘Elijah Challenge’ seminar. I agree with John Maxwell that the best way to allow God to write His truth upon our hearts is to quickly apply what we learn.

I give God the glory for His healing of my chronic back pain. AND for activating my faith in ‘healing the sick’ to proclaim the kingdom of God. At around noon on Monday, 12 January, a mailman came to my home with a registered letter. As he turned to leave, he grimaced, and clutched his knee as he descended the steps. I enquired whether he was alright. He said his knee had been giving him problems and that he was in pain. I asked, “Would you like me to pray for you?” He reiterated his condition and I repeated my question. He agreed on my third offer. I established that I am a Christian and that Jesus has given us the Authority, the Ability and the Command to heal the sick. I explained that as I lay my hands on his knee, Jesus will heal him.

I proceeded to rebuke the pain and commanded the infirmity to leave in Jesus’ name. Upon the third command, he looked at me and proclaimed that the pain had gone. As I pressed for confirmation, he demonstrated and explained, “Before this as I stepped on it, it was painful. Now the pain is gone, no more pain!” Glory to God! As Pastor William taught, we need Radical Obedience to grow in transition from our ‘Faith in God’ ( I know God can do it ) to the mountain-moving ‘Faith of God’ ( I know I can do it because I have been given the Authority, the Ability and the Command to do it ). A measure of authority over diseases and demons was given to whomever God sends out to proclaim the kingdom of God to the lost. When we demonstrate our ‘Faith in God’ by Radical Obedience, He will reward us with the ‘Faith of God’ that the world may know that He alone is God. To God Be The Glory!"

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