March 12-15, 2009
The Elijah Challenge in North America
The 2009 version of the Advanced Training included the following:
The Basic Training: Participants were taught how to heal the sick as Jesus commanded his disciples when he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God to the lost (Luke 10:9). This Basic Training is standard equipment for every disciple of Jesus Christ since every believer is called to be a witness to the lost. Included was some special Training on effective approaches to preaching the Kingdom of God to gospel-resistant peoples like Musl__ms, Hindus, and Buddhists.
Training to train others: Participants were taught how to teach the Basic Training to others. They were taught how to equip their people to heal the sick and cast out demons as Jesus taught His disciples.
Report on the Training
In addition to members of Grace Point Community Church, servants of God came from Seattle, Dallas, and Canada for the Training. Two staff members from Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell’s Windsor Village United Methodist Church were also present.
During the Training, the Lord performed some remarkable miraculous healings as the disciples laid hands on three people with infirmities. One sister’s painful bunion shrank as the bone in her foot starting moving back to its normal position and the pain disappeared. Another sister had persistent pain in her neck and shoulders from whiplash due to a car accident in spite of repeated attempts through the laying on of hands in the past. She was completely delivered from the pain as sisters laid hands on her. A servant of God named JW was practically deaf in one ear with only 25% hearing remaining—27 years earlier his eardrum had been perforated as he walked too closely past a sound speaker. As two brothers ministered to him, JW was delighted to discover that his hearing had been totally restored.
Teams preach the gospel at Houston Rodeo
After the final Training session on Saturday morning, several of the participants went to heal the infirm and preach the gospel to the crowds at the big Houston Rodeo held annually. Testimonies from this outreach will be added shortly.
Evangelistic Healing Service
The final meeting at the Sunday service of Grace Point Community Church in Houston witnessed the climax and application of the Advanced Training at our Training Center. At this meeting the gospel was proclaimed. Two thousand years ago, a man named Jesus Christ made an astonishing claim: he said that was the only way to God and that he was God in human flesh. He called men to repent of their sins and to follow him. He would give them the Holy Spirit by whose power they would be able to put to death the misdeeds of the flesh and live in obedience and holiness. Jesus would not only forgive sins, he would transform sinners into his likeness with ever-increasing glory. How could we be sure that such claims were in fact true, and not simply the words of a madman?
The proof would be his miracles: “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” (John 14:11)
How does Jesus Christ perform such miracles today? Jesus promised in John 14:12 that “anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.” He would perform the miracles through those who believe on him. Jesus would heal the sick through his disciples.
After sharing this message, we asked the trained disciples to come forward to heal the infirm to validate the claims of Jesus Christ. Then we asked the infirm to come forward to be healed. After prayer, the disciples laid hands on the infirm and exercised the authority Christ had given them over infirmities and demons. As far as we could see, every one of those who had come forward for healing then ascended the stage to testify that the Lord had healed them.
Pastor who suffered heart attack testifies
Perhaps the most conspicuous testimony was from Pastor Ron Haskell. He had recently suffered a devastating heart attack. When he came to the meeting, he was so weak that he could hardly talk. At the front, a disciple named Joel laid hands on him. Some minutes later, Ron came up to the stage and through tears of gratitude testified in a normal voice that the Lord had restored his strength. He showed it by running in place in front of the people. Jesus Christ had gloriously healed him.
This and the other testimonies proved that Jesus Christ was precisely who He claimed to be two thousand years ago. When we challenged the people to become slaves to God instead of slaves to sin (Romans 6:20-22), every person present raised their hand.
Testimonies in the aftermath of the Training
From JW in Dallas:
“May I testify that I have my healing in my left ear after partial deafness for over 27 years. The disciples in Houston commanded my healing…praise be the name of Jesus!
Then before I left Houston I ministered to a young man with a methamphetamine addiction at Chapel of Excellence (a halfway house for addicts) just after their evening AA meeting. I was led to approach him and asked him if I could minister to him. I saw the Lord deliver this young man when I commanded the addiction to leave his body…his eyes became clear and he began to smile. I do not think he had smiled in a long time, tears began to flow and he fell on my shoulder with a embrace! You could sense the power of God all over him and visibly see the change in less than 30 seconds, praise be to the name of Jesus!”
From Pastor Darren Hall in Houston:
“Thank you so much. We truly enjoy and value your teaching and will have even more people to bring to your next training session. We had two more confirmed healings this weekend using what you taught and people are responding.”
Reports from past alumni of the Advanced Training