Butch and his wife Janet first trained with The Elijah Challenge in Zambia in February 2005. Butch was raised in the Christian & Missionary Alliance (CMA), and is sent to Africa by Encourager Church in Houston. Their ministry is Light of Africa which is based in Zambia.
More reports from Butch | Light of Africa
Before and after Training with The Elijah Challenge
July 14, 2010
When I first met you, I had been crying out to God for something more. I was discipling some local pastors and church leaders in town and pastors in the village. I taught them the Word as I understood it. It was fine but I knew there was more.
I was bound by denominational traditions and teachings. It was not bad or error, it was just restricting and blinding me to some of what the Bible teaches. We had church but not much power or excitement in the meetings. We prayed for people without expecting or seeing much change. One day, while I was teaching passages from Luke 9 and 10:
Luke 9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. …6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.
Luke 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. …9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’
I looked at the pastors and asked if this was happening in their churches. They all said NO. I told them I didn’t see it either.
I went home very discouraged. I knew I was the problem but had no solution. I cried out to God and asked Him to help show me the answer. Two weeks later I met you. When you shared your ministry and The Elijah Challenge teaching, I knew God had answered my prayer. After learning TEC’s teachings and the authority I have as a believer in Christ, my hope was restored.
I now see the miraculous often and teach others to do miracle evangelism. When I visit a church or village and use the authority to heal someone, the people come to listen and receive. The blind see and the lame walk. I have had those I taught raise people out of wheelchairs and heal blind eyes. I have seen churches that choose to use The Elijah Challenge evangelism, double and triple in (attendance) in 6 months. Pastors who use TEC get visits in the night by people from other churches and cults asking to be healed. Some receive Jesus after their healing or deliverance.
I have been asked to go to churches in other countries to teach them their authority using TEC. When God comes to confirm His word, people respond. I had 2 ladies that walked 20 kilometers to attend a meeting to receive healing and God healed them from years of pain. Some churches form miracle evangelism teams while others have started healing services where anyone can come. A few have done nothing and it dies.
Every church that has practiced the TEC method has initially grown and continues to growing.
I was teaching TEC in a rural village in Burkina Faso recently. When the pastor realized it worked and he was being used by God to heal people, he said,”I never believed or expected anything like this!” People were being delivered and others were healed. PTL!
Thank you so much for teaching me!
Butch Berner
Founder
Light of Africa
[Note: The “TEC method” is simply how Jesus generally ministered healing and how he taught and commanded his disciples to heal the sick in the gospels when he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God.]
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