The Lord keeps putting us in all kinds of situations to get Truth out there, and to help people come to an understanding of things that their churches are not telling them. Lots more has happened since my last post:
1) Don got chatting with one of the front desk staff here at the hotel we’re still staying at. She ended up coming to our room after her shift one night, to have us pray over her. She got filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues as proof. She was overjoyed!
2) At a homeschool convention we attended, we all got chatting with one of the vendors. One of them had struggled with a very strong stutter his whole life, so while I chatted to the ladies, Don got talking to him about the healing power of God. We ended up going to a quiet corner of the convention hall to pray over him, and he received. He had been a little worried about speaking in tongues based on some past negative experiences (which are never of God - they are because of mankind corrupting the things of God), but he was so happy when he heard himself praying in the Holy Spirit so powerfully and so fluently.
3) James (from my May 18th post) had invited us to minister at his church, so when Don and Daniel headed back to Georgia for a few days, they let James know they were close by and that they could pop over to Alabama for a visit. James was really eager, so Don and Daniel attended his Sunday service, and Don preached at the end about the need to be born of both water and of the Holy Spirit.
Also, on their way back to Georgia, they stopped by an ice cream place at which they met a couple who were on a lunch break from their own church service. They were able to encourage the husband (who was already Spiritfilled) to pray in tongues more often (our standard, “Pray in tongues as much as you can every day!”) and to pray over his wife to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
4) While Don and Daniel were away, the rest of us here stopped by a coffee shop north of our hotel. While we relaxed, we overheard three women speaking a mix of Russian and English, and they were talking a lot about God and church. After a while, I politely interrupted, and that led to us spending over two hours with them, encouraging them from the Word. Two of the young women were already Spiritfilled - with Spiritfilled husbands and children! They welcomed our encouragement to not get bogged down in their traditional church and religion that is quenching the Holy Spirit, but rather to go and live the Book of Acts life - gathering with their other Spiritfilled friends and family, and ministering to whomever God brings their way.
5) While Don and Daniel were still back in GA, they stopped by our old gym to do a workout. Daniel got chatting to someone we’d all spoken to a few times in the past and ended up inviting him to come pray outside with him and Don. He received, speaking in tongues, after years of going to church (which he had eventually given up on)!
6) While still in GA, Don had to pop to the local Walmart late one night to get a few things. At the checkout, a lady came up behind him who was wearing a “Joy FM” t-shirt. Given the t-shirt, Don asked her if she was a church-going lady. She said “No, but I’m a lover of Jesus.” This led to a whole series of events…
Don discovered that she’s already Spiritfilled and loves praying in tongues, and she even prays over people for healings. She joined our WhatsApp prayer group straight away and put her niece in touch with us. We shared God’s Word with the niece over the phone (as Don was back with us in FL by this stage) and encouraged her to visit our old neighbors, to have them lay hands on her to be filled with the Holy Spirit. She did, and she received, and now they’re ministering to her every day. The niece is also part of our prayer group now, and we’re all rejoicing in the difference between the like-minded Spiritfilled fellowship we’re all having together versus the “churchianity” environment that both ladies came out from.
7) The washing machine in the hotel room here wasn’t working the three times we tried it throughout the day. We then had to go out, so when we returned to the room, I called for maintenance to come take a look at it. When Joseph (the serviceman) arrived, he pulled the button and the machine worked straight away! I laughed and did a mild scream in mock embarrassment. It was quite funny.
But then I realized that what happened to me earlier was probably for a reason. So, I gave Joseph (a Haitian man) one of our ChristiansRule.com cards and briefly told him about our ministry. He was on his way out the door by that time, but he immediately stopped as soon as I started to speak. He was beaming as he started to tell me about his own family’s Christian ministry. When I asked him if he was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues, he eagerly said yes, and he proceeded to agree with all the other things I shared, especially about the need for people to be born again of water and of the Holy Spirit (and not just “give your heart to Jesus”), etc. It was wonderful that God connected us briefly, as an encouragement to one another.
8) Don had to head back to Georgia for a second time, and this time it coincided with our Thursday night WhatsApp prayer group, so he got to connect with everyone back there in person, to pray together with the rest of us and to encourage them all with more scriptures. Also, while in GA this time, Don saw Jermaine at Costco for the first time. He was a man (and one of the people who do the food samples) that Sharon got to share some of the Word with a long while ago. Jermaine is Spiritfilled and he has a street ministry where he even baptizes people in public using a portable baptismal tank. Don was able to dig into the Word deeper with Jermaine and especially encourage him to also pray over people to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
