Hong, Nigeria Diary
Click…I woke to the sound of a click and my heart sank. I knew exactly what that click was. It was the sound of a power outage. While most of the people in Nigeria treated us amazing, the fellow in charge keeping fuel in the generator was not the most responsible guy.
Generators run everything. There are no power lines leading back to some electric company—at least not this deep into Nigeria. So if you want electricity you must have a generator—and keep it filled with gas!
So it is 2:00 AM and Ron Cantor has a very hard time sleeping in 95 degree heat. I started panic, realizing that I would be up the rest of the night and had to preach first thing in the morning. The people would be gathering for worship at 6AM and we would begin at 6:45AM. (Pic: The luxurious Ziyara Suites)
By the grace of God I fell asleep and didn’t wake for good until 5:42 AM. Others didn’t do so well. Two of our team members were up the rest of the night. Partly because of the heat and partly because of the fact that we knew the cold air kept the desert creatures that preferred the heat—lizards, spiders, rats—above the ceiling and beneath the roof. It was hard enough sleeping knowing that they there were there, but now with no air and the possibility that they may want to descend to meet their new Israeli guests—sleeping was near impossible.
Some people were just made to be outside with every creeping thing of creation. I am not one of those people and most of our team were not from that ilk either. But I am so proud of them how they overcame these trials.
Day Three of the Fire Conference
The only good thing about the power outage was that it gave me a powerful illustration for our final day of the Fire Conference. This was our anointing service where we would pray for everyone present. From 6AM thousands were waiting and worshiping. I preached on the importance of staying filled with the Holy Spirit. I used the example of the fact that you can’t fill up a generator just once and expect to work forever. You have to keep getting filled.
Then, our team laid hands on thousands of hungry people in the 100 degree sun. We heard many testimonies later of people being baptized in the Holy Spirit and being set free from demonic powers.
Night Four of the Campaign
In Gombi last year, day four of the campaign (Day Six in Nigeria) was a surprise because the attendance was less than Day 3. The reason, I was told, was that many people who live in far away villages needed to get home for Sunday service. So that is what I expected tonight. However, the attendance continues to grow. One reason is that the villages around Hong are much closer than the ones around Gombi. But also, the whole level of hunger and anointing is so much higher and the news continues to spread throughout the region that God is doing something special. (Pic: Me and Pastor Mike Moses who worked harder than anyone!)
Tonight we saw more healings than in any meeting we have ever conducted.
A young girl, maybe three and a half years old, had been blind for the last three weeks. Her mother took her to the doctors and they said, “Your daughter’s problem is not medical.” During the prayer tonight for the sick, as we sounded the Shofar before the Lord, the young girl’s sight was restored. She was able to follow items with her eyes and when her mother told her to take a bottle, she was able to reach out and take it.
A young man who has not spoken a word in ten years was now able to speak. He was able to repeat whatever we said.
A man who fell out of a tree 30 years ago and experienced a brain injury had suffered many problems including bad eyesight and pain all over his body. But the Lord has healed him of all these things and he was beaming with joy.
When we left there were still over a dozen people waiting to testify.
African Children Blessing Israel
For the past two nights, Moti Cohen, one of the pastors at our congregation in Tel Aviv, arrived early at the campaign site. He gathered about 100 children and taught them the song Shabbat Shalom on Friday and on Saturday, Am Yisrael Chai (The people of Israel are alive). During the meeting he brought them up and they danced the traditional Jewish dance, the Hora (circle dance) and sang. (go to http://messianictalk.net to see video) For me, this was the most touching seen of the event. With all the horrible things being taught to children all over the world against Israel, here were Nigerian children beaming as they sang The People of Israel are Alive!
The kids had such a fun time and then parents joined in as well. I believe this type of thing was what God had on his heart when he birthed the Isaiah 2 Initiative. There are many fine groups doing powerful outreach in Nigeria, but we are turning hearts towards Israel as well—showing that indeed Israelis don’t have horns!
Put Away your Idols
I preached a message, explaining that Yeshua and witchcraft cannot be mixed. Many Nigerians who believe in Yeshua still hang on to charms and fetishes, assuming that they have spiritual power to protect them. I explained that the opposite is true. By keeping them you give the enemy a foothold. Balaam could not curse the Children of Israel, but the minute they began to worship the false gods of Moab, a curse came upon them.
We challenged them to bring their charms, fetishes and occult items the next night and we would burn them as in Acts 19. In our next update I will let you know what happened.
Stay tuned for report on the last night…
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