Ultimately Eternal

[The following is an account from our team members in Moscow, Russia of what God did in their church’s multi-ethnic fellowship last week: a physical healing that ultimately led to a spiritual healing.]

Nearly one year ago, our church transitioned from having two to three services each Sunday at International Christian Assembly. This third is for one of our ethnic fellowships that desired their own service. Their fellowship is experiencing a spike in growth and is currently running 75 to 100 people on average. Sadly, they do not have a pastor yet, so my team and I are preaching for them. We’re praying for someone to come to Moscow and stay to preach in their native language.

 

Since I’m acting as their stand-in pastor, last Monday I received a call from one of the women from this people group. She asked me if I could go with her to pray with a young girl here from their home country who was unexplainably sick and whose family thought was demon-possessed. My wife and I made plans to go that evening. We hung up the phone and spent the rest of the day in prayer. We arrived that night to a small apartment with eight people, none of whom had a relationship with Jesus.

The people were surrounding a young girl who was tied down to a floor mat. They were trying to help the girl by using enchantments and by tying her up. We asked everyone to leave except the girl. The first thing we did was untie her and get rid of all the strange items they had placed on her body. I began praying out loud for her deliverance and felt that I should ask her to pray with me for her salvation. I began praying for Jesus to enter her life, and as she echoed my words, all at once her fear and panic left, and she seemed better.

She had been lying on a floor mat for 3 days, unable to move. She told me that she was in pain, so I started praying for her healing. After praying for a time, my wife and I were able to help her stand up. We continued praying, and in the middle of our prayer, a grimace of pain left her face and she began to smile and praise God on her own, in her native language. She was completely healed and delivered. I don’t know for sure whether she had been demon-possessed, but she had definitely been oppressed.

 

When the other seven family members heard her praising God, they ran back into the room and couldn’t believe the change in her. They said that during her sickness, she had not been able to recognize any of them. They began questioning her, and to her amazement, she knew them all. They realized something powerful had happened: they asked me for an explanation.

I told them that Jesus was responsible for this healing—not their chants or rituals. I asked if anyone in room would like to accept Jesus, and all members of her family said they wanted to know someone who had such power to restore health and life. I led them in a prayer for salvation, and they eagerly participated. God gave me specific messages to share with several of the people as I continued to pray for them, and they were shocked by this demonstration of His care for their situations and lives individually.

 

We were able to get to know the family more during our conversation throughout the night, and before we left, they told me they would all be in church this next Sunday. The family also decided they want to open their home for a small group from the church to begin meeting there.

 

What a glorious evening! God not only brought physical healing, which is ultimately only temporary, but spiritual healing, which is ultimately eternal. The response to His offer of salvation was almost unbelievable as all the people in the home committed their lives to the Lord. I am praising God for demonstrations of his power and for opportunities like this—opportunities to reach the world from Moscow, Russia.