Kingdom Expansion in SE Asia

The following is a recent enounter my missionary friends had in SE Asia.

"I have been healed so many times by the Buddhist monks, but the demon
spirits keep coming back. It doesn't really work like I thought. I don't
care who I pray to, I just need healing. "

These were the desperate words I heard 1 month ago from my next door
neighbor, Ihsan. After praying for she and her family for 4 + years, I knew
the time was finally right to introduce her to Jesus, and that only He had
the power to heal what was plaguing her.

Ihsan and her husband Glenn have 4 children, with similar ages to ours. As
soon as we arrived in Singapore, we struck up a very friendly rapport with
them. They are Indonesian, both in successful business ventures making
them very well off. In fact she is a VP wth a very prominent international
finance firm. They have both been college and graduate school in America,
so they were happy to have us as neighbors, and enjoyed talking about
politics, and even allowed their kids to visit our church occasionally.

Glenn and Ihsan were strong Buddhists. Their house was filled gold Bhudda
idols and alters that they prayed to every morning and night. We often saw
them praying with incense over the Mercedes Benz!!, and when things were not
going well, they would consult "feng shui" masters, seek fortune tellers,
and even fly in Buddhist monks from Thailand.

About 3 years ago, Ihsan trusted me with a very personal secret. She was
being plagued by "ghosts", which would cause her to change into another
person, using incredible strength, speak in different languages, and use a
different voice than hers. She would feel it coming on by a choking
sensation, and her legs would feel numb, like being paralyzed. These
experiences sometimes came every night, but were unpredictable. It was
overwhelmingly scary for her, as she knew that if something like this
manifested at work, she would be deemed emotionally unstable, and would
loose her job. She sought after medical help, but nothing was ever
discovered. She explained that someone in her family practiced Indonesian
black magic, and was very jealous of her and her financial success, plus
having 4 beautiful children. She believed that this lady had placed curses
on her, and was praying against her to evil spirits.

At that time, I asked if I could pray for her, and she said yes. It was the
first time she had ever been prayed for out loud. Jeff and I recognized
that she was very clearly struggling with demon possession, and committed to
pray regularly for her delieverance, and for their families salvation.

After that, she would often confidently tell me how the Buddhist monks could
cure her, and that she was free from the "ghosts". I wanted to tell her
about the Lord, but I never felt He was releasing me to do so. We felt
confused that the Lord was allowing that to happen. We were so disappointed
as we watched them pull away from us, and become more involved with
chanting, and going to the Buddhist temple for two years.

On Valentines Day, after she shared that she was desperate to find a cure, I
told her I knew The Cure! I asked her permission to bring someone with me
to pray for her, and that the "ghosts" would go away and stop tormenting
her. She agreed, and for the first time she cried out to God. The next day,
she was indeed delivered from 7 demons, knowing and experiencing the power
of Jesus for the first time.

She said, "When the ghosts came that day, it was different. Even though I
wasn't the one talking and acting wildly, I could still see and feel what
was going on. When the pastor commanded the demons to come out in the name
of Jesus, they were scared when he said that. They tried to resist, but they
couldn't. Now I know that Jesus is real, and that He is the most powerful
God."

Along with Ihsan's spiritual healing and salvation, were many others that
witnessed what happened to her that evening, including her husband, two
oldest children (ages 10 and 8), her Mom, and her 3 helpers who are Muslims,
who have all believed in Jesus as well! Praise the Lord.

They were all baptized by Jeff on Easter Morning, in the ocean, at our
sunrise service.

We've never personally seen such a strong power encounter
quite like this before happen with personal friends and neighbors, and then
so many salvations at one time. Our faith has been strengthened as we've
seen God do a mighty work, and answered our prayers in His perfect time.
We'll be hesitant to doubt that He is at work when we can't see any results
again!

We knew you'd want to rejoice with us by hearing this special testimony that
we're so privileged to share! Thank you for your love for our family and
for YOUR prayers for us! In fact many of you have prayed on a few occasions
for this famiy yourselves as we have mentioned them in past newsletters over
the years.