After two days of travel and over 8,365 miles I had finally arrived at Celebration Tabernacle, a church located in the slums of Mbarara, Uganda. This Muslim village, like so many others, has been devastated by poverty, witchcraft, drugs, abuse, prostitution, and AIDs. Celebration is the lone Christian Church perfectly situated in the center of teh village like a beacon of hope and light to a community that is in desperate need.
It was Sunday. Hundreds had gathered under the tin roof of this simple wood slated, barn-like building. A woman hobbled into the building that morning. She was completely paralyzed in one of her legs and was the only Christian in her Muslim family. During the service the power and presence of God filled the church. There was a moment when we witnessed a move of mass healing and deliverance break out in a matter of minutes. It was during this time that this precious woman felt the power of God go through her body, restoring the use of her leg.
Often times you hear about these miracles when they happen, however this time was different. I didn’t find out about it until the following day because she didn’t stay in the service. She ran home excited to share the miracle with her family!
When the service was over, I left to preach in a refugee camp made up of hundreds of families from the Congo. They had fled the intense violence and bloodshed that is currently taking place there. While we were witnessing the power of God break out in the refugee camp, I didn’t know what was happening back at Celebration.
I can only imagine the surprise on the face of the woman’s Muslim son-in-law when he saw her return with the use of both of her legs. He had never seen Allah answer his prayers in such a way and that was not for a lack of him trying. He had a six year old son who had been severely tormented by evil spirits for the past year. The boy could not even sleep because he would writhe and convulse in his bed throughout the night. His father had prayed and pleaded to Allah for his son’s deliverance, yet to no avail.
Now seeing the miracle in his mother-in-law, he had hope that Jesus could do for his son what Allah could not. He gathered his family and went to the church hoping against all hope for a miracle.
The family came hoping to find me, but instead they met a loving and faith-filled church. The members of the church wasted no time and began to pray for the family and the son. The same power that was felt that morning came upon them that evening. The son was miraculously delivered and for the first time in over a year had a night of rest in complete peace!
My friends, miracles always point people to Jesus. They are signs that proclaim the power of the Gospel. Not just for the healing of a body, but more importantly for the saving of the soul. From America to Africa I’ve seen some pretty notable miracles. Blind eyes and deaf ears have been opened, large cancerous growths have shriveled up before my eyes, and the possessed have found deliverance. Every time I’ve seen God move so powerfully, I’ve also seen signifiant groups of people come running to the altar to abandon lives of sin and embrace the eternal life of Christ. The Gospel works!
