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Today was the beginning of the “Good News Festival” here in Cochin, India. This morning at the Fire Conference several thousands of pastors and leaders came to receive an impartation and equipping for ministry. As Evangelist Bonnke preached the people seemed to drink in the message and at the end, an eruption of praise spontaneously burst forth. By the time I got up to preach, the atmosphere was thick with hunger and anticipation. The atmosphere of expectancy is the seedbed of miracles. I had prepared a sermon to preach, but when I opened my mouth, the Holy Spirit began to speak to me and my message came out as an impromptu word from the Lord. Tomorrow the conference continues and will culminate on Sunday morning with a mass baptism into the Holy Spirit as we have seen so many times before. If this first service is any foretaste of what we can expect, I think we are in a for one wild ride.
Heavy rains have been coming down every night since our team arrived, threatening to turn the crusade field – a reclaimed swamp – back to its former condition. This morning in devotions we prayed that there would be no more rain until the crusade is finished. Tonight the Lord answered our prayer, and there was not a drop. Still the crusade field is filled with water. In fact there was a good 50 feet in front of the stage (prize real estate in a meeting like this) occupied only by muddy ditches filled with water. In spite of the conditions over 75,000 people showed up on this first night of the Festival!
The majority of the crowd received Christ, and after the prayer of Salvation, the miracles began to flow. A blind boy was healed. An old lady handicapped for six years began to hop on the platform demonstrating her healing. A little girl who was brought to the meetings straight from the hospital was instantly healed of asthma and fever. One lady testified that she had broken 4 vertebrae in her neck 7 months ago. It had left the right side of her body largely paralyzed. That morning in the Fire Conference she felt an electric current come into her body, and her arm started to swing like a windmill…something she had not been able to do since the accident. After that manifestation she realized that her arm was completely restored, but her leg was still paralyzed. Tonight as Evangelist Bonnke was praying for sick in the corporate prayer, she started shaking violently and collapsed. When she got back up, she realized that her leg was also healed. Many more people came with powerful testimonies…too many to interview.
Please keep us in your prayers this week as we continue to preach the Gospel here in Karala state. Pray that the Lord holds back the rains and dries up the swampy crusade ground. Pray for an unprecedented release of the supernatural over this region, and pray for the many thousands that will come to hear the Gospel this week. We are in the harvest together!
