Friday, October 19, 2007

He Bore Our Sicknesses and Sorrows

I spent the last two days laying on my side because I was experiencing too much pain and discomfort while laying on my back. Abdominal pain and diarrhea made it hard to sleep. I loss lots of fluid and barely ate food. But, I couldn’t help but focus on Jesus. He was with me and was sustaining me, just like He promised, and the pleasure of being with Him overwhelmed me. I literaly felt that He was bearing my sickness, and caring for me through this ordeal. After all, He “bore our sicknesses and carried away our sorrows.” When Sunday came, my joy in the Lord continued. I cried out to the Lord and he gave me strength to walk the 30 meters to the church. And there I saw Boma, formerly a drunkard with no knowledge of Jesus Christ, but now He is a sober, son of God translating from Chechewa into the Chiawo language for the Sunday message. I sat straight up in the church for about 20 minutes (the past day and a half I couldn’t sit straight up). The Lord strengthened me again, and I walked in the hot sun to Sunday school (under a tree) where Tiffany and Tonya were teaching. I had to see my children. Some of them walk 20 minutes from Asumani village. They are fruits of the Lord’s labor. After praying for them, I immediately returned to the house and fell asleep from exhaustion. But, by Monday I was well. Hallelujah!

But there were more burdens that Jesus carried. At the same time (Sunday night), Jessie, the other American missionary who lives in the same house with us, was very sick and had symptoms of malaria again. But Jesus bore our sicknesses and carried away our sorrows. As we all prayed for Jessie, I witnessed deep crying unto deep. From the depths of the Spirit’s heart emerged a longing (a heart’s cry) for the Lord’s will to be done in Jessie. Jessie immediately spring up and sat on his bed. He began to gain strength from that very moment. The next morning He was up and about as usual.

At this time, I can’t explain why I went through what I did. I know both cases were spiritual attacks. But, what is more important is that the Lord continued to strengthen me to believe Him and believe well for what He said He did for us on the cross. There is no room for sorrow, fear or discouragement. We are content with our Savior, and we are completely thrilled at the joy, peace, comfort and healing that Jesus brings. Refusing to be distracted, we choose to believe in Jesus and contend for the great LOVE that He has for us.

We will continue to share the truth of His gospel with the people of the surrounding villages. The harvest is plentiful and the kingdom is advancing! Jesus did not die in vain. We choose to trust Him for the rewards of His suffering.

Monday, October 8, 2007

The Gospel Is The Power of God

Surprise! I’m back in the city mainly because it’s Tiffany’s birthday tomorrow, 10/9, and I’m buying her something special like a pastry or even a chocolate bar. It may not seem like much, but here it’s a special treat (especially since the little chocolate bar will cost about $2 US). But my beautiful wife is worth it!

While ministering in Asumani village I met Boma (the guy in the photo) who was very drunk. He began to hold on to me. I was overwhelmed with the love of God for Him, so I embraced him and began to pray for him in English (Boma doesn’t speak English). Suddenly, the power of God surged through Boma. And looking as though he sobered up a bit (but obviously still drunk), he immediately kept saying that He was sorry for drinking and wanted God to forgive him. When the interpreter told him about Jesus, Boma said he wanted to receive Christ and stop drinking. Since that day, Boma has stopped drinking even when His friends tried to offer Him something to drink.

Then, there’s beautiful Lucie who currently has some devils which make her act crazy at times and speak in languages that she hasn’t learned. The women at our site have been loving her and interceding for her. This past Sunday, Lucie was much calmer and had joy in her heart. In church she gave her testimony of how the Lord spoke to her to stop attending her mosque and be part of a church. Lucie obeyed the Lord and has been coming to church regularly. We see the Lord creating something beautiful in Lucie’s heart while setting her free. We believe that one day she will receive Jesus as her Savior and be transformed to such a degree that she’ll be a mighty woman in the Lord, and no one will ever know she had devils. Jesus can even heal scars.

The gospel is the only thing that has the power to transform the lives of individuals and villages. “It is the power of God unto salvation”.
We will be visiting the U.S. from Oct 27 through the end of November. What a blessing from the Lord! After that time, we’ll return home to Lichinga and be full-on in ministry at our site and in villages during the challenging rainy season. May the Lord open eyes toward His harvest and grace people that will help us “bring in the nets” and disciple adults and children.
Continue to pray for us, the people of Asumani and the people of the other surrounding villages.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

The Harvest Is Ripe and Plentiful

On Monday, I mainly walked to Asumani to spend time with Antonio, a young man who gave his life to Jesus last week. But, I also witnessed the power of God beginning to transform the life of another young man. After preaching the gospel, several people received the Lord, but one young man wasn’t sure if he wanted to commit His life to the Lord. Through a translator, I told him in a very sincere way that if he didn’t love the Lord enough to want to give up his life to serve him, he shouldn’t accept Jesus as His Savior. The young man left, but about 5 minutes later, he returned trembling with watering eyes. He told us that he wanted to receive Jesus. Many people have prayed for years for this area, and now we are seeing numerous people of Asumani village live for the Lord. The holy fire of God has been falling in this village, and people are being convicted of their sin and their need for the Savior Jesus Christ. In the same village, a family recently gave their lives to Jesus. Sunday, this family entered our small village with singing and rejoicing to attend our church for the first time. They are a very lovely family and are a joy to spend time with. Although people are accepting Jesus as their Savior, our heart is for people to become full hearted worshippers of God, people of His presence who are willing to give up anything and everything to live their lives for the Lamb of God. The Lord has given us His passion to see this transformation occur in the hearts of men. We are looking forward to sharing the testimonies of all that Jesus will be doing.

My wife continues to do an awesome job homeschooling our children and being a true servant in many other capacities. She is a wonderful blessing. She also continues to informally minster to a few of our local woman who live in our village.

At the end of last month, we celebrated our 10th Anniversary again through a special lunch with our Lichinga family and lots of goodies (a few birthdays were also celebrated at the same time). Besides ministry, we take the time for important things like this.

To our CLG Family, congratulations on another church anniversary celebrating the goodness of Jesus Christ and the kindness of the Lord through the years!

We love you and may the Lord bless you. Continue to pray for Asumani that the people would have a burning passion to serve to the Lord and be true disciples of Jesus Christ. Continue to pray for us, that the Lord would continue to humble us, draw us into His righteousness and give us tremendous favor with the people and communities of this land.

We love you. The Haynes’