Your God in the Philippines is more powerful than our god in Japan

For many years, I worked as an entertainer in Japan, where I met and married a Japanese man in 1989. In January 1991, I got sick. After a careful diagnosis, the doctor found out I had skin cancer. I was hospitalized for six months and underwent chemotherapy. Due to the side effects of the drugs, I suffered baldness

In the midst of this crisis, I listened to the healing messages of Bro. Mike on audio tapes and read Bagong Liwanag magazines sent to me by my parents from the Philippines. As I read the testimonies on the miracles of El Shaddai, God gave me hope that I would be healed. I repented of all my sins, asked for God's forgiveness and received in my heart Jesus Christ as Healer, Lord, and Savior.

Before I had my last chemotherapy, I made an overseas call to Bro. Mike in his office and asked him to pray for my healing. After that, the doctors were surprised with the result of the examination-it was negative! One of them even exclaimed to me, "Your God in the Philippines is indeed mightier than our god in Japan." Thank You, El Shaddai, for healing me!

Masai Evangelist

One day Joseph, who was walking along one of these hot, dirty African roads, met someone who shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with him. Then and there he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. The power of the Spirit began transforming his life; he was filled with such excitement and joy that the first thing he wanted to do was return to his own village and share that same Good News with the members of his local tribe.

Joseph began going from door-to-door, telling everyone he met about the Cross [suffering!] of Jesus and the salvation it offered, expecting to see their faces light up the way his had. To his amazement the villagers not only didn’t care, they became violent. The men of the village seized him and held him to the ground while the women beat him with strands of barbed wire. He was dragged from the village and left to die alone in the bush.

Joseph somehow managed to crawl to a water hole, and there, after days of passing in and out of consciousness, found the strength to get up. He wondered about the hostile reception he had received from people he had known all his life. He decided he must have left something out or told the story of Jesus incorrectly. After rehearsing the message he had first heard, he decided to go back and share his faith once more.

Joseph limped into the circle of huts and began to proclaim Jesus. “He died for you, so that you might find forgiveness and come to know the living God” he pleaded. Again he was grabbed by the men of the village and held while the women beat him reopening wounds that had just begun to heal. Once more they dragged him unconscious from the village and left him to die.

To have survived the first beating was truly remarkable. To live through the second was a miracle. Again, days later, Joseph awoke in the wilderness, bruised, scarred—and determined to go back.

He returned to the small village and this time, they attacked him before he had a chance to open his mouth. As they flogged him for the third and probably the last time, he again spoke to them of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Before he passed out, the last thing he saw was that the women who were beating him began to weep.

This time he awoke in his own bed. The ones who had so severely beaten him were now trying to save his life and nurse him back to health. The entire village had come to Christ.

This is one vivid example of what Paul meant when he said, “I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body.”

The Warrior's Prayer

Long since, in sore distress, I heard one
pray, “Lord, who prevailest with resistless might,
Ever from war and strife keep me away, My battles fight!”

I know not if I play the Pharisee,
And if my brother after all be right;
But mine shall be the warrior’s plea to thee—Strength for the fight.

I do not ask that thou shalt front the fray, And drive the warring foeman from my sight; I only ask, O Lord, by night, by day, Strength for the fight!

When foes upon me press, let me not quail Nor think to turn me into coward flight. I only ask, to make my arms prevail, Strength for the fight!

Still let mine eyes look ever on the foe,
Still let mine armour case me strong and
bright; And grant me, as I deal each righteous blow, Strength for the fight!

And when, at eventide, the fray is done,
My soul to Death’s bedchamber do thou
light, And give me, be the field lost or won, Rest from the fight!

Time to Listen

One young woman came to us recently after going into hospital 3 times to have her baby aborted. Each time she would spend the day dreading the thought of what was before her. She would deliberately arrive 2 or 3 hours late at the hospital desperately hoping that her appointment would be cancelled. She would be prepared for the operation in a state of total panic. She would even come out in a nervous rash.

Like so many other women she was totally confused and without moral support when she discovered that she was pregnant. All but one of the medical personnel that she spoke to put forward abortion as the only solution. The hospital counsellor seemed to be trying to ‘sell’ the abortion to her, portraying motherhood as a silly romanticised notion.

Somehow, each time this woman found the strength to walk out at the last moment (once, literally seconds before being anaesthetised). Each time, the hospital staff ‘kindly’ booked another date for her abortion to go ahead. Finally, through the efforts of a good Christian soul, Good Counsel Network was put in touch with her. After having a chat with us (We spoke for 8 hours and she said "Nobody else had the time to listen") she is delighted to be keeping her baby, which is what she was crying out to do all along!

Why the Rosary ?

Dear Children,

Today I invite you in a particular way to enter the battle against Satan by means of prayer. Satan wants to battle more, now that you are aware of his activity. Dear Children put on, therefore, the armor against Satan, and with the Rosary in your hands you will defeat him. Thank you for having responded to my call.

(Message of Our Lady in Medjugorje Aug. 8, 1985)

Tongue-Tied Officer

During the Cultural Revolution, in Henan, there was a police officer who severely persecuted the believers. He spoke vile and threatening words against God’s people and was always busy making plans for more arrests.

One day this man stuck his tongue out and was unable to put it back into his mouth! He visited many doctors but nobody knew how to help him. One doctor told him he should seek a Christian for prayer. He visited the home of one of the Christian leaders he had persecuted. The family was afraid to see him.

When the Christians saw his tongue was sticking out and he was unable to say anything intelligible, their fear of this man was changed to pity. The believers realized this man wanted them to pray for him, but they knew if he was healed he would go straight back to persecuting them. Therefore they told him, “There is no way we will pray for your physical healing unless you give your heart to Jesus Christ and believe in Him! And after you receive Christ, you need to agree that you will come to our meetings regularly, and learn to love and serve God with all your heart.”

The officer was commanded to kneel down and repent. Immediately God healed his tongue. This man became a believer and stopped persecuting the believers.

This incident was the start of a great revival in that village, when many families came to know Jesus. This man is still a Christian today.

Healed in Jail Cell

In 1993 Philip, a house church leader in China, was thrown in prison after he and a number of believers were arrested. His ‘welcome’ to prison was a savage beating from the guards. They kicked him viciously with their steel-capped boots, beat him with batons, and tortured him with electric cattle-prods, designed to shock his body with high voltage.

Philip was left unconscious with a broken collarbone, arm, and ribs. The prison authorities then threw his bloody and bruised body into a small cell that already contained 28 prisoners. The cell had just one bed and a bucket, used by all the prisoners as a toilet. The cell leader was a rough man who had already formed a gang inside the prison. No one was allowed to sit on or touch his bed. When Brother Philip’s lifeless body was thrown inside the cell, however, even this hardened criminal had compassion on Philip and lay him down on his bed.

At around 2 a.m., according to the testimony of the other prisoners, a supernatural light or glow appeared over Philip’s body. It shone on him for several hours. The other prisoners were absolutely terrified and backed up against the corner of the cell. They cried for the guards to come and let them out. The guards also saw the supernatural light and were terrified, but they refused to let the prisoners out.

By sunrise, Brother Philip was much better and had regained consciousness. At no time did he actually see the light, but all the other prisoners did. Surprisingly for the serious injuries he had received the previous night, he was feeling much better and his broken collarbone and ribs seemed to be healed. Not surprisingly, the first question the prisoners asked him was “Who are you?” He replied, “It doesn’t matter who I am, but let me tell you about Jesus Christ.” He led all 28 of the prisoners to faith in Christ!

Today Brother Philip continues his ministry and is responsible for hundreds of house churches across China. He is a godly, humble and committed Christian who is willing to die for the Gospel. He receives no income and often goes hungry. Believers sometimes give him love gifts, but most rural Christians in China are so poor that their sacrificial gifts are barely enough for Philip to buy a train or bus ticket to the next town. There are thousands of Gospel-warriors like Philip in China and in the surrounding nations of Asia.