Boyfriends, Healing and Rain in Indonesia

Published: April 8th, 2008

How can followers of Jesus reach out to Muslims in “closed countries?”  Pray for them!  I have been incredibly inspired and challenged through corresponding with a young American lady who spent time living and praying in Indonesia.  Her stories are simple but profoundly powerful, and very relevant in our setting as well...

My experiences in Indonesia were life-changing.  There were so many battles, so many disappointments, and so many lessons learned from trying to raise up a house of prayer in a city that is 99.9% Muslim.  God taught me so much about prayer during the hours, days and nights that I spent in the prayer room.  Not everyone gets thrown into a prayer room in the middle of a harsh, hardened, radical mission field... and I'm so thankful I have had that unique opportunity.

The prayer room leaked and even flooded, and rats came in under the door, but it was an anointed place, and God met us there many times.  He drew four Indonesian Christians so powerfully into one of the prayer rooms that they could hardly keep themselves from praying.  Sometimes they would pray in tongues all night and not be able to switch it off for their regular activities the following day, which they found quite embarrassing.  They began seeing people miraculously healed, and soon they had 8 gathered, 2 of whom were Muslim women.  And before long 50 youth were wanting to learn about prayer and about reaching out to their friends.  

The prayer rooms that we set up were very unique, because our team followed a very contextual style of evangelism.  The prayer room was not just a refuge for us Believers, but it was a means of evangelism.  A person will very rarely turn down an offer to pray.  People in our community have so many needs and will turn to just about anything for help.  I had many opportunities to pray with my friends, both one-on-one and in group settings.  My friends had no way of understanding the love expressed through Christ's sacrifice until they were convinced of the loving nature of God, and of His desire to have an intimate relationship with His children.  They were intrigued by my prayers.  Though I prayed in a fashion that was very familiar to them, even using Arabic phrases and Muslim names for God (ie, the God who hears, Most Merciful God, the God who avenges me, etc.), they could see such a difference.  Not only did they experience what it is to pray from the heart and pray with love and passion, but they saw my prayers answered, clearly, unmistakably, and miraculously.  I am convinced that prayer makes missions happen.  
 
I was finally able to pray with one of my closest friends, who I call "Laughing Girl" after knowing her for over a year, and her request was for a boyfriend.  She was desperate to get married.  So we prayed together... and within a week, she was dating the man that she eventually married.  After that, every time we were with other friends, she would tell them that if they wanted a boyfriend they should pray with me.   That's a funny example, but it was a testimony to her and her entire family.  On my last visit with her family, her father proclaimed to all present that "what this lady believes is correct," and then he opened his Koran and showed his family the verse that says that Jesus is the Word of God.  I'd never spoken to him about what I believe.

I prayed many times with one of my friends who had for years habitually visited the local witch doctor.  After an intense session of deliverance, she was itching to visit the witch doctor again, even though she knew the consequences.  I pled with her not to go, and then told her I would pray against it.  She texted me later that day, saying that she had in fact been to the witch doctor, but that he refused to offer his services.  He told her she should pray about it instead.  This is not something that witchdoctors say!  She told me she knew that happened because I'd been praying.  This same girl began praying in the name of Jesus after He came to her in a dream.  When one of her co-workers became ill because of a curse, she prayed for her and she was instantly healed.

One of my favorite stories is when we were in the middle of a drought.  My city was covered in smoke from forest fires, and we were desperate for rain.  Every day in the newspaper there were pictures of large crowds of men performing special prayers for rain, but nothing happened.  Then one night, we gathered a handful of Believers in our little prayer room and prayed for the heavens to open... and rain came that very night!  Our victory in prayer was not advertised in the newspaper, but a few close friends witnessed it and knew the significance.

Do you have a story about how the power of prayer has helped you share your faith or demonstrate the power of God?  We'd love to hear from you and if appropriate share your story to encourage the 24-7 movement across the globe. 

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