Brazil: All the crazy stories!

First off, I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who prayed and financially made it possible for me to go to Brazil! It truly was an amazing trip.

So what exactly did we do?

We helped spiritually equip our Brazilian brothers and sisters though various teaching sessions, and we saw over 2,041 people get healed!!! ( 1,351 of those healings happened when either us students or other team members prayed...not the major speakers)

Included in that we saw:

10 blind eyes open

23 deaf ears open

and 4 lame people walked!

(COME ON!!!! Isn’t Jesus amazing?!?!)

Here's a group photo of most of our team! (can you spy me?)

Logistically speaking, we split our time between two churches. Our team facilitated conferences that had morning sessions for training, and then an evening service that usually involved a time of prayer for healing. The first Church had about 1,600 in attendance and the second one had about 2,000. Essentially, the materials that were taught to the Brazilians resembled a condensed version of some of the material we’ve learned at school!

The goal (as I perceive it) is that after we leave, they will be equipped to continue to do exceedingly more than we could do in our short time there. They can pray for the sick, they can encourage one another with words of knowledge, they can step into their destiny and they can receive more of the Holy Spirit!

The second church we visited said that they had been fasting and praying for 21 days before we arrived. Their expectation for what God was going to do was SO MOVING. You could feel the faith and excitement in the room.

I could write paragraph after paragraph about how kind the Brazilian people are, how their passion for Jesus is inspiring, how the food is delicious, how the language is so fun to listen to, how welcoming they are and how their worship services are so full of excitement and wonder....but I want to get to some stories.

I got to pray for a woman who had severe allergies. She said she had to take so many medications every day. So I prayed for her with my friend Abbie and then all of a sudden she encountered the presence of God in a really powerful way. During the course of us praying, she experienced tears, laughter and peace. I saw her the next day during the morning session and she said she didn’t take her medicines that morning because she no longer needed them- she was totally healed!

All of her allergies were healed and she no longer needs medication!

One morning I had a word of knowledge for pain in both ears. Before the evening service I met a little boy who had a pain level of 5 in both ears. After I prayed I asked him how he felt... he put his little index finger on his face as he pondered my question and then told me the pain went down and that there was only a little left. We prayed again and all his pain went away!

No more ear pain for this precious little boy!

Sometimes things happen that remind me that God has a sense of humor....I prayed for a woman (the aunt of the pastor) who had lower back pain. She was totally healed. The next day she told me God also healed her eyes (even though I never prayed for that!) she could only see 50% before, now she can see 100%!! I had been wanting to see someone’s vision improve and here, God healed someone’s eyes without me even specifically praying for them!

Jesus healed this woman's back AND restored her eyesight from 50% vision to seeing 100% clearly!

Speaking of eyes... one young girl I prayed for couldn’t see clearly out of her left eye. She also wasn’t able to communicate verbally so her parents used a lot of hand gestures. By the time we finished praying the Lord restored the sight in her left eye! Her parents covered up her right eye to test the left one, and she was able to hold up the exact amount of fingers she saw her mom holding up (multiple times) They said she could not do that before! The Lord ALSO restored the Mom’s hearing from a 7-10% hearing capacity to 100% capacity. In a room of roughly 1,500 people I was able to whisper in her ear and she could hear me. As the daughter looked around the room (taking it in with BOTH of her eyes), the mom was crying as she realized the Lord just restored her hearing. WHAT A JOY it is to watch people receive a tangible measure of the Love of God.

The kids here are so sweet- here they are asking to receive more of the Holy Spirit!

Now before I write any further... I have a confession (and given the stories I just shared, you probably are going to think I’m crazy!)

90% of this trip, I was discontent.

Not because I wasn’t feeling well.

Not because I was sleep deprived.

Not because I missed home.

Not because I was irritated with my teammates.

I was discontent because although I was GRATEFUL for every single miracle I saw... I wanted more. I wanted to see and “be in” on something that would mark me forever. I wanted to go home with my toolbox filled with testimonies, to build faith and to share with everyone all the crazy powerful miracles our God is capable of. I knew I was there to pray, to serve, to give... but I wanted to receive too. I wanted to see God’s power on display in a way I never had before.

Basically, I was greedy.

Hungry.

Desiring more.

Because I KNOW our God is a big God.

He does big things.

And even though to Him... a stubbed toe is no more challenging to heal than cancer... I wanted to see Him show off. I wanted to experience His bigness for myself.

So at the end of the the first 5 nights, my head would hit the pillow and I’d think to myself “that was awesome.... but I wanna see more.... there’s gotta be more”.

Before our final session, on our last day... our leaders had a time of prayer for us at the hotel. Think of it as a final time of us getting filled up so we could pour out. I truthfully thought to myself “this will be nice... after this short time of prayer, I’ll go up to my room and nap before the service tonight” but then I slipped in there something along the lines of “hey God... if you want to encounter me in some sort of new way... go for it. I want to receive whatever you have for me.”

Can I just pause for a second and say... when you pray things, God may in fact take you up on what you say..... this was one of those instances where my idea of “naptime” turned into the most radical encounter I have had with God in my entire life. The only thing that even remotely resembled the peaceful nap I had planned, was the fact that I was no longer standing, and when I eventually was able to get up off the floor... I was not the same person I was when I walked in that room. Little did I know, I needed that experience with the Holy Spirit, to get me “supercharged” for what was about to happen in the service ahead.

Now.... I want to say that the following experience was one of the most incredible, meaningful, mind-blowing miracles, I’ve ever personally witnessed.

On the bus ride to church, one of our leaders asked if team G (which was my small team, out of the larger group) would be willing to pray for some people in a room during the service time. When we arrived, there were people waiting with all kinds of different conditions. I planted myself in front of a lady in a wheelchair thinking “yay God! This is gonna be it!” But she didn’t get up and walk out of there. (She did leave in less pain... but not totally healed). I was bummed. The next girl was 3 years old, tiny and very sick. She nearly cried every time she looked at me.... and she also left with no visible signs of improvement.

Real talk: even though I don’t want to be discouraged.... sometimes I do get discouraged. But then I tried to remind myself of what I stated in my last post “even if they don’t leave healed... I want them to leave feeling loved.”

Love was the game-changer.

My eyes were drawn to a girl who was probably about 8 years old who had been prayed for by different members of our team already. I went up to her and introduced myself, and with the help of a translator I discovered that she had been prayed for throughout the day... that she’s never walked by herself before, and now she was able to take a few steps.

I could feel my heart stirring within me.

The translator then told me that the girl was having trouble taking more than a few steps because she was afraid of falling. “That makes sense” I thought to myself, “she’s literally never walked without holding on to something before today”. But then it came to me... 10 months ago God radically delivered me of fear... and if He could do it for me, He could do it for this little girl.

So I asked if I could share something with her. Through a translator, I told my story. And then I asked if I could pray for her to also not be afraid. She said yes! Then what unfolded was something I can literally only describe as supernatural.

This girl went from never taking a step alone... to taking multiple steps... to INSISTING we try over, and over and over again.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then a video is worth probably a million. If you’d like to see footage of this miracle, I’ve uploaded it here: https://youtu.be/k0j1L7C_SdU

There's a clip from the morning, and later that night. It's incredible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0j1L7C_SdU

COME ON!!!! HOW AMAZING IS JESUS?!?!?!

Words just can’t do that moment justice.... I know it’s one I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.

This was a team effort. So many people prayed for this little girl. So many people showed her love. So many people didn’t give up. And together... we stood in awe of WHAT OUR GOD DID.

Later that night, I got to pray with over 20 people who struggled with suicidal thoughts and depression. Every single one received a touch from God. It was amazing to watch. One girl shared that she tried to take her life right before the service... I truly believe she left that church in a very different place emotionally than when she walked in.

This is our God.

The God who cares about the blind eyes and the hurting hearts.

The God who gives joy in place of depression.

The God who opens ears and strengthens little legs to walk again.

I know.

Because I’ve experienced Him.

I personally saw over 21 people healed to where their conditions improved by at least 80% or more.

I personally walked through emotional healing with over 35 people.

I personally witnessed the mighty power of God totally wreck at least 20 people or more.

I say these things because if God can use me, I KNOW He can use you.

And we need you. This stuff isn’t just for Brazil... it’s for everyone, everywhere.

Our God is real.

Our God is alive.

Our God is on the move.

And He isn’t slowing down one bit.

Let the resounding cry of our hearts be “more Lord!”

Why?

Because He can.