3rd to 5th November 2009
Organizer:
Assemblies of God Philippines
Northern Luzon District Council (NLDC)
Rev. Conrado P. Lumahan – District Superintendent
Rev. Alfredo G. Torres- Assistant District Superintendent
Rev. Evangeline Garcia - Secretary
Rev. Jeremias F. Tadina – Treasurer
Location: Luzon Bible College, Sta. Maria Norte, Binalonan, 2436 Pangasinan, Philippines
Upon the invitation of Rev Conrado Lumahan, the AG District Superintendant of Northern Luzon District Council and his committee, Grace, her parents and I arrived in the Philippines on 2nd November 2009. At the LCCT airport in Kuala Lumpur, we met Dr. Paul Ai, who was the other speaker. We got acquainted with this Vietnamese veteran minister who had gone through so many hardships just to share Christ with his fellow Vietnamese around the world. He was persecuted and imprisoned by the Communist regime in Vietnam for more than 15 years. We were so happy that we could minister along with this mighty warrior of the Lord.
On the plane, Grace and I sat next to a Malaysian Indian who was on the way to the Philippines to get married. We struck a conversation with this gentleman and before Air Asia landed at Clark Airport, he had confessed his sins and accepted Jesus as his Savior. Grace and I were happy that this mission trip had a very fruitful beginning.
Before the day of the Prayer Conference, Pastor Lumahan took us to Baguio City, near to the place where a landslide had killed 400 people. Some 45 of these were Christians from an Assembly of God church. We saw collapsed buildings and eroded hills that showed evidence of recent landslides. Big boulders had rolled down the slopes and crushed people, houses and vehicles. All these happened during the recent typhoons. We were told that Luzon Bible College was also under 5 to 7 feet (1.52 to 2.13 meters) of flood water. In fact, more than 70 percent of the towns in Pangasinan were underwater at that time. Thankfully, all these flood waters had subsided and there was no typhoon during the duration of the Prayer Conference.
Dr. Paul Ai was the speaker on the first night of the NLDC Prayer Conference 2009. More than 300 participants turned up at the gym ground of Luzon Bible College. Like us, all the participants were so blessed by the testimony of Dr. Paul. At the conclusion of the service, the participants responded positively to the altar call given by Pastor Lumahan. They gathered and knelt at the altar before God.
On the second day of the Prayer Conference, it was my turn to share about The Elijah Challenge. During both the morning and night sessions, I shared the principles of our God-given authority to heal. Even though the participants were mostly Pentecostal pastors and leaders of the Assemblies of God in Northern Luzon, they were a little cautious as to what I was sharing. Many were veteran pastors and they had been used to applying the praying method to heal the sick. When told that they should not pray for the sick but simply just heal by commanding in the name of Jesus, they were a little uneasy. I knew this feeling because when I first heard the commanding approach from Pastor William Lau, I was also quite skeptical.
Among those who readily accepted the Elijah Challenge’s message were the female participants. These sisters who served as ‘pastoras’ (the Filipino term for female pastors) and church leaders were full of faith when the time to heal arrived. I shared about the distinctions in the Priestly, Prophetic and Kingly Authority. During the break, a couple of pastors told me that they had never heard about the authority to heal before. They were well-versed with the gift of healing. They also admitted that they had often used the Priestly and Prophetic authority but hardly touched the Kingly Authority. During the demonstration, the Lord confirmed his promises by healing in a miraculous way.
There were 13 participants who needed healing in the morning session and another 10 in the evening session. Before the healing demonstrations, Pastor Lumahan led the infirm in a prayer of confession and repentance. That was necessary because for the Christians to receive healing, it was conditional upon their obedience and repentance. After that, Pastor Lumahan and I took turns to command the diseases and pain to go in the name of Jesus. As expected, one by one, the infirmed participants were healed. The miracles included the healing of back pain, leg pain, shoulder and neck pain, abdomen pain and even eye pain. Those who were healed stepped up boldly to the platform and testified to the glory of God. Some of them did that with tears in their eyes. Others could not help smiling because they had experienced miracles in the name of Jesus.
We did not have any healing demonstration on the final day which was an afternoon session. The time was limited and so I rushed to share as much information about how to use the authority and power to heal.
After the final session, we were invited to minister to a former high-ranking police officer who had a stroke. By the grace of God, we were able to get the pain in his limbs greatly reduced. Then, we got him to stand up and walk. His pastor, Rev Jamie, was also asked to lay hands and command this disease to be healed. After a few times, Pastor Jamie was doing great job in exercising his faith in healing the sick.
We thank God for this wonderful opportunity in serving Him at the NLDC Prayer Conference and imparting Elijah Challenge to the pastors and church leaders.
Reported by Reverend Albert Kang
Ministry Director
Elijah Challenge Asia
