Cebu April 2010
In April 2010, I was asked by a good friend to accompany him and his wife to the Philippines. My friend is the President/CEO of the International Children's Network (ICN) and their organization has several kids sponsored in the Philippines. They wanted to take someone who knew the area. I had been to the Philippines several times and had also been on the islands where the kids lived. We planned our trip for the month of November and began our planning.
One of the things that I was made aware of was that I was along for moral support and as a safe reference for the team as we traveled and checked in on the sponsored kids. We met with Pastor Ken Tagud, who is the lead pastor of Faith Tabernacle Church in Cebu and also a very good friend of mine, to set up travel to the small islands to visit the kids and get pictures. It was really not a ministry trip but a trip to make contact with the sponsored kids.
God always has plans that are far different from ours. Isaiah 55:7 says, "for my ways are not your ways nor are my thoughts your thoughts, declares the Lord," and though the plans we had was fact finding and pictures, the plan that God had was going to prove to be far different.
We were sitting in the restaurant of our hotel and a young woman came in with her mother and sat down to have lunch. I watched the young woman and it seemed there was something wrong with her. I began to ask God what it might be. Soon the woman got up and was heading to the restroom when I noticed that she had a real problem walking. I don't know if it was an injury or if she was born that way but there was definitely a noticeable difficulty in her movement. As she walked away from me I began to pray and ask God to touch her, as I do with many people I see. I sat there and continued my meal and the young woman returned from the restroom and went back and sat down.
I just couldn't get the woman out of my mind. She had a problem and I was asking God to solve that problem for her. God spoke to me and told me to speak to her and tell her that He was going to heal her. I started to get up but couldn't and God said, "when I am ready." We sat there for another half an hour talking and then it was time to leave. As I was heading toward the door God said, "now speak to her." I went directly to the table and told her that God wanted her to know that He was going to touch her and that she would be healed. For her to tell everyone she came in contact with about what He had done for her. I then told her, "God bless you," and left never to see the woman again.
As we went outside my friend turned to me and asked me what I had done. I told him that God spoke to me and told me to speak to that woman and I had to be obedient and do it. His wife then said that she wished she could have the boldness to do that to which I replied, "you can and all you have to do is listen to God and repeat what He says. You only need to be obedient and it is not about boldness because God will give you the strength to do what He asks of you."
You know I may never see that woman again but some months later I did hear from Pastor Ken that he had heard of a woman God had touched and she was healed and could walk again and it had happened around the time we were there. I don't know if it was that woman or not but that is really not what is important. What is important is that a person was healed, and God showed His mighty power and healing touch. What started out for us was fact finding and turned out to be a move of God. People were touched; I got the opportunity to minister and lay hands on the sick; and we saw the mighty hand of God move. We had the opportunity to speak into the life of a pastor and his wife and they were blessed with twins. We also had the opportunity to speak healing into the lives of many people on the small islands as well.
God's ways were definitely not our ways, and when we got out of the way He showed us.
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One of the things that I was made aware of was that I was along for moral support and as a safe reference for the team as we traveled and checked in on the sponsored kids. We met with Pastor Ken Tagud, who is the lead pastor of Faith Tabernacle Church in Cebu and also a very good friend of mine, to set up travel to the small islands to visit the kids and get pictures. It was really not a ministry trip but a trip to make contact with the sponsored kids.
God always has plans that are far different from ours. Isaiah 55:7 says, "for my ways are not your ways nor are my thoughts your thoughts, declares the Lord," and though the plans we had was fact finding and pictures, the plan that God had was going to prove to be far different.
We were sitting in the restaurant of our hotel and a young woman came in with her mother and sat down to have lunch. I watched the young woman and it seemed there was something wrong with her. I began to ask God what it might be. Soon the woman got up and was heading to the restroom when I noticed that she had a real problem walking. I don't know if it was an injury or if she was born that way but there was definitely a noticeable difficulty in her movement. As she walked away from me I began to pray and ask God to touch her, as I do with many people I see. I sat there and continued my meal and the young woman returned from the restroom and went back and sat down.
I just couldn't get the woman out of my mind. She had a problem and I was asking God to solve that problem for her. God spoke to me and told me to speak to her and tell her that He was going to heal her. I started to get up but couldn't and God said, "when I am ready." We sat there for another half an hour talking and then it was time to leave. As I was heading toward the door God said, "now speak to her." I went directly to the table and told her that God wanted her to know that He was going to touch her and that she would be healed. For her to tell everyone she came in contact with about what He had done for her. I then told her, "God bless you," and left never to see the woman again.
As we went outside my friend turned to me and asked me what I had done. I told him that God spoke to me and told me to speak to that woman and I had to be obedient and do it. His wife then said that she wished she could have the boldness to do that to which I replied, "you can and all you have to do is listen to God and repeat what He says. You only need to be obedient and it is not about boldness because God will give you the strength to do what He asks of you."
You know I may never see that woman again but some months later I did hear from Pastor Ken that he had heard of a woman God had touched and she was healed and could walk again and it had happened around the time we were there. I don't know if it was that woman or not but that is really not what is important. What is important is that a person was healed, and God showed His mighty power and healing touch. What started out for us was fact finding and turned out to be a move of God. People were touched; I got the opportunity to minister and lay hands on the sick; and we saw the mighty hand of God move. We had the opportunity to speak into the life of a pastor and his wife and they were blessed with twins. We also had the opportunity to speak healing into the lives of many people on the small islands as well.
God's ways were definitely not our ways, and when we got out of the way He showed us.
Back to Stories To Intrigue