Testimonies of Faith

18. February 2006

You may have heard the story about the “ Two Widows ” . I want to share about one of the widows, a diligent woman named ‘ Seri ' . Because my wife and I found her to be sincere and pure in her heart, we kept praying for her and waiting for a chance to share the Gospel. As a result of many people praying for her, we, together with our female national co-worker, were able to share with her the way to find eternal life. Even though she didn ' t appear to fully understand what we shared (because her education background is so poor) we felt at least, the seed was sown in her heart. Then we kept watching to see how GOD would handle her and her family because we felt that ‘ Seri ' needed not only to hear the Gospel message, but to experience a revelation of God at work.

We know that she has a brother, whose name is Bambang, who is sick as a result of a bad relationship he had with another woman other than his wife. The woman, who he had a relationship with for a year, put a curse on him when he broke off the relationship with her. He was in pain because of a skin disease on his left arm and the left side of his lower abdomen. Whenever we (my wife, my national co-worker and myself) pray for the ministry, ‘ Seri ' and her family are always on the prayer list. We needed to know the right time to visit their house and pray for him.

Finally, the time came - it was Wednesday 15 th February. Someone from Bambang ' s house (right next door to ‘ Seri ' s ' ) came and requested ‘ Nina ' , one of my national co-workers, to come and pray for Bambang ' s wife because she had blacked out. So ‘ Nina ' went and half an hour later I was called to come.

From here on I ' ll let ‘ Nina ' tell her story because she is the person who prayed to set Bambang free from the curse.

When I saw Nurul (Bambang ' s wife), I knew she was not unconscious but there was “ something ” troubling her mind. When I tried to open her mouth, she refused and it was as if her neck was being pulled by some other power. I told her family to keep talking to her and to give her water to drink.

I went to Bambang who was sitting near Nurul and asked about his skin disease, and how he was feeling, but he wouldn ' t look me in the face and eyes. I said to him, “ may I see your injury? ” He said “ yes ” but he still wouldn ' t look at me.

When I saw it I just smiled and said “ you ' re not sick! This is not a serious disease. Just put some medicine like Betadine on it and you will recover. ”

I sat in front of him, and asked him to look at my face and eyes. Here is our conversation:

“ Look at my eyes Bambang, ” I said, “ Don ' t be afraid. I just want to talk with you. ”

Bambang wears a red ring and I took it off because I know it is a kind of amulet. After that, he suddenly cried out very loudly and started trembling. So I asked his brother and father to hold him securely. I just talked to him in a soft voice, but it made him become very nervous and trembly. Suddenly, his wife woke up. She said, “ there was someone who carried me to some place that was very far from here ” . I asked, “ where are you now? ” She answered, “ in my home, I don ' t ever want to go there, again. ”

Then I went to Bambang again.

“ How do you feel now? ” I asked (I could feel he was so tired, afraid, disappointed and lonely).

He answered with a small voice, “ I ' m so tired. ”

I touched his heart and said, “ Do you want to recover? ”

He said, “ Yes! I want to. ” I assured him that he would … .

At that time I arrived at the house. As I entered the house I could feel a kind of calm from Bambang. So I asked him what he wanted God to do for him. He answered that he wanted God to forgive his sins and to heal him. So for 20 minutes I prayed for healing. I told him to keep praying for himself in the name of Jesus Christ (Isa Al Masih) because the Al Quran proved that He has power to heal the sick, cast out demons and even raise the dead and they know it. I also asked his extended family who had gathered there, to use the name of Jesus when praying for him and they said “ yes ” .

Since that time it has become a hot topic for gossip among them, so I hope the power in the name of Jesus is also going to be talked about and spread out through means of their gossiping.

Now is the time for us to pray more for the Holy Spirit ' s moving among them and for sensitivity for us to know what to do in His timing. So pray for us (my wife, Nina and myself) that we might do the right thing at the right time. And please pray for Bambang ' s healing and restoration of the relationship with his wife. For a long time, she has been very worn down by her husband ' s immorality and sickness.