t h e   r e p o r t

Destination: Uganda, Kampala with Fresh Fires and Todd Bentley. (www.freshfire.ca)
from 31st August - 10th September 2005.

Background information: over 400 churches in Kampala, of which 200 were involved in the organising of the miracle crusades, providing interpreters, transport, follow up and discipleship for new Christians.
2 mill people live in Kampala, average life expectancy of a man: 46 yrs old, for a woman: 47 yrs old. Aids very prevalent.

Reinhardt Bonnke was chased out by the Muslims in the early 90’s in a place called Jinga where we went during the 2nd half of the trip.

The team consisted of between 40 – 50 people from all backgrounds, from Australia, Canada, America, UK, Mexico, Sweden etc. Age-group from teenagers to late 60’s.

…and this is just the start!
After arriving at Entebbe airport at 11.30pm, we were taken to a really nice hotel in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. I met my room mate, Richard from Tunbridge Wells. We got talking about what the Lord is doing in our lives and at 1AM, the Holy Spirit fell in our hotel room. Words of knowledge and encouragement were flowing immediately, it was great.…We became good friends during the next 10 days. So the first night we slept only 3 hrs before breakfast and then went for a briefing with Todd Bentley to find out what the mission was about, what our roles would be, and what options there were for serving.

Todd also ended up giving us a time of impartation.  Only 2 weeks earlier I was telling Heidi that I would love to be drunk in the Spirit, but I didn’t want to feel that this was self-induced…I wanted it to be completely 100% Holy Spirit induced.  I was waiting 2^nd to last in the team, as Todd was 10m away the Holy Spirit hit me.  I was shaking and stammering and convulsing wit the Holy Spirit, and then Todd laid hands on me and I was thrown back and I was drunk in the Holy Spirit for the first time!  I couldn’t stop laughing, I couldn’t stand up, and I was just full of the Holy Spirit! Wow, if this is the start of it, what’s the rest going to be like?! And so the Lord renewed our strength!


Markets and Miracles
There were 6 options to serve during the day time, and we could choose which we wanted to do, and even
interchange if we wanted.  The 6 options were: Orphanages, Prisons, Hospitals, Street Evangelism,
Community (prostitutes etc), Schools.  The schools never really happened, as they were all on holiday,
which was a pity as I’d really wanted to do that AND street evangelism.  So Richard and I opted for
Street Evangelism and very quickly we found ourselves on a bus being taken to our first market place. 
Boy, were we in for a surprise!  We met up with our African interpreters and pastors, who would accompany
us.

And so we found ourselves in a market place where the poorest of the poor would go.  And even for one
having been brought up in Africa and I have seen such places before, even I was shocked!  The smell hits you first.  The flies hit you second. And the sights hit you third.  I’ll leave it to your imagination!

The market place was full of people in such need – poverty was everywhere to be seen, so many sick people, but more importantly so many lost people needing to be saved. Williams (one of our interpreters), and a street evangelist had taught us a song that we would sing.  I must add here that we were a small team as ours was not the most popular choice of which to serve in: we were five in total.  (30 people went to the orphanages!) 

Lame woman healed
I started preaching in the middle of this market place and glory to God, He showed up! I felt the Holy Spirit fall upon me in such power and might.  I knew that there were muslims in the market place but I wanted to demonstrate the God that we know, in power and might.  I ended up challenging the people that were listening, that if I was a man of God, then we’d see people healed that day!  Before I knew what had happened, a woman in her late 50’s, completely lame from her left hip down, came up to me and asked to be healed.  There’s always a part of you inside that says, “Lord, you’d better turn up now!” I rebuked the spirit of infirmity in the woman and BAM! The pain went, the lameness went and she started running round the market place! This obviously attracted attention and I just said if anyone wants a healing from the Lord, come.  Every team member found themselves with queues of people waiting for healing! Others had seen the power of this God of ours, had seen His compassion and love demonstrated and were now asking how to receive this Jesus!

Deaf boy healed
A boy queuing for healing was deaf in one ear, so I laid on hands and rebuked the spirit of deaf & dumbness, then saw this young boy totally healed, right there before my eyes. People were just getting healed and saved, even to the point where my friend Richard walked into a tin hut that doubled up as a hair dressers, to be confronted by 8 screaming women! He was shocked, not understanding their words, thought they might be angry and turned to leave.  At this point, his interpreter turned round and told him that they wanted to know this Jesus! Holy Spirit baptism fell in that place and all 8 women gave their lives to the Lord Jesus. 

All along the way we were handing out pamphlets and leaflets for the coming crusade that was taking place in the school playing fields that evening and were encouraging everyone to come.

Demonic Attack
On that first day, as I’d finished preaching and we started to leave, I was physically attacked by a demonic force that grabbed my throat, making me feel as though I was being choked.  Team members immediately came and prayed for me and the gagging and choking immediately stopped. This happened to four other members of the team during our time out there!  All of the above happened within two hours, on the first day.  Praise the Lord Jesus that we have a Gospel of good news to the poor, that we will see the sick healed, the demons cast out and the blind to see, the deaf to hear…all types of sickness and illness and disease healed.  How? Through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, lives and works IN US! Romans 8 v 11.  Meditate on that 3 hrs of the day, and see what you can accomplish!

Free to dance!
We got back to the hotel with just an hour to spare before setting off at 4.30pm for the first evening crusade.  And there, oh the Spirit fell on me once again! I found myself doing something I’d never done before in my life…grabbing hold of 2 flags and dancing and waving them before the Lord.  I felt myself say, “what on earth am I doing?!” And I felt the Spirit of God say to me, “Andy, how many times have you danced and strutted your stuff in a night club? Why can’t you do it for me?” I thought, “fair point”, and danced even more.  Praise the Lord, I was being released in the Spirit and felt free.  I mean, really free. Todd Bentley turned up at around 6.45pm and he carried on doing what we’d been doing in the market place…he just wanted to demonstrate the power of God on the first night.  And boy, did we see a demonstration of God’s power yet again! Many people turned up because the papers had quoted Todd having said that the dead would be raised, when actually he’d simply been quoting Matthew 10 v 8! As it was, plenty of lost and sick people turned up, but no dead were brought…I’ll tell you now, if the dead had been there, they would have been raised! Hallelujah!  It was awesome!

And so this was the format for the next 5 days: 7am prayer meeting, 8am breakfast, 9am – 3pm daily outreach work in teams, 3 – 4.30pm freshen up in hotel, 4.30pm – 10pm evening crusade and healing ministry. 10pm return to hotel for dinner and chill out time, usually ending up in bed around 2am.

He in us is greater than the spirit of this world
We went to the market places and we got abused, shouted at, ridiculed, we got accosted by Muslims, but it didn’t stop us.  You see, when the Holy Spirit falls on you in power, you’re given a boldness that is beyond your own understanding so the verse, “…lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him…” becomes a reality. You see we’re fighting on the devil’s turf but God wants to take it back. How? Through you and me - where the supernatural meets the natural. So as you’re reading this don’t think it’s just Andy, because it certainly isn’t.  I just want to see the power of God being demonstrated through us, His Body.  Not by my word, not by my power but by the Spirit of God in me. Praise the Lord.

Big meetings, big God!
The next day we’d seen great things happen in the market place yet again where I was preaching to just a small group of market stall women and two of them gave their lives to the Lord.  I blessed and prayed over many of their businesses, because boy do they live in poverty!  That evening Todd did battle against witchcraft and demonic forces.  We saw anything from 10,000 to 20,000 people at the meeting and hundreds of people manifested evil spirits (don’t think that this is just for Africa, this is all around us in Europe too.) After Todd preached, we were sent down into the crowds of thousands to heal and we saw many healings. 
 

 

2 yr old Girl Stood for First Time
I had a 2 yr old girl thrust into my arms by a young boy and his older sister.  Their parents were Muslim but this young girl had never spoken, walked, talked, had no muscular control in her young little body.  Everyone who came for healing I asked two questions: what was the matter? Do you believe Jesus can heal you? I laid on hands and prayed once…nothing happened.  You can imagine I’m getting a bit desperate.  I pray again and nothing happened.  I’ve got a bit of a crowd round me and I said Holy Spirit, show up!  I then heard a voice inside my head say, “hold her, pray for her once more, cast out the spirit of infirmity and then put her feet on the ground”. That’s the counsel of God. I put her down on the floor and for the first time in that young child’s life, she stood up.  I asked if she’d ever done this before, and the interpreter told me she’d never stood…she’d just lie there, day after day after day.  All I could see was this flopping head suddenly gaining in strength to the extent that she was able to lift her head up and look at me with two beautiful big brown eyes. 

… fighting principalities and powers…
Witchcraft is so prevalent out in these places.  Normal people would go to a witchdoctor for a headache, and come away lumbered with demons.  In fact, a witchdoctor was recently stoned to death by angry villagers, when he was caught collecting body parts from a nasty road accident.  When villagers asked what he was doing, he told them that it was his accident, as he had ordered it, therefore they were his body parts. During the 10 day period I cast out at least 6 or 7 demons, the first time this has ever happened to me! People were just walking up for healing, and due to the presence of God in and around me and the team, they’d just start manifesting… so I just cast them out! It was great to see their faces and whole body postures change, as they were released from mental, spiritual and physical demonic abuse. Richard had been praying for one bloke who actually grabbed an electric cable running across the ground, and started trying to bite through it! Don’t worry, he was delivered of it before any harm could come to him or anyone else! And so on the 2^nd night, one of the guys who I’d prayed for gave testimony on stage, praising God for the great deliverance he’d received.  Paul was so right when he wrote that we’re not fighting things of the flesh but fighting principalities and powers of darkness.

Former “Mad Man Gets a Job!
This man on the left was a well known “mad man”, totally insane and incapable of earning a living.  Lived on the street for most of his life, shunned by the community.  A few days before we arrived he was totally and utterly delivered, saved and then was given a job by the local church as a security guard!  He had a big smile when he greeted us and appeared totally sane to me! What a lovely testimony to what Jesus can do!

Same in the UK as it is in Africa
In principle this is no different from the UK, although it has a different cover or “make up”.  Just last night Heidi & I were sharing with a young man who saw 8 demonic spirits coming out of people down in Dorchester. Let’s not fool ourselves, these things are happening all around us, it’s just that the devil disguises himself so well.  But He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world! (So don’t start looking underneath your beds – don’t fear! He’s already defeated!)

With Obedience comes Blessing
Richard and I got on really well.  It was great to see this man of God start fulfilling his potential. One night I told Richard that whatever he feels the Holy Spirit prompt him to do, he should just do it! The very next 7am morning prayer meeting Richard nudged me saying, “Andy, the Holy Spirit’s just told me to do this!” Not knowing what it was I just said “then do it!” He jumped up out of his chair and started running around the room (large room!) sprinting and shouting for the Holy Spirit to fall. 

The whole meeting and our agendas went out the window as the Holy Spirit fell.  We were wading through a spiritual river as explained in Ezekiel, where the flow was so powerful that we couldn’t walk through.  The Lord showed me a picture of the most beautiful waterfall that was pouring from a river and the words “glory” was raining down this waterfall and we were showering underneath this waterfall.  Jesus was handing out towels and written across the towel was “righteousness”.  He then offered to us bathrobes (i.e. mantels) saying “which one do you want? Because there are many available.”  I remember just wanting Enoch’s and being called a friend of God.  I don’t want to wait until heaven to start learning about God, I want to start now!  Anyone want to jump onboard and get to know the Father? Psalm 36 tells us to “be still and know that I am God”.  How many people put themselves in a position of stillness and quietness to listen to what God is saying, allowing Him to reveal more of himself, Jesus and the Holy Spirit? 

It was a fantastic morning meeting and it set us up for the day.  We had renewed strength to fight the battle that was already won in the spirit, so the good news was preached, the sick were healed, the blind saw etc etc…

Crippled Lady Abandons Wheelchair
I remember at one of the evening crusades seeing a crippled lady in her sixties in a wheelchair.  I knew that God was going to heal her.  Todd gave a word of knowledge that a woman in her 60’s had been in a wheelchair for over 40 years and God was going to heal her.  I physically watched there and then this woman get out of her wheelchair and saw the expression on her face, when suddenly she realised that she was actually walking!  She screamed and ran to the stage where she gave testimony of God’s healing power. Incidentally, she had been in the wheelchair for over 40 years and she was in her 60’s, so Todd’s word of knowledge was bang on!

Watching Legs Grow
Another old woman had been in a horrific car accident that resulted in her left leg being smashed in at least 4 different places.  Bone had come out of both sides of the leg that had resulted in 3 operations and her leg was crooked and short by about 8 inches. The doctors had removed parts of the bone.  She was on crutches and had extreme pain that had been with her for over 4 years.  Todd turned round to the team (us) and said “who has faith for her leg to grow back supernaturally?” I couldn’t get to the front quick enough! I and 3 others ended up praying for her and commanding this leg to strengthen and lengthen.  By the way, I was doing the measuring!  Before our very eyes her leg started to grow.  The pain disappeared and the leg was straightened.  This was all filmed by one of the professional cameramen accompanying the team, documenting the miracles being performed in the name of Jesus.  With a big smile on my face I offered the healed lady her crutches, delighting in the fact that there was no way she’d need them again! She walked off the platform healed and happy!

Power of God on the Air Waves
Each evening’s message was transmitted onto TV sets and radios to over 4 million people! Todd said that anybody who wanted healing should place the radio to their ear.  On the last night of the crusade, a man travelled 300 miles to give testimony that he had responded to Todd’s word and had asked for the radio to be placed by his ear.  He had been near to death, paralysed and was half the weight he should have been.  He was healed! I felt in my spirit the Lord saying to me “get a collection of money for this man to get home again!” I got permission from one of the team leaders to do so, so that man got a double blessing that day!

Encouraging each other
Another real highlight for me was how the Lord allowed me to minister to some team members.  I found myself giving very detailed and accurate prophesies to people and praise the Lord, it so encouraged them to have words confirmed in their spirits and in their hearts.  There was a mother and her 19 yr old daughter from England out with the team.  I’d shared a few things with Judy the mother, and we saw things defeated in her life that needed completion.  The daughter was just so lacking in confidence and I felt the need to minister, to get alongside and encourage.  After Todd finished preaching each evening we were amongst the crowd ministering, laying on hands and healing and it was fantastic to see her gain confidence and start laying on hands, and of course she was greatly encouraged as she began to see the results! People were being delivered, healed of all types of illnesses when SHE was laying on hands and praying. 

Preaching in an African Church
Sunday 4^th September I teamed up with two young girls, Nicky and Marina to minister in an African church where I had been asked to preach… and boy! Did we have fun! It was such a tight and tough schedule that when I’d found on Saturday night that I was to preach the following morning, and I had to be up and ready by 8am, a feeling of panic hit me!  How on earth was I going to prepare a message!?  At 1.30am as I was showering the Holy Spirit gave me the download of the entire message including the bible verses and where they could be found …in the space of a minute.  I made a rough outline and that was it.  The Lord also gave me 3 words of knowledge for healings of cancer, paralysis, and a heart defect, which I wrote down in preparation for the meeting.

We got to the meeting, the music kicked off, it was good, but something was missing.  So I pulled out my two worship weapons: the flags! Before they could stop me I was dancing around the church (African style…this makes Heidi laugh too!), praising my God and ushering in the presence of the Holy Spirit with rejoicing! The atmosphere changed, people got exuberant about the Lord, the Spirit was there and the WHOLE congregation started dancing in the aisles! I really noticed that when we are filled with the spirit of God, we set the spiritual atmosphere, in and around us. We take the initiative…and the Spirit brings joy and release! (The breaker anointing).

So I preached for over an hour, had a wonderful time, I felt 20 ft tall and if Satan in person had walked into that church, I’d have fearlessly chucked him out – and I really mean it! I felt absolutely NO fear. 

Teenagers giving public Words of Knowledge
Nicky and Marina were both very nervous but I told them that they should ask God to give them something to share with the church…and then left it up to them, not wanting to put too much pressure on them, but also keen that they take the opportunity to encourage others and consequently grow themselves.  The girls ended up giving out the words of knowledge that they’d received, and what was so encouraging, was to see not only one person respond to the girl’s words, but 4! And boy, did all 4 get blessed!

Paralysed Woman Healed!
So on that Sunday morning, amongst other wonderful deliverances and miracles, the women who responded to the teenager’s words of knowledge and received prayer, were set free from demonic curses and physical disabilities. Formerly paralysed down one side of the body, they were running around the church with great shouts of joy!

Conclusion
So to conclude, it was an amazingly tough schedule, but when the Spirit of God is there, all things are possible and we certainly saw the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living Ps 27,13. 

I hope that you feel encouraged reading these reports.  You’ll see that I’m excited about what He is doing, but also that He can and will use my hands and my words…not just the big preacher man or woman from America or Australia!  So not only do I want to encourage you in your walk with the Lord, but could we also ask you to really put us on your hearts in prayer and to support us in taking this out to the nations of the UK, Germany, Zambia and beyond. We know that the Lord is moving in our lives, and that very soon we’ll be heading down the biggest flood of revival. Why? Because it’s happening in our hearts first.  I know that all of you are on fire for the Lord and although we have our differences, we have One God whom we love and worship. 

So come join us spiritually, if not physically in our quest of seeing the name of Jesus glorified and lifted up everywhere we go!





 

 

                                                                                                                     to top of page        to next mission report