Chapter 5

5.

Lydia woke up the next morning to her clock going crazy. Beep, beep, 9:45a.m., beep, 9:45a.m. Lydia opened up her eyes just enough to turn the alarm off. She was exhausted!

Something caught her attention. It was a piece of paper sitting under her alarm clock. She picked it up; it was from a Global Awakening notepad. Fighting to keep her eyes open a second more, she read the note on it.

Lydia!

Happy Be-lated

Birthday!

(I didn't want to wake you up)

Love....Dana

Lydia looked over into the other bed where Dana was fast asleep. Lydia had to smile. She had had a great seventeenth birthday. This had been her first birthday away from home and still the Lord had made sure she felt special. Her youth group had sung to her yesterday morning. Then on the way to the warehouse church, the whole bus had sung to her. It was an awesome birthday!

Not able to fight it any longer, she closed her eyes. Before her head hit the pillow she zonked out. By the time her group got back to the hotel last night, it had been about one-thirty. By the time she had gotten to bed it was two.

"Lydia, we probably should get up," Lydia heard Dana groan. Lydia rolled over to look at her clock. It was eleven a.m.

"Ok," she got up and went to the bureau. She picked out a navy blue dress. She then went into the bathroom to take a shower.

When Lydia got out of the shower, Dana was still asleep. Lydia looked at the clock. If they didn't get started for the breakfast room, they wouldn't get any breakfast. She wasn't sure how Dana would take being woken up, but she didn't want to leave Dana out of breakfast either. "Dana, we have to be getting downstairs if you want to eat," Lydia whispered.

"Oh, ok," Dana stretched. She then threw a jacket over her white tank top and the two headed down to breakfast.

"Thanks for the note," Lydia said as the two sat down at a table by a window.

"You're welcome. I got in at two-thirty and didn't want to wake you. So how was it?"

"It was very nice." Lydia then bowed her head to pray and started to eat her food. The two sat in relative silence.

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"I want the whole American team to pray for all the Brazilians. Pray that God would use them to tear down the barrier of darkness in Brazil," Bill Johnson announced at the end of his sermon later that night at the church called Bola Janeve. With that, Lydia and the rest got up from their places and started going throughout the big sanctuary.

Lydia went from person to person, praying that God would come down in His fire and power and use them mightily. The presence of God electrified the room. People were screaming and shaking under God's anointing. Up on the stage someone was playing on the keyboard.

After awhile Lydia came up to a teen girl and a middle-aged woman. They both had translator tags on. Lydia first just prayed for the girl.

After a few minutes of praying for the girl she moved on to the lady. She prayed basically the same thing for her. She had black, wavy hair, a slightly oval shaped face, a long nose, and was slightly taller than Lydia. She was beautiful. Lydia looked at her name tag but couldn't figure out how to say it.

It wasn't long before the woman began to weep. Lydia watched her face as the tears slipped out from under her eyelids and trickled down her cheeks. Feeling compelled to keep praying Lydia continued to petition God for His might for the lady.

"Lord, bless her abundantly! I ask that she would shine Your love to everyone she meets. Make her radiate Your love and mercy. I pray that she would be so filled with Your light that even as she passes people on the street they would see that she has something different. I ask that they would come up to her wanting that.

Five minutes went by before the lady wiped her tears away and gave Lydia a brilliant smile. "Thank-you." She wrapped Lydia in a warm embrace.

Lydia returned it. "You are very welcome!" That hug sent Lydia soaring to the ceiling with overwhelming joy. She was ecstatic that God used her to touch a life in a special way. This experience blessed Lydia as much as it did the lady. She had had many exciting experiences but never had she felt so high in her life.

She went on to others with a brighter smile than she had come with. The rest of that ministry time was not nearly as dramatic, but it did not matter. The picture of that one soul being touched by God was enough to keep Lydia's spirits high for the rest of the afternoon.

"Lydia, we're going." Manasah passed by her, throwing his book bag strap over his head.

"Ok, let me get my bag." Lydia rushed to get her bag at the front of the church. She then hurried for the door.

From the Bola Janeve they went to the Shastaria, the restaurant where one got most of their food at a buffet table but then waiters came around with big metal stakes of meat with little plates under them to catch the blood and grease. Lydia had gotten her food and sat down at a table with her friends. One of the waiters came up to her with a stake of little white balls of meat with seasoning on it. Having no other way of communication she nodded her head and the waiter started to scrape a few off onto her plate.

"Hey, that's chicken heart!" Erik hollered from way over on the other end of the tables.

Lydia bit her lip for a second in a quandary, and the waiter paused seeming to realize she was having second thoughts. She shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head again. It couldn't hurt any to try them, and besides it would be an adventure. So he scraped a few onto her plate, and went on.

She looked at them for a second, and then taking her fork she speared one and popped it in her mouth. "Mmmm," Lydia uttered as the delectable taste of chicken met her taste buds.

"How is it?" Beth, who had been watching her from across the table, asked.

"Really good, actually," Lydia answered spearing another one. "The thought of eating heart is kind of repulsive, but it tastes just like chicken."

All of the food was scrumptious and she was hungry. As she ate she listened to the conversation going around the table in her usual way, once in awhile putting in a comment, but for the most part keeping quiet. She never spoke up much in a big group. It wasn't because she was scared, but she just didn't have much to say.

Fifteen minutes into their meal Erik stood up. "We need to be heading out soon, guys, so if you want dessert you better get it now," he announced and sat back down.

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"I want the ministry team to come up front. Whoever has a word of knowledge, come onto the stage here with me," Randy Clark said after giving a teaching on words of knowledge. They were again in the warehouse church, which the United States team referred to as "Alda's" after the pastor. The actual name of the church was too difficult for their English-speaking tongues to get around.

"Rose and the other intercessors haven't come out." Beth whispered into Lydia's ear.

Lydia looked over to the little room where the intercessors prayed. "They probably don't realize it's time for ministry. You think I should go tell Erik?"

"Yeah, probably should."

Lydia walked behind the line of teens to where Erik stood. She laid a hand on his arm to get his attention. "The intercessors haven't come out yet. Should I go get them?"

Erik looked over to the little room just as Lydia had. "Yeah, why don't you."

Once Lydia had gotten Rose and the others she slipped back to her spot in the line. By this time she had kind of lost track of what was going on. Several people in the congregation were standing, starting to shake under the Holy Spirit's anointing. Just then Randy Clark spoke up, "Team, go out to those who are manifesting." So the youth broke out of their line and filtered into the congregation.

Lydia went over to a lady who was standing in the second row of white, plastic lawn chairs. The lady was jumping and shaking uncontrollably. "Mais Senhor, mais Senhor," Lydia began. The feeling that she should pray for more of the Lord's love came upon her.

"Mais amor, Senhor, seen, mais." Lydia prayed putting one hand on the lady's back and one under the lady's own upturned hand. As Lydia prayed for more of God's love to be poured out on this lady she watched the woman's face. It wasn't long before tears were streaming down her tan cheeks. The manifestations got stronger. Lydia pushed chairs out of the way so the lady wouldn't hurt herself.

"Revela a seu amor Deus Pai. Reveal Your love, Father. Show her how precious she is to You." The lady continued to weep as Lydia prayed.

"All right, everybody, it is time to start praying for physical healing," Randy Clark announced. Lydia, a bit uncertainly, left the lady on the floor crying with one of the translators. She didn't fully understand it at the time but that was the second emotional healing she had seen that day, and she was to witness many more during that missions trip. Through all of them she began to learn a paramount lesson. God loves to heal and one of His favorite healings is emotional healing. He loves to take a broken soul, piece it back together, and once He's finished, it is prettier than before. He shows the person Himself. Also He shows them how beautiful they are in His eyes, and how much He wants to use them for great things!!

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Rose looked around and found Julius with his father and cousin Violate on the other side of the church. So she headed over to them. "Oi, Julius. How are you doing tonight?" She asked kneeling beside him.

"Bom," Julius replied. His eyes still had that sad look to them. At least he was talking to her, which was an improvement.

Rose put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder and began to pray. A sense of urgency came over her as she prayed. She wanted, more than anything, to see this nine-year-old boy be able to walk.

"Can you stand?" she asked after several minutes. Like the night before, Violate and Julius' father helped him up, and like before, if it wasn't for his father, he would have fallen forward.

Manasah, Beth, and some of the others came up once in awhile and also prayed for Julius, but it was Rose who stayed with him the whole time. Something was very special about this little boy and Rose wanted to see him healed. She had loved seeing the other people she prayed for healed too. With Julius, something made his plight personal to her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was something beyond that small, weak frame of his that caught her attention and wouldn't let go.

"Dear Lord, come with Your healing anointing. Let it flow through Julius' body." Rose made sure to speak slow so that Violate could understand. "Mais uncao. Mais uncao. Mais Senhor. Mais."

Rose looked up at Julius' father who also had sad brown eyes. Oh how she wished there was something she could do or say to bring some hope to this family. "Can you move anything?" She turned her attention back to Julius.

Julius looked to Violate who told him what Rose had said. He then closed his eyes and scrunched up his face in concentration. He shook his head his eyes telling a story of a boy who now had a glimmer of hope and yet was still feeling a bit discouraged. "God's going to heal you, Julius! Sometimes it takes awhile. Have you heard the story where Jesus meets a blind man and has to pray a couple times before the man is healed? He will heal you, Julius. It just takes time sometimes." Rose wasn't saying this to raise false hopes. She just knew with all her being that he was going to be healed. She couldn't explain how she knew. Julius smiled sadly at her. The first smile she had seen from him. At least that was a start. Rose smiled encouragingly at him.

Rose continued to pray, and every once in awhile asking him if he could stand, move anything, or feel something. Every time she got that shake of the head, and every time she went back to praying with increased fervency and determination. Yet, she always remembered that it wasn't her fervency or determination that would heal Julius. It was the power of the Lord that would do it!

She had been praying for quite awhile when she felt something actually move in his knee. She looked up at him with excitement welling up in her eyes. A spark of hopeful excitement lit up Julius' eyes, telling her that he had felt it too. He looked up at his father telling him what he had felt. Rose saw something light up in the middle-aged man's eyes. It looked like hope, yet there was something else in those brown eyes that looked scared to hope for too much.

"Can you move anything?" Rose asked. Again Julius closed his eyes with concentrated effort. He shook his head. Even still, that spark of excitement didn't dissipate. God had shown Himself to Julius! Now he wasn't going to be discouraged so easily.

"Lord, we thank You for giving Julius a sign showing him that You are going to heal him and that You love him. We ask for more of Your anointing, Lord." Rose went back to praying.

Fifteen minutes went by and nothing more happened. Erik hollered for everybody to start heading out. Rose said good-bye and promised to be back the next night. Julius nodded his good-bye giving Rose a small smile. That look of hope still hadn't dissipated and now he had given her a second smile, small as it was. She counted the night a success, even if Julius hadn't gotten out of his chair yet. Rose praised the Lord for the success of seeing Julius smile, for the hope planted in him. She was truly grateful!

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Beth came up to one lady who was standing up front waiting to be prayed for. The lady had reddish-brown curls that reached to her shoulders and dull hazel eyes. Beth motioned to one of the translators to come over to her. "Ask her what she wants prayer for, please." The young translator, Ana, nodded and started talking to the lady. Ana had honey brown hair, a fine aristocratic nose, and royalty emanated from her.

"She has had a severe headache for twenty-six years," Ana said.

"Thank-you, Ana. Can you ask her what her name is," Beth asked.

"Her name is Beatriz."

Beth nodded her head and started to pray. She gently put her hand on Beatriz's head. "We thank You, Lord, that You are in this place and are wanting to heal Beatriz." Ana translated the prayer. "Mais fogo. Mais Senhor. Mais uncao para a cura," Beth continued to pray. "Seen Senhor, seen."

Beth prayed for a minute or two and then turned to Ana. "How is she feeling?"

Ana interviewed Beatriz for a second. "She said the pain is less and she is feeling heat all over her head."

"Thank You, Lord, for what you are doing in Beatriz." Beth started again and waited for Ana to translate. "I ask that You would continue what You are doing in her. Seen Pai. Mais Poder."

"How is she feeling now?" Beth asked again.

Beatriz got excited when she heard the question. She got very animated as she rambled her answer to Ana. Her hands were flying everywhere and her eyes now sparkled. Ana smiled as she told Beth what Beatriz had said. "She says that God has completely taken the headache away. The heat she was feeling in her head melted the pain away completely. She says thanks be to the Lord."

"Thank You, Lord!" Beth agreed beaming with pleasure.

Beatriz said something more to Ana. "She says thank you for praying for her God bless you."

"Tell her that she is welcome, and may God bless her too." Beth nodded to Beatriz and then walked off to find another person to pray for.

At the moment there was nobody needing prayer so she walked over to where Annie D. and Cat Fallen were praying for a girl who was probably eight years old. Ana was the one who was translating for them. "What are we praying for?" Beth asked Annie.

"She only has fourteen percent of her eyesight. Her name is Belinda."

Beth began to pray along, kneeling beside Belinda. She had huge brown eyes that bore into Beth as though she were trying to figure out what or who was in front of her. She smiled at Belinda reassuringly, putting a hand on the girl's small shoulder.

"Can she see any better, or she is feeling anything?" Annie asked. Ana knelt down beside Beth in front of Belinda and asked the question.

"She says she can see a little bit better but she doesn't feel anything."

"Lord, come with Your power, heal Belinda. Bring sight into her eyes, Lord," Beth said with bowed head and closed eyes.

"Yes, Lord," Cat replied.

They prayed for several more minutes as little Belinda looked at them with eyes that were glassy. She looked unsure, ready to run away. Beth watched her with sympathy. "This must be extremely overwhelmingly scary. Not being able to see and surrounded by people who can't speak her language," Beth thought.

"Is there any change?" Cat asked. Ana asked Belinda. "She doesn't know."

"Maybe we should test it," Annie said, stepping a few feet away and held up three fingers. "How many fingers do I have up?"

Belinda squinted at Annie. She then turned to Ana and gave her answer. "Three."

"Good!" Annie's face lit up with a smile. She stepped backwards several more feet and held up five fingers. "How about now?" Again Belinda got it right.

Annie backed up farther and asked again. This time Belinda got it wrong. So Annie came back and they prayed again.

Several minutes passed as they prayed. Beth began to notice during that time that Belinda was becoming antsy. "How is it now?" Beth asked understanding how she must feel.

"It is much better. Things still look a bit fuzzy, but it is much better," Ana answered.

"Praise the Lord!!" Beth, Annie, Cat said in unison. Belinda gave a shy smile as a thank-you before running off.

Beth prayed for several other people. They all got healed. She was overjoyed at this! The night before she hadn't seen many healings and had been greatly discouraged, but tonight had her bouncing for joy. It was awesome! The Holy Spirit had started to show up from the beginning of the ministry time. "Ooohhhhh!!" Beth groaned really loudly as the power of God came upon her in a strong wave. "Ooohhhhh!!!" She couldn't stand up under His power.

She went up to a group teens who were also being blasted by the Lord. They took her by the hands and started praying for her. "Ooohhhhh!" Beth went down under the magnified power. "Wait a minute I'm supposed to be praying for you," she thought as she went down, but she was helpless to do anything. She lay on the floor doing "holy sit-ups."

When it was time to get back on the bus, Beth had difficulty getting over to it. It was very hard to walk bent over under the anointing. She kept on stopping, unable to continue because of the uncontrollable bobbing. Manasah, shaking his head in amusement, finally picked her up and carried her the rest of the way to the bus.

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Pastor Rod sat down at his desk with a tired sigh. He needed to write an e-mail to the kids' families before getting to bed even though he was exhausted.

Boa noite,

So much has happened today. I will try to just bring out the main things.

Terrelle is not in our group because it was too large. We see him everyday. Yesterday he had a word of knowledge about a woman with a tumor on her breast. He was one of many who had words so he didn’t know who the word was for. He prayed he could find out. Last night a woman grabbed him and said, when he said it, the fire of God immediately hit her and she felt the tumor had been dissolved. He also prayed for someone who was almost blind and 75% of sight immediately returned.

Our kids are totally wrecked!!!! We came down with 14 relatively quiet kids. They are not that way anymore! In our afternoon training service Manasah and Beth had words of knowledge. In our evening service Beth, Lydia, Peter, Annie, Kari, Cat, and Joan were on the platform with words of knowledge. Many people were healed without even coming forward. I think all of the kids have prayed and seen someone healed.

Bill Johnson preached this afternoon and then had USA team pray for the Brazilian team...We got blasted!!! The power of God was all over the kids. What can I say …. It is great!!!! The kids don’t stop praying for people until we drag (or carry) them out. The impartation increases by the moment.

Gotta Go

Deus te abencoe