#1) though no longer christian i was raised protestant; i may be blind to the more specifically protestant underpinnings of lewis's work

[bridonebrere]

for all the shit lewis sometimes gets for his heavy-handed christian allegories, tolkien's work feels more deeply saturated in it tbh... christological themes of course echo throughout but on a more fundamental level, his cosmology (more than lewis's) hinges on racial and spiritual hierarchy. the racial elements are fairly obvious, but even individual races are subject to rigorous ordering: the seemingly arbitrary inequality between valar and maiar; the mightier and fairer high elves who saw the light of aman and the moriquendi who did not; men of darkness, men of the twilight, men of the west of diminished glory who are, or were, higher than the others, stronger and wiser, longer lived, and naturally owed allegiance. better, higher bloodlines: far from social constructs, confirmed by prophecy and magic. all over the place, detailed classifications that prompt questions like "why is it like this? why does it have to be this way?" and for all their equally detailed in-universe justifications, behind it all is the fact that hierarchy is divinely ordained and the unquestionable condition of the world. kind of a bummer honestly

[gduncan969]

What is Happening to the Church?

2 Thessalonians 2: 1 - 2 “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.  Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first..’

It’s now been over four months since the government shut down the churches and banned Christians from holding services together as they have for centuries because of the risk of spreading the Covid-19 virus.  There has been some relief these last few weeks to allow limited numbers to assemble in church provided they separate at least six feet apart or twelve feet if they want to sing and everyone must wear a mask.  As we all look for an end to this difficult time the news is now that a second wave is raising its ugly head and the wearing of masks is now mandatory in all closed public spaces with heavy fines for those who don’t obey.  As a result, many are wondering if the end to all of this is much further away than we’d hoped and will anything be the same when it’s all over? We have been warned that when it does end there will be “a new normal”—whatever that means.  The big question is, “How is the Church of Jesus Christ” coping with all of this?”  Is it surviving, thriving or dying through it all.  The final answer to this question is clearly spelled out in the bible—we win!  Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:18 “..I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.  Jesus is coming back for a spotless Bride, the Church, to which all who call on his name belong but He warned us in Matthew 24:21-22 the time before he comes will be a time of trial and tribulation “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”  That sounds to me like things will get pretty tough as we head into the final days before He comes and the one thing we will needs lots of is endurance because He told us (Matthew 10:22) “you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved”.  Endurance is not something to look forward to but it is the one thing that will be necessary to survive.  

So, how is the Church enduring this pandemic?  The Barna Research Group has just released a poll describing the state of the Church in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.  The poll’s headline is: “One in Three Practicing Christians Has Stopped Attending Church During COVID-19".  At first glance, I thought they must be referring to practicing Christians unable to attend church due to the government shut-down of churches but surely they must still be attending “on-line” either with their own local assembly or maybe “church-hopping” to one of the many mega-church broadcasts that fill our TV screens?  Not so, it turns out! One in three practicing Christians has quit attending any church whatsoever! That is an extremely disturbing statistic by any standard and it suggests a worrisome “falling away” from the Church and its message of salvation through the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Also, it’s of little comfort to realize that Barna studied only the US Church because I suspect the picture for the Church in Canada and many other countries will be similar.  Worse still, Barna also found that among millennial Christians—our youth, half are not attending any church whatsoever! We can convince ourselves that it’s only temporary, that everything will return to normal once a vaccine is found.  We can reassure ourselves that the Church is not a building but a body; not an organization but an organism and that we can continue through this time of separation from each other without any real harm being done but that’s not what these numbers are telling us. For the Church to be a real body and not a virtual (digital) body it must come together as an assembly to worship and praise the Lord and grow in relationship with Him and each other.  This cannot happen at a distance and cannot be stopped for long without incurring the losses that the poll shows. Laying this sad picture against the backdrop of a world in turmoil, the daily mayhem and madness in many US cities, politicians scrambling to defund the police, the media trying to convince us we are all racists, the financial upheaval, the gender confusion, the loneliness, depression and suicides and an upcoming election in the US which is a ticking time bomb for untold lawlessness, we are forced to ask, “What does all this mean, Lord?”  If a third of all practicing Christians and half of all young practicing Christians are no longer attending any church what kind of relationship do they have with the Body of Christ?  If that’s too painful a subject to contemplate, we might simply write the whole thing off as a glitch, an anomaly that will evaporate once we have a vaccine at which time everything will return to what is was before.  Given the multitude of prophecies appearing on social media these days about what lies ahead, it appears that God is beginning to shake the whole earth in readiness for His coming and He’s beginning with His Church.  Are we ready?

2 Thessalonians 2: 1 - 12 clearly speaks of the days before the Lord returns: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.  Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.  Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?  And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.  The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”  

We are not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled and we are not to be deceived because Jesus will give us clear signals of His impending return: there will first be a “falling away” from the Church followed by the coming of the “lawless one” who will dazzle and delude the world with lying signs and wonders. Hmmm!!! “falling away”?  Isn’t that what Barna is reporting. “Lawlessness”, “deception” and “delusion”.  Isn’t that what fills our TV screens right now with the riots across the globe? Will the rioters soon turn their attention to the churches to vent their hatred?  It’s already begun.  There are many other signs the Lord has given His Church about his return (see Luke 28) but in all of them we are given the promise that He will never leave us and never forsake us and we will be held safe provided we endure to the end (Mark 13:13).  It is that last phrase that presents our greatest challenge.  The only way we will ever know how to endure anything is to endure through it so get ready.

What’s the answer for the Local Church?

Besides Covid-19, there’s a pandemic of confusion across the world right now as billions of common folk try to sort out the conflicting advice of thousands of “experts” while their governments keep changing the rules controlling how they must behave.  Lock-downs, quarantines, face masks, travel restrictions, job losses, schooling and a host of other issues pile on to the stress and strain caused by the virus and even local churches are feeling the impact.  Churches are being torn apart from the contentions arising between those fearful of the virus who demand strict adherence to the government’s rules and those rejecting the fear and objecting to the governments’ interference in the life of the Church. Some argue for what appears to be blind obedience to the dictates of their government using the scriptures found in Romans 13:1, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”; Titus 3:1, “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,” and 1 Peter 2:13 , “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake..,” while others use Peter’s defense against the pharisees in Acts 4:18 - 20 “So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” as the reason for their disobedience.  As time passes, cracks continue to appear in the social order as evidenced by the “Black Lives Matter” protests and riots in the US and around the world, the “Defund the Police” movement in the US, the mayhem occurring nightly in some US cities and the upcoming US election, the result of which will be a tipping point between law and order and riot and rebellion.  Also, the large numbers of “practicing Christians” who have given up attending church is a symptom of what the Church—particularly the western Church—has been suffering from for many years, a lethargy towards the “great commission” of taking His Gospel to the neighbours we live beside, a lukewarmness towards the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a lazy attitude towards the gross sin pervasive in our culture as seen in the abortion statistics, homosexual practice, marriage breakdown, gender confusion, political correctness and media corruption, etc., etc.  

If we can accept it, Covid-19 is the Lord’s wake-up call to His Church to be the Church He is building, a Church that will turn the world upside down rather than run terrified from a virus that God has promised “shall (not) come nigh our dwelling” (Psalm 91:10).  I don’t believe the Lord is looking for a Church that blindly obeys authorities when the authorities arbitrarily forbid the church from meeting together, praying together, worshiping together and ministering together under the cloak of “the common good”.  We can all understand the need for caution in dealing with this virus and why the rules have been put in place but we are also aware of the inherent conflict that can arise between “the common good” and the Church. We cannot serve two masters, the Lord Jesus and the civil authorities.  The “common good” can easily be used as a sledge hammer by the authorities to beat the Church into submission and there is already growing concern that the “new normal” being touted by the authorities might well include compulsory vaccinations as a precondition to entry into public buildings and proof of vaccination as an implanted chip in the hand.  If this is where we are headed, (and I hope not) then we are indeed entering “the time of the end” (Daniel 11:35).  

Jesus is building a Church that demonstrates His Power over all the power of the enemy— including his viruses, a Church that is breaking down the gates of Hell and setting the devil’s captives free, a Church with the ability to say, “Thus saith the Lord...” and to stake their very lives on the truth of His Word!  That kind of power is in very short supply in most of our churches today and there will be no change until churches across the land fall on their knees and repent for failing to be the salt and light Jesus has declared us to be.  This will take more than a revival, it will take a new awakening to the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus has invested in each believer: a baptism of fire.  It will result in church members no longer remaining passive participants in the pews “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” and ��Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3: 5, 7).  As Paul said to the Corinthians “How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.”  (1 Corinthians 14:26) That in no way describes the current model for church gatherings which see the congregation mostly sit placidly while those on the platform perform. We can no longer remain as passive participants in our churches and our pastors can no longer carry the weight of responsibilities that we are laying upon them at this time, a weight that is leading many to quit the pulpit discouraged and dismayed. No amount of digital savvy and technical wizardry, electronic gadgetry and slick  delivery will ever substitute for what’s at the heart of the Gospel message—a personal vibrant, living, active relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and His people.  Ultimately, it matters little what we say we believe.  Rather, it’s about WHO we are, WHO we know and WHAT we DO that the world wants to see from the Church.  It’s a relationship with a real Person people want to see, that the Church has real answers to their deepest needs whether it be broken relationships, wayward children, physical calamity, financial worries or Covid-19 and they want to see it both in its members and its pastors.

I sense there are troublesome days ahead when the faith of many will be tested. If a single virus pandemic can result in a third of the church walking away, what will some serious persecution do to the rest?  Some churches in the US have already been attacked by rioters and set on fire but there’s encouraging news from a church in Seattle, Washington which went ahead and held a city-wide public praise rally last Sunday evening.  Between four and seven thousand people showed up to take part and despite the continuous attempts by violent protestors, Antifa and others flashing knives and threatening participants and a satanist group screaming their praise to Satan to break up the gathering, the people refused to be intimidated and never stopped singing.  As a result, the Holy Spirit moved among them with salvations, healings, miracles and baptisms. Would you take part in such a gathering with all the risks it involves---even if the government declares it illegal?  That’s the kind of decision we may all have to make in the days that lie ahead and it’s the kind of decision that requires some heart-searching on our knees before God before we decide.  Such decisions will not be taken lightly because they may cost us dearly but they will have to be taken.  Again, Jesus has told us that “He that endures to the end will be saved” and we can rest on His promise.

[restorerjourney]

Week 10: The Great Commission & experiencing God’s healing!

June 15, 2021

I realized that someone is actually reading this blog post haha! Couple people have reached out to me this week and were asking me questions or mentioning my blog post and all I thought was, “Oh...someone out there is actually reading this!” I felt encouraged because sometimes I wondered if anyone would take the time to read it. That being said, I want to say I am sorry if it seems unorganized or grammatically incorrect, but honestly I don’t have much time to work on this blog. There has been just so much to do! And only having about two weeks left before going to outreach, it’s been busier than ever. A single day would be so packed with divine appointment, prophetic words, people being touched by God, and just trying to process all that has happened. If I don’t write it all down, I know I will forget and to me that would be such a waste! Yet I am determined to do my best to update you every Tuesday so please bear with me:)

This week we went back into the rhythm of things of having a speaker come and do things lecture style. Our speaker, Jacob Hong, who actually happens to be from Virginia was one of my pastor’s mentor (Pastor Bobby)! What a small world right? It couldn’t be coincidence that we had 3 Virginians here in this DTS at this time. He is currently a pastor and teacher at Honolulu, Hawaii after doing ministry in Virginia and has a heart for North Korea. His testimony was pretty neat because I knew some of the people that he spoke about! It was also redemptive to have some time to talk to him personally since he happened to know this one pastor who spoke things apparently from God that brought a huge scar and fear from hearing God’s voice over my life. Although I knew God redeemed that past and I am no longer fearful in hearing God’s voice, it sealed the deal to hear from him that he also agreed that this pastor drifted from the gospel and spiritually abused her power. 

He then talked a lot about the history of what occurred after the church in Acts. He spoke about numerous revival movements, reformation, how protestant christianity was born, and the pentecostal movement.  Here are some highlights from his lecture that I took away from:

-“Witness” in greek = “The witness onto death”. Being a witness means you no longer care about how you will live on this earth but now your whole vision’s purpose is on how you will live your life for God’s kingdom.

-Pentecost = the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, the church was born, and the power of the Holy Spirit came down on full force on the church so that we would share the gospel of Christ.

-Reformation occurred because we focused back on God’s word.

-Truth does not change by what you believe.

-When the church changes, the world changes.

-Theology: is the study of the bible from some of the scholars in the past. So when they talk about calvinism, it is the interpretation from calvin’s interpretation of the bible. Theology is important because we need accountability from other scholars. At the same time it is important for us to study bible for ourselves. 

-We as a christians need to read the word, and as a church obey God which will overflow and change our nation. Whatever the church decides will change our history.

-William seymour, a black, half-blind, preacher who seemed like a nobody to society... God used him to create the pentecoastal movement that still occurs today. Without his obedience, the church would have been lost.

Overall I thought it was important for him to share about all these big giants of faith because it reminded me that I am not alone in my faith. They suffered and fought for the gospel and really lived a life loving Jesus with their all. Even if they lived in a different era, we are all the same in our walk as Christ followers.

Another highlight that I would like to share about this week is an event that has changed my life forever. I experienced supernatural healing. I’ve heard about it, saw it, but in my heart I still had a little unbelief. Now I am a believer. I cannot deny what I’ve experienced because it was so real. It was so life giving. It was so beautiful and on June 11, 2011 a new day began for me.

There were three physical ailments that have always been on thorn on my side for almost 13 years. I have neck arthritis, shoulder instability, and polycystic ovarian syndrome (pcos). God healed my pcos that day but more importantly I experienced spiritual breakthrough which manifested physically. 

For those who know me, I have always stressed about my pcos. For many who may not know, when I was about 7, if you read my journals, I’ve always had a deep desire to be married and to be a mom. This desire have stemmed from deep loneliness that I’ve experienced during my childhood, but in combination of having a fearful view of God. I wrote in my diary numerous times for God to  bless me with those two things. As an adolescent, I started my period late and was concern but my family told me not to worry about it. During college I would get my period irregularly and when I moved to NYC for optometry school I slowly stopped having my cycle. It would go as long as 6 months and could have been longer but I was afraid and saw a obgyn by then. She put me on the pill and told me not to worry about it. Since I was so determined to do well in school and residency, I didn’t think much of it except that when I was on this pill, I did not have a period at all. Even though the doctors said it was normal, to me that psychologically affected me. I didn’t feel like a woman. It just felt off and my mom recommended that when I was done with residency, to come home and get treated. We poured so much money on eastern and western medication, and the only success I had was by eliminating sugar, gluten, dairy, caffeine, raw veggies, and meat. All I ate was sweet potatoes, seaweed, and rice. It was social suicide for someone in their mid-twenties. After 3 months, I finally got my period but I was so traumatized by that experience, living in fear about what I ate. and how I viewed food. I just never want to go through that again. I still remember going through the scary process of ruling out endometriosis and feeling so alone. That’s when they confirmed I had pcos (which was confirmed by multiple doctors) and that there was a good chance that I could struggle with infertility. That diagnosis crushed me and I began to identify with my condition. I suffered from depression, anxiety, and hopeless. I felt I had to have the conversation with serious boyfriends during that time that I may not be able to have children. I wrestled this with God so much because I felt that it was unfair, that he would have to make me suffer like this. I started to have unbelief in my prayers because I felt whatever I asked, He would have the final say and there is nothing else I could do about it. I tried so many different combination of medications and different birth control pills, discontinuing them and restarting them because I would not get my cycle after months. Last year I finally just accepted my fate that I had to take medication and was taking Junel Fe which is a birth control pill and spirinolactone for my hormonal acne. 

When I came here to DTS, for some reason I felt this persistent spirit of not giving up asking for healing. Like the persistent widow in Luke 18 and also  seeing and hearing about so much supernatural events here, it began to stir up my faith. Every chance there was for me to receive healing, I would raise my hand. My whole team, family, and friends know that I deeply desire healing and I am kind of shameless asking about it. But since I shared a week ago when I was not healed when my team prayed for me I started to lose faith. During this time I heard about this guy name Jared who had the gift of healing and is a staff at one of the DTS. He also happens to be my staff’s neighbor which is how we got connected. I’ve reached out to him multiple times but he was so busy and would sometimes forget to reply. Still I was like that persistent shameless widow and kept reminding him. Finally we agreed on a date to pray, I just had to remind him again.

Before this happened. when people prayed for me, they would always get a word for me from the Lord to not be discouraged and to continue to wait on the Lord. I also felt convicted to trust in God’s timing and that breakthrough was close. Remember on June 9th, was the last day I was supposed to get my period? June 9th, nothing happened and I asked the Lord whether to go back on the pill and He told me to wait. I thought perhaps it wouldn’t be in a few months, but little did I know what would happen this week.

When I ran into Jared on June 11, 2011, I reminded him. That day was his 1-year-old daughter’s birthday and his family was in town. I told him that if he wanted to reschedule I completely understood. He said, “ No that’s ok! Let’s meet out here outside and it will take probably 5 minutes so let’s do it today!”. In my head I was thinking, “uhm...excuse me? 5 minutes? in public? wow you are confident..” and as I turned away he said “ Hey! You are going to be healed!” Again I was just amazed by how confident he said those words. 

When it was time to pray, I came with Esther and he came with his friend Phillip who also has the gift of healing. I had a hat on and it was a bright sunny day so we decided to go in a corner underneath the shade of a tree. I shared with them my 3 ailments and again they were just confidently saying “Hey you are gonna be healed!” Jared started to pray and he humbled himself before the Lord proclaiming that God is the healer. Jared prayed over me: “ You are a woman faith, God sees all that you went through”...then Jared prayed against striving, anxiety, that Jesus’s yoke is easy and his burden is light. He sees me as a little girl being picked up by the Father and spinning around together in joy. They prayed in tongue and Jared prayed over my ailment with a snap of his finger that it would be healed in Jesus name. That my neck and shoulders would be healed in Jesus’s name that my ovaries would be healed in Jesus’s name. Jared encouraged me to focus on my relationship with God. Jared said “Thank you that you live inside of Alicia and I pray Isaiah 40 over you that you would run and not grow weary, that you will walk and not be faint..He then asked me to put my hands on my belly and prophesied John 7 over me,  “ that out of the belly will flow rivers of living water”. As Jared prayed, Phillip said “More...More...More”. Since my eyes were closed, and I was wearing a hat underneath the shade of a tree, my vision was pretty dark ( I’m talking about physically seeing, not with my mind). This is the crazy part, that every time he said "more” I felt someone was turning on the switch in my vision and it was getting brighter and brighter, so bright I thought I was in front of the sun. I teared because this was my first time physically seeing God and I was convicted that I was being touched by God and that He was light. I was amazed and overwhelmed in God’s presence feeling so light that I almost fell over. During that exact time , Esther had a vision of a light moving really fast that went straight into my back and move inside my organs and body until it reached my womb. She saw the light moving inside my womb and my womb started to move (almost like a heart beating) and turned purple-red as if it was coming alive. Then Phillip prophesied over me and broke over word curses and self-hatred over me and prayed that I would never speak complaints or negative words over my life...that God saw me beautiful, that I am God’s sweet sweet daughter, and that I am worthy...that God heals because he loves. Phillip asked me to stretch out my hand for anything I didn’t believe in God for: I laid out my finance, future, my parents, my marriage, my entire life and every control. Phillip said everything that was being prayed over to believe it and I said yes and amen to it. He prayed that in the future to not speak any negative words over myself. Jared confirmed that it was finished and it was done and that this weekend I would get my cycle. Phillip then told Esther to be in front of me as I held out my hands and to prophesy over me. Esther prayed that I am a holy beloved bride of Christ washed and sanctified by his blood. No remnant of sin was in my life. She prayed that my heavenly body would be aligned with my spiritual body. That I am a warrior for Christ and healer. Through this process, I will help heal others, and that I am a life bearer. Esther saw old dying things in my body become filled with new life. Esther said I am lovable and not alone. God is with me in every season, walking with me in the valley, on the mountaintops, in the desert, in the green meadows, he will never leave me or forsake me. Then Philip said I am a multiplier, and that I was life giving...that today is a random Friday but today is a new day for me. Everything in my life everything that I have done is forgiven. It is finished it is done, and that I am covered by the blood of Christ. Phillip said something happened in me spiritually and it is going to manifest physically. It wasn’t my fault and I did not cause it. 

After that prayer I tested my neck and shoulders and it felt the same but I felt so much lighter in my heart. They encouraged that we should pray again next week and to take things one day at a time. I felt so encouraged and amazed by the touch of God that I’ve encountered. I had to go to the farm after to do my work duty but I kept mostly to myself just processing and praising God for all that just happened. I was amazed how easy praying for healing was for them and how they did it in publicly and not for very long. I understand now what it means when someone says that it is their gift. After work duty, Heejae wanted to share her testimony and I decided to share what has happened. After she left, I felt the need to go to the bathroom. As I walked to my dorm, I thought it was strange that I felt I was leaking. When I got to the bathroom, I had a moment where I thought maybe it a period, but I’ve had many moments like this and it wasn’t. When I checked, I saw that I had my period. TMI but it was small and brown but I knew for fact it was a period and I fell on my knees crying and praising God. I ran and told some of the girls in my team and they all rejoiced because they knew I have been struggling with this for so long. 

The next morning I had to wake up at 3am to go to Mauna Kea and when I went to the bathroom, I checked and saw that I didn’t bleed. I started to worry thinking maybe that was it, so I asked Dayoung to pray for me. I was getting worried as we hiked up the volcano that perhaps my body was too tired, maybe it was because I wasn’t sleeping enough, etc but I remembered that I needed to believe and that my faith played an important role in seeing God’s promises so I had to declare in my mind that I was healed. When I went to the bathroom after, I saw that I started to bleed again and it was normal this time. I was so joyful. Again TMI but normally when I had my period, it would be light, max 3 days and I would get some symptoms before like cystic acne, mood swings, fatigue, etc but I had no symptoms! I haven’t had one single acne break out since I stopped taking my medications coming to DTS. I joke something is in this water here but I am convinced it is the power of the Holy Spirit. I also know in my heart that Jared and Phillip didn’t happen to coincidently pray right before I had my period. I believe with my life that they prayed and God healed me. This cycle I have right now, is not light, longer than 3 days,and totally different. God restored me. Praise God right?! I still am not fully healed because of my neck and shoulders pain and we have another prayer session next Friday so please pray for complete restoration and healing! I will be bringing two other sisters who suffer neck pain too so that they could be healed!

I am so thankful and I want to give Him all the glory. I want to encourage others to ask for healing because He truly does even now. I feel like the lame who was healed by Jesus. The moment that he was healed, he couldn’t help but share this with everyone. Also Esther prophesied that I was a healer. I’ve heard this before from someone else and Heejae experienced healing when I prayed for her knee! I’ve been trying to pray for everyone as much as I could and although it is not 100% success, I believe God is cultivating this gift in me now that I have been healed. 

So yea, that was probably one of the best weeks of my life and I am so grateful. Thank you for all of those who prayed and walked through this difficult journey with me. For those who are seeking prayers and healing answered, I want to encourage you to not give up. Declare and trust in His character and believe that He wants to heal because He loves... you just have to trust in His timing. Also I am convinced that many physical ailments, not all, but many are related to things spiritually. I pray that you would ask God for discernment if there are any spiritual stronghold the enemy has your life and to continue to persistently asking for healing because the Holy Spirit lives in you. The same spirit that resurrected Jesus abides in you! So don’t give up. Be courageous. Breakthrough is almost there. God is with you in every hill and valley and surround yourself with witnesses so that God would reveal His glory and healing power over you. 

Prayer requests:

1) Again physical healing over my neck and shoulder. Please pray for Naeun and Sebin who also suffers from neck pain

2) God’s grace and more faith to cultivate my gift of healing and prophecy.

3) Direction after DTS. The options are to go to Texas and meet pastor Derek before going home, go to secondary school for business which the Lord has been pressing on my heart lately, and medical missions with YWAM ships. 

4) Preparation for our outreach to Mazatlan. That God would stretch my love for the people in Mexico and I would understand God’s heart for His people there.

Mahalo!

Alicia