Testimonies for Divine Experiment - May 2007

Anderson & Huntington, IN

May 20

The leader of the gathering mentioned that he has seen unity being manifested in the Sunday night group meetings when all 12 churches come together.  He said also that this Divine Experiment is not just an experiment, but it is a way of life for many now.  The pastors have decided that the group of churches will get together again in July to give testimonies and celebrate.  Also, the 21-days of the Divine Experiment will be repeated again in August.'

Minneapolis, MN

May 20

Ron: “One accomplishment of the last couple of weeks is that I’ve been letting loose of anger. . . . To me it boils down to the feeling I’m carrying sin, so don’t sweat the little things.  Everyone has trials and tribulations, not just me.”

Bonnie: “Before the Divine Experiment, I had a real problem with depression.  I realized during this period that it was pride, pride and sin were the cause of my feelings.  I gave it to God.  I was on a high for two weeks, and then felt a bit of the depression coming back, but I gave it to God.  I now recognize what it is and I’m giving it to God.”

Renee (New Hope Baptist Church): “My mother said ‘With everyone praying for me I feel better than I have in a year.’  Also, I’ve found that my anxiety has really gotten under control the last couple of weeks.  . 

Steve: There had been a total of 22 salvations during this Divine Experiment!

May 18

Jacob: "The neighborhood around our church has virtually disappeared for the past two weeks.  This has become a place of peace."

May 16

Jacob: Every Wednesday evening, our church holds their “Kids Club.”  It engages elementary and middle school children living in the neighborhood of the church – some attend other churches, some attend no church.  Members of the church from a southern suburb have been working with the neighborhood children for almost three years now.  In the process this ministry has opened doors of faith with members of the church and created nice relationships with the kids and their families.  Since early spring the children have been learning about the gospel.  Suddenly on Wednesday the Holy Spirit broke loose and took control.  A women came from a different church was at our church because of the Divine Experiment prayer meeting. She was outside the church with her children and those from the Kids Club.  The loving work of almost three years was brought to fruition and six children, age 8 to 13, were saved!  If it had not been for the Divine Experiment Luz Elena would not have been there.  If she had not been obedient to the call of her heart to attend the prayer session, she would not have been here as the final agency of God needed to bring in the harvest for which so many had toiled in love.

May 18, 2007

Christian Center Rescue Ministries, Anderson, IN

The sister of one of our staff members had a portion of her kidney removed due to cancer. Two months later she began to have complications. Just as the doctors were going to have to take drastic measures, the problem was corrected – she was healed and is doing fine now. Thank you Lord.  

On May13th, mother's day, we had an interesting service...after worship I felt a burden to pray for the sons of three mothers in the church who are paralyzed....I know for sure two are from the waist down.  One of the mothers was visiting from Oklahoma and as I prayed for her son I was impressed to have her put her hands in my hand I believed that the healing anointing would be transferred so when she have gotten back home she could then play hand on her son and release the healing anointing into his body.  Little did I know she needed healing also and while she had her hands in my hand the Lord began to minister healing to her personally.  She later told me that she had arthritis in both of her thumbs and that she could not move and that she suffered from a lot of pain from this. When she laid her hands in my hand the Lord instantly healed her!  She is now able to move her thumbs without any pain at all as has totally free movement!!!

Minneapolis Divine Experiment, May 11-14

May 1-14 at New Hope Baptist Church

• ·        A church member’s mother was healed of serious illness.
• ·        A church member who had been looking for a new job suddenly received several offers after many months of drought.
• ·        “I am now able to understand God’s word better.  Things I have been reading my whole life, I get them now.”
• ·        ”I feel convicted that sometimes I need to shut up and listen to God.”

May 13th

• ·         Yvonne (Solid Rock Worship Center): "I was at the Juvenile Detention Center early this morning and I was meeting with a dozen girls.  Praise the Lord, eleven of them prayed for salvation with me.  Hallelujah."
• Jim (Phillips Prayer Group): “A person called me [at work] and he said he was ready to say the Prayer of Salvation.  He’d been in mental illness, came out of it, and called the Salvation Line because he needed Jesus.  He said the prayer and when we were talking he gave me his full name.  I asked him if he was related to a famous man with the same last name.  That man is his father.  So now there is a new Christian inside the home of an influential artist!  The other day I also lost a large sum of Money Orders.  I prayed about it and went back to the agency and they had found them.  I’ve also been asking the Lord for housing.  Just last night the man with whom I’m staying said to consider his home my home.”

Compiled from 12 churches from Anderson, IN May 13

A pastor said that they turned off the TV all three weeks.  Now they read the Word with a new hunger.

One man said thank you to the Lord for the broken back of pride.

A pastor has been so blessed by the morning prayer gatherings. The tangible presence of God manifests in the room they are meeting in.

Minneapolis Divine Experiment - Week no. 2 (May 7, 9)

May 7th

Luz Elena (Iglesia De Dios): "I was praying to the Lord at the altar giving everything to him and asking him to let me see him face to face.  I was crying and crying and adoring.  I then sat down and continued.  When the meeting was over, I tried to get up but I couldn't.  It was like I was intoxicated.  I was completely filled with the Holy Spirit.  I was laughing and giddy, but I fully knew what was going on around me even though I had no control over my body.  My husband had to lift me under one arm and help me out of the church.  I got outside and I fell down in the grass.  It was raining and I got all wet, but I didn't care I felt so uplifted by the Spirit.  I've never had this experience before.  Nothing like this before, and it lasted all night!  Even this morning I still felt giddy - all night.  It is a new experience for me.  But the Holy Spirit filled me and it was incredible." 

May 7th

Karen (New Hope Baptist Church): “The prayer theme for the day was ‘He will lift me up.’  During the service, Jacob came up to the microphone and was praying into the prayer points, and he had just gotten to a point where he was pleading to God to lift us up.  Mike and his wife and his son Elijah [17 months] were there and Elijah was running around and Mike was following him.  Suddenly the boy stopped, turned to his dad and raised his arms wanting to come up.  Mike picked up the boy at exactly the moment Jake was praying ‘Father, lift us up.’  This is a picture that will stay with me forever.  It is a picture of how we are to be child-like with God.  Elijah’s father knew what he needed, and so does our Father.  This moment was a gift of the Holy Spirit to me.”

May 9th

• Jacob (New Hope Baptist Church): “Transformation is taking place, and we see it in and around New Hope Church.  We see people being delivered from tobacco and alcohol.  We see it in our environment.  The crime rate was so high the Minneapolis police had declared the immediate area out of control.  Yet we’ve seen the entire block cleared of crime centers.  The houses used for this purpose are now vacant and boarded up, or vacant and for sale.  Last Sunday our assistant pastor got up and repented in a way that I know pleased God.  We’ve had more visitors to our hard core worship service than ever before.  Transformation is taking place.”
  
  
• Steve (Bethany Urban Development): “The landlord of the building where we have our ministry had told me that he was going to raise the rent from $1525 to $2,500 a month starting in June.  There was no way we could afford this.  I went to God and told him that the Divine Experiment has started and I didn’t want to take time away from Him to deal with this, to pack and find a new place.  Today, I called the landlord and he told me that it would take two or more months to rent out the space and we could stay until then.  He would even pay the utilities. ‘How much rent do you want to pay?” he asked.  I said, ‘One-hundred dollars,’ and he replied ‘One-hundred-fifty.’  I said, “sold!”  This is a rent and utilities discount of about $3,000 per month!

From one church in Huntington, Indiana - 2nd week

*During this time her teenage son has been reading more of the Bible which is being seen by his unsaved father. God was also working in this teen's heart at the altar this past Sunday.

*Told how God was working in our Children's Church this past Sunday. Several weeks ago a little girl in the first grade was healed from ear problems (she had tubes and possible scaring) but Jesus came in a dream at night and blew in her ear and she is healed. This past Sunday she was praying for another child who had ear problems.

From individuals from Anderson from the first week of their Divine Experiment

Each testimony is by a different person below:

* One person received a new van after three days in the process.

* One lady had health problems – hard time breathing.  She hasn’t used the inhaler for 2 days now. She learned:  Don’t point fingers and judge.

* One lady was a gambler [$100/week bingo player].  God spoke to her of His love.  She has been free all week from not gambling.

* A man drives back & forth into Indianapolis to work from the Anderson area.  He was getting upset with people the way they drove around him, since his accident.  He asked God to help him see the people the way he does.  God said to him, “That’s mine.”  Since an auto accident, he has been taking medicine for his hand.  When he started fasting, He helped him through the whole day fasting, and didn’t need his medicine or food either.

* A man’s son has wanted family devotions since his son was small.  They now started the family devotions, and they really love them.  It started a revival in the father’s heart.

* A lady has smoked for 50 years.  This is her 7th day without smoking.

* A man smoked for almost 20 years, and he hasn’t smoked now for 9 days.  He has asthma and has to use inhalers, medicine, breathing machine, and has tubes put into his lungs to drain his lungs at times.  He now hasn’t had any need for any of those things for over a week.  He also stopped drinking his Mountain Dew.  He used to drink a 24-pack in 2 days.

* A lady and her daughter have always had a conflict.  There has been no conflict this week.  They have talked, and her daughter gave her a hug saying, “Mom, I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s great.”

* A pastor said that he realized that he had to get discipline in his early morning prayer/devotion time.  He has a renewed passion to have his early morning prayer time now.

* A pastor said that the Lord is working in him for “more desperation for Him.”

* A man’s fast was to cut off the TV and radio.  God said to him that He would entertain him Himself.  They are family devotions every night, and they end up laughing at the end of the devotions.  It a neat thing the way God is entertaining them, he says. 

* A lady took the hand of a man of a different ethic group.  She wanted to repent for prejudices that she has had, and that her ancestors have had.  She wants to learn about the different cultures.

* A man said that when he was fasting, he got a headache, stomachache, foot ache… everything ached.  He was trying so hard, and God helped him fast.

* A pastor says that he leads pastor’s prayer in the city, & his heart is after transformation and doing all he can for revival.  When he thought about needing to humble himself and pray during this time with the Divine Experiment, he thought that he was OK, since he does it all the time anyway.  The Lord showed him that he was really in pride and resisting the deeper part of going into the Holy Spirit.  The Lord pointed out his self-centeredness.  A hardness has fallen off of his heart, and He’s taken him into a deeper place. 

* A man said that at one time he had surrendered some areas to the Lord – averse and greed.  That same temptation came upon him over the weekend, but as he turned to God, He gave him victory.  The Lord told him to surrender all to him – not half-hearted surrender.  When all pride is surrendered, then he can walk in the fullness of life, and be used by Him.

* A lady repented before her church congregation for backbiting, gossip, and keeping anyone from wanting to do anything in the church.

* One man said that God wants to teach “balance” to him. He also believes that he should get “bloody” with the devil and not sugar-coat it.

Minneapolis - Week no. 1

APRIL 27th

• Steve (Bethany Urban Development) 

“Prior to the evening’s Divine Experiment launching service, two Hispanic activists stopped at the church to drop off some information on a scheduled demonstration on immigration reform.  I told them the congregation of Iglesias de Dios would be joining other churches in a 21-day consecration.  That night, the two men came back and stayed for the entire service.  At the conclusion, they purchased ten prayer guides!

• Libin and Dorcas (Iglesia de Dios):

“We were praying in our home after the worship service at church.  We had been praying for an hour when suddenly, behind our backs we felt like there was a fire.  It felt so hot.  It was so real we turned in alarm.”

MAY 1st

• Vivi (Iglesia de Dios):

“I was outside and all of a sudden I saw the presence of God.  It's like a light cloud with swirls.  It was going in the opposite direction of Lake Street and it was touching all the houses.  It was touching the houses.  There's one house at the end of the block and it settled there.  And I know that, at that moment, someone in that house was saved.  I don't usually share my visions, but this was so beautiful, so powerful."

MAY 2nd

• Steve (member of Bethany Urban Development):

 “I went to a local restaurant where I bumped into a suburban pastor and his friend from a rehabilitation center.  I started to tell them about the Divine Experiment.  The pastor and his friend were so interested that came to the evening prayer meeting.  Soon the man from the rehab center was praying out using the open microphone.  Later, the pastor came forward and cried out to the Lord as well.”

MAY 4th

• Michael (Iglasia de Dios):

"Last night I received God's grace through reconciliation with my son.  God has shown me that I can walk in love no matter what the circumstance I am in.  I don't have to be fearful, and must stay united with my family - with my wife and son.  God's grace will help me to be a right father to my son and a right husband to my wife for he wants us together."

May 5th

• Molly (Bethany Urban Development):

“I was getting married in June and I needed to make some extra money.  I asked for God’s help and set a goal of $300 in a three-day garage sale.  The first day I raised over $500 and finished with over $800!  God has been so good to me!”