Stepping back in time

Lazarus and Alice are such an amazing couple – they bought some land in a village called Sempa, which is in the middle of nowhere and since then have been going into the village preaching the gospel.  They have had several converts and have planted a little church there in a field with just 10 plastic chairs, a sheet of plastic and a drum!   One lady who had previously been an alcoholic and sold alcohol from her home became a Christian and Jesus set her free from her addiction.  She then stopped selling alcohol and as a result the other villagers gradually became sober and some of them also became Christians as a result of her testimony. 

The house that used to be the village 'bar'.

We had the privilege of visiting this village and spent the most wonderful afternoon there.  As we drove up the bumpy dirt track towards where the people were gathered we could hear the drum beat and hear them worshipping in song.  As we walked up the track towards them they were so excited and began to clap and ululate which was very moving. 

Our view as we arrived at the village.

We met under a tree in a field surrounded by beautiful scenery.  It felt like stepping back in time hundreds of years or being back in Bible times.  Mark preached to the assembled crowd and a few people wanted to ask Jesus into their lives and become Christians and we had a long queue of people wanting to be prayed for and blessed. 

Full of joy.

Mark preaching.

 

 

Several people gave testimony of God’s healing in their lives and then we offered to pray for those who were sick.  We prayed for about 4 or 5 people who all said they felt they had been healed, and one lady, who was deaf, received her hearing and we tested it by Lazarus whispering words behind her and she repeated them.  It was such a wonderful and joyous moment and we felt amazed but they all seemed very matter of fact about it all – it made me realise that when you have nothing else but Jesus it increases your faith level no end. 

Scenes that could be hundreds of years back in time.

Beautiful scenery...the well is at the top of this hill...more about that in another blog.

Cooking for us.

As this village is so far from anywhere there is no running water and no electricity and the people live in very basic small houses and Lazarus, who is a great visionary, has dreams of improving the lot of these villagers by putting in a bore hole for water (I’ll write a separate blog about the water situation), building a school and church as well as some latrines, and eventually setting up some farming so people can grow food to feed the school and to sell to give them a living. 

This baby was healed of a fever.

This lady was deaf and now she can hear.

This man was healed of a pain in his chest.

This lady was healed of a pain in her stomach.

This lady was healed of a pain across her upper chest.

We ended this afternoon session by blowing bubbles for the children and such a simple thing caused much joy and delight, not just with the kids but with some of the adults too!

Fun with bubbles!

 

Lazarus and Alice are such an amazing couple and we feel very privileged and honoured to know them – they are intelligent, innovative, resourceful, good time keepers, always looking for ways to improve things and help other people even though they have very little themselves.  What a challenge to those of us who do have many material blessings and yet often take things for granted or live selfishly.  Very humbling and challenging. 

Lazarus and Alice with Josiah...a beautiful couple in every way.

That's all for today...more to come tomorrow!