Julie and I send you our love and greetings from Colombia. We wish you a happy Easter holiday and season. Please, allow me to update you concerning the awesome and amazing things the Lord is doing here in Colombia. We have a tremendous report that truly glorifies Jesus.
The team, from Life Bible College in Boise, returned home. We and many people here were sad to see them go. They are absolutely a great team. They were a team of 17, spanning from ages 75 to 22 and every decade in between. Our Colombian team loved them and instantly connected in heart and soul. We had a unified flow in the gospel throughout the week and saw a tremendous harvest of souls saved. Each morning we arose early, had breakfast, prayer, and evangelism activation training. Then the bus took us to different cities. On their first afternoon, the team distributed a load of food to the poor at the recycling center in Rionegro. The people who work there are homeless. As the team ministered, Jesus healed backs, knees, legs, arms, and shoulders. They preached the gospel to about 40 who gathered around to hear. Twenty or so received salvation. A few more received the Lord during a personal ministry time for healing. One man was delivered from the demonic.
The next day, we ministered all day and night in the town of La Ceja. During the day, teams of two went throughout the city praying for injured and sick people while sharing the gospel. Regarding ministering in the streets, one team member remarked to me, “I am shocked. I have never led so many people to Jesus. We shared the gospel with 21 people today and 20 received Jesus”. This ended up being the norm the entire week in every town. The harvest is very ripe here and people have been awakened to their lost condition. The night meeting was packed with 70% being unbelievers. The salvation response was strong. So many stood to pray, to receive the new birth and salvation, that we could not call them forward, as there was not enough room. This also became the norm for every night service except one.
Let me share one amazing example that happened in a town called Guarne. Kate, Santiago, and Aaron, were invited into a home. One by one, each family member there was healed. Including the 91-year-old grandfather who routinely spent up to five hours a day praying to the dead. The entire family surrendered their hearts to Jesus including the grandfather. The daughter tore the amulets off her neck that she was wearing for supernatural protection and the grandfather got his demonic prayer pamphlets and books, and with the team, they burned them in a fire they set on the patio! They were instructed to throw away and destroy all the other idols. Everything that they were relying on for healing, protection, and blessing, gone other than Jesus. Now, He is their savior, healer, deliverer, and protector.
I must say, the team had a total blast as they lived Acts chapter 29 all week. In other words, Jesus did so much last week we could write another chapter about the acts of the Holy Spirit through His church! Jesus received a reward for His suffering through these who gave Him nine days of their lives and came to Colombia. Conservatively, this amounts to 636 salvations, 90 filled with Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues, and 30 delivered from demons. Healings were too many to count, but many more healings than salvations. All glory to Jesus our Savior! Thank you Jesus. We love you and we love to demonstrate and share your gospel with the lost.
Julie had a major shoulder surgery in Colombia the week before the missions team came. The Lord has given her divine healing. Two weeks after surgery, the orthopedic surgeon examined her and was in shock. He said, “You are at a level of two to three months worth of recovery”. She can lift her right arm completely above her head without pain. This is medically impossible!
Let me mention that I am in touch with one of our pastors and another minister that we support in Myanmar. They both live on the edge of Mandalay. The other two pastors, I have not made contact with. One is close to Yangon and the other north, on the China border. We are immediately sending extra financial help to our pastors there. Please join us in prayer for Myanmar and for the brothers and sisters there and for the lost. During and after the pandemic, and then again after the military coup of 2021, through the ministry of compassion we have seen many Buddhists come to know Jesus. Again, after this earthquake, we are doing the same.
I have been fighting off a fever but am doing much better today. Thanks for taking the time to read our updates. I will soon share more photos and wonderful testimonies. Thank you for locking hearts and arms together with us to reach the lost. My prayer for this Easter is that the Lord fill us all with a deep and intense passion for souls.
With much love,
Charley & Julie
