to the ends of Arabia - Part 4

The morning after our amazing time of ministry in the coffee shop ended up being the most significant ministry we had during our entire trip to Oman.  We headed out in the morning to old Muscat and I had a sense that we should continue driving on to a small fishing village.  The "feel" of old Muscat is surreal.  Set on the coast between cliffs and coves as the mountains reach down to the sea is something you have to experience.  By far the most beautiful city in my opinion on the Arabian Peninsula!  We were a group of 3 guys and 3 girls and I was the only Arabic speaker.  As we walk into this small village, I remembered that several years earlier I had walked down the beach from a nearby hotel and prayed for one of the fisherman (maybe two) - I don't remember exactly.  However, I used that experience as a way to introduce ourselves.  First of all we met a group of 3 older Omani women.  I sent the guys on to the beach and shared my "story" with these women.  I told them that my 3 friends (the girls) were "healers" and that if any of them had pain or sickness, they would "read over them" (to use an understandable phrase for muslims) and that God would heal them.  They began to share their problems and were willing to have the girls pray.  I explained that the girls spoke no Arabic and so that they needed to point to where the pain was and God would heal them.  Next thing I know the girls disappear into an Omani house with the 3 women and the healings began!  In the end (and I will get the girls to share in more detail hopefully for a follow-up blog post), 7 different Omani muslim women were healed in three different houses that the girls visited.  All of this with no Arabic but just the mandate to "heal the sick".  The follow-up visits to this village are going to be REMARKABLE.  I really sensed that the next step will be the casting out of demons – which is huge in Oman.  Even as I write this, there are other Christian women with Arabic that are going to return on the next visit.

As for us guys, I caught up with Isaac and the other missionary on the beach who were already in discussion with 3 Omani muslim fishermen.  As I walked up, a word of knowledge for a right shoulder pain slammed into my body.  I knew it was going to be a good time for us as well at that point.  I explained my "story" briefly and also some of the experiences we had had already in Oman (the power of the testimony never ceases to amaze me!)  One of the three men had the shoulder problem.  I had his other friend lay hands on him (so we get a "two for one" Kingdom encounter) and sure enough the Omani's shoulder is healed AND the other man felt the presence of God in his hand as "cold" and a little electricity too (you never know what God's going to do).

The Omani man who had become my "ministry partner" had major physical issues.  He shared the most horrific story that left him almost dead a couple of years before, in chronic pain and with no explanation.  There was also several other tragedies in his family that all amounted in our assessment to a demonic assignment – why the kingdom of darkness wastes its energy afflicting those already in bondage firmly within satan's domain (Islam) is a mystery, but I guess demons are purely selfish in every possible way and there is no unity in that dark kingdom whatsoever.  We prayed for him and he received considerable relief in his legs and feet.  I also prayed for him for freedom from demonic attacks taking authority over things (both then and at his home later).  Isaac also began to prophesy over these men and we ended up getting invited to their home.

At the home, we just kept "exploring the space".  We asked if these guys wanted to be released into visions and and encounters with God – which of course opened us up for even more prophetic ministry.  So we would lay hands on one guy and ask the Holy Spirit to come.  The first one (whose shoulder was healed) didn't go into visions, but had an encounter with God that he couldn't explain.  This stuff is so much fun!!!  There was quite a bit of prophetic ministry over this man – gifts God wanted to give him and things about his destiny.

That man's younger brother was next – as we laid our hands on him, he went into a massive, long, closed-vision (saw it all with his eyes closed).  Not only did he share it, but we got to interpret what it meant for him.  Isaac also had a vision for the man that he shared afterward.

As I said, I got to pray more for the man who was afflicted by the demonic – I wanted to see more breakthrough and deliverance.  There was a distinct sadness on him and as we ministered to him that began to lift.

In the end, we had NO OPPOSITION whatsoever in this village in a 100% muslim Omani village in Arabia!  Driven by love, we simply went to demonstrate the Kingdom of God through healings, deliverance and prophetic ministry.  All of this clearly pointing to the supremacy of Christ and His Kingdom.  We were there for probably close to 2 hours and the invitations for us to return came at every junction.  Pray for this to be a wide open door for the salvation of many in this village.