I am preparing to go back to Africa in June and I realized that I never sent out a trip report from my Nigeria trip (March 18 to April 2). I got very dehydrated on the plane on the way home, which led to a bad kidney infection and kidney stones shortly after I got home, so I was pretty sick for a few weeks. Because of that, I never wrote up a detailed blow-by-blow description of all the incredible things the Lord did there.
I want to share a high level report and attach some of the testimonies I received in email from two of the pastors whose churches I ministered at while I was there. I also want to give you a brief overview of the experience.
The ministry in Nigeria was definitely packed with spiritual power. Both sides, God and the devil, were very active on this trip. We had all sorts of miraculous healings and deliverances and lots of salvations. However there was also a lot of spiritual warfare related to this trip.
Let me give a couple of examples of enemy interference. Just getting there turned out to be quite an ordeal. The airline who claims the best "on time" record had a delay leaving Germany for Lagos airport in Nigeria. Then when we got to Nigeria (about an hour late) the baggage carrousel for unloading luggage suddenly broke and caused another hour delay. Once they got it working all the luggage came out but mine. Another 30 minute delay as they looked for my luggage, which they found. But by the time I cleared customs, I missed my connecting flight to Port Harcourt and the last flight for the night had already taken off. So we unexpectedly found ourselves needing a hotel in Port Harcourt. We tried to get a flight the next morning. But the flight we selected/paid for was delayed for hours and I ended up arriving almost 24 hours late. On the way home there were also unusual complications that led to me getting very dehydrated and almost hospitalized with kidney problems.
There is another example. They had two vehicles to drive myself and the ministry team to meetings in. Both vehicles had tune-ups and were in top condition just before I arrived. Yet when we drove to the first meeting on Sunday morning, the car I was in got a flat tire en route and the car that the rest of the ministry team was in had the radiator blow up. So it became a complex ordeal just to get us to the meeting and home again. Those type of unexpected problems kept coming up as the enemy tried to resist what God sent us to do, as well as various sicknesses attacking myself and members of the ministry team. However for the sicknesses, we just prayed for each other and healed each other, which ended up raising the faith level of the ministry team.
God did a lot of damage to the devil's kingdom on this trip, so it is not at all surprising that the enemy would resist and counter attack. One of the things God did was to break an occult hex off of one of the churches. Over time the members had become lethargic and unenthused, sort of just showing up at service and that was it. God showed me the nature of the witchcraft curse in a vision (that was a scary experience) and then He showed me how to break it. I had two nights of meetings at the church. We broke the curse at the second meeting and oh-- what a difference in the people. They seemed to "come alive" again! And the pastor has reported that this had a lasting effect, they remained like another congregation (an alive and enthusiastic one) even weeks after I'd gone home.
And, of course, there were a lot of first time salvations and also a lot of people recommitted their lives to Christ.
Here is the high level info for this trip. (And after that I will include some testimonies from two of the pastors whose church I ministered in.
- Thursday/Friday/Saturday (March 18/19/20) travel to Nigeria. Arrived about 2 PM Saturday after some unexpected delays and missed connections.
- Sat Night - ministry team training
- Sunday - Spoke at a church of 2000 - lots of healings but nothing spectacular to report. The one blind man I prayed for stayed blind.
- Monday - more ministry team training. Also did some personal ministry with secular VIPs in the oil industry, they are very wealthy.
- Tuesday to Thursday - Morning and afternoon - did training seminar on hearing God's voice for about 150 pastors. Started out with under 100, but they liked it so much they got on the phone and had other pastors they knew drive and fly in for the remaining two days of the seminar. In addition to the training, did some prophetic ministry and also laid hands on each pastor for impartation.
- Thurs PM to Saturday PM - three-day healing/evangelistic crusade. Average attendance was 550 to 600 per session, and we recorded over 100 first time decisions for Christ over the three-day period, all of which are being followed up by local churches. We also saw so many physical healings and deliverances that we could not record them all. So many of the healed people gave testimonies that we lost count of how many testified of healings. Next time we will try to do a better job at statistics keeping.
- Sunday - Preached/prayed at two churches. Prayed for impartation for all of the members (about 800 people between the two locations). One witch doctor came to the meeting and when I laid hands on him for impartation, he experienced a power-encounter that (I think) led to his conversion. Apparently the demons tried to kill him just after his conversion by having a large speaker fall off it's stand and almost crush him to death. An usher felt prompted to relocate him to a different seat and he was barely of the chair when the speaker fell on it, smashing the chair into a bunch of tiny pieces. God spared his life by having the usher move him out of the chair seconds before the accident.
- Monday AM - 5+ hours per private ministry appointments that ranged from people needing healing to needing deliverance to needing curses broken off of them to wanting to be saved to needing to hear a prophetic word from God about a specific situation.
- Monday and Tues PM - Outreach meetings at Pastor MacAnthony's church. The church was built on "dedicated land" and had been under heavy oppression since relocating there years ago. God gave me a vision of the nature of the curse/hex over the church. We broke the dedication and witchcraft hex off of the people and they stopped being lethargic and became excited for Christ. Also several healings and deliverances. Attendance was about 60 people each night, and we saw about a dozen first time decisions for Christ over those two days.
- Wed PM - spoke at largest church in city, with about 5000 members. But this was a Wed night meeting and only about 1000 were present. We prayed for the sick and again we had lots of healings and deliverances.
- Thursday/Friday - travel home.
Here is the email report from Pastor MacAnthony
It's amazing: testimonies of what the Lord did through your ministry in Nigeria was still pouring in at my writing time. The ministers never tire of speaking about the seminar. In my Church, as at Sunday, we were still receiving testimonies. For instance, one woman who had experienced heart- wracking waist pains since the birth of her child ten months ago testified to her healing which she had to confirm for six days. And many more. As for me, those prophetic declarations were already manifesting. We are already implementing your counsel. Please do pray for us. We would be glad to receive any message the Lord may have for us.Remain Blessed.
Rev. MacAnthony
Here is the email report
from Apostle Monday Enwere
These testimonies are some of the ones which were given after you were gone back to America.1) One Bro Alex, the worship leader testified of instant healing from a recurrent migraine headache which has been with him for 9 years. After your ministration, the headache left but he was unable to testify at that time because to him it was unbelievable. He waited for more than a week to see if he would have the headache again but it was gone completely.
2) Another brother went to his home town to set up a private building few days before the program. After his arrival in their town and subsequent commencement of the project, he was attacked in his dream and from that day his neck became stiff with much pain. He came back from his town and participated in the program. After your ministration, the neck became normal till date. This testimony was given just last Sunday. [That is about a month after I retuned home from Africa - Teresa]
3) Another woman, was loosing blood (miscarriage) in her house during the program. She was encouraged to visit the Church although it was almost getting late for that day. After you laid hand on her and prayed very simple and general welfare (not warfare) prayer, she felt that some thing good has happened to her. She left the Church, went home and cleaned up and observed that the bleeding had stopped.
4) One Brother Anya who was a banker 12 years ago and who had series of problems to an extent of loosing all that he had including his job later took to unskilled (laborer) job. After prayers during the program, he got a new job last week as a manager in a petrol company.
5) Another Sister (name forgotten) also got a job after the program
etc
Some pastors who participated in the hearing God workshop came to me testifying how God blessed them through the teachings.
Teresa, it was nice having you. May God empower you more and more.