BE NOT WISE IN THINE OWN EYES. FEAR THE LORD AND DEPART FROM EVIL.
(PROVERBS 3:7)


Friday, January 16, 2009

Mountain Climbing

I was visiting a friend's blog this morning and read that she has been preparing for mountain climbing. Wow! The last time I went mountain climbing with friends was about 12 years ago somewhere in Zamboanga. Oh, how time flies! I remember how I cried halfway to our destination. It was too much for me. I was catching my breath... we could not stop and take a break from walking because we were time pressured. We had to be on top of the mountain before it gets dark. It was just too dangerous for us to be walking in the dark in that area. My friends were worried about me and the guys even offered to carry me. That was nice of them to do that. But I said... "thanks, but no thanks." My physical stamina came to its last point but to give up is just not my style. So I kept walking... and crying.

We didn't only climb that mountain for fun. It was not fun to me at all. We climbed it for a purpose! We brought the gospel to the minority tribe who was settling on that mountain. The evening we got up there, we held an evangelistic meeting. The said meeting drew all of the settlers in the area. When it was my turn to speak, a drunk man picked on me. He commented on each of my lines jokingly and the people laughed. After speaking, I approached him and told him that God wanted to forgive him of his sins if only he would surrender to Him. He was laughing at me. He told me that nobody could stop him from going to hell because he was the most sinful of all sinners. He said that he had 12 wives, had been drinking for years and did terrible things to his wives. Then he asked what my name was. After I told him my name, he went away. The next morning, while having breakfast with my friends, someone told me that I got invited to our host's neighbor's home. I and my friends went to visit the said home right after breakfast. And guess whose house that was... the drunk man's. I was surprised to see him a different person. He was different when he's not intoxicated with alcohol. He told me that he got born again. He said that when he went away from the meeting the night before, he repented of his sins and placed his life in the Lord's hand. We celebrated his born-again experience. We were literally jumping and praising God until one guy came into the house and told us that we were also invited to visit another house in the neighborhood. Off my friends and I went to that house.

When we got there, we noticed that it was the biggest house in the village. We were all led inside... to a huge but filthy room. I was very uncomfortable there. I felt like it was a home of some demon-possessed person. My friends and I were very silent... silently praying... just looking at each other. The guy who led us in was actually the man of the house. He told us that his wife was in their bedroom waiting for us. He also told us that his wife had been battling with ovarian cancer for many months and that she just came home from treatments at the hospital. She actually came home because the doctors could no longer assure her that her treatments would help. She had a few weeks to live according to her doctors. Knowing that put me and my friends in a scary situation. But we were courageous... well, we were scared but we knew that we were there to show what kind of a God we served! We knew that God could heal her if it's His will. Okay, so we went into the couple's bedroom and saw the sick bald woman lying in bed. She got up as soon as she saw us. She stared at me with her huge eyes! I was overwhelmed with fear. I could feel that some kind of a demon was tormenting her. I was in spiritual warfare! I was battling against the evil spirit in her in my spirit. Then I felt led by the Lord to touch her and speak life in her in the name of Jesus Christ. I hesitated because I was scared. But the urge to do it just got stronger and stronger until I could not hold it any longer. I went closer to her and touched her and spoke life to her in the name of Jesus Christ. My friends and I left that house after we prayed for her. We all went to our respective homes, not really knowing what happened to that woman. A couple years had passed and I met one of my friends. He told me that the woman got healed from her cancer and that she got born again. She even became one of the elders of the church that was founded right after we left that village. What can I say??? Our God is an awesome God, He reigns!!!

Remembering that particular mountain climbing experience brought tears to my eyes this morning.

2 comments:

Jan said...

dines, you had some great reasons to climb that mountain. it's more challenging when you climb a mountain for a good cause... but also very fulfilling.

i also climbed mountains before for that reason... but this time, it's different. it's for fun. and thank God for computers, internet, and blogs... at least now I know how to prepare and what to expect. :)

Micawatson said...

hehehe...magmountain climbing ta Di pag moanhi ka sa Arkansas, joke lng...when mouli sa pinas. and Ansuhan ha..ingna mama...lol