Our last few days in Butuan were probable the best of all.

On Tuesday, we held a clinic at a Catholic community. People had been in prayer for this event for days before we arrived and we could all feel it. There was a remarkable level of peace and calm in the place, allowing the team to care for many, many people with a great efficiency. In that environment, we saw many wonderful healings. Here a just a few testimonies from team members of what God did that day at the clinic:

Willow

The clinic at the catholic church in Butuan.  We saw many, many healings that day.  Two really stood out to me.  A man came up to me before he had even seen the doctors or nurses and he showed me his xrays.  The xrays clearly showed TB.  So he asked me to pray and I prayed.  And afterwards my interpreter asked him if he felt anything different and he began to take deep breaths in without coughing or anything and he said, "this is the first time I’ve been able to take deep breaths without coughing for a very long time."  The joy on his face was very evident. 

The other one that stands out was this darling elderly woman-very tiny, petite woman with cataracts.  So my interpreter and I prayed for her and we asked her what was happening.  And she started to look around the room.  She grasped her hands together and was saying, "Thank you Jesus." Tears started to form in her eyes and fell on her cheeks.  She kept on looking around in amazement and said, "I can see!" 

There was a man who had been in a car accident about one year before-his whole body ached in pain.  You could see as he approached that he was obviously uncomfortable-wincing and taking little steps.  So he sat down and we prayed for him for God to heal the pain.  We told him to stand up afterwards and bend over and touch his toes.  He bent over and touched his toes with more flexibility than most of us!  The joy on his face was beautiful.  It was another quiet amazement that I saw. 

There were several sinuses that were healed,

Judi

Lady carried into clinic in Butuan with Lupos disease (no cure and body wasted away). She was too weak to walk, so Hennie (JOC team member) carried the woman into the clinic on a chair. When we began praying her body was cold but gradually life came back into it and she started perspiring.  After a lot of encouragement and her receiving gift of tongues she stood up and slowly walked for a few minutes.  She rested for a while and with my arm round her waist to give her confidence as her muscles hadn’t grown yet she later walked about 100 yards out of the clinic and as we helped her into tricycle taxi to go home, she freely stepped up by herself.

During the clinic, I taught a group of Catholic leaders on healing, the Kingdom of God , the Father heart of God etc. The presence of God was very powerful as we spent many hours together. I had them pray for healing for each other—God showed up and all were healed. While this was happening, Tim was conducting an information meeting at the hotel for those interested in starting a water filter program in Butuan. To Tim’s great surprise, 25 people showed up. They were highly motivated and asked questions for close to 2 hours. (Since our Journey, they have contacted Tim in Davao to arrange training.)

In the evening, the church in the city came together at the main auditorium for an evening of worship and prayer for their city. Once again, this was a powerful time. It was very moving to see so many churches and leaders represented - Catholic, United Church or Christ, Free Methodist, Vineyard, Pentecostal, Anglican an more. During the evening I was asked to come and lead a healing time for the 700+ in attendance. I invited all those who I had trained in healing over the previous 4 days to come up, not knowing if they would do so in front of their peers. To my delight at least 50+ came forward to pray for the sick. Several hundred received prayer in only a few minutes. A lot of healing happened, including an American man who had suffered a terrible motorcycle accident 2 years before. There was pain and damage in both arms, he was blind in one eye, and deaf in one ear. After receiving prayer, he called over Todd Bradshaw (our host in Butuan) and told him that God had healed him.

On Wednesday, the Impact team headed out on what may have been our greatest adventure. After a 45 minute drive into the hills, we walked for 45 minutes along a mountain trail. It was exquisitely beautiful, following along cliffs and a wonderful river that flowed down from the mountains. As we watched a group of children jump off the cliff into the cool water, most of us were sorely tempted to pretend that we were kids again. After walking through a beautiful forest, full of wildlife, we came upon an isolated village where we set up our final medical clinic. We saw the sickest people we had so far encountered. There was a remarkable sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit over the village. We learned that it had a violent history - 20 years earlier, rebels had come and killed many inhabitants, and scared most of the rest away. Finally the government sent in the army to maintain the peace. The army outpost is still there. In the 90's, a move of God came to this village. The church became the center of activity.

While the team ministered in the clinic, I had a remarkable day with a group of leaders, most of them 20-24 yrs old. As I taught them in a bamboo lean-to, the Holy Spirit came down upon us with such power that several times we couldn't continue. They simply lowered their heads upon the table and wept and wept. It has been a while since I felt the Holy Spirit's presence come again and again in waves. During our time together, we were joined by some small boys (about 7-11 yrs old), along with the pastor. We filmed their story (which we hope to edit and get on our website before too long). On Nov. 30^th  and Dec. 1^st, seven of the boys were visited by angels as they were out gathering firewood. The angels played with them, told them to read Matt 5 & 9, then reminded them that they were supposed to be at a prayer meeting in the village and accompanied them down there. Afterward, one of the boys took his mother (the pastor) to see the angels on the roof of the church. She told me that she could see not angels, but she saw three distinct and bright lights moving around the roof. The next day, 20 children went up into the hills and met with the angels. The angels taught them the scriptures from Matt 5 & 9, and Is. 65; they told them that these were very important passages for them and the village. The pastor reports that from that day on, these boys (who she said were rascals before) have been the first at all prayer meetings, are walking close to the Lord and are now quiet, helpful boys. Listening to each of the boys tell their story, I seemed clear that all that they told us, had indeed happened. The village agrees because when on April 13 the boys reported that Jesus had appeared to them and told the boys to call the village together for a day of repentance and prayer, the village immediately responded.

On our last evening in Butuan, Christina and I along with Todd and his wife, met with the Catholic bishop for dinner. He is a man who is passionate to see God move in Mindanao . It was a wonderful evening together. During this time, he invited Impact Nations to return for another Journey next year. In the 19^th century there was a great missionary explorer, Father Urios, who traveled up the river that bisects Butuan, taking the Gospel to the native villages along the river. The bishop and Todd have suggested that next year we minister in Butan and the surrounding villages (much like this year's Journey) for the first 5 or 6 days. After that, we would trace Father Urios' journey up the river. We would travel on a river boat and stop along the way to preach and pray in the villages, as well as conduct a couple of clinics. What an incredible adventure! And the  significance of "re-digging" ancient spiritual wells would be profound. We will keep you informed about the dates (which will be similar to this year).

As a final blessing, two things happened at the hotel where we had been staying. Jed, our team member from Manila , was by himself at the hotel. There had been a small flood the day before, so there was a repairman in Jed's room. Jed asked to pray for him and when he did, the man fell to the carpet under the power of God. Four other hotel employees saw this and came over to Jed. He explained what was happening and asked if they wanted prayer. In a moment four more people were on the hall floor. Others came and the same thing happened. Then the manager came, received prayer and she too went down. When they got to their feet, Jed led the entire staff to Jesus! The second thing that happened was that the team discovered the driver was not able to see out of his left eye because of a cataract. While he drove them to the airport, the team prayed. Tim and I were unaware of this because we left on a later flight. However, we had the same driver who could not stop thanking Jesus because he could now see perfectly.

From beginning to end, this Journey of Compassion was marked by miracles and salvation. And of course - Jesus loves to heal and save!!

As you read this final report of our Journey to the Philippines, why not pray about joining Impact Nations on one of our upcoming trips - Guatemala in July; Zambia in August; or Peru in November. Be part of this amazing outpouring that God is doing.