Today I Was the Face of Jesus

Well, today is our second clinic, and we have gone to a city larger than the small village of 40 homes that we went to yesterday. Again we began the day with a circle of 36 people worshipping Jesus in the midst of the city. We are from six nations (U.S., Canada, Australia, England, China and India), and through our worship, we are lifting high the name of Jesus and His kingdom and His power over all other powers in this city. We are opening a portal in the heavenlies directly above us for His grace to fall and flow through us this day as we minster Jesus to a Hindu people.

Picture: Worship before the clinic opens.

I am assigned to be a “runner” in the clinic today. The clinic is a tent with six sections (stations) which people will pass through as they receive the compassion of Jesus through the distribution of free medical care. This free medical clinic is a magnet that attracts the poor and immediately all 30 chairs outside the “Intake door” of the tent are filled while we are worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ in a circle next to the tent. After worship we take our stations. In an identical pattern to yesterday, people are split up into those who are doing prayer work and those working in the clinic.

After section one (Intake) people are guided to section 2 (Deworming) where they receive some basic vitamins and a deworming tablet that will keep them worm-free for six months. Next they go to the “Doctors” section. I worked as a runner (more precisely I was a “walker”) in the doctors section of the clinic. I guided people into waiting chairs and then from there to the next available “health care professional.”  We had three medically trained people working all day, and a fourth one assisted for part of the day.

It was truly a thrill for me to be the face of Jesus demonstrating His love and compassion and care to needy Hindus. No demands upon them to first become a Christian. No arguing with them over whose God was the greatest. I was simply there to smile, show genuine Christian honor, compassion and love to people of another religion.

You know, I have never done this in my entire life. If I had ever encountered a person of another belief, I would generally avoid them or seek to convince them that Jesus was better than their god. But not today! Today, I had a smile on my face, and a helping hand out, inviting them to the compassionate care of multiple health professionals. It brought joy and tears to my ey

es several times throughout the day. Today I was sharing simple compassion without regard to belief. Honoring and loving all people (1 Peter 2:17), a truth God has been asking me for the last year to incorporate into my life.

And during a few slow moments in the clinic, I prayed for healing for several who were waiting to meet with a health care professional. One had a painful stiff arm that had not healed properly from a break. The pain left completely and the arm became flexible again. Others also reported all pain left various parts of their body. I had learned to ask the question, “Would you like to receive prayer?” This is another question I have not asked anywhere near enough, and I know that as a result of this “Journey of Compassion” I will ask it of many I meet for the rest of my life.

They were guided from their meeting with the “medical professional” to the next station, which was the pharmacy, where they received what the health care providers had prescribed. From there they went to “Teaching” where they were specifically instructed how to take each medication they had received. The final station was “Prayer.” Any who desired it received healing prayer before leaving the tent.

281 people were processed through the clinic from 10:00 til 3:00 so we were extremely busy. Many experienced supernatural healing before leaving the tent as teams prayed for them. We were all working through a host of volunteer translators.

While we worked in the tent, I could hear the children’s coordinator playing games and doing other activities with the kids outside the tent. Through those activities, 86 children gave their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ during the day.

In addition, 50 adults accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior during the day through the prayers of the teams in the clinic as well as the teams that went through the streets offering to pray for anyone who would like prayer. This brought the total salvations during the day to 136. After the clinic closed down, the children continued to play some organized games, until it was time for the team members to go for a one hour rest and some light refreshments.

Just before the evening service, we went to the home of the leading political figure of the city. He was a Christian and wanted a prayer of blessing for himself and his family, which he received. The evening Celebration service was the same as the previous night. It consisted of music, worship of Jesus, dancing, skits, the preaching of the gospel, an altar call for salvation followed by a second altar call for healing. We worked through translators, praying for those who came forward. If we prayed for them for healing, we would then ask if they would like to receive Jesus into their hearts. The answer was most often “Yes.”

Once a person said they would like healing prayer, question two was always,”Where does your body hurt?" This was followed by placing your hand on that spot and praying for the compassion and mercy of the Lord Jesus to descend upon the person, and then commanding the pain to leave and the body to be restored. Then we would ask, "Has the pain gone or has it improved?" Many times it was partially gone, so we would pray again and then it would be totally gone. Sometimes, we were not successful in seeing the pain leave, so we would pray a blessing and that God would continue the healing as they went on their way.

I prayed for several. The one that stands out the most was a man who could not see well at all. I laid my hands on his eyes and prayed for God’s compassion and mercy to descend upon him, and commanded his eyesight to be healed. Upon checking, he said he still could not see any better. I remembered that Steve had said that advancing the Kingdom of God meant taking risks. I had stepped out, and taken a risk. So now what?

I asked if we could pray a second time. He said yes. We prayed the same prayer a second time with me laying my hands on his eyes, and commanding the eyesight to improve and become clear, and thanking God for healing his vision. This time, he reported he could see clearly! Thank You, Jesus! The risk had paid off. So I asked if he would like to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He said “Yes,” and so he repeated a salvation prayer with me, and we had a nearby team member who worked with follow up take down his name so he could be contacted over the next two days by an area pastor.

125 people accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in the evening Celebration service, and scores were healed. Every team member I talked to was excited beyond belief and felt this had been perhaps the best day of their entire lives. We were experiencing New Testament Christianity. We ministered to the down and the outcast, we healed the sick, cast out demons, and many who came accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We have blended into a wonderful family of 36 brothers and sisters in just a few short days as we all reached beyond ourselves into a kingdom anointing.

I have believed for 38 years there should be more to “church” than I had experienced. Now I have experienced the “more” and I never want to go back. May I repeat that a 38 year old search has ended and I never want to go back. My heart is raptured with joy and thankfulness to God for allowing His glorious ministry to flow so magnificently through His body, the Church.

My respect for Steve Stewart for being the apostle who has put together these Journeys of Compassion knows no end. What a gift he and his amazing team are to the kingdom, the Church and to the hundreds he has taken so far on Journeys of Compassion. Everyone I have spoken to has told me their lives will never be the same. I know mine won’t. Today the tears will not cease flowing from my eyes. I have come to the end of a 38 year search, and the beginning of a whole new life in Christ.

You can follow us in India by “Liking” Impact Nations on Facebook.

Blogs From “My Journey of Compassion” to India

They describe the most transformational week of my life, as I took a huge step forward in ministering Divine healing.

• Power Evangelism in India - It Works!
• Today I Was the Face of Jesus
• Feeding the Homeless and Healing the Sick
• Micro-Business Sewing School Graduation
• The High Point of My Journey

How You Can Get Involved

1. If you want to be raised up in miracle evangelism, and see people healed through your prayers, you need to join one of these “Journeys of Compassion" with Impact Nations and Steve Stewart. He is raising up a last days army to do the works of God. Deeds of compassion, divine healing, and introducing villages to Christ, who have never before heard the gospel. Steve’s book is available here. Read it and begin your journey toward New Testament Christianity.
2. Another way to get involved is to help financially in sending a friend on one of these Journeys of Compassion. Those who sow financially reap in the eternal rewards of souls saved and lives forever changed by being healed by the compassionate touch of Jesus' hand.
3. And finally, Steve Stewart can be booked to come to your church and do a weekend Journey of Compassion for your congregation. During this weekend, he trains and then takes you to the streets of your city to minister healing prayer and evangelism. Contact Steve (steve@impactnations.com) for more information concerning inviting him to your church.