Re-Revival

As you may or may not have known, the annual Revival Crusade ended on August 26 (see one of my recent blogs), but the fire that came upon the church during that period is far from dead. The success of church revivals are often measured in terms of how many people get saved. In this respect, the revival did not fall short. Hundreds of people accepted Jesus during those two months. But this revival brought something else, something that few churches press for in a crusade, something difficult to measure. Most crusades are externally focused, with a goal of trying to save (part of) the world. We used these months to look into the mirror and examine our own lives. We called for the fire on our lives to equip us to GO OUT and save the world rather than attracting the world to us (they still came anyway, somehow). As a result there has been a very tangible transformation in the “spirit” of the church. Its like we grew up a few years in maturity by growing down a few years in humility.

Morning prayer continues every morning. I choose not to go regularly so I can do my own thing at home, but when I do go, I find it is still packed. There are more people in that little church than in the second Sunday service. Now that school has started, you can also find students trickling in at 5am, clad in uniform, to seek God before they hit the books. There is a new level of hunger to see God regularly do what he did in the months past. There is a hunger to see him do even greater things, as he promised.

The current “theme” of the morning prayer comes from John 5 By the Pool of Bethesda. This is clearly growing a hunger for the miraculous. This hunger is being further expanded by the weekly Bible Study that my dad is teaching. Current topic: Divine Healing. The Bible Study is attended by hundreds (quite rediculous–its actually just another church service by now). We are currently working to gain a picture of the original preaching of the Gospel. Jesus said follow me and I will teach you and immediately started “Preaching, Teaching, and Healing.” These three things are repeated over and over throughout the Gospel. These things are what Jesus wanted to “teach” us, his disciples.

I believe that a day is coming when this church will be too much for even the world to handle. Get a few thousand spiritually hungry and strongly devoted people walking miraculously, there’s nothing that will hold them back. Haiti has hope. I’ve seen it in every corner that I’ve visited. In Petit Place Cazeau, this church is more than a glimmer of hope, its a burning bonfire! Keep you’re eyes and ears open for more news.

On another note, we are working hard to put Sunday Services and Tuesday’s Bible Studies on the web. Those of you who speak/understand Kreyol and/or French will be able to benefit from this. Just go to www.geraldbatailleministries.org. The site is currently entirely English, but we have translators on the job.

Just an Average Day of Healings and Stuff

I spent the last 20+ hours in what turned into one continuous service. On the schedule was Revival 4pm, Night Watch till 5am, then continued fasting and prayer till noon. Practically everyone was there at every event… one after the other. The day was full of miracles and deliverance.

I ended up preaching last night instead. What God did in me while I spoke is another story that maybe one day I’ll be able to explain but for now I don’t really have words. Before I preached, we were worried about Dad’s voice. He hadn’t been able to talk without straining for more than a day. Those of you who have heard him, knows that he REALLY uses that voice. No amp necessary. Minutes before stepping up to preach I prayed for him and laid it in God’s hands. I told God that I would accept one of 2 miracles: either my dad get’s healed or God makes me fluent in creole really fast. Frere Chacha also prayed for him. When we stepped up to the microphone, sure enough his voice was the same. We contined by faith. Less than a minute later, only after a few phrases his intense, megaphone, lumberjack voice was back and God’s beautiful message was preached. It was definitely a message of God, as it continued to be preached until we let go at noon today, both directly and indirectly. I have a feeling it will be coming back too… especially after the last miracle at noon (keep reading).

After the service the whole army marched down the street to the school for a night of fasting and prayer. The school courtyard was packed, the rooms were packed, the second floor balcony was packed, and we even had people dancing on the roof (unfinished 3rd floor). There was not much else to say about this event except that God was definitely there with us. There was a lot of singing, laughing, crying, weeping, shaking, and delivering. AMAZING! At exactly midnight something came over the whole crowd all at once and we broke out into a chorus of:

“Sel Jezi ka fe sa! Sel Jezi ka fe sa!
Sel Jezi ka fe sa! Sel Jezi ka fe sa!
Woy, Woy, Woy, Woy!
Woy, Woy, Woy, Woy!”

Translated, that means “Only Jesus can do this! Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah!” It was one of the most intense worship experiences of my life. The whole school was jumping, every bit of concrete was shaking. I have video, but it was dark… it couldn’t possibly capture the experience anyway.

Around 1:30 we broke off to seek God silently on our own (awake or in a dream, haha!) and at 4:30 we were all up again. Eyes wide, voices clear, praising God again as we marched to the next destination (the church at the corner). Once again, it was packed (though not as packed). That is where we stayed until noon. Praying, worshipping, hearing the word and testifying. There were many, many testimonies. Many. God worked hard last night.

At 11:55, right before we had our closing prayer, a young teen was led to the front. He was blind. (the word “was” is very important here). At first I didn’t hear why they brought him forward, but when I heard my dad praying for him to see I had to get in on the action. After we prayed we began to show him objects. He had been blind for a few years, but for the first time in years he was able to make out objects, shapes and colors. He also saw his big sister’s face for the first time in years. Praise God! Soon after he said his sister’s name the crowd broke out again: “Sel Jezi ka fe sa! Woy, Woy, Woy, Woy!” It was truly a sight to see. (I’ll be uploading that video on youtube soon under “sel jezi ka fe sa”)

The boy was not completely healed on the spot. I saw that his pupils were quite large. But we are pressing in to see his complete healing, believing that the next time we see him he will register our faces clearly. That last miracle also preached the message that God gave me all over again. God wants us to continue to believe for more… for bigger things. This was one way of him saying “stay hungry.” Imediately after that miracle, a man came and prophesied the very thing that God was saying to us: “we’re about to experience things that no one has ever seen.” He came that do to deliver that message, even before the healing took place. Once again the message was preached… stay hungry.

When dad spoke this morning, he gave us signs that the “true” revival that we have been looking for for years has officially started. The first sign was extreme signs of repentence. After the week of preaching about repentance people began to decide that they couldn’t come back without being reconciled to people they needed to forgive or ask forgiveness from. People started reaching way back (years) to fix these problems. There were stories of people being reconciled after many, many years even when the person who was offended had forgotten. Many tears have been shed in the process, and many sins have also been forgiven and forgotten.

On top of that, people from everywhere are already calling to get a touch of the fire we have found. The day before yesterday, we were on at least 5 radio stations in the U.S. and we continue to get tons of calls with testimonies of deliverence and healing (from NY, Boston, Miami, Canada, Pennsylvania, etc.), and more prayer requests for the church to cover. Some of the testimonies match specific prayer requests that we had received and prayed for. Praise God!

How did I find myself in the middle of this? I can’t think of a thing that I did to get to experience let alone participate. It’s amazing. All I did was simply follow my Leader. Sel Jezi ka fe sa. Sel Jezi ka fe sa!