Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland
Monday, March 9, 2009
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Strange Week. Strange Day.
Yesterday was a strange day that ended a strange week for us. This whole last week, we have been feeling very low. To be honest, we can't even explain why that is. We haven't ever struggled with depression, yet this past week we have been feeling somewhat depressed. We’ve been to many other countries and it is only here in Poland that we have felt this heavy depression. We have been battling these feeling all week by going into times of prayer and worship, which of course is always good. In these prayer times we continues to do warfare prayer for the people of this city and this nation. Yet, for some reason there has still been this overwhelming feeling of heaviness, depression and even oppression. It was a strange week to say the least.
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Yesterday was Sunday. The senior pastor at the church where we minister left on a two week trip to the U.K. this last week, so another man, who is one of the elders here gave the message this morning at church. This man was the pastor for many years at this church and is a very faithful, awesome man of God. He gave a great message, speaking on the lives of Isaac, Jacob and Elijah, ending the message by talking about how, even when we are nearing the end of our journey in life, we need to be available for God to use us as He may not be done using us for His glory. Again, it was a very encouraging message.
.
Strange Week. Strange Day.
Yesterday was a strange day that ended a strange week for us. This whole last week, we have been feeling very low. To be honest, we can't even explain why that is. We haven't ever struggled with depression, yet this past week we have been feeling somewhat depressed. We’ve been to many other countries and it is only here in Poland that we have felt this heavy depression. We have been battling these feeling all week by going into times of prayer and worship, which of course is always good. In these prayer times we continues to do warfare prayer for the people of this city and this nation. Yet, for some reason there has still been this overwhelming feeling of heaviness, depression and even oppression. It was a strange week to say the least.
.
Yesterday was Sunday. The senior pastor at the church where we minister left on a two week trip to the U.K. this last week, so another man, who is one of the elders here gave the message this morning at church. This man was the pastor for many years at this church and is a very faithful, awesome man of God. He gave a great message, speaking on the lives of Isaac, Jacob and Elijah, ending the message by talking about how, even when we are nearing the end of our journey in life, we need to be available for God to use us as He may not be done using us for His glory. Again, it was a very encouraging message.
.
As we all stood to pray after the message, I heard one of the teenagers calling for his mom from the back row. I felt that something was wrong and as I turned around to see what was going on, this young man looked completely pale. I rushed back to him and had him sit down. His mother also came back to be with him. His eyes were open and looking around, but he said that he couldn’t see. His mom and I began to pray for him. I placed my hands on his eyes and asked God to heal his vision, and to bring him to complete health. He was then able to see and said to me later that he felt something happen as we were praying. We brought him back into another room to lay down on a couch.
.
Then, when I came back into the main sanctuary, the service had concluded. I went toward the front of the church and heard some shouting. As I looked to my left, the elder who had given the message fell back onto the hard floor unconscious. A few men rushed to his assistance, as did I at first. But seeing that they didn’t need my help, I just began to pray in my prayer language. He was able to get back up and sit in a chair. They took him to another room and called the ambulance. I guess that this man went unconscious once again in the other room and was brought to the hospital. Another man gathered the concerned congregation into the main sanctuary to pray for this man. We heard later that he left the hospital and went back home as he was doing better. I began to think about the fact that I don’t remember seeing one, let alone two medical emergencies take place in a church service. I mean, it could be coincidence. There are ways we can try to explain these things away. I heard that the barometric pressure was extremely low that day. The teenager had been sick was a cough and cold the previous few days. The elder of the church had been taking medication to regulate his blood pressure.
.
But I also had in the back of my mind the thought that these things that took place could be an open attack from the enemy; a sort of retaliation against the only evangelical church in town for the warfare prayer against the strongholds over the city. I also thought that it was interesting that these physical attacks were perhaps aimed at the younger and older generation of the church. Maybe this was a blatant statement from the enemy: “I hate you all. I want to destroy you all.” But, as I have often found in the past, if this was the enemy, his plans seemed to backfire. Jesus was glorified in the healing of that teenager’s sight. His friends were right there to see that our first reaction was to pray and that God’s healing power was present. The church came together to pray for the main who had fallen backwards. What Satan may have intended for evil, God turned around for good.
.
We were supposed to go to that man’s house for obiad (lunch or supper), but our plans changed so we went over to some other friends’ house. Then later in the day, we went over to some other friends’ house to visit. We talked about the events of the day, as well as other things. It was a good time of fellowship. We couldn’t help but think, “What a strange week. What a strange day.”
.
As we all stood to pray after the message, I heard one of the teenagers calling for his mom from the back row. I felt that something was wrong and as I turned around to see what was going on, this young man looked completely pale. I rushed back to him and had him sit down. His mother also came back to be with him. His eyes were open and looking around, but he said that he couldn’t see. His mom and I began to pray for him. I placed my hands on his eyes and asked God to heal his vision, and to bring him to complete health. He was then able to see and said to me later that he felt something happen as we were praying. We brought him back into another room to lay down on a couch.
.
Then, when I came back into the main sanctuary, the service had concluded. I went toward the front of the church and heard some shouting. As I looked to my left, the elder who had given the message fell back onto the hard floor unconscious. A few men rushed to his assistance, as did I at first. But seeing that they didn’t need my help, I just began to pray in my prayer language. He was able to get back up and sit in a chair. They took him to another room and called the ambulance. I guess that this man went unconscious once again in the other room and was brought to the hospital. Another man gathered the concerned congregation into the main sanctuary to pray for this man. We heard later that he left the hospital and went back home as he was doing better. I began to think about the fact that I don’t remember seeing one, let alone two medical emergencies take place in a church service. I mean, it could be coincidence. There are ways we can try to explain these things away. I heard that the barometric pressure was extremely low that day. The teenager had been sick was a cough and cold the previous few days. The elder of the church had been taking medication to regulate his blood pressure.
.
But I also had in the back of my mind the thought that these things that took place could be an open attack from the enemy; a sort of retaliation against the only evangelical church in town for the warfare prayer against the strongholds over the city. I also thought that it was interesting that these physical attacks were perhaps aimed at the younger and older generation of the church. Maybe this was a blatant statement from the enemy: “I hate you all. I want to destroy you all.” But, as I have often found in the past, if this was the enemy, his plans seemed to backfire. Jesus was glorified in the healing of that teenager’s sight. His friends were right there to see that our first reaction was to pray and that God’s healing power was present. The church came together to pray for the main who had fallen backwards. What Satan may have intended for evil, God turned around for good.
.
We were supposed to go to that man’s house for obiad (lunch or supper), but our plans changed so we went over to some other friends’ house. Then later in the day, we went over to some other friends’ house to visit. We talked about the events of the day, as well as other things. It was a good time of fellowship. We couldn’t help but think, “What a strange week. What a strange day.”
.
Christian Young
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