Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings to you in Jesus wonderful name. God has been so good to us. He has blessed the prison ministry and the churches which God has started in the ladies and men sections through us. New people have come to the Lord in both sections: 1 Indonesian, 1 Bangladeshi, 6 Philippine nos, 1 Ghana, 3 Nigerians, 1 Iranian, 2 Burundi (Africa), 2 Brazilians, 1 Peruvian. Glory to God.
There are more nonbelievers joining in ladies’ fellowship now from Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines.. The rules seem to be more relaxed in Ladies section than in that of men’s and they have more freedom to meet each other, share the word of God and pray together. Esther has been encouraging them to seek after God, the fellowship and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, hence God has been blessing and using them to minister to others:
TESTIMONIES:
LEONORA (One of the Philippine no leaders in ladies section) - informed Esther that as they were praying, a non Christian from Indonesia was so worried about her passport, and just then God gave Leonora the word of prophecy saying, “Don’t worry, by this Sunday you will know when it comes.” Within thirty minutes the officials informed the Indonesian lady that she would be given her passport on Tuesday and they were all so amazed as God had used Leonora in this manner. After this more Indonesians have joined their fellowship, saying, “We want to join you because we see that there is power in your prayers and your prayers are answered.” Halleluiah! Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.
JAIN (One of the Philippine no leaders there) - said to Esther that a lady from Thailand was suffering from head-ache and Jain told her, “Let me lay hands on you and pray for you.” to which she consented. As she did so her burden was shifted on Jain and they both began to cry and God healed her head-ache in fifteen minutes time. Jain was so happy that God had used her and said that she wanted more of God’s anointing every day. Also she shared that she was so happy to hear God speaking to her directly. As she was praying God had told her, “Do not pity yourself for you are not alone. I am with you.” She was so touched by God’s love and care toward her. Glory to God.
GEOFFREY- (One of the leadership in men’s section from Uganda) -had sent us a letter saying, “I know by God’s power that I’ll be going back to Uganda soon.” We praised God for his faith and were wondering where the money had come from as he had absolutely no money on him. The next when Esther visited him, he asked her, “I’m leaving for Uganda tomorrow, did you pay for my airfare? Last time soon after you visited me I was informed that my ticket was ready and later they informed me the date of my departure.” Of course she was very happy and explained that we had not paid for that and God had provided for him as an answer to his prayers. It was God’s miracle.” Other people in the prison who knew him, when they heard about him leaving the next day were all amazed and said, “But he had no money for that!” It became a testimony of God’s faithfulness to His children. Also in his letter he wrote, “When I go home, God is my first priority in any thing I am doing….” Glory to God Most High
We shall write you in detail about God’s work in the Prison, separately.
Church ministries:
In a two-day crusade meeting on May 4 & 5, organized by 11 Brazilian churches of Mission Appoi, held in Nagoya, Brother Philip Tan from Malaysia, us (Yousef & Esther) had the privilege of sharing the word of God as the guest speakers.
In the first session before Yousef shared the message, Esther spoke out what God had shown her through dream that morning and said, “There is a person here who has great problem. To solve your problem you have been to the fortune teller and have got no result. If you will come to Jesus and ask Him to help you, he shall solve your problem.” And handed the rest of the meeting over to Yousef who continued with the message and the Lord used him to set some people free from fear and financial insecurities.
At the end of the meeting a brother came forward and testified that God had set him free from his fear and glorified God for His mighty work in him. Praise God for all His mighty deeds.
After the meeting a sister came to ask for prayer regarding a-long-time financial crisis in her family which she thought it was due to a curse upon them. She was weeping so bitterly. As Esther was standing there and listening to her, God told her, “She is the one whom I showed you about…” Hence she asked Pr. Nuno who was kind enough to interpret for us all, during the two-day meeting, to find out from her if she had been to fortune teller before. Much to every one’s surprise she confessed that it was true, and as the Lord ministered to her through Yousef, Brother Philip and Esther, she felt relieved and found confidence in the Lord to take care of her problem and to solve it.
Before Brother Philip shared the word of God (after a wonderful time of praise and worship) the same sister shared her testimony that she had come to the meeting with the least expectation and while Esther was speaking out what the Lord had shown her, it was as if she was talking about her. She was so grateful to God for His love and care for her.
Then Brother Phillip shared about the fact that only God knows man’s heart and encouraged all to focus on the cross and what Jesus had done for us. In the end he gave a call for all who wished to be prayed for to come forward. Almost all the people came forward to receive the ministering of God the Holy Spirit through all the 11 Pastors from the Mission Appoi and us -the guest speakers. It was great blessing for us to see our God setting His people free from the burdens of life, hurts, demonic influences…
The next day in the morning session, Yousef had been asked to share on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. He shared the word of God found in Acts 2:1-4, helping people to see the Holy Spirit as God. At the end of his message, he first asked if any one wished to receive Jesus into his heart and by God’s grace two people gave their lives to the Lord. Then he asked those who wished to receive baptism of the Holy Spirit to come forward. Many people came foreword and all the Pastors and us prayed for them. God again touched His people and in one incident as Esther had laid hands on a sister, she noticed that she had been given the utterance in other tongues. To make sure she asked the dear Pastor ministering next to her to find out from her if that was true. Praise God, she admitted that it was true and she had spoken in tongues. God used dear pastors and us to touch His people and blessed them by setting them free from sorrows, burdens and pressures of this life... and gave them the spiritual freedom, joy, strength of the Holy Spirit…
In the afternoon session Esther shared the word of God on Psalm 22:25-31, encouraging God’s people to grow into a deeper level of holiness, love and fellowship with God the Holy Spirit and be used by God as they are the seed God refers to in Psalm 22. God used her to set some people free from the hurts received from their parents, humiliation from people and to forgive them. Also she asked them if they wished to serve the Lord and almost the whole congregation stood up to make the commitment to serve the Lord.
As she was sharing the message, it was so humbling to her that all the eleven dear Pastors sitting down the stage, were giving head to God’s message through her and she was grateful to God and to them for the opportunity given her.
Then Brother Philip continued on the same subject as Esther had been led to share, encouraging them to drink more of the living water of the Holy Spirit, grow in their level of holiness, desire to serve God and gave a call for repentance from sin. He gave few minutes time to all in order to be open and to allow God the Holy Spirit to fill and touch them. In the end as the time was short, almost all the people present came forward and we were all asked to pray for them quickly as they passed before us.
By God’s grace the Lord had motivated many to serve him and the dear Pastors planned to help each one find the Lord’s direction concerning the ministry God had called them to, in their camp to be held in June. Glory to God.
The next day (Sunday), Esther shared the message in Nagoya church -Pastor Santos the head of the Mission Appoi. The Lord had shown her that there were many minister-to-be brothers and sisters there and used her to encourage them to put God first in their lives and to spend more time in His presence in order to experience His love and to allow Him take away all the things of the world and of flesh from our hearts and to replace them with the fruits of the Holy Spirit as that was the ONLY WAY. Then she asked them to form groups of 3 and to take some time to pray for each others’ need according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. After the prayer time was finished, they admitted) that they felt so refreshed and filled with God’s joy and strength and love for each other. You could see the effect of the same on their faces. Glory to God.
On the third Sunday (May 20), we had the privilege of sharing God’s word in Kyoto Church - Prs. Daryl and Cathy Webb, from the US. -we got to know Pastor Daryl who is a great man of God, while being powerfully used by God with gifts of the Holy Spirit in a Brazilian church- It was mainly a Japanese church (who had been trained to speak fluent English as well), with few foreigners from England, New Zealand, and Russia...
During the morning session Yousef shared his testimony in church meeting held in Prs' house and by God’s grace a British man gave his life to the Lord which surprised even the Pastors, as we all believed him to be a Christian already. Then God showed Esther that a Japanese young boy (non Christian) had a problem, which he had not shared it with any one yet. He admitted that it was true and as Esther encouraged him to commit his problem into Jesus’ hand, he opened his heart and together they prayed for the same matter. Also God showed Esther that a Japanese brother was under strong satanic influences. He admitted that he had been praying to his ancestors (Japanese Culture), which God had shown Esther, and also explained that he had been suffering from his unbelieving wife from the Philippines. Yousef and Esther prayed for him. Please remember them in your prayers. Thank you.
In the evening session after a wonderful praise and worship time in English and Japanese, before Esther shared the word of God, God gave her two Words of Prophecies for the church and for dear Pastors. Then she shared from Acts 2 about the fact that sanctification of every believer is primary step to Revival brought only by God the Holy Spirit. And gave a call for repentance as the Lord had led her and handed over the meeting to Pr. Darryl as we’d been asked to do. Pr. Daryl encouraged them and gave them time to respond saying that it was a prophetic message that they had heard several times lately.
Then he asked Yousef to share the word of God. Yousef shared from different parts of the Bible and God used him to set few people who responded, free from fear, financial insecurities and to help them trust God with their future.
Pr. Daryl asked those who wished to be prayed for to come forward. God touched His people and set them free from their hurts, un-forgiveness, satanic influences…A sister was filled with joy of the Lord and began to laugh continuously as Yousef prayed for her. A Japanese sister –student of theology told Esther that she wished to serve God in the power of the Holy Spirit. God showed Esther that she was under satanic influences and God touched and delivered her as she prayed for her. Then God showed her that the anointing of God was upon her and prayed that God would give her opportunities and use her for His glory, as all she needed was a chance to let God use her. Toward the end of the ministry time, as Esther was praying for some other sister, she came back and had a Word of Prophecy for Esther. Our God is amazing. Praise God who gave her the chance to be used by Him real fast.
Toward the end, Pr. Daryl told Esther that they had been given a call for repentance several times before that and God had finally given them the break through that night. Glory to God who is the REAL minister and renews us with the new wine of the Holy Spirit everyday.
We love you and praise God for each one of you. Thank you for standing by us in prayer. We need your prayers.
In Him
Yousef & Esther Eisa Khani (Pastors)