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Researchers contend that 80 percent of new Christians in South Asia come to Christ as a direct result of some kind of supernatural encounter. Church planters among the Gamit people of Gujarat, India, say that membership jumped from zero to 60,000 in ten years as a result of hundreds of miraculous healings. The Chinese church is growing faster than any other in the world. In one province, 2,000 new churches were planted in three years. Why? Most observers believe the answer lies in the Chinese propensity for prayer -- a habit formed among those who have grown up with no hymnals, few Bibles, and much suffering.

In Saudi Arabia, some Christian nurses were asked to pray for a thirteen-year-old girl dying of leukemia. The girl was visited by the Lord one night, though she knew nothing about Jesus. The next day, she announced to her astonished parents that she had met her Healer, and the entire family is now following Christ.

The Gospel has penetrated even Islam's holiest city. In 1993, several Saudi believers conducted a prayer march around the periphery of Mecca, site of the annual Hajj or pilgrimage. They asked God to establish a church in the city and to reveal Himself to the two million truth-seeking pilgrims who visit the city every year to pay homage to Allah at the Ka'bah shrine. According to at least two sources, Jesus made a special guest appearance at the 1994 Hajj -- declaring to a group of Nigerian Moslems that He was indeed the One they were seeking.

Some Kurds reportedly have come to Christ as a result of intercessory prayer and supernatural dreams and visions. One of these new Christians was converted a few years ago in Turkish Kurdistan. An avowed atheist and the editor of an influential Marxist magazine, this man was arrested in 1981. A Christian who gave him a New Testament prayed that Jesus would reveal Himself in a series of dreams. At their next meeting, the man became a Christian and announced that Jesus is the One who cleanses sin.

In Tunis, as in other parts of the Arab world, God is employing dreams, visions, and miraculous healings to draw truth-seekers to Himself. One dramatic example of this phenomenon involved a group of Sufi Moslems in North Africa who were chanting and dancing before Allah in hopes that he might reveal himself. They say that Jesus appeared and declared that He is the true God. 

According to missionaries in the region, many other people living in the isolated reaches of the Sahara Desert have reported similar visions of the Lord, and they are requesting Scriptures so they can learn more about Christ. 

In Egypt, a Moslem military officer said he was visited by Jesus Christ in a dream. Upon waking, he immediately sought out Christians in his unit to see if they could provide him with a copy of God's Word. Finding only one believer in his officer corps, he quietly asked if he could borrow the man's Bible. In a manner reminiscent of Ananias' reluctant ministry to Saul of Tarsus, the Christian cautiously agreed. After several days of pouring over the Gospels, the officer became a disciple of Jesus. According to reports out of Cairo, this man has become a bold witness.

A team of Christians reported that a Pakistani Moslem recently had a dream about a Bible descending out of heaven. While he gazed at the book in amazement, the man said he heard the voice of Jesus declaring, "This is My Word -- obey it." Similar reports of dreams and visions are commonplace inside Pakistan.

Youth With A Mission leaders (a missionary group) in the Krasnodar region recently received a plea for help from one of the only Christians living among the Moslem Adegyi people. She lamented that Moslems were flooding the land with Islamic literature and warned that the time was short to reach her people. One leader in the missions group mentioned that he had dreamed about the Adegyis the night before. Realizing that these were signals from the Holy Spirit, YWAM launched a series of literature and street campaigns in the Adegyi region. As a result, a church has been planted.

In Cuba, a divine visitation of healing descended upon a small town about 40 miles outside the capital. Everyone who walked into the church there was healed. As news of this spread, people from other towns began arriving. They too were healed. Eventually, people from all over the Island were coming and being healed. This went on for six weeks. Tens of thousands were saved. Many churches were planted, and interest in the Gospel rose nationwide because everyone had heard the news. It was so powerful that even the Communist government could not deny these events. (Most of these healings were a result of laying on of hands.)

"But Paul (future apostle before his conversion), threatening with every breath and eager to destroy every Christian. . . As he was nearing Damascus on this mission, suddenly a brilliant light from heaven spotted down upon him! He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Paul! Paul! Why are you persecuting me?' 'Who is speaking, sir?' Paul asked. And the voice replied, 'I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city and await my further instructions.'" -- Acts 9:1, 3-6

"The night before he (Peter the Apostle) was to be executed, he was asleep, double-chained between two soldiers with others standing guard before the prison gate, when suddenly there was a light in the cell and an angel of the Lord stood beside Peter! The angel slapped him on the side to awaken him and said, 'Quick! Get up!' And the chains fell off his wrists! Then the angel told him, 'Get dressed and put on your shoes.' And he did. 'Now put on your coat and follow me!' the angel ordered. So Peter left the cell, following the angel." -- Acts 12:6-9

Many Argentine church leaders say that the church growth boom in this South American country is a result of "spiritual warfare" against the powers of darkness. Eduardo Lorenzo, the pastor of the Adrogue Baptist Church in Buenos Aires, says his small congregation began growing rapidly in 1987, immediately after church members fasted and prayed against a demonic spirit. 

"Until then, virtually no one who resided in Adrogue had ever been converted," Lorenzo says. "Now 40% of the church members are from Adrogue." His church, which was 70 years old, had never had more than 100 members, but it grew to 600 members in three years after the demon was challenged. 

There are many other examples of God helping people. Space prevents printing all of them. However, you may use the following to guide you in praying for other types of miracles 

Pray that God would come and perform the following miracles:

• Heal the deaf, dumb, and/or blind.
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• Deliver the demonically possessed.
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• Heal those with mental problems.
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• Raise the dead. This happened in China, where 
  Jesus raised a recently buried girl and sent her home
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• Heal the crippled and lame.
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• Nourish those who are starving to death.
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• Visit the unsaved and tell them what church to attend and how to get there.

• FROM THE LIFE OF JOHN G. LAKE
  
  We need to see another powerful healing movement occur like that of John G. Lake. He moved in great power and was used to great effect in South Africa and much of the northwest part of the United States. The following are newspaper articles from the Spokane, Washington, a secular newspaper in 1924 of a healing parade led by Reverend Lake.

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  Thursday, August 7, 1924 -- HEALED BY GOD PARADE 
  
  Expect 250 members of the Church Elect to enter into what they hope will be an impressive testimony to the power of God to heal; about 250 persons, who claim to have been healed of their diseases through prayer, will parade on the downtown streets Saturday afternoon, August 16, at 3:00. A permit for the use of 50 automobiles, and a band, to parade at that time has been issued to Dr. John G. Lake, head of the Church Elect, by the city council.

  In speaking of the parade today, Lake said, "We believe in testifying to the power of God at every opportunity. It is not possible to get the message we have to teach before everyone. We believe that when the citizens of Spokane see this group of persons, many of them once at death's door with incurable diseases, it will be a forceful and unforgettable testimony that God does heal."
  
  The regular Thursday night healing meeting will be held in the tents at Ash and Chelan at 8:00.

  
  Monday, August 18, 1924 -- HEALED BY GOD PARADE
  
  Fifty autos carry 250 persons healed by Lake's prayers. Thousands of Spokane people witnessed the unique parade of "healed" persons from the "Church Elect," when they rode through downtown streets in automobiles Saturday afternoon.
  
  About 50 automobiles were in line Saturday, and more than 250 persons who claim to have been healed of all manner of diseases by the power of God were in the cars. The automobiles were placarded with signs which told of the diseases from which the occupants were cured. 
  
  The cures effected by the prayers of Dr. John G. Lake, according to the signs, were: nervous prostration, pneumonia, diabetes, paralysis, tuberculosis, adenoids, shingles, flu, eczema, leakage of the heart, rheumatism, and broken arches.
  
  The feature of the parade was a delivery car containing more than a dozen children, and it bore the sign: "born painlessly" on each side. The mothers of these children had no assistance in childbirth other than prayer, they declare. Dr. John G. Lake, preceded by a band, led the parade. The cars traveled downtown streets for more than an hour.
  
  A fitting conclusion, it would seem to the series of meetings. Yes, there still were the skeptics in the community, but the ones who were healed by God will never forget the occasion when the power of God healed them as they had the faith to believe for it.
  
  By Alan Wyatt

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  OUR DESPERATE RESPONSE IS NEEDED
  
  
  Repentance Needed
  
  Some of us need to repent of our fear and prejudice against a "faith emphasis." While we need to be broken, authentic vessels, there is no substitute for bold faith. I invite you to join me in repenting of our "fear of faith" because of what we think it might look like, what others have made it look like, and our fear of what it really does look like! Faith is almost always spelled R-I-S-K!
  
  
  Let's Minister at the Altar
  
  May the prayer movement continue to grow, and may there be a restoration of leaders and people of prayer as in the days of Zechariah. Priests (that's you!), take your place. Minister at the altar of prayer. Let the time of the incense offering come forth.
  
  
  Expect!
  
  Let's believe God to pour down supernatural encounters, healings, and miracles, as He has done in times past. Let's expect an invasion of Holy Spirit activity in response to our prayer invitations!
  
  Blessings to each of you this beautiful season!
  
  In Christ Jesus!