JINJA, UGANDA GOSPEL CRUSADE REPORT

Healing Wells

*** Digging the Wells of Healing ***

JINJA, UGANDA

GOSPEL CRUSADE REPORT

With Hamilton Filmalter, June 20th through June 29th, 2003.

Friday, June 20th

Our seven member team was met at the Entebbe Airport in Kampala by Pastor Zachariah Sserwadda and his wife, Robinah. They transported us the seventy six miles to Jinja and our hotel which was owned and managed by Christians, the Millennium Hotel.

The Muslims protested

Pastor Zachariah informed us on Saturday that the Muslims lelad a protest with the local District Commissioner against the meetings we were to hold in the vacant field across from their Mosque. We answered by sending the District Commissioner a letter stating our reasons and plans for being in Jinja. Since the District Commissioner is a Christian he rejected the protest made by the Muslims in favor of allowing the crusade to continue.

Saturday June 21

While on excursion to the source of the Nile River we met a group of well dressed people. One of the men of the group offered to take pictures of us explaining that he had the ability to do it. In the course of the conversation, Hamilton told them we were here to hold a healing crusade and invited them to bring people who had AIDS. One of the men informed us that he was a Muslim and Hamilton asked him if he had any sickness and invited him to come to the crusade and bring his friends. A woman standing in their group said that she had ulcers and was in pain. When Hamilton prayed for her she was instantly healed and the pain left. When she realized it she began to jump and shout and throw her hands into then immediately ran to her friends to inform them that she was healed.

Sunday June 22

All seven of the team spoke in different churches on Sunday morning. When we met together afterwards for debriefing and shared our testimonies we were delighted at what we could praise the Lord for. There were a number of healings that took place at each church where the team ministered and several were saved. A Muslim gave his heart to the Lord in the church where Sue Williams spoke. She was very excited about it and when the rest of us heard the news, we celebrated her joy. A man was healed of a painful back condition while attending the morning service at Evangel Church. He later testified that he was a member of the Anglican Church and that he never had any intention of visiting Evangel Church. His wife was a member of Evangel Church, but he did not fully agree with their doctrine and refused to attend. However, on this morning he relented to her pleas and came. When he came through the healing line he was instantly healed and deeply touched by the Holy Spirit. He came to the platform and requested further prayer for faithfulness to serve God and to attend Evangel Church. It was a wonderful day.

Many were healed.

On Monday, June 23rd a team member prayed for a man at the crusade who could not walk without a crutch. The pain left and he felt something happening in his leg. He was then able to place some weight on the leg and bend it. He took some tentative steps without the crutch and continued to grow stronger the more he used his leg. After a few moments he threw the crutch down declaring he was healed. He was known in the town, so when his testimony went out over the radio and as he continued to be vocal about his healing people became more curious about what was happening at the crusade and some came to investigate. The attendance started at around six to seven hundred people and grew to five thousand or more by the end of the crusade. Several are being saved each night and many healed as evangelist Hamilton Filmalter speaks and prays for the sick. Among those that were saved there was several Muslims. Many were filled with the joy of the Lord.

District Commissioner

On Tuesday, June 24 the entire team was invited to the office of the District Commissioner in Jinja. When Hamilton discovered the District Commissioner's three year old son was in the hospital with malaria he requested a phone and immediately prayed for him while he was still in the District Commissioner's office. As Hamilton prayed the fever broke and the little boy was released from the hospital that afternoon. When Hamilton enquired the next day about his condition he was informed that the little boy was doing well. Tuesday evening following the crusade a man who was staying at the same hotel as the crusade team enquired about what we were doing in the area. He was an official who represented the king of a neighboring tribe in Uganda. When he discovered we were there to hold a healing crusade he requested prayer for a very troubling back condition. When he was prayed for the pain immediately left his back. He was the second official who received ministry from the crusade team.

King gets saved!

Wednesday, June 25th. Today the crusade team visited Isebantu Kyabazinga of Busoga, Henry Wako Muloki, King of the Busoga tribe. Evangelist Hamilton Filmalter prayed for him and then led him in the sinner’s prayer. For years he had resisted the opportunity to surrender his heart to Jesus. His daughter lives in the United States and has prayed for him and witnessed to him repeatedly. Other pastors had spent time with him and pleaded with him to receive Christ but to no avail. Finally, on this visit, he received the Lord as his personal savior. This was a very significant conversion. One of the national pastors informed us that demons often gain access to the people through permission granted by the kings of the tribes. With this King receiving Jesus, this access has been closed and demons no longer have that channel available to them. This represents a huge breakthrough in the spirit realm for Christ. Praise the Lord!

Thursday, June 26^th

Tonight at the hotel a woman approached the crusade team and asked who we were and why we were there. When she was told we were there to hold a healing crusade she became very interested and asked for prayer for her shoulder that was in pain. When she was prayed for the pain instantly left her shoulder. She was a Christian and informed us that she was a national official carrying the title of teacher and Minister of Women in the Division of the Tieng Adhola Cultural Union for another King in the Tororo District. Her name was Loyce Ogolla. This woman represents the fourth official we have had opportunity to minister to. It's miraculous that the Lord has given opportunity to touch the lives of the local and national officials. We see it as being very strategic in the Lord's plans to strengthen this territory against the demonic for the cause of the Gospel.

Mayor gets saved!

Friday, June 27th. Today the crusade team visited the Mayor. During the course of our visit Hamilton Filmalter witnessed to him and led him in the sinner's prayer. The Deputy Mayor also prayed the sinner's prayer. A total of seven officials were ministered to during this trip to Uganda, including the one that will be mentioned following this item. The local pastors informed the team that they felt the Crusade was a huge success. They had not seen these kinds of results for years and were elated with what God was doing.

The night it did not rain

Crusade was hampered by rain and several times it rained during the day before the crusade. When we got to the field and got out of the car, the clouds were forming and it looked like a downpour. We began to pray against the rain, and I went down from the platform and stood among the people. I (Pat) sensed the Holy Spirit telling me to take dominion and command that not one drop of rain to fall. I remember feeling that this effort against the rain had to be forceful and that forceful prayer needed to be spoken, like "rain you will not fall on one inch of this field" and then prayer in tongues, again very forcefully. At times little drops of rain would come down, and I heard "don't let this happen, go get intercessors and Sue to come against it". I asked the local pastors where were the intercessors and to have them come near me to pray in agreement with us. I remember one young woman, she was maybe in her early twenties who just went after it, and I remember smiling with her as the clouds seemed to part over the field. We were praying intensely and commanding the clouds to part over the field for about an hour, and by that time the clouds had parted and the rain had passed over us and the storm clouds were in the distance.

Sunday, June 29^th

All the members of the crusade team split up to minister in various churches in the territory. When we returned we compared experiences that were glorious and filled with testimonies of salvations and/or healings in each church that was attended. To God be the Glory!!

Evangelist Hamilton Filmalter ministered this morning at Pastor Zachariah Sserwadda's church. When he gave the invitation following his sermon, the Chief of Police of the city of Jinja and the surrounding territory and his wife came forward for salvation.

Tonight at the Crusade, over seventy people prayed the sinner's prayer for salvation. Numerous healings and deliverances were acknowledged by the people. The crowed numbered four to five thousand. Praise God for his blessings upon this crusade and for the tour guide and the bus driver who asked Christ to come into their hearts during our return home.

Compiled by Pastor Jerry Frost with input from the other teem members. More reports and testimonies to follow.