Our morning began with the killing of a snake at Nancy Odwaro’s house. In the 40 years we have been coming to Kenya we have never seen a snake, let alone killed one. It was a small but deadly snake, the kind that coils up and can jump for long distances. We took it as a sign that the Lord was going to do something significant during our day.
On our way to visit Dina Ocholla in the city of Naycatch, we decided to stop to visit Christ Church of Kisumu. Valerie felt very strongly that we should stop there. It was first time in many years that five of the people who were instrumental in the starting of the church were passing by together. Simeon and Mary Obayo, Hosea and Nancy Odwaro, and Valerie and I, worked together that first year to lay the foundation of the church. So we felt led by the Lord to stop by and pray for the church and ask for the Lord’s blessing on the place. Back home in America is was the National Day of Prayer, so we felt that this was a good thing to do.
We arrived in Naycatch and went in to pray for our old friend, Leonard Ocholla. Leonard has been around the things of the Lord all his life, but he is one of those “academics” who has found it very hard to surrender his life to Jesus. This has resulted in him making some very bad choices in his life. We prayed passionately for his salvation and for his healing. At that point Simeon Obayo stepped up and spoke to Leonard, man to man. He said, “Now Leonard, the healing of your body and the salvation of your soul is something only God can do! But there is something that you need to do. You need to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord. If you can do that, God will take care of the rest.” Just writing it on this page doesn’t do it justice, but let me tell you there was a powerful anointing on his words.
Just as we were leaving we prayed for Dina’s daughter, Eva. Eva is an amazing and wonderful woman, but she has lived with a broken heart for years and this has driven her deep into alcohol. Two years ago, on the day we were leaving Kenya, Dina called us to tell us that Eva was dying in the hospital with cerebral malaria. We rushed to the hospital where they told us we could not go in to the ICU to see her. Valerie, however refused to take “no” for an answer and we literally pushed our way in and found her delirious with a raging fever. She didn’t even know where she was or who she was. With the nurses standing at the door looking on disapprovingly, we prayed for her healing.
The result was “instantaneous”. Suddenly she sat up in bed, looked at us and recognized who we were. Her fever was gone and she was totally healed. A few minutes later we heard one of the nurses on the phone with Dina saying, “Who are those white people who have come here? They just prayed and Eva is now totally well.”
That’s not the end of the story! She was totally healed but still struggling with alcohol, so she has been avoiding us for the past two years. But today we finally caught up with her. She was there doing the cooking for our lunch (she is a fabulous cook). When she was finished, her plan was to quietly slip away, but Valerie caught her at the door and had her sit down. We surrounded her in powerful prayer and God moved in her life. She left with tears in her eyes knowing that she was unconditionally loved by Lord and by all of us present.
What a day!
