The mist hovered mercilessly over the ground. The unrelenting rain pounded on the already flooded terrain. Every now and then you could see a bold soul venturing through the torrential rain, the mud accumulating on their shoes as they tried to cover their head with little success.
I watched through the scratched windshield of the car as the worn-out windshield wipers continued in their useless labor. The rain just would not subside, even after we had traveled for six hours. Would the rain of the Holy Spirit pour this way in Moyale, Ethiopia, a town filled with intimidation?
As we drove into Moyale, there was an uneasy feeling in my stomach. This town’s population is 90 percent Muslim—only 1 in 10 is not Islamic. As the services started, the enemy really tried to fill my heart with fear and intimidation. One of the pastors shared that he has been in Moyale for over 20 years but had never dared to put up a poster for a Christian meeting. He feared the repercussions this might bring. He told me how he had now overcome his fear and put up posters all over town.
Then our organizer told me of how a very hostile Muslim man wanted to start a fight with him because he had given him an invitation flyer. He was so hostile that they feared for their safety and changed their approach to just throwing the rest of the flyers out from the moving car in order to stay safe. People came running from all corners and picked up the flyers from the ground.
It was then I learned that the al-Shabab terrorist group is very active in Moyale.
Al-Shabab is a radical Islamic group based in Somalia that has caused a lot of trouble and is suspected to have links with al-Qaida. They have intimidated, kidnapped and killed many aid workers, leading to the exodus of relief agencies from Somalia.
The devil tried to use these facts to instill fear in my heart. But “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). What happened next was just supernatural!
After one of the greatest attacks of fear in my life, the power of God came over me. I stood in front of the large crowd, preaching full of the fire of God. Suddenly I thought to myself, I don’t have even an ounce of fear in my heart! The boldness of God came over me, and the Spirit of God began to move.
Suddenly I heard screams behind me. I turned to see what had happened but just heard the screams and saw a commotion. Yonas, our organizer, came quickly to me and said, “A blind girl can see!”
All I saw was two girls hugging each other and crying for joy, jumping up and down. When they calmed down, I heard the story.
Her beautiful brown eyes, filled with tears, moved back and forth, trying to take in every detail. Diramu Eka had gone completely blind when she was 3 years old and had lived in darkness for 10 years. The night before this meeting, she dreamt that a miracle would happen right in this service. Was she just getting her hopes up again for nothing? She decided to believe against all odds and asked her neighbor to help lead her to the crusade. There she stood with her walking cane for the blind in hand, trusting God for the impossible. As we prayed for the sick, the power of God came upon her. Her eyes were opened, and the celebration began.
When we take God’s authority over fear and doubt in our lives, miracles happen. When your fear and doubts are the greatest, you just may be at the verge of a real move of God in your life. It is often a last desperate move of the devil to keep you from the victory. He tries to throw everything in your path to keep you from your miracle. We live in a time where we can no longer allow anything to keep us from the harvest fields of God. This generation must be saved!
Chris Franz founded Cita (standing for “Christ is the answer”) Minsitries in 1998. He has since led more than 20 crusades in Africa, where more than 25,000 Africans have given their lives to the Lord.
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