Intercessors Praying for the sick people

Over 300 patients got free medical attention and free drugs for various conditions like Malaria, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STI), Trauma, arthritis, brucellosis, hernia, etc and more than 160 men, women and children, through the crusades and one-to-one evangelism programs received Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in the first ever life transforming Medical Mission organized by Agape Ministries for Christ International (AMCI) in partnership with Open Gates Ministries (a team of Christian Medical Practitioners and volunteers), Madi and West Nile Diocese, other local churches in Arua Town, together with Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Republic Uganda, Arua Regional referral hospital, and the Oli Division community at large among others.
The mission conducted from 20th- 23rd October 2011 at the Division Health Centre IV was in two folds, the medical arm which was to handle medical physical needs of the patients and the evangelism team which was to handle the spiritual and psychosocial needs of the community. This holistic approach to meeting basic human needs drew participants from different areas in medical and non medical fields converging to offer both physical and spiritual needs to the population.
Oli Division is a predominantly Islam area with so many people living in poverty, practicing witch-craft, abusing drugs and alcohol and there is high level of risky behavior. This was a great opportunity to share the message of the Gospel with them through preaching of the word in such a practical way and film shows.
In his closing remarks, the Director of Arua Referral Hospital commended the work done by the participants and encouraged more of such unique initiatives. He also noted most of the illnesses people treat are psychological as opposed to medical and that such missions would be effective in decongesting health centers and hospitals around the country. He also advised that such initiatives should aim at reaching other unreached places where people find access to medical care hard due to poor facilities, lack of personnel, lack of drugs and long distances to health centers among others.
AMCI craves for and is seeking to create more opportunities and partnerships to spread the message of Christ through such holistic approach to ministry as it fulfills its vision of seeing our world filled with the love and grace of God!

By Emmanuel Candia

This year has seen an unprecedented number of ministers of the Word of God coming from several local churches as well as a team of four(4) pastors from the Kenya branch of the Agape Ministries for Christ International and a guest pastor from a Kampala church. We will also be having two key speakers coming from the United States of America.

Already we are seeing greater number of people joining the meetings as the auditorium is getting more packed by the day. And its a pleasure seeing people who have attended these conventions over the years still come to attend which is a demonstration of the value they have placed in the Word of God which is preached during the conventions. People with various conditions and situations needing prayers have had time to interact with the ministers of the Word who have prayed with them.

A key innovation this year round has been the introduction of the Kids Convention – a partnership initiative with several Churches within Arua, Uganda. Already we have registered 100 kids on the first day of the Kid’s Convention and are looking forward to greater numbers in the next two(2) days their convention will run.

We pray that the good Lord will help His church to get re-energized in their faith and prayer lives as well as receiving the grace of God to handle the diversity of needs that may be presented. Glory to the Lord Jesus.

The Convention will end on the 31st Dec 2011 and an Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the ministry will be held on the 1st Jan 2012.

Herein, I share with you some steps on how we can benefit or profit from the word of God.

1Peter 2:1-3 says “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

We need to note that Peter is writing this letter to the saints (1Pe 1:1) born again, Spirit filled believers who were scattered in various places as a result of persecution in Jerusalem. However, just like us, we are scattered in various spheres of life. Others were home people, house wives, farmers, and casual laborers, employers in various fields, politicians, business people, and civil society etc. Even when they were in these various places and conditions in life, Peter knew, they were a people of promise, a people for whom the word of the Lord would work to change them and their circumstances. Herein he writes to them so that they can benefit from the promises of God’s word to them.

One can be a believer but never profit fully from the promises that God has set out in His word to them.

So what did he say to them and what does the word of God say we can do to benefit from the word of the Lord? I share a few insights I believe can make us profit from the word we speak, hear and read day by day.

1. Lay aside all evil.

To lay aside is to put off or cast off. We are already born again yet there are times we hold to things that are evil. Peter emphasizes that we need to cast them off. The things listed include

Malice –which is defined to mean an active ill-will or intention to inflict injury upon another (Webster’s Dictionary). Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary defines malice to be depravity or badness or naughtiness.  In 1Cor 5:8, malice is referred as leaven that spoils wholesome bread. In other words, when you have malice, you become destructive, and injurious to other people and people can not be blessed or satisfied by you.

Guile –means to lure people into snares. It is the act of tricking people. There must not be any trickery found in our lips, in our spirits and lives. Scriptures teach in 1Peter 2:22 that there was no guile found in the mouth of Jesus. Those who love life and want to see good days should refrain the  tongue from speaking evil and their lips from speaking guile (1Peter 3:10) Blessed are people in whose spirit there is no guile (Ps 32:2). Believers must not trick people.

Hypocrisies –refer to pretending to possess virtues and beliefs which one does not actually have. It is the outward portrayal of goodness, faith, love, power and so on which we inwardly do not possess. Ever pretended that things are okay whereas not? Ever done things just for a show, both to God and man when you know deep in your heart you are not being truthful?

Envies –envy is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as resentment or discontent at another’s achievements, possessions, favors, goodness etc. it is recorded in 1sam 18:8-9 – ‘And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.’

Saul envied David because the women sang songs of praise to David as opposed to him. He set his eyes on David and from then on plotted to kill him on several occasions. It is not easy to deal with envy from the heart. Many people deal with things like lust, sexual immorality, drunkenness etc but envy secretly harbored in the heart gets ignored and left therein.

Evil speakings –this is rendered in other translations as slander. Slander is the uttering of false and malicious statements especially to defame another persons name or reputation before others. Have you ever spoken maliciously against some one, or slandered them because of what they are doing, or shouldn’t have done? Ever spread false rumors about some one?

These things, keep the word of the lord from becoming beneficial to us. The word is like seed sown in the heart of a believer. If these things are not dealt with in a life, they keep the word from growing and yielding properly in our lives.

1. Yearn for the word.

There is always an intensity of desire after the things of God, after His word and fellowship with brethren when some one has just been converted to Christianity. Do you remember how you used to love and serve God? John makes reference to the ‘first love’ of the church at Ephesus (Rev 2:4) which they had left over time. Jesus asked them to remember from where they have fallen, repent of their lukewarm ways and then repeat the things they used to do. As people grow older in salvation and are faced with different challenges, responsibilities, trials in places they are scattered to, the intensity with which they yearn for God and His word often tends to dwindle. The tendency is always to begin to rely on our own ability and strength; cut fellowship with and reliance on God. To Peter, this ought not to be the case. The older we grow in the Lord, the more we must yearn for the word of God to change us and our circumstances. The word to yearn is to ‘intensely crave possession’ (Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary). We need to crave to possess the word of the Lord and its promises in our lives. He likens the craving to a new born baby’s longing for breast milk so that they may grow by it. Growth is one of the profits we gain from the word of God.

Notice that Peter makes reference to the pure milk. The word of God that benefits and causes us to grow must be doctrinally correct; not the word packaged to fit the beliefs of our denominations or our congregation. We need to guard against heresies. There are things we have come to believe because they sound scriptural whereas not. Have you ever heard? ‘God helps those who help themselves?’ or ‘’God is sovereign! If it is his will it will come to pass?” People forget that the devil always fights the will of God and has blocked the will of God from coming to pass in peoples lives because they sat passively waiting for ‘God’s sovereign will’.

We thus can grow and mature as believers as we crave and use the pure word of God.

So the question is, how intensely do you crave (long, yearn, desire) to possess the promises in the word?  The intensity with which we crave to possess the promises of God’s word makes us to begin profiting from the word.

1. Receive the word with meekness.

No one can receive anything from God unless they are meek. To be meek is to be humble. The word has to be received with meekness because God does not give the secrets of his Kingdom to the proud. James 1:21 says, ‘wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.’ (Emphasis mine).

The meek are teachable (Ps 25:9); the Lord guides them, satisfies them, lifts them up from being cast down and takes pleasure in the meek. In Psalm 149:4, the Lord beautifies the meek with salvation. Meek people are receptive. Are you meek in the heart? Scriptures teach that we ought to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift us up (Jam 4:10).

Isaiah the Prophet clearly prophesied that the Spirit of the Lord was going to be on Jesus, the Messiah, to among others, preach the gospel to the meek (Isa 61:1) (emphasis mine). God’s word is intentionally packaged for and specifically directed to the benefit of the meek because they are receptive and open to allow it to impact them. God himself makes sure the word prospers in their lives.

Are you meek? How have you been receiving the word of God in your life? The way you receive it determines if you can profit by it.

1. Mix the word with faith.

Hebrews 4:1 says “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” 

The writer clearly points out that the Word was preached to the children of Israel, while they were in the desert; they heard it but did not mix it with faith, thus they fell short of the promises in the word of God. The scripture first warns, that we should ‘fear’ (meaning to be frightened or alarmed) lest we fall short of the promise of God. God’s promises are yes and amen to all who believe. They are intended for us to walk into and profit from. They are for us to possess and enjoy. However, how we apply our heart to the promises of God, besides how we receive it, determines whether we can possess the promises of His word.

How then can we mix the word with faith?

The word is mixed with faith in through our actions. In James 2:26 scriptures say, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Earlier on, James wrote that by works was Abraham’s faith made perfect. One mixes the word they have heard with faith as they begin to do works.

Have you been mixing the word of God with faith in your life? By failing to do just that, we are bound to come short of the promises that God has made to us.

I pray that, with meditation and prayer, we  will, continue to lay aside all evil, yearn for the pure word of God, receive it with meekness and mix it with faith in our lives and get the benefit from the word of God.

God richly bless you!

Ironically, to date, the church still stands, elegant and wonderfully painted from the outside. But inside it is the stench of death symbolized by the sight of dry bones of dead men, women and children. The church was turned into a mass grave; a monument of the heinous hatred and spite; an icon of hypocrisy, indeed, what its leaders have made it.

Jesus speaking to the religious leaders in Matt 23:27 called the Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites. He likened them to white washed sepulchers (graves), ‘which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.’ He cried woe to them; the sound and warning of eminent judgment coming on them.

The word hypocrisy is defined to mean ‘the feigning  of beliefs, feelings or virtues that one does not hold or possess; insincerity (American Heritage Dictionary) The Greek word for it is ‘hupokrisis’ which means “the playing of a part on the stage”. (Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary)

In many respects that is what many people are, hypocrites! People who are not truthful from the inside; they appear elegant and well off on their appearance but are rotting or rather have rotten on the inside. No one is made a hypocrite nor can be forced to be one; people choose to be.

We need to practice sincerity and truthfulness with ourselves, with God and with other people. So many people are not sincere with themselves. They deceive themselves and even attempt to deceive God by pretending that all is well. They are actors on the stage for others to see yet they are feigning their beliefs, feelings or virtues to impress others.

David understood the importance of being truthful to God, to people and himself and of being made whole before making impact or offering to help others. He said ‘Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.’ (Ps 51:6) Because he had sinned, he asked God to restore to him the joy of salvation; uphold him with His free Spirit. From then, he would be able to teach transgressors the ways of the Lord (Ps 51:11-13). We can never effectively teach others what we ourselves have not learnt. We are not able to impact others with what has not impacted us. If we attempt so to do, we are simply actors on the stage, not being truthful in the inward parts.

Part of what forms our inward parts is our motive. God wants our motive for doing the things we do to be right. 1Cor 13:13 says ‘And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing’. Here Paul stresses the need for us to be motivated by love to be able to ‘act our scenes on the stage’. Unless our motive is right, the things we do are empty in themselves and they profit us nothing.

Ananias and Safire saw believers selling their possessions and bringing the proceeds to the Apostles so that the needs of others would be met. In order to fit and be seen contributing also, they went and sold their piece of land and brought part of the money, and declared that it was the whole. Notice that, they did not need to sell their land if they did not want to; neither did they need to bring all the money if they chose not to, because those who brought their money did so voluntarily.

By bringing just a part, they were pretending; feigning a virtue for others to see; unfortunately for them, they never lived to repent of their wrong.

There are times we do not want to or feel like doing some things but it does not mean that if we do them we are acting on the stage. For example, Jesus did not feel like going to the cross. He asked God to take the cup away from him. Nevertheless, he went to the cross for our salvation (Matt 26:39, 42). Hypocrisy is therefore doing something with a selfish motive; to be seen; to satisfy our own ego even though the same action or thing does benefit others in a way.

This may not be a thing that happens in your entire life. It may be in a small part of your life. It may be in your relationship with God or with others. It may be in you covering some issues in your own heart while showing others all is well. It may be in your giving, your speech, the way you lead your life; we need to sit down and carefully evaluate, are we actors on the stage?

The answer is yours and mine to give!

Please click here to download the full crusade program

The Ministry is headed by Dennis Anguandia an artist and graphic designer by profession. The Ministry is coordinated by Emmanuel Candia a laywer

They carry out activities including among others retreats, men talks and prayer meetings on topics ranging from men in ministry, character and temperments, men as husbands and fathers to financial management and investment

In a related move, the women also vowed to be arriving in Church earlier than men. So it remains to be seen how this will all take shape in the foreseeable future.

The tip of the ice-berg kind of report? Uhm uh…I’m gonna find out more. The more reason for you to keep your fingers on this page, more details definitely coming. Keep it at agape-ministries.org