Some More News!
I just got home this afternoon from spending two weeks on Batam Island, the Indonesian Island that’s right below Singapore. It was a busy, but great time! One of the only problems there is just how hot it is!! Wow.. like an oven.. But I’m sure you don’t want to hear about that so I’ll just share a few of the great things that happened.
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One weekend we did a two day Healing Celebration Service in a church. On the 2nd day the power was off in the church until 6pm (the service started at 7)! After the pastor’s little son prayed the power came back on, which was the 1st miracle. The weather was awful, pouring rain and then just as we started to sing the sound system went out. Normally it is hard to preach in a big place without a mic but I can do it. But that day I had lost my voice! During the singing I tried but no sounds came out! My thought was ‘Can this night get any worse?’ But when I stepped up to preach I opened my mouth and this loud strong voice came out!! I preached a simple message on how Jesus Christ never changes. His power, His love, His will never changes. What He did 2,000 years ago He still does today. Jesus touched the people in such a beautiful way. And during the testimonies at the end one man shared how he had been unable to use his hand for 13 years but God had healed him that night! And then I thought ‘Hm.nights don’t get much better than this!’ Jesus is not limited by the electricity, by the weather or by my voice.. Jesus is unchanging and nothing is too difficult for Him!
A really beautiful moment was also in the prison one day afternoon. We sat just outside the prison cells on a mat on the floor with 4 men. Behind there were still some women listening from their cells. Padmini was sharing with them and I was translating to the Indonesian language. They were all listening intently to what we said. While Padmini was sharing she kept repeating these words: “God really loves You!†And as I spoke out “Allah sangat mengasihi Saudara†I looked into their eyes and I saw how those words were speaking so deeply to them..until even those eyes were filling up with tears. They were like sponges just soaking up God’s love for them that day. It was really amazing to pray with them that day to receive that love into their lives through accepting Jesus!
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So many great and amazing things happened! I’ll just share one more story. One of the nights after I preached I was going to pray for some of the people there and I felt like God wanted me to pray for the deafness/hard of hearing first. But when I asked who that was I didn’t get a great response. But I decided to pray anyways. Not understanding why I did it. But at the end of the service one man came up to the front and said he had had problems in his ear since he was in 5th grade. Doctors had given up on him a long time ago. When he got saved 3 years ago he asked God to send someone to pray for his ear. When I prayed specifically for that He knew that God had answered his prayer and he got up on the platform to thank God for really listening to his prayer and for healing his ear that night! It is just truly amazing to me how God works!.. He is just always working miracles..weither we know it or not!
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Every night a miracle happened when I got up to speak. Even though I had no voice and was coughing all day the moment I started to speak I would be totally fine until the service was over! My voice was really overworked because when it was Padmini’s turn to speak I didn’t get a break since I was also her translator. It was a lot of fun! But one word always came out of my mouth wrong.. ‘enemy’. Which is ‘musuh’ in Indonesian. Unfornately the word ‘Musa’ (Moses) would pop out sometimes! Not only is it embarrassing but I’m sure in some churches the congregation was really confused as to why ‘Moses’ was suddenly mentioned and why he would be trying to deceive them that they could not receive from God! Hahaha..
 
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Preaching Jesus is such a joy! When we preach how Jesus is our everything it’s really amazing to see how faces just light up and how the joy flows! It’s a joy and honor to be able to just bring people back to simplicity. It’s not about us. Not about what we can do. It’s just all about Jesus! He is our everything! Our Faith, our Saviour, our Hope, our Righteousness, our Truth, our Joy, our Healer, our Peace, our Helper, our Strength, Our Redeemer, our Life… Our Everything!
In the next two days I’ll be traveling to the other side of the country to Papua to join in another Festival with Pastor Peter Youngren. Thank you for your prayers.. I’m sure it’s going to be awesome!! Check out all the pictures in the galary section of this site.
In Him,
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Susan Joy
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November 30th, 2006 at 8:40 pm
Susan,
What awesome stories and amazing miracles that you have shared. What amazing work you are doing over there. We continue to pray for you here at our house. Our prayer is that you continue to feel called to do His work. He has given you a wonderful gift!! Lifting you up-the Aulbachs
December 31st, 2006 at 3:03 pm
We’re so proud of you Susan. Keep up the great work.We pray for you every day.
January 14th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Hi Susan,
Thank you for your continued e - mail updates. When we hear of God’s Spirit moving in other parts of the world, we are also encouraged to continue in the vineyard where He has called us…
I would like to know if you ever require resistance, as Indonesia is mainly Muslim country? There are so many areas in Indonesia where christians are being persecuted for their faith. What is making the difference in your area? Is this purely God’s favor on your life and the open door for the Gospel that He has given you, or are there also other factors that are contributing to the opennness towards the Gospel in a predominantly Muslim environment?
You truly are a joy and an inspiration …thank you for your ongoing faithfulness to the call of God on your life.
Yulande Oosthuyzen
(Edmonton)