Brain Dead Man Awakes UPDATED

Yay!! I am so excited about this one. A man who attends our Friday night meetings has been struggling with some issues in his life, so he decided to mix heavy drinking with heavy narcotics to end his life on Christmas Eve. He was found on the side of the road, unconscious and not even breathing. He was taken to the hospital and put on a respirator while they did tests to see how long he had been in that condition so they could determine if there was any hope for him. It was decided that he had much brain damage and that he would not pull through, so our church was asked to begin making funeral arrangements. My husband, our pastor and youth pastor, along with another church came together in prayer for this man's life. The next day, he began moving. The day after that, he began looking around. This morning, our church joined together in prayer, once again, for his life, and I received a phone call tonight that he is awake, off the respirator, and conscious of what's going on. He remembers people and is already beginning to recall information that doctors did not think he could recall. Praise God for second chances!!

UPDATE: After several people prayed for him and read Scriptures to him, he became totally conscious, began speaking and was able to be released within a few days. He shows no signs of brain damage!! My husband spoke with him on the phone and was amazed.

God Heals Back Pain

My friend, Nanette, was instantly healed from an excruciating back pain that has lasted for several months. She had trouble breathing at times because of this pain. She decided to get people to pray for her one evening at church and she slept very well that night, waking up totally pain-free and the pain has not returned!!

Stomach Condition Healed

We just received the following email:

Hi Pastor Bill,
John and I will not be able to attend the class tonight, but I wanted
to tell you that John was healed of his intestinal problems on Monday
night!!! Just to refresh you memory, for the past 6 weeks or so he has
been having stomach pains which get real bad when he eats...followed by
at least one trip to the bathroom after each meal...This happened each
time he ate!..we tried over the counter meds which didn't help and he
being the male he is wouldn't go to the doctor, expecting it to just go
away, which it didn't. If you recall he asked for prayer at Friday's
Shabbatt service...Anyway, Kip, his wife Jan (?) and I laid our tingly
hands on him on Monday night at the Supernatural class and by the next
day he could eat whatever he wanted with no pain and no after effects
in the bathroom. Please share this with the class tonight.

God is great!

God Intervenes

My friend's brother was scheduled to go into chemotherapy as a radical treatment for his M.S. condition. My friend suddenly woke up at 4 a.m., hearing a voice that said, "The treatment will make him worse." She immediately called her brother and told him what she heard. She reminded him that she sent a worship C.D. and a cloth that she prayed over. He had not opened the package, so she begged him to do it immediately. Later, he called her to tell her that he played the C.D. and took out the cloth. He began weeping and had a vision of Jesus on the cross. He watched the blood running out from Jesus' feet. He felt different....peaceful....and full of God.

He then decided to have some type of body scan done to check some things out and during the scan, it pointed out something about a particular type of cell. The doctor said that they normally don't get info about that cell from the scan, so they were surprised at what the scan revealed. The info they received from the scan confirmed that if he were to do the chemotherapy, it would have destroyed him. He cancelled the appointment and is feeling much better!!

God's Power Shown Above False Gods

Last night, a popular man of great importance came to our church meeting because he heard that we were experiencing the power of God. This man actually has an altar where he worships false gods and he upholds pagan traditions. We played a DVD of Pastor Bill Johnson where he spoke about the power of God. The man came forward for prayer afterwards. He had a condition for several years that was very painful. God totally healed him last night!! He acknowledged Jesus and is planning to continue to learn more. Praise God.

Powerful Times of Worship Dance

While dancing before the Lord, people are ministered to in powerful ways. It's as if chains are falling off of those who are held captive. I love these times.

Healings/Miracles from this week

#1. We saw asthma healed.
#2. A family who prayed for years for their son to return to God had their prayers answered after putting a prayer cloth in his wallet. He suddenly showed up to church, hungry to get to God.
#3. A man with no more money and about to file bankruptcy submitted his financial situation to God and $50,000 showed up within 48 hours from various sources.
#4. A man who had to resign his career with the Marines due to bad knees (lack of cartilage) was instantly healed. He hiked 2 miles up a mountain and ran around to test this healing and he has NO pain.
#5. We prayed over a man with severe ear and head pain. The doctors ran many tests and could not find the source of the pain, so they were referring him to a specialist. After prayer, all pain left and he is healed.
#6. A 12-yr.-old boy in our church was overcome by the Holy Spirit and began speaking in another language, weeping and having joy in the Lord.

Hearing Restored

Today, my husband was invited to speak at another local church. After service, he was praying for people. As he laid his hands on one man to pray, my husband's ears went completely numb. He realized that God wanted him to pray for the man's ears, so he asked, "Do you have a problem with your ears?" The man replied, "Yes. I haven't been able to hear very well for years." My husband began praying for the man's ears and after a short time the numbness left. The man said, "Wow. Everything just got louder. That's amazing!"

God: #1 Locksmith

My 86-year-old grandmother accidentally locked herself outside of her home in Texas today. Being the month of August, it was very hot outside. Since she could not get in her house and had no access to the telephone, she decided to sweep her carport and wait for someone to arrive. She had already tried several keys that were in her pocket, but none of them went to her house.

After quite awhile, when the heat was becoming a bit much for her, she decided to ask God to make one of the keys work. Sure enough, one of the keys opened her door! After she unlocked the door, she tested the key once more and it would not open the door. My parents arrived and they tested the keys. They found that none of those keys would open her door. The Lord made that key to fit only for that moment!

Interesting "Events"

The following events may not make sense, but I never want to forget them.

#1---Lately, we have experienced some interesting little things that have boggled our minds. My husband noticed, about a month ago, that when worship music is played in the car, the lights turn on. Our lights are not automatic lights. You have to turn a little button to make the lights come on. Over the past week, I forgot to bring my worship CD's in the car, so I had scanned radio stations looking for some good music. I stopped on one station that plays a mix of Christian music. I listened to several really good Christian songs and, finally, a worship song came on, and the button moved so that the lights came on! I kinda laughed, but didn't know what to think. This happened to me about four times last week.

#2---Today, my husband was a guest speaker at Po'okela Church. He decided to leave his wallet and cell phones hidden in the car, so he rolled up all of the windows and locked the doors (the windows are electric, so they only work when the car is on). During service, he prayed that God would "open the windows of Heaven." It began to rain outside. When my husband came back to the car after church was over, he found that ALL of the windows were rolled down. The car was wet on the outside from the rain, yet the inside remained dry. Hmmm. Interesting.

#3---Last week, I had been teaching my children about the following verses:

Psalm 91
1He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

I asked my children to remember how the mother hen that lived in our yard kept her chicks safely protected under her wings. We discussed how God will cover us with His feathers (verse 4) and what it means to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. One night, we prayed as a family that God would cover us with His wings, that our home would be a refuge and shelter, and that He would place His angels all around our home, inside and out!

Here's the interesting part: all week long, I have found little feathers in my house. I have swept numerous times and vacuumed. After the fourth day of waking up to find feathers in my living room, kitchen, hallway, and bedroom, it finally dawned on me that it was a reminder of what we had asked for. I do not know if these feathers are blowing into the house from somewhere (I have found no evidence of birds in the house....okay, other than feathers) or if God is actually leaving these feathers in our home. All I do know is that He is reminding us about His covering and His faithfulness to be with us.
UPDATE: 8/20/07---TODAY WHILE SCUBA DIVING AND FILMING AT MOLOKINI CRATER, A BIG, WHITE FEATHER FLOATED IN FRONT OF MY HUSBAND'S VIDEO CAMERA. HE WAS 20 FEET DOWN. I ALWAYS ASK THE LORD TO SURROUND HIM WITH ANGELS WHILE HE DIVES. ISN'T THAT WILD?! I JUST WATCHED THE VIDEO. IT'S REALLY COOL.

Boy's Arm is Healed

Last Saturday, my husband and I ran into a family from church and we noticed that their son, Kekoa, had his arm in a sling. He had been injured at school and the doctor did an X-ray, but told them they would have to wait for the specialist to come in on Monday to review the results before they could determine whether or not it was broken (typical Hawaiian healthcare). My husband prayed for Kekoa and then we left.

I saw his mother on Wednesday and she informed me that, after the prayer, Kekoa told her, "I know that God is healing my arm." He began using his arm as if it were normal. On Monday, the doctor called and told them, "We see something on the X-ray, so you'll need to bring him back in." The mom said, "But he's using his arm just fine. He doesn't hurt and it's normal." The doctor told her to come have it checked anyway, so we're waiting to hear what they found on the X-ray. This should be interesting!

6-year-old Healed From Knee Injury!

One really awesome thing happened in my class tonight!! A 6-year-old boy, Matthew, was injured at school yesterday and his knee continued to swell and he could not walk today, so his dad carried him into the doctor's office. The doctor said that his meniscus was probably torn. His knee was visibly swollen and red and he could not straighten his leg. It was also full of fluid. Tonight, he came hopping into my class and looked very uncomfortable. He asked if we would pray for him, so I had the class gather around him and we laid hands on his knee. After prayer, we sat down and continued the class. Towards the end, during playtime, he began running around the room. I asked, "How is your knee?" "Better," he shouted.

His mother came in to get him and they went into the sanctuary for more prayer. Three people prayed for his leg and he came running back into my class VERY quickly! I looked at his knee and I could not see any swelling. I said, "I can't believe it!" I suddenly realized what I had said, so I corrected my statement to, "I CAN believe it!" Matthew seemed so excited to be running around and he made sure that everyone noticed, too. His parents were very happy! Thank you, Lord.

Freedom to Dance

This may seem small, but I have always wanted to dance for the Lord in a more public way, yet I was too self-conscious to do it in front of people. Over the past 6 months, I have been given the boldness and freedom to express worship to God in a way that I have always wanted to. I am very thankful for this opportunity. Another very wonderful part of this is that my daughter is dancing with me!

Relief from Chest Pains

A friend of ours was approached by a co-worker who asked for prayer because he was having severe chest pains. The man previously had a heart attack and was fearful because of the pain. Our friend was really nervous and unsure at first.....what a big request! But he laid his hand on the man and prayed against the pains and it left immediately. Thank you, Lord.

God Uses Numbers......

Here is a really neat testimony that my husband wrote about on his blog regarding words of prophecy. I copied it here:

"Here's an example and, by the way, a year ago I would never have done this. I sit down by a man who is waiting for his ride. I ask if I can pray with him. He says no, he's not interested. We do begin to talk though and as we do I feel intense compassion for the depth of hurt in him and the numbers 10 and 14 come to mind, forcefully. So much so that it's distracting. I clear my throat and go with it. "There is a deep pain in you from 10 or maybe 14 years ago. Something happened that left your life scarred and God wants to heal your heart." He begins to weep and says, "My 14 year old son was killed 10 years ago in a hit and run accident. (long pause) I've been angry at God ever since." We cry together and when I ask if I can pray with him again he says yes. The manifest presence of the Spirit of God meets us there and he begins a new day and season in his life as a believer in Jesus Christ."

God is awesome!!

Dancing in Freedom/Sitting with Senators

We had another powerful Sunday that was packed with prayer, praise, worship and Spirit-filled preaching. Since we're in Hawaii, we use modest hula dancing as part of our worship to God. Hula is new to me and I have really enjoyed being taught by very Godly Hawaiian women. I have always struggled with a fear of getting up in front of people, whether it's to speak, act, dance, or do anything! This morning, a wonderful thing happened. I was able to get up and dance to a song called, "Come, Holy Spirit," and I did it without fear. An amazing peace came over me and I felt so close to the throne of God. In my mind, it was just me and God in that place. My husband called for the team to dance again at the end of service and as we danced, I heard people weeping. At one point, I noticed a woman laying face down in front of us and then my husband came and knelt on the ground where we were dancing. It was as if a door had been unlocked to the Kingdom and people were openly expressing their worship to God. Others stayed in their seats, holding Kleenex to their eyes. Then, people prayed for one another; some for the next hour!

The Tuesday after service, my husband flew to Oahu for a lunch with the Lieutenant Governor. I prayed that God would open a door for him to speak about the spiritual climate of Hawaii and what God was doing in Maui. Well, when he arrived, he found that the Lt. Governor could not be there, but he ended up sitting at a table with 12 men, some of who were senators and congressmen. Someone made the statement that "these men are the movers and shakers!" They all spoke of economics and wealth. Finally, one of them turned to my husband and, perhaps somewhat mockingly, asked, "So, you're a preacher....what does God say about economics?" My husband thought to himself, "Oh, boy....here it goes." He began telling them about true wealth in the Kingdom of God and what Jesus came to do....that all that other stuff really doesn't matter in the big picture. He mentioned healing the sick and how Jesus touched the poor. Now, with the attention of the entire table, one man asked, "So, you believe that miracles happen?" My husband then told of several testimonies that we recently experienced. They all listened carefully and seemed a bit surprised. My husband was treated well after that and he was able to share more with individuals who spoke to him afterwards. It is so neat how God opens the doors and confounds the "wise." I believe this was a divine appointment and I know that good seed was planted that will flourish and produce good fruit.

More Amazing Things.....

My husband is blogging about his experiences at: http://www.billvanderbush.blogspot.com

I am only writing about my first-hand, up-close and personal experiences, so there are actually several miraculous events that I have not mentioned on this particular blog. So please see his blog for some really cool things!!

This past Wednesday night, a man from the other side of the island came to visit our church and he ended up sharing some things that God is doing. Afterwards, he walked over to someone who had survived a suicide attempt and he said to that person, "The thing that tried to kill you is broken. You will write things that will set people free." The man who spoke this knew nothing about this person.

We have seen God break addictions in people's lives, from alcohol to meth. We have watched little children lay hands on their own parents to ask God for healing. In one case, a mother was able to walk out without her crutches and without a limp! She had been on crutches and in lots of pain for several weeks due to a torn ligament. Last week, I thought that I should go over and pray for her, but I talked myself out of it and decided that I could quietly pray for her on my own. Well, leave it to the faith of a child! I have lots to learn.

Thank You, Lord

There is so much to write about, but I don't have the time right now. All I can say is that on Tuesday, I went to a 9:30am prayer meeting. I thought I had prayed for about one hour. I was absolutely shocked to find that 4 hours had passed! My husband and I had a very peace-filled day. Our children were asking lots of questions about God and they even had great insights. It seemed as if God was grabbing our attention and we have been praying that we will hear Him clearly.

On Wednesday night, I had a wonderful time with my children's class as I taught them about the armor of God. The children are so open and excited about what they are learning. In the adult service, which usually ends at 8:00pm, people stayed and prayed and worshipped until around 10:00pm. When we encounter people from the other side of the island, they are reporting the same type of thing. What is God up to??

Thank you, Lord, for all of these great things.

NO CANCER!

My father-in-law, who is 78 years old, just went through a series of tests that came out good! Even though the doctor's were concerned about a very enlarged prostate and a PSA of 13, they found no cancer! We are so thankful for this good report. My father-in-law is faithful to preach the Word of God and his level of faith has often blown my mind! I am grateful to God that despite how everything appeared, there was really nothing to fear.

Remember those spies that went in to check out the Promised Land? Ten of them were too afraid of the giants they faced and only two of them trusted that God had already given them victory over the giants! My father-in-law is like those two faith-filled spies. That's how I want to be.

Wonderful Sunday

Wow! Where do I start? We had a great Sunday morning service. It was a beautiful, breezy, sunny day (as are most days in Hawaii). This day felt particularly good. The Spirit of God was evident and I found that my heart was overflowing with the desire to give something to Him.

We had a wonderful time of worship in which the hula dancers so beautifully worshipped God. The children came forward and performed a song they learned. We had a time of prayer over a friend who is being ordained and then my husband preached. Something very different happened as he preached. There were several moments when the Holy Spirit was so present that I sensed my husband was having a difficult time expressing the fullness in his heart. When he would begin to express it, his voice would crack and his eyes sparkled, full of tears. I noticed several people dabbing their eyes with Kleenex. The atmosphere in the room was sweet and you could taste the desire of God that filled the room.

Our secretary called at the start of service to let us know that her grandfather had been rushed into the hospital. The doctor told them they needed to make him as comfortable as possible because he would not live much longer. Our secretary asked for prayer and she refused to believe the report that her grandpa would die. At the end of the service, someone came in to tell us that she had called again.....this time, the news was that grandpa's vitals were all normal. He made an incredible comeback and he would be just fine!! There was much rejoicing.

After service, some people lingered and prayed for one another. We finally left at 2:30pm!

That evening, we had guests from Texas come for dinner. The evening was sweet and we stayed up very late having prayer. We marvelled at all that God has done in our lives over the past two years. There is so much to write about, that it would take several blog pages, so I won't go into detail. Finally, we began reading over a book about the history of Hawaii and God filled our hearts with a vision and plan that we are taking to prayer. I cannot write about that just yet, but we feel that we have a better idea about why we are here and what God wants us to do.

One other cool thing: I woke up this morning with hope for my family and friends back in Texas. Usually, I wake up with a longing to see them. I still desire to see them, but this morning I feel an assurance that God is taking care of them and He has something special for them while we are away. I simply have to trust Him and do what He has called us to do....and He will answer prayers for them. I am looking forward to what God is going to show us!!

Lunch with the Lieutenant Governor

My husband and I have really had the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii on our minds a lot lately. I have been praying for them and especially felt the need to pray for the Lt. Governor, Duke Aiona, and his family. My husband has been greatly inspired by what he has learned about the Christian heritage here in Hawaii, and he had hoped to have a moment to discuss it with someone in authority over the state. Well, that may happen at the end of this month.

My husband was introduced to an elderly, wealthy landowner on Maui. This man is related to the first missionaries that came to Hawaii, who were part of ushering in a great revival. Through a series of meetings, my husband was asked to do a favor for this older gentleman. He helped the man to find a rare copy of something on DVD, and the man was so grateful that he has asked my husband to accompany him to a private lunch with the Lieutenant Governor. He bought my husband's airfare to Oahu, so they will be dining together in a few days.

We are praying about this divine appointment and believing that there will be an open door to discuss what the Lord is doing in Hawaii. The Governor and Lt. Governor are both Christian people, so that should not be too hard!

She Told Me My Dreams.....

Today, I had a good day as I taught my children their language arts lessons and then I prepared to teach my Wednesday night class about the armor of God. Throughout the day, I kept saying, "Lord, what can I write about on my blog tonight that would be really cool?" At first, I thought it might be about my children's class. While it was very good and the kids seem to understand more about the armor of God, that was not the miraculous event of the day.

After I dismissed my class, I cleaned up the room and then waited for my husband who was closing a class that he was teaching about the Kingdom of God. I was ready to leave! I was hungry and tired. I walked into the church sanctuary and met a woman named Rae. After a brief introduction, she said to me, "God showed me some things about you that I would like to share with you if you have time." I was a bit cautious at first.....I mean, God is talking to someone about me?? Oh, boy. That sounds scary. I told the woman I would like to hear what she had to say, especially since she knows nothing about me. She has only lived on the island for 2 weeks.

She opened her Bible and read a few scriptures, which really spoke to me about some things I had been feeling in my heart. ***It all had to do with God wanting to remove my timidity so that I could do more of what He was asking, as far as sharing His heart with people. She said that God looked at me as Gideon; a warrior. That's funny, because I recently had a dream about me being like a warrior.
***Then she spoke of Timothy and how God spoke to him about stirring up the gift that God had placed in him. The interesting thing about that is that I just asked God yesterday in my private prayer time to bring out the gifts He had placed within me.
***She told me: "Where you were before, you were like Gideon threshing the wheat in a winepress. He did not thresh the wheat out in the open where he should have been doing it, but he hid inside the winepress doing the work. God has brought you here to bring you out of the winepress. It's time to do the work out in the open." This was interesting to me, because my husband always tried to get me to do more publicly at our former church, but something held me back. I felt smothered, judged, and was sometimes treated as a child (not by my husband). He was also treated that way as well. Now I see him flourishing. It's as if we were pressed down by some spirit that wanted to make us ineffective.
***Next, she read something out of Jeremiah. It was about God telling Jeremiah to go and speak to the nations and Jeremiah saw himself as a child, without the ability to do what God was asking. Okay....it was just this past week that I had told God that I don't have what it takes to speak well. I am not the best communicator. This scripture really hit home.
***Finally, she said I would be dancing for the Lord and that my dancing would be used to usher in the King (Jesus). Just a few months ago, I joined the church dance team. Here's the wildest part: she began to describe a dream I had about standing on a mountain, barefooted and dancing in a field of flowers. In the dream, my husband was playing the guitar and I felt great joy. As I danced, I knew that Jesus was about to come. She described my dream in detail. This is a dream that I had about 3 years ago and I had only shared it with my husband.

I wondered if the woman was an angel or simply a human with a true prophetic gift. I don't know, but all I DO know is that God really addressed everything I've been talking to Him about in private and that is truly amazing. I feel peace tonight because I have been reminded that He hears and He desires to respond. I also feel a bit uneasy with what it is that He is going to do in me and through me, but it's also exhilarating to know there is more to come. Isn't God awesome???

Knee Healed!

A woman came to our church today and she asked for prayer for her knee, which was in pain and requiring surgery soon. As my friend, Lyn, laid hands on her knee, the woman felt something happening and she began jumping around the room, thanking God for healing her. She claims to be free from pain now.