Posted in 08. Tanzania by Ashley Higgins on 3/13/2010
since being in africa we have seen a lot of things. we've seen poverty, desperation and hopelessness. we've seen children walking around without shoes and kids who are literally starving. we've seen HIV/AIDS patients in the hospital; writhing in pain, only days away from dying. we've seen mothers mourning over children they've lost and children grieving over a parent choosing to leave. we've talked with people who are literally demon possessed and spend their days in fear and trepidation over a power they do not understand. we've seen people walking around in chains of condemnation with no place to turn.
Posted in 08. Tanzania by Ashley Higgins on 3/11/2010
" Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
Casey and Erin Scritchfield need just over $4,000 to be fully funded for the World Race. We are believing with them that they will be fully funded by the time we leave Africa. YOU can help!!
Posted in 07. Uganda by Ashley Higgins on 3/9/2010
"heal the sick, clease the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. freely you have received, freely give."
matthew 10:8
if i am honest, i wasn't expecting to see a miracle.
it was a seemingly regular day. we were out in the bush of uganda for a few days doing the usual kind of african ministry. i wasn't particularly excited about doing door-to-door evangelism. we had already had an exhausting morning and i knew i had to preach that evening at an open-air crusade. mostly i just wanted to take a nap.
but when the time came, lindsay and i joined a pair of pastors and headed for our designated area of town. we came upon a group of people who were all settled under a tree. there were seven or eight adults and a handful of children. we sat down and began our normal routine of sharing the gospel. i shared the story of my savior with the family in front of me and by the end of it they all decided they would like to receive Jesus into their hearts. after leading them in the prayer of salvation lindsay asked if there was anything we could pray with them for.
the father of the household who had just received Christ told us he was blind in his left eye and that it was incredibly painful. so we laid hands on him and in the name of Jesus we told the pain to go away. we asked the Lord to restore his sight and to lavish His love upon this man. after praying we asked him it was any better. he said the pain had reduced but that he still couldn't see.
i do not take no for an answer easily.
so we prayed again. we spoke to his eye and commanded it to see. we asked kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. we spoke with the authority God has given us. we were just doing what jesus told us to.
and when i lifted my hand off of this precious man he could see.
his eye was completely healed. he was stunned. i was shocked. i moved away from him and had him cover his good eye while i held up fingers testing to see if his sight was indeed restored. he could see almost perfectly. we rejoiced together as he sat there in shock at what the Lord had just done for him.
as you can imagine, this was quite the faith builder for all of us who had just witnessed such an incredible miracle. a young woman who was also in the group brought her child up to us. he was maybe three years old and was completely lame. he had no strength in his legs and could not stand, let alone walk. we prayed simply again. we commanded for strength to be restored to this child's legs. we asked for God to move and to continue proving Himself faithful. we spoke with authority and conviction. we praised God and gave Him all of the glory for what was happening. we finished praying and had the mother of the boy help us test it out.
he walked.
not by himself as he will have to learn. but while his mother was holding his arms he stood up and began to take steps forward.
i have never seen a group of people more grateful in a moment of God moving. because we asked, kingdom came to earth. a little boy who would have been confined to a wheelchair will be able to walk and run and play. a mother who was grieving is now rejoicing. what the enemy intended for evil the Lord worked for good. and now there is a family in bugobi, uganda, in the middle of the bush, who will testify of the goodness and faithfulness of Jesus Christ. they will tell their unbelieving neighbors of that day. the day when God showed up and healed the sick. the day sight and strength were restored. the day heaven invaded earth under a tree.
Posted in 06. Kenya by Ashley Higgins on 2/24/2010
Sorry for the delay of this post. I have been waiting until we are out of Kenya due to the sensitivity of the issue.
For the first time in months, probably years, Sarah can sleep in peace tonight. As I write this, Sarah is on a bus from Kampala, Uganda back to her home country of Rwanda. Tomorrow morning she will be reunited with her sister as she starts over, claiming a life of freedom and peace for herself.
I noticed her the minute she walked into the church. Shy, reserved. She was clothed in a beautiful red outfit with the most intricate headscarf I had ever seen. Despite her introverted demeanor she worshiped. I couldn't take my eyes off of her as the choir sang "Jesus you are a winner." After the service I noticed Erin talking to her. I thought maybe she was a visitor or something and they were just making small talk. Until she got in the van to come home with us.
The minute Erin started explaining her story to me I turned into my grandma.
Sarah is just eighteen years old. She was born and raised in Rwanda. As a child she dealt with her parents and brother being killed as a result of the Rwandan genocide. Shortly thereafter a local church took her in, along with her younger sister. Because of this church Sarah learned about Jesus and accepted Him as her Lord and Savior.
Despite the circumstances, things were good.
Until three months ago when Sarah's world was turned upside down.
Sarah met a man, twenty years her senior. He promised to send her younger sister to school and to take care of the two of them. Both desperate and naïve, Sarah married the man. Shortly after the wedding things changed. Her husband became incredibly abusive; branding her, beating her, and threatening to kill her. Sarah also found out that he is a devout Muslim. He forced her to partake in the religion and forbade her from going to church or reading the Bible. She snuck to church one time and upon finding out, he threatened to kill her. He also has another wife who is deeply involved in voodoo and witchcraft and has threatened spells upon Sarah.
Sarah has spent the last three months of her life trapped in fear and anxiety so intense it's hard to even begin to comprehend it.
Despite the threats of her husband she came to church yesterday. It was her first time to Deliverance Church and it just so happened to be the only service in town we were running. My God is a God of pursuit and love. He would stop the world to chase just one. Yesterday He was chasing Sarah.
Through a translator we sat and listened to her for hours as she told us her story of heartache and deceit. Tears streamed down this young girls' face as she recounted her losses to a group of people she didn't even know.
Tears streamed down her face again as she recommitted her life to the Lord. In an instant I saw shame, guilt, heartache and pain fall off of Sarah. I saw a girl full of fear and trepidation come alive in Jesus before my very eyes.
We prayed over Sarah, anointing her scars with oil. Speaking life, peace, freedom and love into her. We prayed alongside of her asking for wisdom, guidance and direction. Plans were made to get Sarah out of her husband's house and on her way back to Rwanda as soon as possible.
After she went home we took turns praying through the night for our new friend and sister. We pleaded with the Lord to protect her and keep her safe. We covered her with the Blood of Jesus and asked God to send down legions of angels on her behalf.
By ten in the morning she was on our doorstep. Her husband had left for work and she made her way to us. She seemed uneasy, afraid, and hesitant to proceed with our plan. At her request Drea and I escorted her to the hospital to get a pregnancy test done. She said if she was pregnant she would have an abortion. We prayed some more.
Negative. Praise the Lord.
The minute we found out the good news she was ecstatic. She became affectionate, talkative, and excited. She said she was going home to pack her things so she could leave to go back to Rwanda. Within an hour she was back at our house. Brave and ready for her journey ahead. I sat with her and held her hand as Stacy packed her food for the expedition. Phone calls were made and logistics were worked out.
By three o'clock this afternoon she was in a safe taxi with people we trust on her way to Kampala. On her way to freedom. On her way to living again.
It's been eight hours since we sent Sarah off in that taxi; Swahili Bible and group picture in hand. I will probably never see her again, but under my mosquito net I can sleep comfortably tonight knowing that she is safe.
Safe on a bus to Rwanda. Safe in the arms of her dear Savior.
We have recently been informed by our contacts in Kenya that Sarah was found by her husband somewhere in between Kampala and Rwanda. He forced her to go back to Kenya. Resilient, Sarah met with the village and church elders earlier this week to take legal action and find a way to freedom. Please keep her in your prayers.
Posted in 06. Kenya by Ashley Higgins on 2/20/2010
i know this video is a little bit late, but that is what a ugandan internet connection will do to you. here's a recap video of our time in busia, kenya last month. my team will be heading out of uganda at the end of this week. we will have a few days to recuperate before heading into next month's ministry. please keep my team and i in prayer as we travel and as many of us are fighting off sickness. thank you for all of your prayers and support.
Posted in 07. Uganda by Ashley Higgins on 2/11/2010
Jesus said:
"heal the sick, raise the dead, heal the lepers, and cast out demons. give as freely as you have received."
the minute i saw him i knew i needed to pray.
i was doing door-to-door evangelism with lindsay for the day. along with our translator we were going from house to house in butende, uganda to share the love of christ with people. we had already led a few people to the lord that day and were on our way back to the church for lunch. there was a group of women and children sitting under a tent of sorts in front of a simple home. we walked up just to say hello.
that was the first time i saw jamal.
jamal is a six year old little boy who has been crippled since birth. he is so undergrown that he appears to be only three or four. he cannot walk or talk. his hands and feet are deformed. his teeth are rotting and his eyes were competely glazed over. from a distance there appeared to be very little life in this young boy.
we began talking to his mother who told us that jamal has been demon possessed since he was born. the family believed a curse was put on him because his father is a muslim man. his mother, a believer, asked us to pray for him. the second we began to approach him jamal started screaming bloody murder. it was a shrill, horrified kind of scream. we prayed for about ten minutes before deciding we should go. the screaming was drawing quite the crowd and didn't feel comfortable making such a commotion.
leaving, we both felt strongly that jamal needed more prayer. he needed to be delievered of whatever it was that had such a hold on him. we prayed about it and decided to go back the next afternoon.
when we approached the house on the second day it was the same story. deafening screams and a flailing little boy. a mother who seemed desperate and exhausted. we explained to her that we would like to pray for jamal again. we told her that jesus is the only one who could set him free but that it might take a little bit of time. we told her that we would pray as long as it took if she would like us to. she agreed, saying she believed god would heal her son.
so i picked up a little boy, determined to see freedom manifest itself.
and the jesus in me stared down the evil spirits who were oppressing an innocent little boy.
lindsay and i prayed with every ounce of ferocity we could muster up. we didn't yell or become impatient or angry. we just spoke with the authority jesus died to give us. we broke off the bondanges of witchcraft and crippledness. we spoke life, freedom, healing, and joy into a little boy who was created for love. we prayed over jamal for almost two hours. i watched his eyes change in front of me. i witnessed his body relax and his mouth take a new shape. i felt evil leave and love enter. and when it was all over i was simply holding a little boy. a little boy who just needs more of jesus. a little boy who i believe will someday run and play with the rest of the kids. a little boy who will preach and prophesy in the name of jesus christ.
we went back to visit jamal yesterday. his countenance was entirely differet than the days before. he was still crippled but seemed much more peaceful. please keep jamal and his family in your prayers as they continue to walk in their newfound freedom.
the time has come. we have officially passed the halfway point on our race. and for your viewing pleasure i made a little video to recap and celebrate where the k squad has come in the last 6-ish months. if you want to read about how i am doing halfway into this crazy adventure you can. overall, the last six months have been hard. really, really hard. in so many ways and for so many reasons. but all forty-two of us have grown in more ways than i can even describe. putting this video together and seeing where people were six months ago and where they are now. wow. we don't really even look like the same people. and it so good and so encouraging that God is doing something. He is working. He is molding us, shaping us, restoring us, redeeming us. it's really a beautiful thing both to watch and to be a part of.
a piece of the song is "come on let's make this dream that's barely half awake come true."
this is my prayer for the k squad as we enter the second half of our race. that the dreams and visions we set out with in ireland would begin to come to fruition. that the blind would see, the deaf would hear. that the Lord would use us as vesels to raise the dead, cast out demons, and heal the sick. i pray that we would walk in the fullness of our destiny. that we would walk in all of the freedom and redemption the Lord has given us.
it's been a great journey so far and i can only imagine what the Lord has in store for us next.
so, i have obviously been on a video-making kick this month. my grandma likes them, so it's a good thing. this one is just a little something i put together after an incident with stacy's weave. yes, her weave. it's worth the two minutes it will take you to watch it.
Posted in 06. Kenya by Ashley Higgins on 1/23/2010
way back in ireland goodness. gracious. was thinking ahead to africa. what this new continent would bring us, we had no idea. "one this is for sure," daina said. "my aunt insists that i go on a safari once i get to africa." that sounded like fun. but, let's be honest, on a world race budget a safari seemed a little bit out of the question. well, daina's aunt maria had other plans. she so insisted that we all needed to go on a safari that she blessed us immensely by sending the seven of us on a goodness. gracious. reunion safari.
it was one of my favorite days on the race.
we were able to go to a giraffe reserve, a baby elephant orphanage and nairobi national park for a true african adventure. not to mention an amazing lunch and dinner. there really aren't words that would express how much the day really meant to us. but in an effort to say thank you to aunt maria i put together a video of the day for you all to enjoy!!!
