Through connections from the farmer’s market where I play music with a local band, I had an amazing experience. My friend told me that one of the farmers who sells vegetables at his farm had asked him if I could come to his farm and pray for his friend, who was dealing with many curses from black magic. I told them that my prayers were not magic, but if the friend was willing for me to pray in the name of Jesus, then it wouldn’t be a problem. They agreed and took me out to a village on the outskirts of my city.
They first took me to the bazaar for lunch. As we were driving through the bazaar, it struck me that this might be a place where the minority people who I want to work with might live, so I asked my friend. He in turn asked the farmer, and the farmer said yes, indeed they do live in that village. I asked if he knew any. He said, ‘Stop the car.’ We stopped and he hopped out and went to a nearby shop and brought a man who was from that group and introduced him to me. I was so delighted to finally meet someone from the group that has been on my heart for so many years!
After lunch, we went to a farm. A lady and a man were sitting under some trees. They were the ones who had wanted me to come. The lady came with a list of all who had cursed her. Through my friend who speaks English, I shared with her about Jesus, and then led her in saying her own prayer. It was her first time thinking about God in this way. I then told her she had to forgive all the people she had on her list, so she agreed. At the end she asked if she could have a Bible and if there was anyone to teach her, so I agreed to find those things for her. She still thought of God in a magical way, but I am grateful that He promised never to turn away anyone who came to Him, regardless of their motivations and even their understanding. After we were done, we went to a papaya farm, drank tea and watched the sunset. A perfect day! I guess you could say that I have been immensely blessed. God did more than I imagined. Not from anything I tried to do, but from His goodness.”
Pray that God will open a way for this young man, a new worker now home in Canada, to obtain a visa in order to return to this Central Asian country.