Tanzania: Moshi Prayer Rally 7/5/2009

We were barely back at the hotel when we heard that a prayer rally was going on at the fairgrounds in Moshi. We were expecting to have meetings there later in the week, but the locals decided to start today. Apparently Lee is going to preach, so several of us jump into the van to go along as the prayer team. Wow, we arrive at the grounds and are surprised to find a crowd of 1000 already gathered. Thank goodness for cell phones -- Lee quickly calls back to the hotel to ask the team there to round up anyone they can, since we will need more people to pray.

It turns out that there are seats for us up on the speaker platform. I perch uncomfortably, worried that someone more important will come along who is supposed to have this seat. Lee preaches, and then gives a salvation call. The crowd has swelled by now to several thousand, and hundreds and hundreds of hands go up. I've never seen anything like this.

Then it is time for healing ministry. I wade into the crowd, filled with a combination of faith and fear, of excitement and uncertainty. A woman named Elizabeth comes forward and gestures at her eyes. I'm frustrated at not knowing enough Swahili to ask her more specifics. Clearly she is getting around, so she is not blind, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Fortunately, one of the local pastors comes over to interpret, and explains that she can see to get around, but cannot see to read. As I stand there with my own trifocal lenses, my faith shrinks -- if I knew how to heal this, would I be wearing glasses? But I start to pray anyway. I pray for a while, and then ask the pastor to ask her if she is better.

He explains that she can't tell if she is better until she tries to read, so he whips out his Bible and holds it in front of her. She shakes her head and points to the inch-high letters showing the title of the book. I pray some more. He holds the Bible out again. She shakes her head again. He tries to negotiate a compromise, and points to the word BWANA, (Swahili for Lord), written in larger type. She shakes her head again and points to the inch high letters. I start praying again, and feel a sudden moment of panic. Will I be here all night with this one woman? I pray a third time, and nod to the pastor. He holds out the Bible, but this time the woman pauses, and takes it into her hands, adjusts it a moment as if to focus, and then with great dignity starts reading aloud, the word of God in Swahili.

For a moment, I was oblivious to the crowd around me, I was just in awe of what I had just seen God do in front of my eyes.

Elizabeth was so pleased she went up to the platform to share her testimony with the crowd -- that's her dressed in pink, with the microphone.

God healed so many people I lost count -- mainly headaches and leg pain.

However there was also one memorable prayer failure. A young woman carrying a baby in a sling, gestured that she had a pain in her lower back. I prayed and tried to ask her in Swahili if she was better (the translator had disappeared). She grabbed my hand and placed it on her back again. I prayed a second time. Anything? No. Clearly frustrated with me, she grabbed my hand again and thrust it higher on her back, under the moist heat of the baby's butt. No healing for her, and warm baby pee for me.