The Spirit of the Lord

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. (Luke 4:18-19 CSB).

This scripture is our Hands at Work Watchword for 2023. It is one of my personal Watchword scriptures and never ceases to amaze me with the great grace of God to send Jesus, who now sends us, to do God’s kingdom work and see His will be done.

Only this Tuesday, I prayed to the Lord and asked who was the captive He wanted to set free today. It was a community day and I, and members of the Chisamba team, got into an old beaten-up taxi (only damaged cars are willing to take the bad roads to our communities) and rattled at a slow pace over the bumps and pot holes. When we got to the Care Point, which is on no-one’s map, we then set-off for a Holy Home Visit. We walked through long grass and along bush tracks for an hour. So many, different turns in the path that we were now really in the middle of nowhere. There was no way of getting back without the Care Workers to take us.

At our destination we find a family, in fact there are so many people I think it’s a village. Who are all these people? I sat next to the matriarch, who is my age and the mother of eleven children, nine of whom are still alive. Eight of them live with her, along with thirteen grandchildren. The village is her own family.

The family have worked hard to plant maize and sweet potato to try and feed themselves. Tragically, like most poor families, the crops will yield very little, as they are unable to afford fertiliser. There are only two small mud huts the family shelter in, as the third has fallen in the rain. Six children from this family come to the Care Point to eat on their way to school. We take note of the youths and smallest children and talk later about how we may help them. There is so much need and sometimes we can’t help a family all at once but we aim to remember people and present opportunities for them when we can.

As we talk, a little boy is brought forward. His name is Frederick. We are told that he has serious fits. He collapses, his eyes roll back and he may not eat for days. No, medical reason can be found. Then the Holy Spirit brings something to my attention. The Spirit is at work because so much is said that I don’t understand and doesn’t get translated but the Holy Spirit amplifies things that need to be noted. His grandmother says that he cries for his dead grandfather. Alarm bells start ringing. The boy is only seven and so I ask when did his grandfather die? In 2015 they say. A young child pining for a man he never knew. This isn’t normal. He was about five months old when his grandfather died. Then I ask, when did the fitting start and as I guessed, around the time the grandfather died. There is no flight of fancy (unless you think I’m nuts which is fine!) that this man has somehow offered this child up to the dark spirits around him before he died. Maybe he even tried to bargain with this child in-order to live. Dark magic is all around, as people try to access spiritual power to survive. In so doing, they enslave themselves and others to demonic spirits.

So, we prayed over Fredrick that any curse placed upon him by his grandfather is broken by the power and authority of Jesus’s name and the victory over the devil won by His blood. As I laid my hands on Frederick, I prayed the power of the Holy Spirit upon him and I could see in his face that he received the anointing fully. The prayer turned to prophecy and the little boy is now presented to Jesus, to grow-up strong in the Lord and become a man who shares the good news that sets captives free. We leave proclaiming that there is only one name by which people can be saved and healed - Jesus Christ.

Walking back along the dirt tracks, I think of my morning prayer and the greatness of the love of God. A love that can reach deep into Africa, off the map and hidden in the bush, to touch a little boy that God wants to set free. This is our God. If we trust and obey him, he can set us all free.

Please pray for …

• Fredrick, who I believe is healed but we are waiting on this testimony. Pray God watches over him and his family to bless and protect.

• protection for myself and all our teams who face this spiritual battle continually. Pray for spiritual eyes to discern the work of the enemy and set captives free.

• wisdom and God’s Grace to help us to receive more of the Lord’s anointing and be led by His Spirit. There is so much need, so many captives, such heart-breaking poverty and many who are blind who need to see hope and salvation.

• health and energy, as the work has only just begun for 2023!

Thank you for your prayers and continued support. You bless me.

Emma

Below is the family we visited. Fredrick is in the front in a red shirt, sitting on a Care Worker's knee.