Is This Real Life?

     After reading the title of this post I bet you're thinking of that youtube clip of the little boy wigging out after a trip to the dentist. He's obviously experiencing/seeing some crazy things if he has to ask his dad, "is this real life?". Something about that clip makes me a little uncomfortable; I find myself thinking, "I know that it's necessary to give him drugs to make sure he doesn't feel the pain of a dental procedure, but this seems a bit much, a bit extreme; this kid has no idea where he is! He's looking at his own hand as if it's a lobster claw or something crazy like that!". And then I start to think, well, to what lengths would I go to make sure someone doesn't feel pain or doesn't suffer? Would I take into account how uncomfortable it makes me or other people or to how extreme it seems?  I didn't really know how to answer these questions until Team Africa travelled to Moshi, Tanzania.

Mt. Kilimanjaro

My favorite road to walk

   

Everything about Tanzania is beautiful: the people, the scenery, what God is doing there...EVERYTHING!

 

      Our team had such an awesome time working with the different missionaries who are set up long term in Tanzania, specifically Ryan and Stacey Helbling (http://www.global-effect.org/). From the moment we met the Helblings we were drawn to their passion for seeing God's will be done in Tanzania and I wanted nothing more than to be a part of it for the short time we were there. I had caught a glimpse of God's healing power in Namibia and wanted more of Him to shine through in Tanzania. Needless to say, He did and I'll share one incredible story with you... We had just finished up a normal day of ministry teaching English classes at a school in Moshi when our contacts asked if we would mind going to a different school to share a couple testimonies with the teens there. This being a YWAM outreach we were used to being flexible with our schedule and even grew to love these "disturbances" because they were so obviously orchestrated by God. We got to the school, shared a couple testimonies and invited anyone who wanted prayer and encouragement to come to the front--pretty routine. Our team dispersed among those that came forward for prayer and did our thing; as we are praying I notice my team leader Grace start to pray for a girl that had been plagued by severe abdominal cramps. As soon as Grace laid hands on her the girl hit the floor and began convulsing, foaming at the mouth, screaming-basically everything considered horrendous. My nursing instinct told me she was having a seizure, but when I looked again I knew this was no seizure..this was completely demonic. So now as this poor girl is being tormented the afore mentioned questions came looming in...To what lengths would we go to make sure this girl doesn't feel this pain? Would we take into account how uncomfortable the situation made us or the people watching?  At that moment the only thing I (and the rest of the team as well) could think about was helping this girl break the chains that the enemy had bound so tightly around her; I didn't care how crazy we looked and I didn't care that I'd never prayed over someone possessed by a demon; the only words that were running through my mind were, "HELP HER NOW!"
An hour later I found that there's this awesome look that comes across the face of someone who has been touched by God. Once the demon left, this young girl was completely transformed--beaming from ear to ear, laughing, and praising God! This beautiful girl was set free by our sweet Lord and He did what He does best through a group of young adults who were willing to throw aside fears and doubts and call upon His name to defeat the enemy! Sure, you've seen this sort of thing played out dramatically on the big screen, but to answer little dental boys question...Yes, this is real life! Needless suffering is happening all over the world and it is my prayer that more and more believers start walking in the authority granted them by Jesus and start fighting back!