Yesterday I ministered at the church here in Kampala. Before I left Australia for this trip, the Lord told me that while I am here in Africa He is going to begin healing people as I minister, without me praying for them. Because of this I felt to do something in the service yesterday that I have never done before – at the beginning of the service I asked all those who need healing, whether physical or mental/emotional, to stand in their places (almost the whole congregation stood.)
I told them, “I am not going to pray for you for healing. Rather, I am going to ask the Holy Spirit to release to you a gift of faith, so that you can take hold of your healing for yourselves.”
After I prayed, I told them to be conscious of any changes in their condition during the service, or anything that they couldn’t do before but could do now. I went on and preached about healing from the aspect that our bodies are not designed for sickness, and that healing is simply restoration to God’s original design.
I haven’t (yet) had any testimonies of healing, but as is now becoming my habit I gave an altar call for salvation, and one girl responded. Another girl, who I learned this morning is her sister, was so excited she was jumping up and down all over the place. Apparently she has been witnessing to her sister for a long time, without response, so she was totally thrilled to see a breakthrough.
I am likewise thrilled to see this development in my ministry, with salvations becoming the norm rather than something that only happens once in a blue moon. Praise You, Lord!
Something I am not so thrilled about is the visa process for Ghana. Because the visa is only valid for 90 days from the date of issue, I could not get it before I left Australia, as it would have already have run out by now. There is no option of a online application (why? These days setting up an online form with a payment option attached is such a simple process that a kindergarten child could do it.) An online search revealed that there is a Ghana Consulate here in Kampala. OK, I thought, I’ll just get all the stuff together and apply there. I downloaded the application form and filled it in, and made arrangements to go and get new photos taken and forms printed before going to the Consulate.
But no, this was not going to happen. It occurred to me that maybe I should make an appointment rather than just bowling up to the Consulate. An online search for a correct phone number turned up a page where I was actually able to chat with someone. Normally I hate using these chatbots, but in this case it offered the possibility of some immediate answers, so I asked my question.
No, the chatbot told me, since I am not a legal resident of Uganda I can’t apply from here. I would have to reply from my country of residence.
I told him I can’t do that, as I will be going on to Burundi, DR Congo, and Benin before going to Ghana. I can’t send my passport back to Australia to get the visa, as I need it for entry to those other countries. (What I didn’t say is that there is no way I would trust the postal system to safely get my passport from Uganda to Australia and back again, even if I were not going on anywhere else.)
The next piece of advice was to contact Ghana Immigration about a visa on arrival. So that’s where I am at. I’ve sent off an email to them, and am praying that they will receive it and respond positively. I’ve also forwarded it to our pastor in Ghana and asked him to intervene on my behalf.
If you are reading this close to the time of writing, please pray for a good outcome.
I still have to find out about the visa for Liberia …