Report for Thursday Feb 12, 1998
Dear Prayer Partners -
Greetings from the uttermost parts of the earth, specifically 11,219 miles southwest of St Louis, Missouri in Perth, Australia. We have just had our first night of meetings here in a four-day event at Shiloh Faith Centre, being called, "Revival Fire With Randy Clark."
This is the last month of summer here, and the weather has been dramatically different than what we were experiencing in St. Louis. Blue skies, temperatures in the high 80's/low 90's (F), and very, very dry. Incidentally, Perth is a city of about 1.2 million people, very isolated on the southwestern tip of the huge Continent of Australia. The closest city of any size is approximately 1600 miles away. Australia is really a huge place! It only took us 30 hours of travel to get to Perth, and we are still adjusting to the jet lag. After all when it's 9am in the morning here, it's actually 7pm the previous evening at home! (Be still my confused brain!)
Yesterday, (Thurs Feb 12) we began the morning with a pastor's and staff meeting with Randy. There were about 30 people present and we met in a small "upper room" at Shiloh Church. Some of those present had driven from 2 hours away, some as far as 8 hours driving time. All had come to hear Randy Clark, who is making his first visit to this great country right here in little ole downtown Perth. Everyone seems receptive, excited and very welcoming of Randy's ministry.
This meeting went pretty much along the lines of many other similar ones we've seen in the past. A time of sharing, of answering questions, then a time of ministry. As I stood behind the people that Randy was praying for, I could so much see the Apostolic anointing that rests on him. Some he would pray for the release of the gift of healing, some for the release of evangelism, some for worship. But overall, the Spirit distributing severally as He wills, to each individual. It's a reverential thing to be in God's electrical field as Randy ministers. I could feel waves and waves of tingling electricty, and the hair standing on my arms as Randy prayed. The more gentle his voice, the stronger the anointing seemed to be.
The prayer time was a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit. There were many kinds of reactions, but every person present was most powerfully touched. And like other meetings of this type, it is often at a later time that we find out what major miracles God has wrought in individual lives. Often times I must decide how much I can reveal in these reports, because I'm often privy to very personal things that happen to people. The hard part is in deciding how much to report that gives God much glory for the great miracles He's doing in people's lives, and in how much not to report in respect for the personal nature of the ministry that God does with individuals. So with all that having been said, there was one particular situation with a young woman wherein as soon as Randy touched her she doubled over and began to wail and cry and moan. I mean loud, ear-piercing moans that were obviously coming from the depths of her spirit. All during the 45 minutes to an hour that Randy spent praying for other people, this young woman went through every gamut of sounds on the scale. She laughed, she cackled, she roared, she guffawed. At times she was so loud as to be a major distraction. She often cried out loudly, accompanied with great sobs and weeping. But predominantly, there was just a great range of laughter. Viewed with natural eyes, one had to wonder, is this God? What could possibly be going on here?
It was only later that we discovered, through a family member, that there had been not only a major deliverance from a life-threatening situation, but that her entire life had been completely turned around in those moments that God dealt with her, as she alternately laughed and cried for nearly an hour. Assuredly, this was a sovereign act of God. So often we tend to be critical of the outward manifestation, but truly it is God who looks past all that and deals directly with the heart. We were all greatly moved by this encounter.
On Thursday evening, we had the first open, public meeting, and I estimate there were perhaps 600 people present. Randy did what he always does, giving a message directed at the hearts of the lay people, 'God Can Use Little 'Ole Me.' We've seen this message delivered literally around the world, and have seen countless lives changed because of it. Thursday's delivered message was no different, as Randy went through the list of principles which, if turned into laws, could severely backfire (or in Australia, boomerang).
But, before the message, Randy had three specific words of knowledge for healing, and as 10-12 people stood, God healed 6 of them on the spot. One man was healed of back pain, before Randy even prayed. Lately, in Randy's meetings, this has been God's calling card, this clear demonstration of the Spirit and of power at the outset, letting everyone know that God is on the scene. (Oh yes, and that He still heals today!)
The message was well-received by those present. Following the message, Randy gave an altar call, only wanting those to come forward whom God was touching, as evidenced by a physical manifestation. And then he prayed, mainly for impartation for healing; impartation so that the recipients would be able to take the anointing which they received and give it away to others.
I would estimate about 200 people came forward and crowded around the altar area. As Randy prayed, people began to be violently affected, many of them falling to the floor, some falling onto others, and some falling onto the platform steps. It was an open display of power from on high. Nobody was touching the people, they were just getting blasted from on high, many of them being thrown around like rag dolls. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. It is a scene of God bring His power back into the Church. (More, Lord, more!) It was soon a scene of bodies everywhere, almost too difficult to walk because of the numbers of people lying around.
Then, Randy called for those who needed physical healing to raise their hands. As they did, he directed members of the ministry team to go and pray for them. As we were now completely out of ministry space, he asked for those who wanted to received prayer for infilling and blessing to go out into the foyer. This surprised many, because we were told later that they had never had this happen before. ("We've never used the lobby for prayer ministry before!")
It was awesome! We prayed for so many that soon the lobby floor was littered with "fallen saints" who had succumbed to the Power. I watched several young girls whom God was touching powerfully. One in particular, a young lady probably 16-18 years of age, who was lying on the lobby floor, having fits of raucous laughter, rolling back and forth, kicking the doors of some cabinets with her foot. Over and over she laughed, rolled and kicked for perhaps an hour and a half. Later, I observed two of her friends assisting her out the front door, as she was totally blitzed, and could not stand on her feet.
There were two other young girls who were lying on the floor just in front of the main doors of the sanctuary, and everyone exiting the sanctuary had to either step over or around them. They lay there as if they'd been hit by a stun gun or something, completely oblivious to the fact that they were making a complete spectacle of themeselves, as they shook, cried, vibrated, and flailed their arms and legs all over the place.
In one corner of the lobby, two young volunteers were busy telling people about Randy's books and tapes. There were small groups of two or three standing around fellowshipping with each other. And everywhere there were people lying on the floor, arms and legs thrown askew, some weeping, some laughing, others lying completely motionless, and still others who jerked, shook, and wiggled. Every now and then there was a loud "THUMP" as another person being prayed for hit the floor. It was a most interesting sight. It was church! God is a multi-faceted God, and so often we've seen Him doing many, many things at once. Tonight was no exception.
I watched one of the prayer team ladies praying for a man, a guy in his early 50's maybe. He was taller than her, and had his head slightly bowed toward her, and her hand was laid squarely in the middle of his head. She wasn't saying a word, just had her hand there. But from this man's eyes, there poured buckets of tears, running down his cheeks and dripping on the floor. This prayer team lady was just doing her job, i.e., gettin' this guy 'plugged in to Jesus' -- It was wonderful.
So many were touched during the meeting, I saw many who could not walk out under their own power, but had to be assisted by their friends. It was just another power encounter day in the Kingdom.
Tonight, hopefully we'll be able to capture some testimonies of exactly what God was doing amongst the people during this most powerful visitation time.
That's it for this report.
Bill Cassada
for Randy Clark and the Global Awakening Team
in Perth, Australia
Be blessed.... be a Berean!!
Greg Makeham
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