Do You Underestimate the Power of God?

Have you ever considered whether you underestimate the power of God? It’s common to inadvertently impose our human limitations on a God who is limitless in both power and mercy.

The Bible recounts how God performed miracles to showcase His sovereign authority and beckon people to follow Him. Today, that same God who was active then continues to work miracles! Those of you who took part in this year’s REACH: Where this is no church campaign were certainly blessed to hear such stories from two of our Woodside Global Partners.

Akha John, our partner serving the Akha people in Thailand and the surrounding countries, shared the following story.

One day at the Thailand seminary, a group of strangers arrived, and a man approached to introduce himself. He explained that he was the local witch doctor. Bewildered, I asked him,

“Why would you, a witch doctor, come to visit me, a pastor?”

It was a Bible school, after all. However, the witch doctor was not confused. Rather, he shared that he had come to the Bible school because, although he was known as a witch doctor, he came to believe in Christ in his heart. Captivated, I questioned him on why he had come to desire Jesus. The man then introduced his wife and began sharing their story.

“My wife was in the rice field after the trees were cleared. She was burning up the remaining weeds, brush, and tree debris so the land could be used to replant. Soon after she set fire to the plot, it raged out of control, threatening to start a forest fire. She knew she would be sent to prison to atone for the damage the fire would cause! She desperately called out to the different gods and spirits we had served, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, she recalled the words of an evangelist trained at John’s ministry school. He had told her that whenever she had a problem, she could always call on Jesus, the Son of the one true God. With very little faith, she kneeled in the grass of the field and cried out for help from this God she did not even know. As she finished her prayer, a group of clouds that were not there before gathered over the field, and the rain began to pour, not over the whole village, just over her exact field! The fire went out and she was saved by the power of this Jesus!”

Finally, the man closed with,

“That is why we have come; how can we deny a God who controls the rain and heard my wife’s cry for help? We wish to follow this Jesus!”

I told them that they must turn from their evil practices of witchcraft and dark magic if they were going to serve Jesus as Lord. They invited me to come to their village and vowed to burn all their talismans and idols.

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The following story was shared by Philip Asare, the executive vice president of Theovision International, our partner in Ghana, who seeks to record the oral Bible for unreached peoples across western Africa.

In a village in Ghana, a Muslim religious leader, known as an Imam, was walking along when he heard something in the distance. As he got closer, he was shocked to hear very powerful words being spoken about the creator God in his own heart language. The words came from a speaker attached to the top of a tall pole. He had unknowingly stumbled upon a newly installed solar-powered radio tower that played scripture passages at strategic times throughout the day in the people’s language.

“As a Muslim, I believed that God only spoke in Arabic. Although I followed Islam, I could not understand Arabic. I would memorize prayers, trying to earn my way to heaven, but I never knew what I was saying. And here was a God that spoke my language!” the religious leader recalled.

He asked other listeners what was being played and learned it was the Bible. After contacting Theovision, the Imam began playing the recordings of the Bible in his mosque! Even after some people threatened him, he answered them,

“This Jesus is one of us! He speaks our language.”

The imam has since given his heart to Christ and continues sharing the Words of Jesus with anyone who will hear.

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Be encouraged, Church, for we worship a God whose power and mercy know no bounds! He actively pursues people with deliberate plans. What recent actions have you witnessed that demonstrate His mighty hand at work? Share your miraculous stories with others to glorify Him!