‘I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen.’ — Rev 1.18a
HE’S
ALIVE! March 2016 • Vol. 3, No. 3
Hallelujah Hixon and Mary Pugh
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A Woman of Passionate Pursuit after God!
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Rescuing girls living in garbage dump, some prostituted to truck
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Heart attack victim raised from the dead! Sees end time vision while dead
By Charles Gardner. DONCASTER, UK (ANS – 2016) -- A man from the Yorkshire town of Doncaster in the north of England, was restored to life after being clinically dead for nearly an hour during hospital treatment. In this exclusive interview with this journalist, Joe Stevenson, he now shares his amazing story for the glory of God. The “miracle” happened six years ago, and has been verified by the surgeon involved. Joe was admitted to Doncaster Royal Infirmary for a total knee replacement but, at the initiation of physiotherapy the day after surgery, he suffered a massive heart attack.
For the next 55 minutes he had “no cardiac output and no respiratory effort other than what was maintained by the resuscitation team,” according to Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon, Mr. A. S. W. Bruce. When informed by the patient’s son-in-law that Joe had died, his church friends began to pray – not for the Lord to raise him up, but for his family to be comforted. Then, amazingly, his heart started beating again – “spontaneous cardiac output and respiratory effort were returned,” said Mr. Bruce – and he was in a coma for the next 72 hours. But there was no brain damage and, although initially suffering acute renal failu-
re, this completely settled in time. “Having seen him in clinic, he has made an uneventful recovery,” Mr. Bruce added in a letter dated January 25th 2011. Now 75 and in continuing good health, Joe lives in Coniston Road, Askern, with his wife Wilsie. Dr. David Garrard, a senior lecturer at the Assemblies of God Bible College at Mattersey, Doncaster, and a fellow member at the time of the Reachout Christian Fellowship at Christ Church in central Doncaster, said: “The miracle of the resurrection power of Christ is evidenced in what happened to Joe.” Joe was admitted for his operation [surgery] on December
By Mark Ellis & Vivian Chou
Joe Stevenson at home in Askern, near Doncaster, with his wife Wilsie.
Continued in Page 2...
Islamic extremism, persecution, and you By Katey Hearth International (MNN) — The war between the people of the Caliphate and the people of the Cross goes beyond ISIS and the Middle East. In reality, the battle is a spiritual one played out on ideological lines. Satanic influences woo hearts toward hatred and violence, and culture calls it “Islamic extremism.” On-the-ground, jihadists aim their rage at people committed to Christ, those known to the radicals as “infidels.” “As as we look at the world situation–ISIS in the Middle East… Boko Haram in Nigeria…al-Shabaab in northern Kenya and Somalia, Islamic extremism is sort of the ‘cutting edge’ of persecution,” notes Todd Nettleton, spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs USA. “It’s time to talk about what’s happening, to talk about the
persecution that Christians are facing…. The majority of that [persecution] is coming from radical Islam.” What drives Islamic extremism? Some parties propose that Islamic extremism springs from poverty, or a lack of education. To be fair, this could be true in some cases. However, going “straight to the source” provides another perspective. As explained here, the Quran “contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule.” The leaders of countries around the world are trying to achieve one goal: stopping ISIS. They’re primarily seeking military solutions, but the former commander of U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) thinks their eyes are on the wrong goal.
(Photo courtesy VOM) “Sunni Islamic extremism is an idea, and it is hard to destroy an idea. It’s an ideology,” states General (Ret) John P. Abizaid in the CTC Sentinel. “It will be very difficult for the United States to discredit someone else’s religious ideology. It takes the moderate people in the region to discourage this ideology from moving forward.”
THE DEVIL TRIED TO DROWN HER...
Why do radicals persecute Christians? Once again, direct instructions laid out in the most holy book of Islam–the Quran– provide insight to extremists’ intentional targeting of Christians and other non-Muslims. Quran (9:29) – “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been
SOUTHERN CHINA (ANS - 2016) -Perhaps it was a rip tide, but Sister Mei also had a vision of a malevolent hand pulling her out to sea. While she enjoyed the beach in southern China for the first time in her life, she worried about hardships she faced and her prospects for the future. She was divorced — abandoned by her husband. And she was on vacation at Sanya Beach with her boyfriend, a married man. “I had never seen the ocean before,” she told the U.S. Center for World Mission, currently known as Frontier Ventures. “For some reason, I felt that if I could see the ocean, a lot of my questions could be answered.” “My husband left me after I gave birth. On the third day, he came to the hospital for the last time. He just disappeared. It really hurt me,” she said. Continued in Page 6... forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.” “People of the Book” the religion of Truth refers to Christians and Jews. According to this verse, they are to be violently subjugated... Continued in Page 3...
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HE’S ALIVE: Christian News and Views
March 2016 • Vol. 3, No. 3
Bradenton, Florida | FREE — Donations Welcome!
He felt the miracle of God’s warm embrace in a frozen gulag Alexander Ogorodnikov grew up in the former Soviet Union at a time when the communist government wanted to rid society of all religious influences. While his father was a loyal member of the Communist Party, his grandmother had him secretly baptized. “After the Revolution the Bolsheviks declared a war on Christianity,” Alexander noted, in a talk he gave at Cambridge in 2012. “It all started when Trotsky and Lunacharsky gave God the death sentence and decided that God should be shot and executed. “This was taken quite seriously and was not just a joke, they really thought this should be done,” he added. “Their ultimate aim was to create a new man, Homo Sovieticus – The Soviet Man.” The persecution of believers was relentless. “A great many clergy, priests, deacons, monks and nuns were killed by crucifixion, killing, shooting, drowning an all sorts of terrible ways,” Alexander recounted. “One of the things the Bolsheviks would do at this time was to bury people alive, priests, monks, nuns. Witnesses say that they could hear the singing of
hymns and prayers – so much so it looked as if the earth was alive, it was moving and shifting simply from the amount of people buried alive.” There was a mindless fanaticism to their hatred of Christians. “These were not just atheist, but anti-theist, God haters. This was their religion, that is, ardent belief against God. They represented people who not only denied the existence of God, but people who fanatically hated God and did everything they could against him. This was their new religion – fervent hatred for God.” Although raised an atheist, as a college student at the University of the Urals Alexander began to question the prevailing ideology of dialectical materialism. The university expelled him for a “dissident way of thinking” incompatible with the school. Later he enrolled at the Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. In his quest for truth, he became a Christian believer after he watched “The Gospel According to Saint Matthew” by Passolini. Alexander received his first communion at an Orthodox Church in Moscow from a bishop visi-
By Mark Ellis
re-arrested in 1978 and sent to a Soviet gulag until 1987. In 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Christian journalist Dan Wooding interviewed Alexander in Moscow.
Alexander Ogorodnikov ing from London. After his religious faith was discovered, he was once again dismissed from school. Somehow, Alexander began to build a network with other young Christians from the intelligentsia. He founded an underground group known as the “Christian Seminar,” whose participants read the Bible and discussed theology and faith. ch in Moscow from a bishop visiting from London. After his religious faith was discovered, he was once again dismissed from school.
Heart attack victim raised from the dead! Continued from Page 1... Wilsie called their five children, who immediately dropped everything and raced down from all over the country. Then the doctor announced: “We have a pulse, but don’t build your hopes.” “The medical team had fully expected Joe to be a vegetable due to no oxygen supply to his brain for all that time,” Wilsie recalled. “And though his kidneys were not initially functioning, with regular dialysis on the cards, they eventually returned to normal, to the delight of the medics.” Joe has since revealed that he had a series of extraordinary visions during his hour of “death.” This included a scene of “total chaos on the earth” with everyone struggling for power and some arguing over clothing and possessions which had become worthless as money no longer had any value. “The Lord showed me armies fighting one another, even beginning to kill their own people; young men and women taking people into alleyways, killing them at random and running away, laughing. I saw pillaging and rapes. “Then I saw millions of dead
bodies inside a massive leanto, all in different uniforms. And giant earth-moving machines pushing the bodies into a quarry – something like a picture of Armageddon described in the Bible.” (Revelation 14.20) Dr. Garrard explained: “I have no difficulty at all accepting what Joe communicates [of his visions] because… they can be backed up by many portions of Scripture.” Joe and Wilsie are currently members of the Millennium Christian Fe
llowship in Hemsworth[a former mining town in West Yorkshire], meeting at the YMCA. Joe says that in the weeks leading up to his surgery, he had sought a much closer relationship with God as a result of which he experienced “a deep cleansing and a strengthening of spirit.” He now realizes that we all need to get back to basic Bible principles of loving one another as one body, with Jesus as head.
Slowly, the authorities gathered evidence against the group. As the leader of the seminar, Alexander was the first to be detained. Most of those involved were arrested, put through show trials and deported to forced labor camps known as gulags. In 1976, at the age of 25, Alexander was sent to a psychiatric institution — a hospital “for the criminally insane” — and he received antipsychotic medication. The authorities viewed his Christian faith as a mental disorder. After his release, he was
“While in the Gulag, Alexander went on many hunger strikes,” Wooding learned from Alexander. “The guards would take his Bible and Orthodox Cross, which he wore around his neck, from him, and so he would then refuse to eat. He would say, ‘I would rather die than be without the Word of God.’” After five years of this terrible existence, Alexander wrote a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev telling him that he was a Christian living in the gulag and that he had not received one visit or even a letter from a Christian in five years. Alexander said he knew it was a sin to commit suicide, but he wanted to go home to be with Jesus and he asked if he could be “executed by a firing squad.” While Alexander was imprisoned in the gulag, Wooding managed to find the mail... Continued on Page 3
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HE’S ALIVE: Christian News and Views
The Miracle of God’s Warm Embrace... Continued from Page 2
ling address of the labor camp where he was being held, Perm 36, near the Siberian border. Wooding went on a Christian TV program in the U.S. and asked Christians to not only pray for Alexander, but also bombard the camp with letters of support, which they did. Apparently, Margaret Thatcher, then Prime Minister of Great Britain, had heard of his case and, during a visit to Moscow, she forcefully urged Gorbachev to free him, in a way that only the “Iron Lady” could do.
Alexander and his wife
Amazingly, Gorbachev agreed to free Alexander, and a few years later he met with Wooding in Moscow, where he ran a home for battered women and children. Over breakfast, Wooding asked the former dissident, “Did you ever see the letters?”
March 2016 • Vol. 3, No. 3
“Yes, they would take me into a room filled with sacks of mail, but then would not let me read any of them,” Alexander recalled. “I can’t describe the feeling I got when I realized that people did care after all.” He then stared very intently and asked, “Did you also ask people to pray for me?”Wooding nodded. “I thought so,” he continued as he took a sip from his coffee cup. “Let me tell you what happened. After they would show me the sacks of mail, which I guessed were from America, they would take me to a punishment cell where they hoped I would die from the cold.” “I would just have flimsy clothes on and the cell was like a block of ice. I would begin to shiver and soon hypothermia would set in and I knew that I hadn’t got long to live.” “Then a miracle would happen. I believe that God would wake up someone who saw you on television there in America and they would begin to pray for me and suddenly I felt God’s arms wrap around me like a comforter and warmth would flow back into my freezing body.” God supernaturally intervened in response to the prayers of the saints! He wrapped his loving arms around Alexander in his desperate condition. “This happened several times!” Alexander exclaimed. “I want to again say, ‘Thank you for caring.’”
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Islamic extremism, persecution, and you Continued from Page 1... with the sole justification being their religious status. Verse 9:33 tells Muslims that Allah has charted them to make Islam “superior over all religions.” This chapter was one of the final “revelations” from Allah, and it set in motion the tenacious military expansion, in which Muhammed’s companions managed to conquer two-thirds of the Christian world in the next 100 years. Islam is intended to dominate all other people and faiths. People from a Muslim background who come to faith in Christ aren’t exempt. “Oftentimes in an Islamic culture, the first line of persecution is your own family,” notes Nettleton. “It’s your parents, it’s your older brother, who feel like your following Jesus Christ and leaving behind Islam is a mark of shame against your entire family.” And yet, Muslim-background believers will gladly “face the fire” to make Christ known. “I’m not sure there’s a human explanation; I think really it’s the power of the Holy Spirit” that makes this possible, explains Nettleton. “I think of the verse that says, ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good.’ Once you have tasted and seen…it doesn’t really matter
what someone else does and says against you. You have that experience. You know that it’s real; you know that Jesus is alive.” What does all of this have to do with me? In God’s Word, Christians are instructed time and time again to care for one another.
(Graphic
courtesy
VOM)
“The Bible says that when one part of the Body of Christ suffers, we’re all supposed to feel that,” shares Nettleton. Count me in to pray, keep informed, and contact appropriate government authorities to express my concern for my brothers and sisters whenever possible. I cannot sit by while my Christian family is persecuted and just do nothing…
Hallelujah Hixon and Mary Pugh By Madeline and Bob Duffany (Bradenton, FL) Hixon and Mary Pugh are a seasoned,faithful Christian couple currently living at Christian Retreat in Bradenton, Florida for the past 29 plus years. Both are retired from a lifetime of teaching physical education at the University of Tennessee. Mary worked at the University library while Hixon served as purchasing agent for 25 years. They arrived at Christian Retreat in August of 1987, then immediately traveled to Puerto Rico where Mary saw the vision of her first Christian banner. She made a Prince of Peace banner while they were in Puerto Rico.These are very large banners carried on tall poles in the Feast of Tabernacles and other celebrations. They had seen a Feast of Tabernacles celebration in Puerto Rico which inspired them to do something similar at their church. Upon their return to Christian Retreat, they asked Pastor Phil Derstinefor permission to have a Feast of Tabernacles at church. Pastor said yes, you’re in charge. Mary’s vision grew, and
she eventually made 40 banners, all by hand. What is amazing is the fact that Mary lost one eye in a car accident in Tennessee, but still made all her banners with one eye. They are all beautiful with meticulous design, correct and colorful and worshipful in every detail. She also made their daughter, Carolyn, her wedding dress as well as many costumes for plays despite her handicap. A wonderful artist for the Lord. Hixon Pugh is a veteran of the US Navy in the Philippine Islands, being in boot camp when the first atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. Hixon has served at Christian Retreat for over 20 years as usher and as all around procurer for the Retreat, traveling many times weekly for supplies and mail. They are a delightful couple who love the Lord Jesus Christ with all their hearts. Everyone has been greeted for years by Hixon with, “Hallelujah!” His nickname for years has been “Hallelujah Hixon”. Keep going strong for Jesus, Hixon and Mary.
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Hixon & Mary Pugh
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HE’S ALIVE: Christian News and Views
March 2016 • Vol. 3, No. 3
Bradenton, Florida | FREE — Donations Welcome!
Jesus’ Second Coming by Ed McGraw Explore the “big idea” that Jesus is coming back! Read what the Bible said about Jesus hundreds of years before He was born When Jesus was on trial in front of the Jewish authorities, the high priest challenged Jesus with these words: Matthew 26:6364, emphasis added But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, (Messiah) the Son of God.” Reply rocked these men’s hearts: “Yes, it is as you say...
But I say to all of you: 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, in the future you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Jesus did not look like the Messiah as He stood there in his carpenter’s clothes, under arrest, betrayed by Judas, abandoned by His disciples. Even though all these circumstances were predicted of the Messiah in the Old Testament, these Jewish leaders were looking for a king. Jesus made it clear that the
“King” part would take place “in the future”. Jesus even quoted an Old Testament prediction about the Messiah, He took His words from Daniel 7:13 so these Jewish scholars would not miss the point. When the members of the Council heard Jesus’ words however; they went crazy, tearing their clothes and smacking Jesus around. They never entertained the possibility that Jesus’ words were true. The “two peaks of the mountain” analogy applies to Jesus’ second coming, too. Some New Testament references to the future
The Spirit of Truth By Rev Madeline Montez Duffany
return of Jesus read as though everything will happen as one big event. Yet as the New Testament was completed and as God’s plan unfolded, we began to realize that Jesus’ second coming had two phases to it. Jesus would return in the air for His people, phase one. Then Jesus would return to the earth with His people, phase two. return to the earth with His people, We call phase one “the rapture of the church” this topic gets ano-
ther lesson later; we call phase two “the return of Christ”. Some Christians think the rapture and the return are two events separated in time like Jesus’ first coming and second coming; other Christians think both phases will occur as one grand event. Yet two distinct phases of Jesus’ second coming are clearly evident in the Bible. To be continued next month…
OUR DAILY WALK... The Importance of Walking Righteouslyto Prevent Calamities and Promote Blessingsin Your Life | By Bob Duffany
Dear Reverend: It’s spring again, and everything is blooming and new. It’s a time of rebirth for us all. I only pray that I can reach my neighbors. On every holiday, I set them straight on the real significance of what they are celebrating and the origin things are derived from, since I know all the answers and can quickly show them the facts. As a Christian, I understand the real reason for a certain holiday, and I say, “Resurrection Sunday.” Then I firmly explain how Jesus died for our sins and rose again, and that is what we are to celebrate. Now, they avoid me when they see me watching them from my kitchen window. The little ones carry their baskets filled with candy and chocolate bunnies. I guess I should just keep after them until they come to the realization of the truth. I’m getting real tired trying to watch them! My husband and Bible study lack my attention, but I just make these neighbors a priority. Any advice? Baskets, Eggs, and Bunnies Dear Basket: Yes! Keep away from your kitchen window! Cook or bake something to bless your neighbor with. I know you mean well, but what about reaching them with love? Here’s any idea for the little children. The 700 Club has wonderful adventure books on DVD that would make lovely gifts and give the message of Jesus Christ. Making someone feel guilty is not the way Jesus said to operate. Recently, the Lord corrected me as I addressed my sister. It was not very loving, so naturally she is not listening anymore! Jesus can look past things that the unsaved do, because they do not yet understand. Candy, eggs, and the wrong terminology are not something He stumbles over. His grace is sufficient for all. Resurrection Day is a wonderful day to celebrate for Christians! Jesus came out of the grave and took the keys to hell and death so that we can live forever with Him! Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” John 11:25 This is God’s Truth!
Reverend M.M.D. Write to Rev Madeline at PO Box 14931 Bradenton, FL 34280 or by email at Hesalivenews@yahoo.com.
We are speaking of HEALING here, HEALING for you, today. First, let’s study a little background. Let’s start with reading Exodus 3:1-8: Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. Verse 8: So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. This was the time period in the Old Testament where God was giving the law to His people, the Israelites, through Moses. Again, look at and read verse 8, above. Here, God said that He would give them the Promised Land. This is what He would do. Now, in Exodus 23:20-23, He told them how He was going to do it. Let’s read that Scripture. 20 “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.
22 But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. Look at verse 20: ‘My Angel’. Who was the Angel? This Angel was none other than the second person of the divine Trinity, Jesus, who appeared thus, prior to His incarnation as a human at the time before the Cross. This is certain and clear because God said, “My Name is in Him.” (Verse 21, above) The expression is used over twenty times in the first five books of the Old Testament, identifying the person (Angel) as divine and calling Him God and Lord. Paul plainly stated that, “Israel drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ.” (Dake Bible, pg. 192 note). “God is a Spirit…” (John 4:24), and unrepentant man cannot be in His Presence. God used an Angel, else the man, the people, and perhaps the whole earth would be destroyed, because it was under the curse, and could not be in the presence of Almighty, Holy God. The Angel was on a mission and had all the attributes and characteristics and power of Christ to do the job (bring the Israelites into the Promised Land and defeat their wicked enemies). When we are on a mission for the Lord, we, as born-again, Holy Spirit-baptized believers, have all the same attributes – Christ (the Anointing Power) in us, as in the case of the Angel – to carry out His mission on earth. The Angel was CHRIST. He appeared in the Old Testament (before the Cross) in some physical form or manifestation. Today (after the Cross and His Finished Work), He is IN US – the mighty Holy Spirit.
Continued in next edition…
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HE’S ALIVE: Christian News and Views
March 2016 • Vol. 3, No. 3
Bradenton, Florida | FREE — Donations Welcome!
Preparing for the long-term A Woman of Passionate Pursuit after God! impact of the Zika Virus Sarah Janson is an Ordained Mi- irit, they have done big holiday work by teaching and traiBy Ronne Rock Central America (MNN) — With stories continuing to emerge about newly-reported cases of the Zika virus around the world, is mission work in the impacted countries being affected? For one organization, the answer is a simple “no” AND “yes.” Orphan Outreach continues its work in Guatemala and Honduras, and mission trips to those countries continue as well. Teams have just returned to the United States from serving in Xela, Santiago, Chimaltenango, and San Lucas. Participants on the teams are encouraged to wear mosquito repellent at all times–something that is part of the ministry’s standard training guidelines due to other mosquito-born viruses like dengue fever, malaria, and chikungunya. Orphan Outreach has recommended that pregnant women, or those who plan to get pregnant, consult their doctor before considering a mission trip. Since the news of the Zika virus has begun, only one woman has received instructions to withdraw from a mission trip due to pregnancy.
nister credentialed in Christian Counseling and Inner-healing. As Orphan Outreach continues She has authored two books. to serve in Central America, its The first is called “OUT OF staff is already preparing for the YOUR SEATS AND INTO THE potential long-term impact of STREETS” which is both her bio the Zika virus on its ministry and a teaching /training manual partners. Governments current- on the subject of evangelism. ly ill-equipped to provide care for The second is the workbook that orphans and vulnerable children goes along with it. Sarah operawill be strained even further, and tes as a “Prophetic Seer”, a “Viministering to affected families sionary”, and an Evangelist. Her will be an opportunity for NGOs. heart has always been for the Tiffany Taylor Wines sees the lost, the hurting and the broken importance of being prepared and she has ministered to liteto care for families and chil- rally thousands of people over dren. “Does that mean a year the years…body, soul and spirit. from now, there are going to For the past few years Sarah be women giving birth to chil- has headed up Heart of Merdren and making the decision cy Ministries, Inc., a front line they can’t parent them becau- Non-Profit street ministry in se of their special needs? We Southwest Florida doing weekly can have an influx of these or- outreaches and Mini-Crusades phans with special needs we as well as personally ministering need to serve and be ready for.” to families in trouble during the week. Heart of Mercy has partnered with local churches, teaching training and imparting to the body of Christ, the art of reaching outside the four walls of the church. Her ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit includes giving away salvation tracks, Word filled devotionals, Bibles, and cold or hot-food. Under (Photo by Ronne Rock) Sarah’s leading by the Holy Spi-
events giving away toys, bikes, balloons, turkeys, hams, and more to everyone that comes.
She is known as a “woman of passionate pursuit after the things of God” as she also has a heart to see Genuine Holiness and Passion come back into the hearts of all who call on the name of Jesus. She has been referred to as a “spark” that preaches with “fire”. The Holy Spirit has used her prophetically in many cases and has brought healing… physically, emotionally, and spiritually to many people over the years. Sarah has also ministered internationally on several Mission trips to places like Haiti, Honduras, Santa Domingo and Italy where she handed out 500 “Gospels of John” in Italian. She goes wherever the Lord calls and has ministered at Women’s Conferences, Churches, Aglow, Recovery Centers, Retirement Centers, Mentally Handicapped facilities, Nursing Homes, Jails, Prisons, Hospice Homes, on beaches, in the streets, and into the highways and byways. Today her heart is also to do a genuine apostolic
ning the body of Christ in a greater way to go forth with fire, zeal and passion into a lost, dying and hurting world. As Paul says, the Gospel that I preached is not with persuasive words of men, but in demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God. To destroy alters of idolatry and deception and every hindrance that keeps one from a genuine walk with the Holy Spirit outside the four walls of the church. For more information or to contact Sarah: sarah@sarahjansson. com
Sarah Jansson
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HE’S ALIVE: Christian News and Views
March 2016 • Vol. 3, No. 3
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The devil tried to drown her, but a robed man with an aura of light brought rescue Continued from Page 1... With “no future, no job, no money, no dignity and no identity,” she was approached by a married man and agreed to go to the beach with him. She left her daughter at home with her parents. As she brooded over her “totally hopeless” situation in the water, she lost track of the shore. Without warning she was startled by what felt like a hand grabbing her ankle. Having grown on the YangtzeRiver, she was an able swimmer, but she was not prepared for rip tides. “From the bottom of my heart, my mind, my soul, I cried out, Who can help me?’” she said. Then she began to be hauled seaward. “There was a hand holding my ankle dragging me down into the water. I was frightened,” Mei said. “I did everything I could to swim to the shore, but I couldn’t.” She tried calling for help. That’s when she felt a hand around her throat choking back the words. Someone on her right turned his back to her, oblivious to her peril. Another on the left also turned his back to her. “I could not make any noise,” Mei said.
“My mouth was moving. I was asking for help, but no noise came out from my mouth. The hand was holding me tighter and tighter.” Now in deeper water, her body began swirling in the torrent. A wave formed over her head. At the crest of the wave in her vision she saw a horrible face. “The minute I saw that face, I knew it was the devil. I never was taught about the devil, but I knew it was the devil,” she said. “It was huge. It was coming on the top of the wave. It came to me and it said, ‘I’m going to kill you today.’ When I saw that, I knew I was finished. There was no hope. I was dying.” When the wave crashed over her face, she choked on the salty brine. She was tossed by waves as she kicked and paddled, trying in vain to reach the shore. She thought of her parents and daughter, Weiwei. “Mom, Dad, Weiwei, I’m sorry,” she said, beginning to resign herself to death. “They didn’t even know where I was. I never told them where I was, so if I died that day, they would be very disappointed.” But if the devil seemingly had her in his grip, God’s
strong hand was ready to move. Despondent, she cried out to One unknown to her. “My God…” she cried with all her strength. “I had no understanding of what I was saying,” she recounted. Immediately, the heavens opened and a large dove descended on her. With no prior knowledge of the Bible, surprisingly, she recognized the dove as the Holy Spirit. Then she saw a tall man in a robe with an aura of light. He motioned with one hand, through which a ray of light penetrated, drawing a semi-circle. With that motion, her entire life was played before her eyes like a video, and the words “deadly sin” appeared next to the places in her life when she committed sins. “I could not believe I was such a filthy sinful person,” she remembered. Her immediate reaction was she deserved death by drowning, but then she heard a voice of compassion. “My child you have come back at last,” the voice said. “I have been waiting for you so long.” Then she beheld a startling sight: Out of the man’s heart poured water and blood! She understood this was for her sin.
“I had broken His heart. All the sins had hurt Him and had been hurting Him always,” Mei said. “My depravity, debauchery, immorality, my ignorance, stubbornness, and rebellion. Never for a moment had I stopped. Every sin I had committed was like a sharp knife that injured Him deeply.” Then she saw a pure love pouring from his eyes. “Is that for me?” she asked. “Yes, it is for you,” he replied. “I love you and never expect anything back from you.” “I had never experienced such an unconditional love. I burst into tears. Why do you love me? I’m lonely and in pain. Love kept coming to me like waves.” Mei was still in danger of drowning. Then she heard a voice from Heaven again: “Go, help her!” Suddenly a man appeared out of nowhere and dragged her to shore. Resting on the sand, she was trembling and exhausted. She lay down and slept, asking herself: Who was the man of the vision? How did he know her whole life? How did she get pulled ashore? What was the light? “That night I met the God I never knew,” she said.
Though she had encountered God, still she didn’t know anything about Him. When she returned to her village, she found a church and asked for a Bible. At that time in China, Bibles were scarce, and so she had to wait some months. When she finally obtained a Bible, she devoured it, beginning in Genesis. Everything seemed foreign, difficult for her to understand. She began attending an English class taught by “Doug,” who included messages of the gospel in his teaching. After a year, the Bible resonated with her. When she finally got to the Gospel of John when Jesus told Thomas to stick his thumb in his nail hole. She remembered the ray of light that shot through the hand of the robed man in the vision at the beach. Wei finally received Jesus into her heart as her Lord and Savior and was born again, the beginning of a journey that would take her in directions she could never imagine.
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HE’S ALIVE: Christian News and Views
March 2016 • Vol. 3, No. 3
Bradenton, Florida | FREE — Donations Welcome!
Counselor’s Corner ByByCharles Glass Dr Louise Alleva
OUR WORST ENEMY... While working on my christian counseling degree I was asked to co-lead a support group as part of my training. One of the first things required of the group, including the leaders, was to write and share our life history with the others. The leaders gave guidelines such as length, how to choose the strongest memories of events and feelings throughout our childhood. We had to be as honest as possible. It was stressed that if anyone had trouble or refused to share a very personal experience, then that very situation would be the one that would keep us in bondage. It was an awesome experience for me. Everyone had hurtful past or present experiences to share and as they ministered to each other I could see the freedom, and hope emerge from the cloud of brokenness, bitterness, unforgiveness, guilt, and self hate that hung over that room. They began to understand that they were created for something far different than the lies they were told and what they believed about themselves. They also started realizing what true freedom looked like in the scripture “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:27. To bear His image means we’re to take on His righteousness, holiness, patience, love, mercy, kindness,
,faithfulness truthfulness, reliability and all that is godly. Most people do not have the opportunity to receive the help these women were offered. Many continue to struggle with the effects of past experiences. They don’t realize there is hope for a better, more joyful life. Since Adam and Eve fell for Satan’s lies in the Garden of Eden, we all have been attacked with the same tactics. He fills us with lies hoping we will stay in bondage to him and keep us away from a close relationship with God and each other. Now I want to ask you some questions. Do you like yourself? Do you or can you love yourself? If not, do you feel you’re at fault or do you blame others for your problems? Do you have a list of people you don’t like, you envy, are angry with or even hate? Is it longer than the list of those you love? There’s a scripture that says “and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this,‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:3032 NASB. Dear reader, you can’t love your neighbor if you don’t love God or yourself. neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:3032 NASB. Dear reader, you can’t love your neighbor if you
don’t love God or yourself. Again I stress that there is an enemy out there who is trying to steal, kill and destroy us. And he’ll use any means possible to do just that. Guess what? WE have given him plenty to work with! We have the freedom of choice and one of those choices is to believe or not believe the lies he tells us. We can choose to be free from or choose to stay in bondage to the effects of hurt, pain, neglect, abandonment, etc. that has happened to us. In other words WE can be our own worst enemy! The devil is only as powerful as we allow him to be. The first thing we must not do is to bury our emotional pain or our sins deep within our heart, but to face them and deal with them. In my next article I’ll offer examples of lies being told to us and what God says about them. Until then I ask that you begin reading the Bible, starting with the New Testament Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). Read about Jesus, His trials, His challenges, His pain and how He handled them with confidence and commitment because of His love for us. The book of John would be a good one to start with. For confidential questions or help, you may contact me at: louise.alleva@hotmail.com. Blessings and Love: Louise Alleva, D. Min., LCPC, CTC
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HE’S ALIVE: Christian News and Views
March 2016 • Vol. 3, No. 3
Bradenton, Florida | FREE — Donations Welcome!
Rescuing girls living in garbage dump, some prostituted to truck drivers By Mark Ellis SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (ANS - 2016)Xochilt (So-sheel) was raised in a garbage dump in Nicaragua, a place where life held little value and young girls were offered by their mothers to truck drivers for quick cash. “One of the biggest risks that happened in the dump was at night, there were no doors to the houses and someone could easily enter with a pistol or something similar and you could end up dead and no one could do anything about it,” Xochilt recalls. Gloria Sequeira was part of a team helping with the children’s schooling at the dump and discovered there were sordid activities going on. “There was a business going on in there where the mothers were sending the girls and the truck drivers would take them inside and have sex with them and would pay them.
Xochilt today
Xochilt when she was found at the dump “We were bringing teams to help the school but my worry was what was happening with the girls? In partnership with Forward Edge, Pastor Kip Jacobs at SouthLake Church in Oregon made an appeal to raisefunds for a home for the girls. Amazingly, God lowered from above the exact amount needed to buy and develop a property that came to be known as Villa Esperanza. Xochilt was one of the first 16 girls rescued from the dump who came to live at the new
facility. “I just remember when Xochilt was living in the dump. She was seven or eight years old with a baby in her arms, her hair matted and covered with dirt,” says Joseph Anfuso, with Forward Edge. Teams from SouthLake and other churches went down to help with construction of the property and to care for the girls. One of the women who visited Villa Esperanza from SouthLake Church stayed up all night caring for Xochilt and Xochilt still remembers
her loving concern.“If I wasn’t here (Villa Esperanza), I probably would not be studying. Or probably I would be with a boy and have a child,” Xochilt says. “The main principle they teach us is the love of God.” She is studying English and wants to be a dance teacher someday. Sam Martin, a filmmaker who documented conditions at the dump, sees the lasting value of theinvestment in the girls. “If you help a person get out of a tough spot,” he says, “and break the cycle you might help a whole
generation, because you don’t know if that girl will get married some day and have kids and those kids may be raised in a way that they never knew the dump existed.”of a tough spot,” he says, “and break the cycle you might help a whole generation, because you don’t know if that girl will get married some day and have kids and those kids may be raised in a way that they never knew the dump existed.”
We need you! We are looking for testimonies, It can be your life story, or individual events in your life God has done for you. Be a blessing to many, submit yours today to: hesalivenews@yahoo.com Website:hesalivenews.org