We have had three days of street / "house-to-house" ministry so far during outreach, and have seen God move in incredible ways. Each day before we go out, we worship as a corporate group (including another YWAM team and our Filipino contacts) and then split into our two YWAM teams for prayer. We ask God for specifics about who He wants to reach that day - words, pictures, colors, etc. - if you have heard of "treasure hunting" prayer, it's the same idea. Once we share what God has laid on our heart with each other, we then go out to the area of the city that has been decided. We have been going through Taguig City in a methodical fashion to make sure that we walk through, meet with, and pray for people in each area without missing any sections.
One of the things that has struck me the most is just how individual ministry is for each person. That may seem like a strange thing to say, but every time we speak with someone or pray for someone, God wants to touch them in a unique way. We have seen multiple physical healings - one particular day, five people with back problems were healed - but we've also seen how the Father wants to reach His children at the very place that they are. We've been invited into homes to pray for healing, but then God gives us an opportunity to speak identity into their children and pray for the Holy Spirit to encounter the whole family. Most people here are incredibly open to the gospel and to the Holy Spirit!
Our foreign appearance (pale skin and lighter-colored hair) and our young children tend to draw a crowd very quickly wherever we are at. One day as we were finishing up street ministry, we ended up at a basketball court. All of the kids that we had been hanging out with followed us there, and in addition to the kids and youth that were already there, we had quite a crowd around. The girls on our team do an amazing job of playing with the little ones, teaching them games, and telling them how much Jesus loves them. The guys were quick to jump in and engage in basketball with the older boys, building relationship with them. Before we left, one of our leaders called everyone in the court over, and was able to preach the gospel to several dozen youth, and many prayed to accept Jesus into their hearts!
A few fun encounters:
Jeff felt that a woman sweeping the street had back/neck/shoulder pain, so he approached her and asked her if this was so. She said she had terrible pain - he prayed and God healed her on the spot. She was so excited, she asked us to come to her house as soon as her work shift was over. We did - and prayed for her daughter, the girl watching her daughter, her brother who had suffered a stroke, and her mother, who had numerous physical ailments. Her brother who had a stroke was barely able to move when we entered - after we prayed, his strength returned and he was waving his arms around! We aren't sure if the grandmother was healed right away, but she said that while we were praying, she grew very hot and could feel a warm hand on her back (we were only touching her hand/arm while praying.)
We saw a group of young teenagers in an alley, so we followed them in and spoke with them for a while. Our Filipino contact did most of the speaking in Tagalog, and she was able to lead one of the boys to Christ! God gave me a word for the other boy that was there - he originally was avoiding speaking with us, but I went up to him anyway and could tell that God was really moving his heart through what he had wanted to encourage his son with.
We were able to pray for several families that lived down a different alley off of one of the main roads. One of the women we prayed for here was a grandmother who cared exclusively for a grandson with learning and physical disabilities. While praying, the Spirit touched her, and she became very emotional. God gave me words of encouragement and comfort for her, and she was very blessed by the encounter that we had.
While praying for specific words before going out, several of our team saw a woman wearing yellow, and one teammate the name "Angela." While we were out doing ministry later, our teammates found a woman wearing a yellow dress… who was carrying her daughter, whose name was Angela! Needless to say - they prayed for her and God encountered them!
We have had many, many encounters that were led by specific words from the Lord. One of our teammates felt God say that a woman who was sitting on stairs needed healing in her back, so our teammate approached her and asked her if this applied. The woman said yes - she had actually come outside because her back had been hurting her so much while she was working inside. Our teammate prayed and the woman was instantly healed! After continuing to speak with her, our teammate learned that this woman was Muslim - she had worked in the Middle East for a time, and her boss had required her to convert to Islam while she was there. She said she didn't honestly believe in Mohammed, however, and was open to the gospel of Jesus. Our teammate had an awesome opportunity to share the gospel with this woman, who believed after seeing Jesus' radical power in healing her back!
We are living and doing ministry on the edge of a large Muslim area, and can see the spires of several mosques from the church that we are partnering with here in Taguig. Many on our team (including us) have a strong desire to reach the Muslim population that are here, and we have been starting to work with our local contacts on this. We have been praying for more opportunities to reach those around us, and for Jesus to continue to pave the way in their hearts before we even reach them, as He always does.