Taliban Girl Healed of Leukemia, Family Saved
Sometimes the risk of evangelism involves more than sacrificing our reputation or comfort.
It sometimes means risking our very lives. This takes prophesying past the fear to a whole new level. My friend and fellow prophetic evangelist Robby Dawkins experienced this risk while training underground church leaders for several days in Afghanistan.
During that time, his group went to a small shop for a snack (similar to the ice cream shops we have in the United States). Robby had been teaching the leaders all about prophetic evangelism, so as they were sitting there, one of the leaders got a word of knowledge for a man walking by them.
“I think he’s worried about his daughter,” the leader told Robby.
Robby told him to ask him if that was the case, but the leader responded that, in Afghanistan, men aren’t supposed to inquire after female family members. Plus, the risk of talking about Jesus was even higher because they were in the month of Ramadan, a time of fasting and prayer in Islam. If the guy took offense, he could yell, “Kafir!” (which means infidel).
The leader stopped the guy, pointed to Robby and spoke in the Pashto language, “My friend here was asking Jesus to show him something for you, and he said that Jesus is showing him that you’re concerned about your daughter.”
“What do you know about my daughter?” the man demanded.
As the conversation grew more heated, the group wondered if the guy would shout, “Kafir!”
“Tell him that there’s something in his daughter’s blood, and it’s killing her,” Robby said.
“My daughter has leukemia and can’t even use the bathroom by herself,” the guy replied. His attitude shifted once again as he yelled, “How do you know about my daughter?”
“Tell him that Jesus is healing his daughter right now,” Robby said. “Tell him to call his wife now.”
The guy flipped open his phone to dial his wife’s number. On the other end of the line, a woman was screaming.
“What’s going on?” Robby asked.
The leader who had been translating the conversation replied, “His wife answered the phone and she says that, three minutes ago, their daughter jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom by herself. Now she’s jumping up and down, saying, ‘It’s all gone! All of it is gone! I feel fine!’”
The little girl was healed at the exact moment Robby said she was! The guy began crying and said, “Please come to my house and meet my daughter and my wife. Please come and tell them about Jesus. They need to know about Jesus!”
But Robby knew that if the Taliban saw him—a Westerner—going into this man’s house, they might kill his family. So instead, one of the church leaders and another woman from the group went and shared the gospel with the wife and daughter, and both were saved! Now, they have a house church that meets in their home. These kinds of miracles are what can happen when we’re willing to take risks and prophesy past the fear!
You Gotta Speak the Truth
We live in a day when people are very vocal about what they believe. If you don’t believe me, just browse your social media and you’ll see what I mean! It seems like everyone wants the world to know exactly what they think, and they’re holding nothing back—everyone except the church.
Sadly, it seems Christians are one of the few groups who aren’t boldly declaring what they believe or proclaiming their cause. In many ways, our brand of Christianity has gone soft.
Where’s that holy boldness nowadays? I think this is where a lot of modern preachers are missing it these days. In the past, diplomatic preaching did a great job at drawing people to the gospel. But now, people don’t care about that. They’re hungry for a fresh, bold message that draws the line very clearly.
There have been politicians and talking heads who have won offices and grown a huge following because they never minced their words. They were willing to draw a line in the sand.
Although it might have been popular to be nebulous in years past, it’s not the way things work anymore.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we should be rude in how we preach or evangelize. Pride and arrogance will never be effective evangelism tools! But we do need to be firm about the truth of God’s Word. We need to be willing to be dogmatic when the Bible is dogmatic and diplomatic on the issues the Bible doesn’t speak to explicitly. We portray vintage Christianity when we make truth our default mode. When we hold to truth lightly, we become a victim to its distortions. Meanwhile, those who hold to truth tightly run the risk of being accused of hate speech. Truth is not the consensus, and it’s not what feels good. Absolute truth is God’s perspective on time and eternity and says, “What is true for one person is true for all persons.” If you’re not convinced of the truth, then whoever you’re listening to will define your reality. In a day when truth is up for sale and traded for the expediency of the moment, the Holy Spirit is looking for people to hold on to truth and make a stand for it!
Sometimes we forget that Jesus wasn’t nice. Does that rub you the wrong way? Well, it’s true! Jesus wasn’t nice; He was kind. Niceness is doing what’s socially expected of you. It’s being pleasant, agreeable, and satisfactory to others. You can have an absolutely evil heart inside and still be nice on the outside. But kindness can’t be faked. It’s a character trait that expresses itself as friendliness, generosity, or affection. It’s rooted in love (see 1 Cor. 13:4).
