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INSTITUTE OF LOVE

Testimonies

Text Box: Over the years, we have been blessed to see God touching and changing peoples lives in so many ways through our ministry, and we have received many written testimonies from people who have been helped in some way by our teachings, personal prayer, or counseling. Every encounter has a story linked to it, and it’s always encouraging to read about the ways God has touched someone. To God be all the glory! Two Baptists On The Subway One day as we were making our way through the maze of the underground Subway here in Manhattan, we passed by two individuals standing behind a table with all kinds of Christian literature and with a radio blasting the voice of an old fashion preacher in the background. The stand was obviously evangelistic in nature, although it’s hard to imagine anyone actually being genuinely attracted to an outreach like this. Since Edwin is who he is, and we all know him, he had to stop and ask these good Christian folks if they would like to be filled with the power to witness, the power to live the supernatural life of a Christian seeing signs, wonders and miracles, the power of the Holy Spirit. Immediately these Baptist boys started their counter-“attack” saying that we as Christians no longer have that power, and that it was only for “back then,” meaning when Jesus was on the earth. Saddened, as we naturally always get when we meet Christians who are so poor in spirit, we still tried to urge them and convince them that the Holy Spirit is very much available to us now, and that it’s for them to receive too so their testimony will be effective to this dark world. Obviously, these people’s attempts and intentions are for the good – to tell people the Gospel about Jesus Christ so they can be saved. But, when you have no power on the inside and all you offer is something stale and religious, it will never attract the world. In the background, our glances met with another guy standing and listening to our conversation. Since we were not able to reach our Baptist brothers with the message of the Holy Spirit, this New Yorker came to us and whispered: “I’m Spirit-filled! I believe in the power of miracles and speaking in tongues! It’s so true what you told these guys.” We went on to minister to this guy who had a wife dying of cancer and was in dire need of some spiritual encouragement. As Edwin prophesied over him, he was completely overwhelmed by the power of the Holy Ghost and left our encounter as a completely renewed man. Your life is never in vain when you use it for God. He will always send someone on your path that needs your encouragement. Even if one person rejects you, another will embrace you and desperately need to hear what you have to share. “Your House Will Sell Within Two Months” On one of our frequent mission trips to Alabama, one day as we were leaving town to go back to New York, we met some wonderful Christians at a restaurant. One lady, offered to call her daughter in a suburb of Atlanta to arrange for us to stay with her and her unsaved husband for the night, in the hopes that we could be a spiritual blessing to them. The daughter agreed, and we made a stop at their house, which was more like a mansion, that night. Arriving late, we only talked a little, but in the morning the lady made breakfast for us so we had a chance to pray for the family. The lady was at a crossroad in her life, not sure which venue to pursue. Edwin told her he believed the couple should sell the house, and he prophesied that within two months the house would be sold. We also had a chance to pray for the husband, who agreed to serve Jesus if the prophecy came to pass. After the breakfast, we thanked them for their hospitality, said a prayer of blessing, and went on our way. About a month and a half later, we heard from the lady’s mother that someone had come and bought her daughter’s million dollar house cash, and that not only had the house been sold, but also other properties they owned. We believe God wanted to show Himself real to this man, proving that He is interested in him. Muslim Man Hit By God’s Power On one of our many walks through Manhattan, one day we came to the surprising scene of a business-like dressed Muslim man on his knees on a fairly big carpet in the middle of a concrete plateau under a scaffolding on the sidewalk. It wasn’t that it’s an unusual event seeing a Muslim man bowing down to pray, it was more the strange public way in which he was displayed for all to see walking by. Edwin, instinctly lovingly grabbed the man’s hand and full of the Power of the Holy Spirit, spoke boldly to the man about serving Jesus and bowing only to the one true God. The man said he was a Muslim, but Edwin challenged him and asked him if he didn’t want to be filled with the Power of God. When Edwin asked him if he could bless him with a prayer, the Muslim man said yes! His eyes got big and it was as if he, in a cloud of confusion, couldn’t resist the power of the Holy Ghost. Edwin placed his hands on the man’s head and spoke a loud, bold prayer over the man’s life. As the Muslim man awoke from the prayer, he was shaking violently all over his body from the Power of God. He started thanking Edwin, “Thank you, thank you, thank you” over and over again. We left him in the presence of God. Art Gallery Secretary Touched By God’s Love On one of our many prayer strolls down the streets of Soho, we were keeping an eye open for buildings for rent for the Teaching Center we want to start in that community. We saw a nice space and walked in to acquire about it. A girl in her early thirties was behind the desk, the only piece of furniture in the place that turned out to be an upscale art gallery. After talking briefly about the locality, price and management, we started talking more personal with her. She was Italian and went to Catholic Mass with her mother. We told her about ourselves, how we travel and minister the Gospel and the love of God. As we were encouraging her, telling her that God has a plan for her life and how much Jesus loves her and desires her, she broke down in tears and said, “You have no idea how much I needed to hear that. You have touched my heart so deeply.” We prayed for her that God will bless her and lead her to a closer relationship to Him, and she was still wiping away her tears as we parted. Her eyes were changed, and she looked like a transformed person, full of hope and full of renewed encouragement. Catholic Asian Man Saved On The Subway Train One time as we were taking the Subway to the area of Soho in Manhattan, we accidentally took the wrong train and had to change trains to get back to our connecting train. On the wrong train, we happened to sit next to a young Asian guy who handed us a Catholic tract. On the tract, it said a prayer to St. Joseph and it listed all St. Joseph’s good deeds. Immediately, Edwin started telling him about Jesus, how He came to die for our sins, and how He is the only God we should serve. The man had been searching spiritually and had obviously bumped into the Catholic religion in his search for answers. Although he was handing out tracts, he wasn’t fully settled in his belief. Engulfed by passengers on all sides, Edwin asked him if he would like to give his life to Jesus, and the man said yes! So, missing our stop, Edwin said a quick salvation prayer with the man who repeated after him. I would miss my stop any day if it meant leading another sinner to salvation. It brings up the question, if we are really available to God at any time He wants to use us, and if we’re willing to have our own plans altered for the sake of ministering to others. Unique Meeting With Handicapped Jewish Man In New York, it never ceases to amaze us how many obscure and extreme personalities we observe on a regular walk to church or to the Subway or to the nearest park. You find it all in Manhattan, the hippies –complete with bell bottoms and head bands, the punkers who gather with their kind at Union Square, the Guns’n’Roses metal’ers who look like they just emerged from a cave from the 80’s, the fashionista’s bent on wearing their 3 inch high heels to lunch in tight miniskirts they have to struggle to keep down, the street people with their sleeping bags, checking the worth of some item they discovered from the ground, only to toss it in contempt when it turns out to be just another little piece of plastic, not a diamond. In among all the European tourists, the shoppers, and Chinese exchange students, the white collar corporate achievers, the hunch back elderly who has miraculously survived battling the brutal winters of the city their entire lives, and all the rest who try to make a living, you might wonder how God manages to arrange for you to meet certain people. One day, entering Starbucks to try to find a spot with an electricity outlet for our laptops so we could finish a study for our website, we ended up in the way back by the bathrooms of this large Starbucks. There was the only table available in the entire store with an outlet. We didn’t really think the spot was very cozy, and we tried to seek for another. But right next to us, we noticed a handicapped man in his wheelchair, actually browsing his new Ipad with a pen in his mouth. Intrigued by the ability of this man, whose arms and hands were locked in their bended positions and speaking was difficult, we thought maybe God wanted us to do something for him. Edwin went over and lovingly embraced the man, checking on how he was doing. Right then, we found another available table by the window at the other end of the Starbucks, and we packed our things to quickly move before someone else took it. After some time, the handicapped man packed up his stuff and drove towards us in his automatic wheelchair. He placed his wheelchair by our table and said he wanted to talk. We were pleasantly surprised and started getting to know him. He was eager to tell us that he was divorced and was now still living with his ex-wife who took care of him, although she was now married to another handicapped man, and the three of them lived together in an apartment. “It’s complicated,” he managed to say several times. Although it was a challenge to fully understand every word he was saying, we still managed to talk with him about God. The man was a Jew, and upon asking Him if he wanted to be born again, he answered, “But I’m a Jew, and we were the ones who killed Jesus!” He also asked about predestination. We answered, “Yes, Jesus always knew who was going to come to him, but today is the day of salvation, so you can come to Him too!” Edwin offered to pray with him right there in the Starbucks, and the man agreed and stuttered the sinners prayer out loud repeating after Edwin. When he left, we knew God placed us in this man’s life by divine design that afternoon. God’s purpose for this man was to speak out his belief in Jesus being the Son of God who died on the cross for mankind, and accept Him into his life as His Lord and Savior. We have bumped into the man a couple of times since, one time wheeling him home, since his automatic chair had broken down. God cares about the salvation of His chosen ones, and He will go to great lengths to make sure they find Him, even if they have lived godless lives up until that point. Man In Chinatown One day, as we were staying in a part of Manhattan called Chinatown, Edwin went out to buy some Chinese food. Right outside our apartment was a nice park area with basketball hoops and places to sit and walk dogs. On a bench, he found a guy sitting deeply consumed in reading the Bible. The man had a worried look on his face, and Edwin felt led to converse with the man. As they were talking about God, the distraught man confessed, “The more I read the Bible, the more I feel in trouble!” Understanding the man’s conviction, Edwin led him to the Lord, right there on the bench, explaining the Gospel, and explaining how God pulls people to Himself by convicting them of their sins. The Bible says it basically doesn’t matter who sows and who reaps, we all play a part in watering people with the Word of God until the day they give their hearts to Jesus. Edwin may never see this man again, but God sent him to this man on that particular day, in that particular moment to harvest a soul for the Kingdom of God. When we are aware of our roles as soul-reapers, God can send us to specific people in need at the right time, and when we commit ourselves to be tools in God’s hands, we won’t just walk by in ignorance, but we will listen to the still small voice that urges us to stop and reach out, even if it’s just another guy sitting on a bench in crowded Chinatown. Divorce Plans Cancelled Since Edwin and I have been doing marriage and relationship counseling for a number of years, when we met a lady with a desperate look in her eyes, we knew immediately by the Holy Spirit, it had to do with her marriage. Sure enough, the lady told us she had been in a state of divorce for two years, even finishing her bookkeeping and setting her financial matters in order to be ready for the divorce. She said that she had come to the end of her rope, and nothing was working anymore. She believed she had married the wrong man, she had issues with her teenage daughter and didn’t feel loved or appreciated. Edwin told her gently, “If you will give us two hours to sit down and talk, I believe God will make a turnaround in your life and your marriage.” The lady happily agreed, eyeing a ray of hope. After the counseling with her husband, the couple testified of how two hours of counseling, had done what four years of therapy didn’t accomplish. Their marriage was completely restored, the talks of the divorce completely dismissed and new peace had come into the both of them.