July 15, 2003
FSM 385 CM/FM
April 2002
Copyright © 2002 by The Family
(Note: All Family members in China use pen names for their contributions to the FSM.)
No matter what the obstacle, stand fast in My will, call upon the power of the keys of the Kingdom, stand back and see Me do the miracle.
By Joe (17), Zamora, Mexico
My mom was in China. I was in Pakistan. I didn’t blame her for being worried.—CNN broadcast the most horrendous things about this wonderful country. Mexico sounded good, and there was even a wonderful Home down in Zamora that needed more people. My mom sent me the necessary international traveling permission forms and I booked my ticket.
Lahore to Delhi to Frankfurt to L.A. to San Diego. I was randomly selected for a comprehensive luggage search seven times and felt like every single eye in every single airport was on me.
San Diego to Phoenix. I had another randomly selected luggage search and then an hour of waiting in line. Phoenix to Guadalajara was the last flight on my itinerary, and I was beginning to look forward to the bus ride to Zamora and more than a few hours of both feet on real ground again.
I reached the front of the line and tried my best to look innocent and shine the love-of-Jesus at the glowering lady as she scrutinized my ticket.
Are you sure you’re not carrying any box cutters or plastic knives? she glared.
Uh no.
How old are you?
Seventeen.
Aha! she almost smirked. You’re a minor! At last she’d found a way to make someone else miserable. You’ll have to go to the desk.
Uh oh, the desk.
Another huge jumbled line of people. I finally found the end of the line and eventually worked my way to the beginning. I smiled my widest at the blue shirt and gold badge behind the desk.
Hi! I’m Joe.
Passport.
I cautiously gave her my passport and smiled wider.
Hmm. She raised an eyebrow.
I held my breath and mumbled prayers.
She raised the other eyebrow. A minor, eh?
I whipped out my Permission to Cross International Borders forms and she inspected them.
Okay. These are good forms, she said. But
Uh oh.
there’s a problem. She lowered both eyebrows. The form reads that you have parental permission to live in Mexico for an indefinite period of time.
Yes ?
That’s not acceptable.
Double uh oh.
There has to be a certain time when the permission ends. Otherwise you could just run away and the government couldn’t do anything about it.
Oh, that makes a lot of sense. Well—uh—I promise not to run away.
Hmm. The eyebrows dipped lower.
This wasn’t working. I needed something else—something bigger and better—or else I wouldn’t be getting on that plane. Then I remembered the keys.
The keys! The keys of the Kingdom can do anything, right? My mind raced to the throne of Heaven on its knees. My lips stretched a smile as wide as was physically possible.
She smiled back.
She smiled back!
I’ll tell you what, she said. I’m gonna put you on the plane anyhow.
Wow! I was getting on that plane after all! I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t even surprised.
But, she said, unfortunately, I am one hundred percent sure that the immigrations guy on the other side will take one look at your paper, and send you straight back to Phoenix on the next plane. I’m sorry. Have a good trip.
If there had been mournful music available, now would have been a perfect time to play it.
Pakistan! She didn’t understand. I was coming from Pakistan!
I didn’t know anyone in Phoenix. The closest Family members I knew of were in San Diego. I didn’t even have enough money for one night in Phoenix—much less a plane ticket back to San Diego the next morning!
Despair began to crowd in on me as I boarded the plane. One hundred percent sure. Maybe I could give out posters in the airport to raise the money. Except that I didn’t have any posters.
Maybe I could scribble out indefinite on the papers and write permission good until December the 31st, 3000. I squirmed into my seat and stared out the window.
Maybe I could wiggle past the immigrations guy and hope he wouldn’t notice me. Maybe I
Maybe I needed another miracle.
I closed my eyes.
Jesus. Um, hi. It’s Joe again, I whispered. See, I have another little problem. There are these guys at the place I’m going—immigrations guys, I explained. And if they look at my permission paper slips and notice that it says ‘indefinite’ on them, they’ll throw me back on the next plane and I’ll be stuck in Phoenix without any posters.
See, that could be kind of a sticky situation for me, no posters and all. A nightmare. So, basically, I’d like to ask that You make sure that these guys—the immigrations guys—don’t notice the little ‘indefinite’ on my permission slips.
I hereby CALL ON THE POWER OF THE KEYS—I realized suddenly that I was shouting and lowered my voice—to help these immigrations guys to overlook that little mistake and just, You know, kind of, wave me into the country. Please? In Jesus’ name.
Peace. I actually slept on the flight and the smile returned as I stepped off the plane and recovered my bags.
There were six immigrations desks and six long lines. A quick AME* told me to choose line three and I gulped as quietly as I could and stepped in. (*AME—Ask Me Everything)
Finally. The front of the line. The prayers were going up as fast as I could compose them as I tiptoed to the desk.
Hi! I’m Joe.
Passport.
Isn’t that an original thing to say? I gave him my passport. Smiling, of course.
Hmm, he said as he raised an eyebrow.
Again I found myself holding my breath. The second hand on the big clock on the wall ticked around.
He didn’t raise the other eyebrow.
His eyes shifted and he scowled and looked up at me. He scowled and scowled and I smiled back. Then slowly—slowly, slowly, slowly—the scowl slid and morphed into a huge, wide and mischievous grin.
Ha! he guffawed. It’s okay, kid. Don’t mind the scowl. It’s just a joke. He thought he was funny. I do that to people all the time. He lifted a giant stamp above his head and slammed it onto my passport. Looks like you’re good to go. Enjoy your stay in Mexico!
He had forgotten to look at my permission slips.
And I for one wasn’t about to remind him.
By Kaylee, Zambia
He said he’ll subscribe to Activated and will get at least two other people to do the same. He’ll discuss taking an order of CD Christmas cards for his airline, and he offered me a ticket to Cameroon! I enthusiastically shared this all with the rest of the Home after following up on a director of local airline here in Zambia.
We had quite a battle following up on people after the first introductory meeting talking about the Activated magazines. It amounted to not less than a chase, trying to get people to pay for the subscription. Zambia is a Christian nation, basically everybody is a Christian and they all want Christian materials. The biggest problem is finances, and especially getting them. It’s been extremely discouraging. Lord help us!—I think most of us basically gave up on trying to get people to subscribe for that reason.
This man was a definite encouragement for us all. I was totally flabbergasted when he picked up the phone in front of us and called another airline company in a different town and asked them for a ticket for me. I didn’t even ask him for it. I was just telling him that I’m going to be moving to Cameroon soon.
Thank God for the power of the keys and His promises! He really does answer before we call.
By a Home in Russia
Come back tomorrow. We’re closed for the day, the gruff official said from behind the counter. With a sigh we turned and left. It was nothing new. Our car needed a permit renewal in order for us to be able to keep it in the country.
The next day we returned to the office, only days before the permit would expire. The official took one look at the permit and told us, You have two days to have the car out of the country. And you can’t come back to this office for another six months.
Or what? we asked in bewilderment.
We confiscate the car, came the response.
But can’t you just renew the permit, like you did before?
No, sorry. The law has changed.
This is common when working out legal affairs with Russian officials. Having the vehicle out of the country for six months wasn’t an option for us. It would hinder our work terribly and be expensive. The only reasonable option left was to cross the border and return with the two-month permit usually given at the border. We would need to repeat the procedure two more times before we’d be able to extend the permit within the country.
The closest border, only a couple of hours away, is a small post by a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. It was uncertain whether crossing that border would do the trick. At the renewal office we had been told that customs at this border had the same information regarding permit renewals as the office in our city, and wouldn’t give us the two-month permit. The other possible borders were a one- to two-day drive away in good weather conditions, but it was December, so we could expect it to take longer.
To make matters worse, our district had been out of water for two days, and rumor had it that it could take up to ten days before the system would be operational again. That meant we would need to get water from a different part of town—nearly impossible without a vehicle.
And that wasn’t the end of our troubles! While we were returning home in the evening from a show at an orphanage, the car started shaking violently. It was the proverbial last straw. We couldn’t afford an expensive mechanical problem not only financially, but time wise as well.
With this triple attack of the Enemy, and an almost impossible situation, we knew the Lord had to do miracles, and we were ready to fight back with the power of the keys!
First of all, we claimed the power of the keys for the fixing of our car. Though we don’t have an experienced mechanic, the Lord showed us that we should look at the spark plugs. Well, they were dirty, and one was broken. After cleaning them and replacing the broken one, the car was running fine again. The first miracle!
Secondly, we claimed the power of the keys for the water to come back on the next morning, despite the gloomy predictions.
And thirdly, when asking the Lord which border to take, He told us to take the closest one and encouraged us with His promises of doing the impossible.
The next morning, most of us awoke to happy exclamations of, The water’s back! It sure got us out of bed quickly, praising the Lord for the second miracle.
We looked out of the window, and lo and behold, the first snow of the winter had fallen. The roads were very slippery, and it took one hour to get to the center of town, something we usually can do in 10 or 15 minutes.
At this rate it might just take all day before we even get to the border, we thought. We called home to ask for prayer, prayed ourselves, and then went on our journey. The Lord answered prayer in the most unexpected way! When we got outside the city, we found the roads had been blown clean by a strong wind. Instead of the snow settling on the road, it blew right off, so it was possible to almost drive normally.
At the border the Lord showed us to talk to the man in the Customs Office, which was a good distance before the border, and, lo and behold, he turned out to be very friendly. Right away he issued the permit, good for two months. And after looking at our PR album he added that when we come next time, he would give us six months. The third miracle!
We were back home the same afternoon. It sure pays to ask Jesus, and claim the power of the keys!
By Gloria, Brazil
We experienced the power of the keys with the complete miracle healing of our dog, Little King, who was dying. The veterinarian said that if he did live, his two hind legs would be crippled, and he would have to be put to sleep anyway. There was no hope for him.
It was 3 a.m. in the morning. It was raining hard outside, and I couldn’t sleep. As I was lying there the Lord told me, It’s time to put the keys into practical use. Go to the kennel and pray for Little King! If you obey, I’ll do My part.
So we obeyed. We cried out to the Lord that night and laid hands on Little King. And the Lord did the miracle! Today Little King is a beautiful, sweet, and totally healthy dog. Just like the Lord promised.
By Abe and Jodie, China
Through using the keys as an integral part of our prayers and in our daily lives, we’ve seen miraculous changes taking place in the lives of those we are witnessing and ministering to, as well as in everyday circumstances and situations that need prayer.
One man whom we’ve been ministering to for some time now is very skeptical about anything resembling a religious organization, though he has accepted the Spirit of David in us. We’ve been asking for monthly support from him for months now and he has never given us a yes or a no, but has repeatedly put off our request. Though we have prayed for this man daily, not only for his support, but more importantly for his spiritual growth and health (he’s quite old), we saw our failure in not releasing the power of the keys to work on his and our behalf.
Sure enough, once we claimed the power of the keys for a positive commitment from this man, a couple of days later we received an e-mail from him saying that he’d thought more about our request and was more than happy to support our work on a monthly basis.
This not only was an answer for our needed support, but for this man to make a change in his beliefs (he knows we are missionaries and seems comfortable with that, yet is still opposed to other religious organizations) is also a testimony to the power of the keys to change people’s attitudes.
By a WS member
One of the SGAs shared with me that she was feeling pretty stressed about her work. She was having a trial about the fact that the Feast was about to start, and felt that she’d never be able to finish up the work she needed to complete in time. In desperation, she claimed a miracle through the power of the keys, and the Lord did it! What would have normally taken her a whole week to do, she was able to do in a period of just four hours!
At first, she was dumbfounded, feeling that something must be wrong, that she must have missed something. But it wasn’t a mistake. The Lord had really done it! The Lord confirmed that it was because she had called on the power of the keys that He was able to help her accomplish more in less time.
By Peter H. and Praise, Uzbekistan
The beginning of summer 2001 was quite a test of faith for us all. Almost nothing that we planned was working out. Lack of finances was our biggest test. Nevertheless, the Lord said that it’s a new day and we must go on as planned, not looking at the finances. At that time we needed more than the equivalent of US$1,000. Well, there are no impossibilities, right? So on we went.
We had to take a trip, and the whole thing was a miracle! In one and a half months we were able to change our passports without losing our visas, visit our parents, and activate several of our friends.
The Lord also supplied us with a good Pentax camera, as well as a medical checkup, and a few other useful things. There were many situations which seemed impossible, but again and again the Lord wanted us to use the keys and teach us how to unlock the codes.
For example, the Lord told us to visit our VSs, but to do that we would need about $200 extra! After praying, the Lord told us not to worry because He had a surprise for us. First of all, He supplied free tickets to our destination, and when we arrived there we remembered that one of our sponsors worked in that city.
We desperately prayed for him to be available. He is usually very busy and it’s almost impossible to meet him. However, he was in his office when we arrived and was happy to meet us. At that precise time he needed us to pray for him, which also was the Lord’s setup. And just when we were about to leave he gave us a donation—$200. The Lord’s surprise!
There were other situations where the Lord told us to do unexpected things. He encouraged us to use the keys and get busy with what we could do and that He would do the rest. And it worked each time. It’s so exciting to practice the keys every day. We can’t do without them!
By Angel (21), Guinea
On our monthly prayer day we called on the power of the keys for the improvement of our Home and for the Lord to supply the things we desperately needed. After faithfully following up on and feeding our king, as well as spending time fellowshipping with him, the Lord honored our requests. Without our even having to ask, our king gave us a brand-new video machine, cellular phone, and a washing machine.
The Lord also supplied beautiful new curtain material for our house. Another neat thing that happened was that when someone in our Home was praying for the week, the Lord showed her the things that were on His to-do list for that week—and one of them was getting plants for the Home.
Sure enough, the next day a friendly man picked us up hitchhiking, and after witnessing to him we asked if he knew where we could get house plants. As soon as we asked, he drove us to a plant store and told us to choose whichever plants we wanted. Wow, were we thrilled! If it’s on the Lord’s to-do list, why do we worry? He’ll be faithful to take care of it all if we’re yielded channels and following His will. All these happenings have helped stretch our faith that anything is possible—even in Guinea, ha!
By Gem, Canada
When Solomon had an accident in August, he didn’t have insurance at the time. His insurance was supposed to start in October. When I tried to provision the cost of his care, none of the hospitals would help. I tried everyone—many different doctors and hospitals. It was the biggest challenge I had ever come across in my provisioning experience.
Normally I don’t experience big battles of faith when we have a need. Usually I find that if I keep plugging away, the Lord comes through. But in this situation I kept running into brick walls and unhelpful people. Of course we really prayed, and then I wrote down a quote from the Keys series to claim. It said:
This is the day of miracles! This is the day when you can claim the promises of God for your needs and watch the abundant blessings pour down upon you! There is no limit to what the Lord will supply for you if you will ask Him and hold to His promises. There is nothing too good for God’s children. He is not limited by anything but our lack of faith.
I read this quote over several times a day and would claim that it says TODAY was the day that we can claim these promises. Then someone suggested that I ask the insurance company if they would start Solomon’s insurance earlier. Everyone in the medical field told me that was an impossibility, and that even if the insurance company did help, they certainly wouldn’t backtrack to cover previous bills.
I felt my faith being stretched to the very limit. I pulled out the MLK about getting off the old train of faith and getting on the train of greater faith (MLK #120). It was a battle!
Well, the keys came through marvelously, just as the promise said they would. By a miracle the office that handles health matters agreed to start his insurance several months earlier than we had expected and they even agreed to cover any expenses from the accident in August. Power to the keys!
By Mark and Caren, China
The other day, the humidity in our area was high and it was also very hot outside. The ground floors of our old house were covered with water. We would mop the floors, and after a few minutes they would once again look like someone had poured water on them. We’ve had this problem in this house for some time during the rainy season, but that day it was particularly bad. We decided to use the power of the keys to try to get the floor dry.
We prayed before going to bed, and when we got up the next day the floors were completely dry! We had never seen the floors this dry since we moved to this house about a year before. They remained dry, though the humidity was still high for the next twenty-four hours. Everybody that morning was so surprised to see the floors so dry. They were so dry they actually made a squeaky noise when you’d walk on them.
By Marcos (of Sara), Portugal
The greatest victory of November 2001 was the fast day. I feel different, and I am different. I’m no longer shy when I go out witnessing, and I don’t get overwhelmed with discouragement when somebody says no. I didn’t realize I was different until I went out and did the regular provisioning or witnessing. All of a sudden I realized that the oppression of discouragement and negativity was gone. I felt so free, like flying!
The keys of the Kingdom are tremendous. Even the kids are learning to use them. One of our girls, Gabriela (5), had a terrible rash for a couple of days and Victoria (10) prayed desperately for her, claiming the power of the keys, and the rash was instantaneously gone. They both were so inspired!
Another victory and answer to prayer is that I’m not dependent on coffee. It stopped being something so important to me, just like I had prayed.
By Spring, Indonesia
I recently went to the States to visit my children, relatives, as well as some friends and contacts. It was the most amazing experience, in that the Lord answered so many prayers and fulfilled many things He had shown in prophecy before I left, and during my stay there. I was on my own, so I really only had Jesus to cling to.
In answer to prayer and calling on the power of the keys before I left, there was a miraculous breakthrough with my son. He left the Family about 20 years ago, when he was 17 years old. We have been very distant for many years. During our visits together we were never able to communicate heart to heart because of the bitterness and resentment he had toward the Family and me. But this time the Lord broke down all walls. We wept together and had a wonderful time of prayer and uniting of our hearts, after which my son said, Mom, it’s been a long time in coming, but we are finally able to get over this. We just stood holding each other for a very long time. It was so beautiful.
I had to take a stand and act on what the Lord had said He was going to do. The Enemy fought this breakthrough in the beginning with all sorts of interruptions and obstacles, but through calling on the power of the keys the victory was won!
By John (of Rose), Turkey
We arrived in a large city in Turkey’s impoverished southeast after a very successful CTP trip at an old historical town just one hour from the Syrian border. Our team consisted of YA Terry (Swiss Italian), Russian Luba, FGA John (of Rose), and his son, teen Daniel. We had brought this first city several computers to set up a classroom for a center that helps the poor children of the city. We were treated wonderfully, staying in the governor’s guesthouse with all meals provided.
Since we had spent nearly 17 hours traveling to get to this second city, the Lord laid it on our hearts to visit the regional capital. It is a large city, with over two million people, three quarters of whom had moved there to escape the unrest rocking this area for the past 18 years. Thank God that things were pretty settled down by now, but the barricaded military checks with sandbags along the road were ever-present reminders of the area’s troubled past.
We arrived at around 1 p.m. and were scheduled to do our animation program at a center with 100 street kids. Unlike the previous city, we were not bringing any aid, and didn’t have any big referrals or an official invitation. Several friends in government had told us to be careful traveling without an invitation to this area. We checked in with our wonderful Husband, and He confirmed that we should go ahead as planned.
During the few minutes before the show, we called several referrals we had in this area, friends of a friend-type thing, but alas, it was Friday afternoon, and all had left their offices early for the weekend. We were desperate and knew it was time to call on the keys. We really didn’t have the finances for a hotel room, and the city has a fair amount of crime, so we weren’t looking forward to staying in the rougher part of town where the cheaper rooms were. We prayed desperately, calling on the power of the keys several times to intervene in this situation. Then we went on and did our CTP show.
We finished the show, were packing up and getting ready to leave, like Abraham of old in these areas, not knowing where we were to go, not having a place to lay our heads for the evening. The manager of the center was quite worried as he knew of our plight, but was not able to help in this situation. Even he seemed a bit suspicious of what we were doing, even though we had just helped one of his branches. Just then, a sleek, shiny white Mercedes pulled up, and the occupant was asking for Luba, our dear Russian puppeteer. He was a friend of hers and he immediately assumed complete responsibility for us. He said he would take us to a large hotel, and asked what we needed. We were flabbergasted! The keys work!
Turn the keys, activate their power, and stand back and see Me fight for you.
As Luba’s friend has a large gas station, he then offered free gas to the center’s vehicles whenever they needed it. Boy, did the manager of the children’s center change his attitude towards us.
So off we went, where we were wined and dined in a lovely hotel. Our host asked us what we wanted to do in his city, and we told him we had come to see the need, and how we hoped we could return at the New Year with aid.
He took us to his office the next morning where he treated us to a magnificent breakfast. Some of us had been worrying about what we would eat on this trip, but the Lord really poured it on. The keys will feed you!
He then offered us his driver to drive us around town that day. In the course of our conversation, he told us that he was from a little village on the Tigris River, close to the Iraqi border. We had been told about this town by other people and got a witness on it. He made a few phone calls, arranging for us to have lunch with the local officials there. So off we went.
We arrived at this town, and the view was breathtaking. It was on a cliff several hundred meters above the Tigris. There was a sheer drop below. We had a traditional lunch in a mountain cave with the mayor and some representatives from the capital city. We then visited the local schools. Though perhaps not as poor as some African countries, the schoolrooms basically consisted of rough wooden benches, cheap narrow wooden desks for two, and an old blackboard on the simple cement wall. We shared with them our vision of gathering computers to set up a lab for them. They immediately wrote us official letters requesting them.
We are back in Istanbul now, and have already received several computers for this project. A door will be unlocked for every need by the keys of the Kingdom! Please pray that we can bring back real faith, and new life to the cradle of civilization, the Tigris and Euphrates Valley.
By Catherine, Brasilia, Brazil
I spent the first 25 years of my time in the Family teaching and witnessing with children and the last five or six years I have been doing a lot of CTP and other business. But tool sales? Well, that wasn’t really my forté. But I found out that it doesn’t matter to the Lord whether you’re trained or not. He can do anything through you when you claim the power of the keys!
Ronny and Mark, FM musicians, came to our city to host a birthday party for Lionel (alias), one of the directors of the largest oil company in Brazil.
Since the boys are old-time friends of mine, they asked Lionel if I could go out to dinner with all of them and to the party the next night, as their guest. Lionel agreed. I witnessed to Lionel during dinner, and later at the party Ana and I gave him a packet with a little flier of our CTP, a poster, and Contato mag. He told us to get in touch with him and he would see what he could do for us.
Lionel is a busy man, and it proved very difficult to get in contact with him. Every day, for about two months, I claimed the power of the keys to get an appointment with him. Then it happened! I was finally able to get in touch with him and the Lord touched his heart to buy 500 CD cards from us and to put a request in for next year for 38 sets of Treasure Attic videos for his company to sponsor for needy institutions.
We’re still praying the video sale through, but the paperwork is already in the right hands and we are super inspired at the possibility. We continue to claim the keys for the victory!
Even though I’ve never sold a great quantity of tools in my life at one time, with the power of the keys, the Lord broke down those barriers. Thank You Jesus!
By Michelle (19), Ghana
At first I was a bit hesitant to use the keys, but as I started to call down their power in my prayer requests, I saw how much they are really worth. Immediately after I had called them down, my requests were answered.
Doing follow-up with my partner, we were visiting a friend who helps us with photocopying. We give him regular Bible studies. One time when we went to see him, the electricity had gone off, so I offered to pray with him that it would come back on. I called down the power of the keys, and just when the prayer had ended, the electricity came back on! He thanked me, but I told him not to thank me, but to thank the Lord as it was only Him. I knew that the keys were worth as much as the Lord had said after I saw their power in action.
By Joseph O’Wow, Guam
A super typhoon, with sustained winds of over 150 mph and gusts to 200 mph, was bearing down on us just a few days before Christmas.
Knowing from past experience that a direct hit from a storm this strong would mean many days and probably weeks without power and water, we desperately prayed and claimed this promise: I give you power over all of the Evil One’s destructive forces through the keys. Nothing can stand before the power of the keys of the Kingdom (ML #33365:89, GN 963).
The very next day this powerful storm turned away from Guam and took a more northerly track, which took it safely away from our area. Even the feeder bands*, which normally bring gusty winds and heavy rain showers did not disturb us. What manner of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey Him! (Mat.8:26-27).
(*feeder bands: lines or bands of low-level clouds that move [feed] into the updraft region of a thunderstorm)
By Maria, Colombia
The keys of the Kingdom, as mysterious as they are, are changing my lifestyle and way of operating in more ways than one, as I keep calling on their power and help.
Recently a few things happened that were a patent work of that lively and powerful entity. One happened when my 14-year-old daughter Cristina started complaining of strong backaches. Our Home prayed a simple prayer for her healing, but the pains continued.
No one was able to touch Cristina’s back, as that caused her unbearable pain. After praying for her, we decided to take her to a dear old doctor friend who we feel is very wise and led by the Lord.
The doctor checked Cristina but found nothing unusual in her lungs or back. However, after hearing about her symptoms, he told us to wait a few days, and if a rash appeared on her back to see him again.
Two days later a rash appeared on the right side of Cristina’s back. When we revisited the doctor, he diagnosed Cristina with shingles. He went on to explain a bit about the sickness and the care Cristina would require.
I remembered that years back we had prayer for Dad because of that same sickness, so I went to the HomeARC to see what I could find out about it. The doctor had already informed me about the dangers and seriousness of this sickness, but when I read about it in the HomeARC and I realized how much Dad suffered because of it, I got very desperate with the Lord.
The doctor told me that the sickness could last from one to three months, but that there was the possibility of the pain lasting a year. Unwilling to accept this sickness, we got together and wholeheartedly prayed, claiming the power of the keys to heal Cristina right away.
And it happened! The rash that was supposed to last for months and that was expected to cover large parts of her back, suddenly ceased to appear. Within a week’s time, the first patch started to clear up. The pain, also, was quickly gone, and today Cristina is completely healed.
The doctor was astonished, as were all our Active members who were also praying for Cristina. All in all, the pain and growing rash lasted only a week instead of the standard four to twelve weeks. PHN!
By Joy Streams (of Tim), Canada
For quite some time now, I had been asking the Lord for Word on the subject of hope. The last two years have been a great testing time for me, with many intense battles coming my way, to the point I felt I could not make it and that I was just a hopeless case.
After many months of fundraising to go to a new field, once again things didn’t turn out like we’d hoped. It was during this time our daughter decided to leave the Family, and one of our younger children caught a bad case of malaria. On top of that, our finances got lost in a bank transaction.
It was during this time in my life that the Lord gave me a beautiful prophecy about the keys and how to use them to help me pull out from under this cloud. It gave me courage to keep on going. To me, the great miracle is that I received this prophecy before the Keys to the Kingdom Letters were pubbed!
In this prophecy, the Lord showed me how to use the keys and told me not to be discouraged if I didn’t know how to use them fully at first. He said with time I would become strengthened in their use. He said I needed to root out bitterness, which was destroying me.
This is an area in my life which I had had prayer over a few times, but I hadn’t been able to get a lasting victory. The Lord encouraged me to use the keys, and promised that by a miracle I would be delivered.
I had prayer and did a Word study on bitterness, and I want to testify that my life has changed! The Keys to the Kingdom GNs have been the Word I so longed for when looking for counsel on the subject of hope. I realize that changes like this take time and the Lord has to rewire my thoughts and heart all over again. But daily He is encouraging me with little touches of His love that, yes, I am delivered.
Seeing the sad state I had fallen into and realizing that I, too, had hurt others made me ashamed for having yielded to such ugliness. Claiming the promises of the keys of the Kingdom has not only delivered me from the ugly sin of bitterness, but has also given me the courage and strength and hope to get up out of the pit I was in and take up the challenge to give my all to be the disciple the Lord has called me to be.
By an FGA woman
I awoke in the middle of the night after a short, sad dream. In the dream, one of my sons, who’s been out of the Family for almost a year, was sitting in a dark, lonely train station. I approached him and asked him where he was going, and he told me a one-syllable name of an unrecognizable town. I couldn’t tell what country it was in, and then I woke up. I was feeling so sad for him, and as I was quite awake, I decided to have prayer vigil for him.
I took the pile of key promises from my desk and began reading them aloud one by one, applying it to my son. After several key promises that state the power we have over Hell, I started commanding the demons by name to let go of my son—Oplexicon, Pan, and Bacchus. I was very desperate and began crying and speaking in tongues. After each promise and prayer, I’d open my eyes to read the next key promise, and it was as if I’d gone somewhere in the spirit and come back.
As I continued to go through the key promises this way, I felt things begin moving in the spirit world. I knew both Heaven and Hell were hearing my prayers! I continued in wonderment, utilizing to the full this newfound power in my hands. My faith was growing as I was using the keys.
I started praying for a young person in our Home who will be leaving the Family next month to join the U.S. military. It was just as though he was my own son. I was crying for him, and telling those arch-demons to take their hands off of him. Then I began claiming key promises for other teens who have left the Family. I saw a vision of them coming out of the muck and slime and back to the Rock and the Family, like on the cover of Pawn (ML #370).
At this point I was halfway through my key promise quotes. I asked the Lord if that was enough (I think I had been praying for 20 or 30 minutes). He said, Why don’t you finish going through the key promises and see what happens? So I kept going.
At one point I looked over at the picture of Jesus on my desk, then I had a vision of a huge electrical storm—lightning and thunder. I could almost audibly hear, it seemed, the crackle of both the electricity from the lightning and the thunder. The Lord was showing me that these tiny key promises in my hands were how I could avail myself of all the power of Heaven!
I don’t think I’ve ever had such an awesome experience in prayer. I know there are going to be big results from that night. The keys are alive and glowing.—They’re real, and we have an awesome gift from our loving Husband.
By Francis Davidson (of Sara), England
Sara’s physique is on the smaller side and it’s a struggle for her to give birth to larger babies. She was also feeling weak, so we’d been praying for an easy delivery. When we arrived at the hospital, Sara was immediately ushered into the delivery room. While sitting in the waiting room I specifically claimed the power of the keys for the doctor’s anointing, against complications, and for an easy delivery.
A few minutes later I heard a baby cry and saw a nurse walking out with a baby. I remember thinking, Oh, another baby must’ve been born in the meantime. The nurse then brought the baby to me and told me it was mine. Talk about shock. That was a quick answer to prayer, thanks to the keys. Later I found out that there had been a slight complication, but the doctor spotted it and was able to deal with it quickly. I realized then why I got the check to pray the prayer I did, claiming the keys. It really was an amazing answer to prayer. It was an easy delivery, and Sara gave birth to a huge Dominic, weighing 4.2 kg!
By Phoebe, Conéctate Home, Mexico
Every year our brethren organize a huge Christmas meal for the poor in Mexico City. It was a 14-hour bus ride from my Home, and I was bringing four large bags of soy protein to use with the main dish. I was also bringing 2,000 posters to distribute for the event—important cargo.
Riding buses in this country isn’t the safest, and I had already been involved in one bus accident. For some reason, throughout this trip I felt the urge to pray desperately many times, claiming the power of the keys for protection.
As we drove on I fell asleep, tired from the long journey. I woke to find that the bus had stopped and everyone was rushing out the door! Looking out the window, there was nothing—no lights, and no buildings, only darkness. I asked one of the passengers who was hurrying towards the door what was happening, and he told me to get out of the bus fast! My heart sank.
It must be bandits, I thought.
I quickly scrambled off the bus, leaving the four bags of soy behind, and ran alongside everyone else, still waking up and struggling to grasp what was going on. When we finally stopped running, I turned around to face the bus for the first time since I’d gotten off, and saw that it was on fire! One of the back tires had exploded, and the back of the bus had caught on fire.
I thought of all the bags of soy on the bus that were essential to the Christmas meal, the 2,000 posters vital for our witnessing, and I started to pray desperately, claiming the keys that it wouldn’t all go up in flames. The Lord answered prayer, and the driver was able to put out the fire before it was too late. Some of the passengers helped carry my many bags and boxes to safety while we waited by the side of the road to board another bus. We didn’t have to wait long, and I made it safely to Mexico City, along with the soy and the posters. I was thrilled to have felt the Spirit of the Lord, warning me throughout the trip, urging me to call on the keys!
By Maria, Colombia
During the discipleship course we hosted, we shared parts of the Conviction vs. Compromise series with our new batch of Active members. They are becoming super turned on and on fire about witnessing. We’ve started taking them out with us in order to teach them how to personal witness and win souls.
One night while out witnessing with them to a group of homeless people, we noticed that one person was lying on the floor, shaking, and in pain. When we went to help this man, we realized that he had a very large, deep wound in his left arm which was infected, full of pus. To top it off, the guy was not entirely conscious, and struggled to talk with us.
The people around him told us that he was in danger of death, as he had been like that for days, with no one to care for him.
One of our Active members laid his hands on the man, praying desperately for him. He claimed total healing for the man, calling upon the power of the keys.
Not more than five minutes elapsed before this very ill man stood up and began talking to us. He asked us for some food, which we gave to him. After eating, the man felt well enough to sit with the rest of us to talk about Jesus with us, while another Active member disinfected his wound. He began to feel so well that he became totally convinced that Jesus had done a miracle in his life that night.
By Cephas, India
We’ve had someone testify of his asthma being completely healed, a miracle to say the least. A potentially complicated delivery turned out to be a safe delivery, after intercessory prayer. The mommy’s and baby’s lives were in grave danger. Through a series of prayer vigils, the baby was safely delivered and both the mommy and the baby are in excellent health. A potential ectopic pregnancy was also miraculously and naturally dissolved after specific laying on of hands and a series of prayer sessions.
One person had warts on his finger and another had warts on his foot, all of which fell off miraculously after being prayed for. There have been little miracles here and there, where people have testified of nagging ailments that would usually linger for a long time, like sore throats, pain, aches, etc., which after being prayed over were instantly healed or healed up much more rapidly than normal.
A sister reported that before coming for united prayer and laying on of hands to be healed with the power of the keys, she was experiencing menopausal hot flashes constantly. However, after prayer she has only experienced this once or twice over several days. Another sister had insomnia, which was getting worse, but after coming to our healing and prayer session has had better sleep. Yet another sister, who experiences severe migraines after eating certain foods, requested prayer through the power of the keys and testified of the Lord’s healing power as she has now been able to eat foods which previously triggered these migraines.
One of our top friends has recently been miraculously delivered from over 30 years of dependence on anti-depressant drugs and other addictive medication. The greatest deliverance for our friend came after specific laying on of hands and desperate prayer, against fear of attacks of all kinds from not taking these pills. God showed His greatness, and it is an awesome testimony of prayer power and deliverance.
We’ve also had teams who have visited hospitals and prayed for patients receive reports from those they prayed for, testifying of being healed and being discharged. We know that the Lord is working and we’re trying to spread the word concerning these miracles. We are very thankful that the Lord has used this ministry to help so many.
By Vessel Potter, Mexico
A couple of weeks before the fast, I returned to our Home from a trip to the States. I had driven over 1,500 miles, and when I returned my back was hurting quite a bit. This particular area of my back has been a weak spot for many years, getting sore whenever I sit in particular positions for too long, such as driving, etc.
We have a close friend who is a chiropractor, so she came over to give me an adjustment. The next day it felt even worse, with both sides hurting, so she came over again. One of the problems was that I wasn’t taking time to rest after each adjustment, as the other driver in the Home had sprained her ankle and couldn’t drive. That meant that I was getting an adjustment, and then hopping back into the car to do provisioning pick-ups, take kids to classes, etc. So I was actually making things worse each day.
By the Saturday before the fast, I was in quite a bit of pain, hardly able to walk and making as few trips as possible to my third-floor bedroom. Climbing the stairs took about ten minutes, and was so painful that I had to lie down for about another ten minutes before I could do anything else. Our chiropractor friend’s mom had just died the day before, so there wasn’t any chance of her coming over anytime soon.
The night before the fast, I was lying in bed, wondering how I was ever going to sit through the meetings with my back hurting so much. Then the Lord said very clearly, Why not call on the power of the keys? Remember, all you have to do is say, ‘I call on the power of the keys!’ I’d been claiming the power of the keys for so many other things, really making an effort to make calling on them a good habit, but I didn’t take the time or even think about claiming them for my healing up until this point.
Click! The light went on in my head. Call on the power of the keys. I began saying, I call on the power of the keys for healing. I call on the power of the keys for healing, knowing that the Lord knew what it was that needed healing. I fell asleep calling on the power of the keys.
The next morning, when I woke up, I was in my usual stiff position, waiting to get my bearings before trying to move my body with the least amount of pain to my back, when I heard the Lord say, Just roll over and get out of bed. Your back is healed.
So that’s what I did! First I claimed the power of the keys for my healing, thanked the Lord for it, and rolled over and got out of bed. I hardly felt anything. I had been having to do a special swaying of my upper torso when standing up from a sitting position to prevent hurting my back so much. But this time I slowly stood up, and I didn’t feel anything but a little twinge of pain—a little lying vanity. I began praising the Lord and started walking, another equally painful process during the last couple of days. But this time it was just fine!
Okay, the real test: The 21 stairs I had to go down to get to breakfast. Thank You, Jesus, I was still fine! And on it went for the rest of the day. Sitting was fine, getting up was fine, and walking was fine. And now it has been four days since the fast and I’m still doing fine.
When we were getting ready to share our hearts and ask for prayer, I testified to everyone about the miracle that the Lord did for me, through my calling on the power of the keys. I believe that He let this happen to me at the time of the fast so that I would understand the seriousness of calling on the power of the keys.
This miracle in my life has helped to remind me to be more diligent to call on the power of the keys at the beginning of each of my prayers, regardless of what the prayer is for.
By Gem, Canada
I have a paralyzed vocal cord that has made it very hard to talk, as you need two vocal cords that vibrate together in order to talk. When this problem first occurred in ‘96, I was in the middle of doing a lot of provisioning for the Home and I desperately needed my voice back. During a united prayer meeting, the Lord actually gave me my voice to give a prophecy where He said, I can heal anything, just as I have healed this one who can now speak. Boy, were we all amazed!
My voice slowly came back and everything seemed fine until about six months ago, when I lost my voice again and had a hard time talking. I went to the throat specialist and that’s when I found out, to my shock, that my vocal cord was paralyzed. It seems that a very bad virus that I had in ‘96 had caused one of the cords to stop working permanently. I was told that the only thing that could be done was to move the bad cord closer to the good cord so that one cord wouldn’t have to work so hard.
When I prayed about why all this was happening, I got the passage from John 9:2-3: Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. The Call on the Keys GN had just come out and it spoke to my heart about the miracles that the Lord wants to do now. The fast was also coming up and I wanted to give the Lord a chance to do the miracle and not limit Him through my lack of faith.
I was reading in the Call on the Keys Letter: Even if you just say that over and over, ‘I call on the power of the keys,’ that would do the trick. That would immediately put at your disposal all the awesome power of the universe (ML #3368:53). What spoke to me was that the key is your faith; you have to nurture your faith. The moment you believe without a shadow of a doubt, there will be nothing impossible to you. I knew that I could not work up this faith for healing and that I just had to rest on the fact that faith comes from faithful study of God’s Word. I studied the Call on the Keys Letter carefully, writing down key quotes.
On the day of the fast, before everyone was going to pray for my healing, I went into a little room, closed the door, and as loud as I could (which wasn’t very loud with only one vocal cord working) cried out with all my might, I call on the power of the keys. I just kept repeating that phrase over and over. No change occurred in my voice that day, but the Lord reminded me of how the men that were told to carry the ark across the River Jordan first put their feet in water. The ground wasn’t dry immediately.
The next day I had my voice for a few hours and slowly I have regained the use of my voice for longer periods. A real miracle! Even the doctors said that it would take a miracle. It is not back to 100% yet, but there is a marked improvement. I saw a real change from using the power of the keys. Please continue to pray for my full healing.
By Trust, USA
Danny, one of our Activated members, called and mentioned he’d had the hiccups for the past three days and wondered if we knew of a cure, as he had tried everything. I rattled off this and that, all of which he’d tried. Then I laughed at myself and said, Well, why don’t I pray for you? to which Danny wholeheartedly agreed. I claimed the power of the keys when I prayed. The hiccups disappeared and he immediately asked about the keys, as he’d noticed all of us using them quite a bit in our prayers. Ha!
I explained them a bit to him, including the stipulations for using them, and he replied, That explains why they worked, because they were used unselfishly for my benefit. Power to the keys!
By Talitha (of Anthony), South Africa
We were having problems with our van, in that it had trouble starting and overall, the engine wasn’t doing well. When an activated friend of ours checked it out he discovered that we would need a new or reconditioned engine. This was a real shocker, as that’s very expensive. It was about three weeks before we had to take a visa trip and the van needed to be in good working order.
We called on the power of the keys and asked the Lord to lead us as to whether to get a new engine. We called a different mechanic friend of ours and he offered to do another thorough check-up on the engine the next day. Amazingly enough, the next check-up showed no problem with the engine.—The Lord had fixed it! We had seen both our friends do the very same tests and looked at the dials and there was a 100% difference between the first and the second test. We’ve since taken our 2,000 km trip, and have been driving the van daily without any problems whatsoever.
At the same time, almost everyone in our Home had to renew their visas. It’s always nerve-wracking crossing the border, not knowing how much time they’ll give on your visa—usually three months at the most. This time we all called on the power of the keys before the trip, and again before re-entering South Africa, for wisdom, asking the Lord to lead us and show us what to do when we got to the border. He told us to continue to call on the keys to do the impossible, and to then ask for a six-month visa, which we’ve never been given at this border before.
The Lord was true to His promise and all eleven of us, five adults and six children, were given another six months to reach this wonderful field. We are seeing greater miracles because of this new power!
Our Christmas witnessing push also took off as we called on the power of the keys. Throughout each day we prayed and called on the power of the keys, and ultimately this has been our best Christmas season. We distributed over 17,000 tracts, got out over 1,000 CD cards one on one, and we also got out over 100 Activated booklets, not to mention all the other tools.
By Peter Livingstone, Indonesia
We were in desperate need of finances. After reading Call on the Keys (ML #3368, GN962), I prayed fervently, calling on the keys of Heaven for help. That same day a friend of ours from China came to our house and gave us US$1,250 for our work.
By Ezequiel (of Rejoice), Brazil
Our son Steven (14) was praying for healing of a swelling on his dog’s back, but it only seemed to get bigger. Then he prayed in the power of the keys and that day the swelling began to go down.
By Angela Victory (of Daniel), Romania
We’d been praying for an autumn jacket for our daughter Nadia (3½). While out witnessing, we found a brand-new jacket lying on the street, a perfect fit for her. We were reminded of the quote that says, Just as I supplied those shoes for you in a miraculous way, and in a way that you knew were from My hand, so will I supply for My Family like never before. And they will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is I Who have done these miracles and provided for them (ML #3357:32, GN 952).
By Mamta, India
We divided our monthly goal for Activated among all our Home members so that we could unitedly do our part to make it work. Usually I have the faith to get two or three subscriptions a month, but after claiming the power of the keys this month, the Lord honored this step of faith and went above and beyond my expectations, and helped me to reach a total of 17 subscriptions. This was really encouraging, as outreach or witnessing is not my forté or full-time ministry. Now, with the power of the keys, anything is possible!
By Marisha, Russia
A couple of weeks ago I got food poisoning and woke up in the night with a terrible headache and tummy problems. My baby, Dasha (6 months), was teething at the same time, so it was a very difficult night. I needed help. I prayed for the Lord to heal me through the power of the keys. I told Him that I knew that I was not worthy of such power and there is still so much I have to forsake in order to be the disciple He wants me to be, but I needed His healing touch so much at that very moment. The Lord healed me right away!
By Daniel, Angela, Abe and Hope, Romania
Since we started using the power of the keys, the Lord has opened the windows of Heaven and is pouring so many blessings upon us. For a long time we’ve needed a better computer and a car for the Home. Now, in just two months, the Lord has supplied a new, good computer, a caravan, and a designated donation to buy a car.
By Steven Willing, India
I have been experiencing stomach disorders for a while. However, now every time I start feeling nauseous, I claim the power of the keys, and the feeling goes away. Hallelujah!
By Karishma (YA), India
At a music program in one of the top hotels in the city, our keyboard refused to accept the disk. I tried getting it to work about seven times, but still it wouldn’t work. Desperate, our team laid hands on the keyboard and claimed the power of the keys to get it started. It worked right after that. Amazing!
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