Again. The God whom we serve, is a prayer answering God. We commit all Glory, Honor and Majesty to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ - for all that He has done to see Vi­zag in Andhra Pradesh, In­dia, being rocked by the Liv­ing Word of God.

Some 100 years ago, Vizag was a small fishing village tucked away on the shores of the Bay of Bengal to the South East of India. But it now dons a population of nearly 4 million people from different walks of life and re­ligions. It is otherwise called the City of Destiny. All said and done, Vizag has now metamorphosed into one of the fastest growing cities in Asia. It houses the Eastern Naval Command, Nuclear Submarine Base, a huge Steel Plant, Ship Building Yard, major industries and the Vi­zag Port which is the largest port in India.

The Festivals of Redemp­tion, with the theme “Free­dom” (John 8:32) – The truth will make you free - started off a day prior to the crusades, on a bright note with an introductory dinner with all the top-notch Chris­tian leaders of the city with Bishop Alois Rutivi and his team. That meeting was truly memorable. It set the ball rolling. And soon, the news spread far and wide that the city was going to witness a real revival that it had not seen in recent times. For many leaders, it was time to cancel their journeys (as told to me later) to make them­selves available for the Fire Conference – truly not a Pyre Conference, which Vi­zag usually witnesses.

The morning Fire Con­ference for pastors, leaders and believers was restricted to an indoor affair, while the evening crusades were held in an open arena for the gen­eral public. Both the sessions were electrifying. We could clearly see the hand of God moving mightily and had to extend the crusades by a day due to the overwhelming re­sponse we received.

People were desperate for the Word. Bishop Ru­tivi's power-packed mes­sages were a manifestation of God's anointing upon this humble servant of God. Every word the Holy Spirit spoke through this Man of God was received with thun­derous applause, thus ignit­ing a spark of fire in their hearts to live a life worthy of His calling and His sacrifice.

I personally received phone calls and heard testi­monies of how people have taken new commitments and decisions to live a Kingdom Life and to press forward into the Kingdom of God in a new dimension. Pastors and believers of various de­nominations were touched by the Word spoken on all the days of the Conference.

The evening crusades were all the more fruitful, for one good reason, that many souls were added to the Kingdom of God. We were thrilled beyond imagi­nation that many sought to the word.It is a warm afternoon in Raleigh, North Carolina. We are at the international airport and my legs are drenched with sweat as a result of wearing layer on top of layer beneath my jeans. I had the assumption it would be terribly cold but that wasn't the case. En route to the baggage claim area we meet Pastor William Mitchell. He welcomes us with sincere love. Al­though I am meeting him for the first time he dubs him­self my Uncle. ‘'Are you hungry'', he says. I respond by saying, ‘'You asked the wrong person, because anytime you'll ask, I'll say yes. I eat 24/7''. From that little interac­tion sparked a wonderful relationship.

Fast forward into the story; we had Church at Pastor Mitchell's assembly on Sunday in Goldsboro, NC. We dashed to another town by the name Little Washing­ton to have service with Bishop McCarter and back to Goldsboro tired and exhausted.

Driving through North Carolina was beautiful. Vast open spaces, beautiful farms, clean air, the fascinating country accents and dialect were all but a few of the exciting things I got a taste of.

Everywhere we went we were treated with immacu­late hospitality. The following week on a Tuesday night we had service in Pastor Whitfield's (sister to Pastor Mitchell) church. The warm welcome from each church was truly a manifestation of brotherly love. Testimonies of saints' hearts being blessed made me feel honoured to be there and to see for myself.

From Florida to North Carolina and back to Florida and into New York was an adventure to remember, more importantly a first hand witness of the power of God. February, the 28th to March the 9th was a rush from town to town, city to city like a group of musicians on tour.

The place that had the greatest impact on me was Bradenton, FL. This was simply because the preaching and anointing kept multiplying service after service.

‘'Speak a word'', was what personally touched my heart. God has given us the ability to utter simple words and with just a little faith they shall come to pass. [Mark 11:24]

Never say anything contrary to the word of God, never let your lips go against his promises.

“Thus said the Lord God to these bones; behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live''. – Ezek. 37:5

We have the power of life in our mouths. Speak to your turmoil, your hardships, speak to your situation, and speak to your mountain. Believe, and watch what the Lord will do. ‘'Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them''. -- Mark 11:24

seek Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Every day we saw 50 to 60 people, at the altar, running and flocking the front open portion of the main stage weeping and crying their hearts out to Jesus. It re­minded me of Billy Gra­ham's crusades; of how people used to come run­ning to receive Jesus into their lives.

As Bishop Rutivi had been repeatedly saying that the last (extended) day would be a grand fi­nale, it rightly turned out to be so. It was an ex­travaganza of the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit. People were glued to their seats and later queuing up for special prayers even until late after midnight. That was amazing.

PRAYER OIL

The six days of these festivals witnessed blind eyes and deaf ears be­ing opened, the lame walking, chronic diseases being healed and many broken homes coming together.

When reports last came in, I was told that the prayer oil, which Bishop Rutivi prayed for on the last day, was doing wonders and the other brothers from Kenya, who prayed for sick and needy, were healed.

Our desire was to see that Jesus alone was exalted and we could clearly see that this was the Lord's Doing. But for His interference, involve­ment and His seal of approval this would not have happened.

We had opposition and obstacles coming our way even to the last day of this great Festi­vals of Redemption. But God saw us through in His mercy and made all things beautiful in His time. And we believe that God glorified His name through this earthen ves­sel Bishop Rutivi. We pray that God give him grace to minister to us every year in a very spe­cial way to transform Vi­zag into city where peo­ple can talk of and say, “Yes that's the real work of the Holy Spirit and that's true revival”.

God bless Vizag. God bless Andhra Pradesh. God bless India. We of­fer all praise and glory to Jesus.