PAKISTAN (INS)—God is performing miracles in Pakistan, where at least two people have been raised from the dead through God’s power working through the people of Pakistan Gospel Assemblies—an indigenous ministry partnered with Intercede International.
In 2006, PGA leader Bishop William Johnson reported to Intercede that two people had been raised from the dead a year earlier through people connected with his ministry. Here are their stories:
“There was a child who had a fever for two weeks,” explained Johnson. “The mother took this child to a doctor, and the doctor looked and said, ‘This child is almost dead. You need to take this child back home because he is just dying.’ So she came back very much discouraged. After some time, the child died.
“In that area, people were rushing to this family, because the family was weeping. Our brother the pastor, a minister of the Gospel, asked, ‘Where are these people going?’
“Someone said, ‘Well, the child is dead.’ He said, ‘Okay, I would like to go.’
“So, he took three or four other believers with him. They went to this family. As soon as they entered there, the mother took the child and put him in the arms of the pastor. He took that child and put him to his chest and began to pray. He had been praying for 15 minutes, and after 15 minutes, he came back to life.
“As a result of this, we got a tremendous harvest of souls. People are coming to Christ. In that area we need to construct a church building. Now there are so many coming. Through this one miracle—this child coming back to life—God has opened many doors.”
Miracle in a Hospital
Johnson told a related story from another part of Pakistan.
“There was another young person, a Muslim, who was admitted to hospital. In that hospital, we had one church member. He was a newborn Christian. He had received teachings about how we can expect miracles, and even God can raise the dead. In this hospital, one man, a Muslim, was admitted and he died. His family began to weep. All his friends and relatives had come to this hospital. After that, they took away all his machines. The doctors wrote that this man is dead. They called the ambulance to take away this dead body.
“A believer from our church was working there, but saw this was his opportunity to lay his hands on this dead body. He began to pray in a short time a prayer, ‘in the name of Jesus, have mercy.’ The man came back to life.
“This man began to shake. He opened his eyes. Then doctors and nurses came back, and asked him, ‘Hey, man, what did you do?’”
The Christian hospital worker said, “I just prayed in the name of Jesus, because He is able to raise the dead.”
“After that, persecution came against this young man,” Johnson reported. “This man’s job was finished because many people were turning against him.” People would say, “‘If this man will be here, then many people will come to Christ,’ because every person was running to see this man who came back to life. Since that time, he is still hiding himself sometimes, because some fundamental Muslims are watching this man.
“The man who was brought back to life was discharged from the hospital. After that, that man who came back to life, with his parents, came to an area where Christians were living.”
The man and his family were excited about what God did—a great miracle.
“This is what we are praying: that God will touch this nation with signs and wonders, and that the power will show through these miracles,” asserts Johnson. A few years ago, he notes, “We had a great leadership conference, and in that conference, we received a man of God who had raised 27 dead people. With his experience and teachings we were inspired. This was the impartation of the anointing of the Holy Spirit for believing and receiving miracles.”
Preaching and Healing Ministries
As Johnson explains, “We are Bible-believing people, and full Gospel preaching. The full Gospel is not only to preach the Gospel, it is also to heal the sick. That’s what Jesus Christ said: When you go, you also heal the sick and give the message that the Kingdom of God is at hand. This is a Great Commission. We believe that.
“We are praying every day—we have a prayer team, and we are praying that God will move in a supernatural way in the land. Wherever we go we expect miracles, we expect healings. Before we go to a new place, we keep that place in prayer and we are asking the Lord to manifest some power of the Holy Spirit. When the Gospel is preached, people are touched, evil spirits are cast out,” and healings and miracles take place.
“We have three things: strong worship, strong evangelism, strong teaching. That’s how their understanding is opened. I believe the presence of God is the source which can help people to be saved and to be healed. So people are being saved and receiving healing.” Johnson emphasizes that healings and miracles happen in Pakistan because of the work of God, not because of PGA’s missionaries.
PGA has a medical ministry that is run by Johnson’s daughter, Dr. Aqsa Johnson. “Within that medical mission we have a School of Healings,” he explains. “The School of Healings provides healthcare, education, and also spiritually to pray for these people and encourage them—that they have hope in Jesus Christ. We tell them there is a Great Physician, Jesus Christ, who can give them a miracle. This way, many people received miracles. We are backing all these needs through our prayers. Every day at 3 o’clock, a group of believers prays.”
Based in Pakistan, PGA focuses on church-planting and evangelism, especially among neighbourhoods that have some Christians already.
(INS- Intercede International, Fort Erie, ON)
