The Power of Prayer and Fasting

Dwayne Harris

In our last newsletter we mentioned that we were going to take time for fasting and prayer.  We enjoyed the fresh fruit fast for 3 days along with the united prayer sessions 3 times a day with our team here in Luzon.  Those three days of prayer were such a blessing that we decided to do it every month along with our team in Palawan. The answers to prayer were amazing. One of our main requests was finances for fuel needs and for the airplane repair.  In direct answer to prayer this month we received 4 times the donations than we normally do.  Another of our prayer focuses was a wing and some other parts for the Twin Commanche that I was looking for.  God led us to find a wing in Florida that already had the same modifications as our plane here and had some of the landing gear mounts that we also needed.  I shared our website with the owner in an email and when he saw what we do he donated about $500 worth of parts that we needed.  We praise God for answered prayers. Both of the engines are already past the recommended overhaul time so we have decided to overhaul both engines and propellers as well.  Please pray for God's continued provision for the engine overhauls and the shipping of the wing and needed parts.

I flew back to Palawan and spent two more weeks finishing the annual inspection and renewal of the certificate of airworthiness for the Cessna.  While I was there I was talking with Sean and Pris about the need for a wellness or lifestyle center. This is a need we have seen and talked about for awhile because of all health problems people suffer with in that area, many of which are preventable. We started praying that God would direct and provide for that.  We finished our 2nd month of 3 days of fasting and prayer last week and on day 2 Sean called me and said someone had just donated $10,000 towards the building of a lifestyle center!  These seasons of prayer are leaving us with an ever growing trust and faith in His promises and desire to grant our requests.

There were a few challenges with finding a propeller for the Twin, and in the past I would have tended to get anxious about it. But God has given me perfect peace and provided in ways I would never have expected.

Dwayne Harris

We've been busy and blessed with several Health Expos and medical mission opportunities recently. We just came back from an exciting and blessed trip to Tinoc, Ifugao. This is an area where PFM has been working for a number of years among an unreached people group. At their request we put on a health screening / medical mission in conjunction with our friends at the Adventist Hospital in Santiago. It was a 7 hour drive from our place on very dangerous, rough roads (also potentially dangerous because of rebel groups in the area). The Army even came to protect us. Some said it was the worst roads they had ever seen. We saw multiple, landslides and steep cliffs all along the way. We prayed it would not rain too hard or we would never get out! On the way back it did rain and it was getting dark before we were out of the dangerous area. We missed a rock wall collapse across the road by a few minutes. We were very thankful when we got home safe and sound.

This was the first time we did not offer typical “consultations” with medicines and wondered how it would go. We did not hear or sense any complaint and the people seemed to appreciate the 10-15 minutes of personal screening and counseling after filling out a health habits questionnaire. We gave them each an immune booster: a fresh mixture of garlic, lemon, and other ingredients that are easily accessible here. The Adventist hospital provided dental, minor surgeries, and a nice children's program.

During one of the home visits, Briane and his companions  found a lady who could not walk for sometime due to arthritis. After sharing some lifestyle and diet changes they gave her hope of walking again soon with God's help, prayers, and if she would follow the suggestions. The next day they found her smiling, walking and working in her kitchen! She was so happy and she showed them her gallon jug of water she was faithfully drinking. (Due to the cold environment and lack of education the people drink on average less than 3 cups of water a day!) Praise God for simple remedies and miracles even today!

We left 3 of our missionaries behind for the rest of the week to help with the health lectures and on-going evangelistic meetings in two of the remote areas. We enjoyed working with the AIIAS team (the graduate school where my dad is president) and with PFM (Philippine Frontier Missions) in these joint efforts to reach these isolated people with the Good News of salvation.

P.S. At the time of this writing, a large typhoon came almost directly across our path. We are so thankful that besides lack of sleep from mopping up water all night and heavy winds for a couple nights, there was no major damage to our property. Praise God for a sturdy container-van house/hangar! Our 3 missionaries that stayed behind, on the other hand, experienced amazing answers to prayer as God brought them through landslides, roads closing one by one behind them and 3 days of traveling to get home! More stories to follow! Large provinces south of us are in a state of calamity due to heavy flooding. Please pray for those that are suffering from the effects of this storm.