NEW YEAR; NEW CHALLENGES

The sound of Heaven spread throughout the Synagogue, Church Of All Nations Thessalonica, through the voices of the Choir on Sunday, 5 January 2020. The first Sunday of the year had the attendees asking for the Holy Spirit to act in them that they may keep their resolutions, to strengthen them to defend all that they promise and guide them that they may do what is right in His sight.

Right after, the man of God Harry preached the first message of the New Year, entitled “NEW YEAR; NEW CHALLENGES”, highlighting the fact that the New Year comes with uncommon blessings. However, we must prepare ourselves for uncommon challenges because uncommon blessings always attract uncommon challenges. After reading a proof text from Joshua 7:1-21, he explained that the enemy of our soul is constantly improving his way of attacking us, his techniques and his methods. Therefore, we should improve in prayer and studying the Word of God. Next, he pointed out that the Israelites conquered Jericho and defeated their enemies thanks to their obedience to the instruction in righteousness from God. So, when it was time for them to face their new enemies, they believed they will once again win, exactly like the last time. Nevertheless, that did not happen since they disobeyed the instruction of God. In other words, the sons of Israel tried to fight a war of the “new year” using the approach of the “last year”. Similarly, we have also learned a particular manner of solving our problems and we only use this manner to solve every problem. However, if we were to solve the problem of a New Year, using the approach of the old year, we would not make any difference.

The man of God carried on by saying that many of us have been facing the same problems for years, obtaining a degree in disobedience, in poverty, in sickness and in imprisonment. However, if we do not have a degree in disobedience, in poverty, in sickness or in imprisonment, our degree in obedience, in good health, in blessing and in freedom is questionable. It is, therefore, necessary to see the fruit of disobedience and darkness in order to appreciate the fruit of obedience and light. Closing his message, the man of God encouraged us by saying that anytime we are face to face with uncommon challenges, we should not lose heart, murmur or rebel because they may be to prepare us for the uncommon blessings that are waiting ahead of us!

On Sunday, 5 January 2020, Mrs. Elida Xhika, her husband and his sister were present in the Synagogue, Church Of All Nations Thessalonica, to share with us their incredible testimony which proves that only the Living Jesus Christ can give a permanent solution to our problems and change our lives completely!

The day Mrs. Xhika joined the prayer line, she was carrying a bag full of various things. Strangely, she had brought a bag of sugar, a bottle of water, olive oil and some charms. To everyone’s surprise, those materials were given to her by a witchdoctor, who explained to her that if she used them according to his instructions, the problems her entire family was facing would become a thing of the past! The purpose of those materials was to draw bad people away and protect them from demonic spirits. Even though everyone followed the instructions of the witchdoctor, no improvement was seen in their lives. On the contrary, things just got worse! Before praying for her, the man of God took the chance to give a valuable lesson to the congregation: “Many people today, in their attempt to solve their problems and perhaps being ignorant of the Word of God and of how dangerous these things are, turn to witchdoctors, to mediums, to fortune-tellers… They use such means and charms that instead of keeping the demons away, attract them even more”. He clarified that, “The only power that can protect you from unclean spirits is the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ!”.

Mr. Bardhul Xhika, Mrs. Xhika’s husband, was also blessed although he was not present in the church the day his wife decided to follow Jesus Christ. He explained to everyone what was it that led them to go to witchdoctors to receive help. Everything started a few hours before the passing of his father. The whole family had a meal which was cooked right and seemed normal but suddenly turned dark and looked strange. His sister, Mrs. Valbona Ago, shedding light on the case, mentioned that their father’s sister-in-law went to the kitchen and changed the food with some kind of sorcery! A few hours before his passing, their father advised them to remain united as a family and fight the evil that came upon them together because he knew what had occurred.

Following these words, both Mr. and Mrs. Xhika started to search for a way to find a solution to their family issue as the traces of witchcraft were already apparent in their life. Nightmares, health and financial problems, arguments and quarreling were just a few of the issues they and even their children were facing. In fact, Mrs. Ago was the one most affected by the demonic influence. She had intense pain in the stomach and in her back, she had difficulty in walking and her mental health was not good at all! All of these led them to places they should never have been. After visiting a witchdoctor, they realized that not only their problems were not solved but they were becoming worse. Then, they decided to turn towards another place. In a graveyard back in their home country, Albania, there was a tomb of a family member and around it was built a special chamber. One of the daughters of the deceased person welcomed people while the other one, with the supernatural demonic power she possessed, instructed others through the phone and prophesied the problems they were having. This was their last attempt to find a solution away from Jesus Christ. Yet, once again, they did not see any improvement in their life.

After their decision to let God take over their lives, the changes were instant and evident to everyone. First, Mrs. Ago’s life stood as the proof of God’s power since He delivered her from every demonic influence and healed her which in turn drew her brother to Christ. He took part in the prayer line and God healed him from pain in his back, delivered him from nightmares and the chains of smoking which were holding him captive for 15 years. Mrs. Xhika is now happy and thankful to God for restoring even their financial life since it is the first time after years that they have money in their hands. Generally, there is now peace and the relationships between family members have been restored. Their advice to everyone looking for a solution to their problems is not to waste time in temporal solutions but to approach the Source of a permanent solution which is Jesus Christ. Lastly, their promise to the Great Redeemer is to follow Him until the end of their lives.

Mr. Kodi Maragan, originating from Sudan and permanent resident of Norway, visited the Synagogue, Church Of All Nations Thessalonica, on Sunday, 5 January 2020, to participate in the prayer line hoping God will put an end to the problems he was facing.

During the prayer, the Spirit of God located him and the man of God gave him a prophetic word: “Where is your wife? I do not mean the one you are married to. There was once a woman in your life whom you were ready to marry but eventually, for a foolish reason because others were involved, you separated, you left her… But she knelt, cried out to God and that was not good for you… Since then, you have been experiencing continual disappointment, nothing goes well nor in your marriage nor in your job, nowhere. You are writing your problems here but I am telling you the root of your problems”.

Indeed, Mr. Maragan confirmed the word he received from the man of God as 100% true. There was truly a woman in his life many years ago with whom he agreed to get married because they loved each other. In the process of the wedding, however, which is commonly time-consuming in Africa, his own family started to have a problem with this marriage and decided to stop the process. So, after three years of preparations, Mr. Maragan visited the parents of the woman and explained that he loves their daughter but they would have to interrupt the marriage since none of his family members supported him…

Since then, while he tried to move forward, the only thing he was met within every area of his life was disappointment. He got married but he was never content with his marriage. He would constantly quarrel with his wife and they would not even talk to each other for months. There was also no affection between them. He had erectile dysfunction and even though he was given medication from the doctor, the problem continued. He felt as if his wife was not his and many times expressed his wish to separate since he was experiencing disappointment and sorrow in the marriage. It seemed there was no hope… The condition of his professional career also followed the path of disappointment. Nothing was going well. Even if he was trying to obtain his degree, he failed ten times! Until the day of the prayer he was jobless and he still has not found the reason why he was fired from work.

Nevertheless, he could have never guessed that the root of disappointment was hiding all these years behind his situation. After the prophetic word and the prayer he received, freedom entered his heart! He recognized that this prophecy was from God, he is grateful for the Synagogue, Church Of All Nations Thessalonica, and man of God Harry! Above all, he is thankful to the Most High God. Filled with unexpected joy, he declared that he and his family have been delivered in the mighty name of Jesus Christ! Lastly, he promised to continue walking with God without looking back and to be guided by His Spirit.

Whatever situation you are in as a Christian, it would be too early to grumble, murmur, complain or take a shortcut without finding out what God says about it. Because when God speaks, we see that disappointment is replaced by joy and hope!

Below, we see people who made the decision to change the story of theirs and their families’ lives, by taking a step of faith and participating in the prayer line. Thus, allowing the anointing of God to break their chains and set them free through His servant!