Expectations Of Villahermosa
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Brother Eddie Mata reports
When The CTV tour arrived in Villahermosa, the local pastor, Brother Zetina,
met us and told us about how the devil was trying to keep us from having
the meetings. He himself was suffering from a glaucoma condition and could
hardly see, yet his attitude was that the meeting had to continue, regardless.
As he led us to the meeting site he showed us the supernatural cloud pictures
that guided us along the way; and as we entered into the meeting grounds,
a large billboard-sized banner with "Catch The Vision, Welcome To Villahermosa"
greeted us. What a site!
The Friday's exhibition was at first operating smoothly, but we very quickly
realized we would never be able to handle the large line, waiting to come
in. We then switched from bringing them in groups of 50, to groups of 100
at a time. One thing that made this possible was the addition of microphones
to audibly reach the entire group of 100.
One hour before we were to close, we had only brought in 500 so far, and
everyone agreed to work overtime, until we reached at least the 1000 mark.
Co-operation among all the group was great.
The second day's exhibit continued very strong, and it seemed that the line
would never end. I many times went to the front door to see how many were
left, and was touched to see so many people standing in the hot sun, wanting
to get in. Inside was not much cooler, as everyone was covered in perspiration
from the heat.
As Brothers Juan Ceballos, Gordon Tutani, and Ronnie Pillay explained the
exhibits, many cried at hearing the testimonies of what God was doing. These
people perhaps didn't know much, but you could tell they were interested
in the things of Christ. Words cannot describe all the expressions of joy,
amazement, gratitude, and love I saw with my own eyes, as I translated for
the brothers.
By the time we finished the Saturday exhibition, we had another 1500-1700
more visitors tour the exhibits.
Saturday evening service was absolutely amazing, as the crowd of over 3000
filled a hot steamy tent that was as hot as any "dog day" in Indiana.
After the singing, Brother Roberto Murrillo brought a very emotional short
message, asking many of the old timers to recall the former times, when
we first started in the message, and we loved one another, prayed all night,
and enjoyed fellowship--until the leaders rose up and built fences to keep
us separated. He then quoted a Message where Brother Branham talked about
some ducks that could not get together on account of the fences that separated
them; until one day, the waters rose up over the fences, and all the ducks
could have fellowship again. He then said let us love one another as real
brothers and sisters.
Brothers Ronnie and Gordon continued the night service, hammering away with
testimonies and staying with the Word, leaving reasoning behind, and saying
what the tapes say. At the end, Brother Ronnie ended the night with "Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday today and forever."
Sunday morning service was attended by an even larger group that numbered
4000. Upon seeing so great a crowd, all we of the CTV group could do, was
gather together and pray that God would give the speakers words to speak.
Brother Gordon read II Chronicles 20:20 and exalted the people to believe
His prophets if they wanted to prosper spiritually.
So strong was the Presence of God in the service, that at the end, the local
pastor broke down and cried while he prayed at the end of the service. All
the 40 or so ministers on the platform hugged each other, and together with
Brother Gordon sang, "Mwari Wokanaka" (God is Good). Indeed the waters had
risen, and all the ducks were swimming together.
After the Sunday morning service, we opened the exhibition hall for the
local church who had not been able to come earlier. As we closed the doors
and packed the displays, Brother Zetina told me how blessed he had been,
together with all his church, and that his eyes were now almost normal.
glory to God!
Brother Gordon and Ronnie Pillay said tomorrow will probably be the hardest
day of the trip, as they begin to leave Mexico and say goodbye to the brothers
here.
Brother Ronnie Pillay
I really don't know how or where to start on this amazing trip to this part
of Mexico. Two days before the main service, lots of people started coming
in. That was on Thursday night. Friday, at the exhibition, a possible thousand
people anxiously waited for the doors to be opened. We had to do presentation
groups in 100s at a time, and what I witnessed at the exhibition was astonishing.
As I began to expound what God is doing in the continent of Africa, never
in my life had I seen so many people crying. These included pastors, young
brothers and sisters, mothers, and fathers. I personally was so touched
by this experience. There were times brothers hugged so tight, that they
didn't want to let go. I can't imagine what took place when the prophet
came to Mexico. I cannot find words to
express the Divine Presence of the Holy Ghost.
Then came Saturday, and I was to take the main service. A crowd of 4000
or more people gathered. It was just the grace of God how the meeting turned
out to be. I could just feel the Presence of God, "a sweet presence." The
emphasis was just on the spoken Word and the sharing of testimonies of the
work around the world. I could feel the hunger this portion of the bride
has for this Message. You had to be here to witness what was happening.
I know from the last report, I said Mexico City was the greatest meeting;
now we had a much bigger crowd, and the expectations were high. That's what
made this meeting so different. The response from what I have heard, I truly
believe they caught the vision.
Sunday it was another special day. Brother Gordon Tutani brought the precious
Word of God, and yet again, you could just feel the presence of the Holy
Spirit. It was awesome. After the service, the reaction of the believers
was amazing. you could just feel the warmth and love flowing throught the
audience. I personally had the privilege to meet and speak individually
to all the pastors. Some of the responses were, We were waiting for something
like this to happen in our country. Some statements I heard were, "All
the trash has been flushed out; the Word that was brought was pure." Some
of the main points I will never forget were to see people coming in on cattle
trucks, buses, cars, and on foot.
Brother Gordon Tutani reports
We arrived in this wonderful city Thursday afternoon, and checked into a
hotel to rest. Friday morning we went out to set up the displays. This was
in a large hall at the city Presbyterian training center.
When we got there, work had already started on the grounds of the premises
beside the hall. A great, mammoth tent was under erection. The first portion
of the tent had already been set up, and the workers were busy with the
second section. The steel trusses were already on site, no small task. I
had never seen a tent like that before; it made me to think of the large
churches in the Congo.
We let the workers continue, without disturbing them; and we went inside
the large hall, to also go ahead with our own work of setting up the displays.
Brother Eddie Mata and his son Isaac were very helpful in setting up the
displays. The assistance from Brother Juan Ceballos from Colombia made it
ever easier.
In fact, members of the team tried to contribute their little experience,
and the Lord blessed it. The displays came out nicely and in systematic,
chronological order, which made things very easy in handling the large crowds.
The influence of the orderliness we had witnessed in Mexico City was carried
out in Villahermosa, as well.
We started with groups of 50, but when it was seen that the crowd swelled,
the groups were increased to 100. Microphones were made available to Spanish
translators, so we had to use them on the booths. It worked so perfect,
and the crowds were blessed; tears of joy and amazement rolled down countless
cheeks. These believers were really surprised to hear what they heard and
see what they saw. It was all so wonderful for them to be informed that
all they witnessed was a fulfillment of prophecy of what the Prophet said.
At the end of the Friday evening displays, about a 1000 people had gone
through the displays. Saturday morning, it was different: pickup trucks,
vans, and public transport vehicles had now thronged the parking areas of
the premises. Private vehicles were also arriving, packed with believers,
It was like we were back in Africa again. Streams of believers were also
arriving also on foot. It was as if the days of the Prophet were back again.
Groups of 100 would be lined up at a time. Because of the largeness of the
hall, we could have as many as 300 believers in the hall at different sections
of the hall, and everything worked perfect. Some would line up by the entrance
for their turn, while the rest would sit in the large tent outside.
By the end of the day, expectation for the evening service was high. After
a short break, we came back to find a large number of people already filling
the pews. An estimated 3,500 attended the Saturday evening service. We were
amazed and humbled by the amount and quality of preparations that had been
done by the local pastor and congregation.
A young song leader led the vast congregation in Holy Ghost singing and
worship, and the excitement was just apparent. Brother German Calva invited
Brother Roberto Murillo, one of the Mexican distributors, to address the
people and say a few words. Some of the old timers who knew him presently,
and had worked with him in the early years, broke down together with him.
It was an overwhelming experience.
Brother Calva then introduced the first speaker from Zimbabwe, Brother Gordon
Tutani, to say a few words. The atmosphere was now ready for the main speaker,
Brother Ronnie Pillay from Durban South Africa. Brother Ronnie did not disappoint;
he really got himself out of the way, and the Lord used in him in a very
special way to articulate his testimony about the work and the witness of
the Word. I wished all that had known Brother Ronnie were there. They were
going to be blessed and surprised, together with me. To say the least, it
was wonderful; and the presence of God and the Holy Spirit was there to
bless the people. The service was closed by some good Spanish congregational.
Sunday morning the air was again filled with expectation, and the song leader
did a wonderful job. Brother German Calva introduced Brother Ronnie Pillay
to also say a few things, before the main speaker, Brother Gordon Tutani,
took the service. The Lord really helped our brother, and the people really
had a good time. The service ended with song and dance. The audience was
thrilled when Brother Gordon called up Brother Ronnie to join him in a duet
with songs from Africa. The climax was when a Spanish song was sung by a
brother from Africa. The audience joined in, amazed but enjoined.
Just before the service closed, the local song leader led the congregation
in a kind of Spanish song with native Indian traits. My, oh my! Brother
Gordon and Brother Calva and some local pastor let out a display of some
Holy Ghost anointed African Mexican Indian dance.
Brother Calva then gave an emotional vote of thanks to all that had made
the meetings a success by their sacrificial support. One brother is said
to have sold his car to help the meetings. A sister who is the wife of
the local pastor, also involved in feeding the people, later on
testified: "We never knew where the food was coming from; but what we
know, is that for the duration of the meetings, we fed the people three
meals a day."
We broke up for lunch and had came back willingly to show the displays to
those who had missed it because they were busy preparing food.
About four groups of 100 people were taken through the displays. It was
a joy to do it for the last time, to such a sweet bunch of humble believers.
Among this last group was a boy of twelve, who was particularly blessed
by the CTV services. He told his testimony of how he really appreciated
all that had happened that weekend. He had some experience during the meetings
that he shared with us. His parents and grandfather all have respect for
the young boy. He is a Christian and is helping in preaching. Just last
month or so he was kind of a guest speaker at some gathering. His response
to the CTV tour was very mature and positive. I took him very seriously
when his father and mother told us testimonies about him, as they shed tears,
which his grandfather pastor was there to witness. God has his people in
the mouth of babes!
