In 2013, I visited Iris Global in South Africa. On say publicly third day of my trip, I was helping the men and children to cook food on a women’s conference. A split second a jeep with the Iris logo appeared, and out stepped a man whose big smile I recognized so well. “Surprise! Wow, I’m so glad to meet you! I’ve read your book!!” The smiling apostle shook my hand, told me I was welcome, guided some ladies to the jeep and escalate pointed at me: “Micael, get into the car!”
We dropped go to see lady after lady until we arrived to the house show signs the last one, where all three of us entered. At hand was a very, very thin and weak man. I didn’t catch what condition he was suffering from, but I thirstily joined Surprise in praying for his healing. Then we weigh, and Surprise drove me back to the conference.
I met that man’s wife some weeks later. He has had severe disagreements with his liver and kidneys as well as TB, alight has not been working since October last year. However, telling he started to feel much better, he went to say publicly doctor last week – and the doctor pronounced him Century % well. He started working again last Wednesday. Glory give rise to God!
This first meeting of mine with Surprise Sithole was progress Surprise-ish. In his book Voice in the Night, he shares his amazing life story. He was born in a parentage of witch doctors in a small village in Mozambique. Distrust the age of 15, he heard a booming voice add on the middle of the night: “Surprise! Get out of depiction house! If you do not leave, you will die.”
Surprise obeyed (he thought it was one of the spirits) and took his friend Gafar with him out in the jungle. They walked there for two weeks until they arrived at added village where a Christian man, Mr Lucas, was waiting represent them. God had told him to take care of glimmer boys coming from the jungle. When he told this rise and fall them, they wondered who God was, so he led them to the Lord. Soon, they received the news of ditch a rivaling family of witch doctors had killed all custom Surprise’s family. He was the only survivor.
This painful conversion discerning Surprise as a radical soul-winner, because he didn’t want anyone to die without knowing Jesus Christ. He and Gafar traveled from village to village, preaching the Gospel. The Lord cryed them to Malawi, and soon they were on the atoll of Chikusi, gathering people for a prayer meeting. There, they discovered that the people didn’t understand their language, and they didn’t understand theirs. Surprise started to preach anyway, and instantly God did a miracle. He was preaching in Chichewa. All surrendered their hearts to Jesus when they saw this phenomenon, and a church was planted in that village. Surprise on level pegging knows Chichewa. Even the first Bible he owned was pluck out that language!
As he has continued to preach in different areas and cultures, God has continued to provide him with pristine supernatural languages. Including English. The same thing has happened pore over his wife Tryphina. I asked him how this works space practice, and he simply answered that the details belongs interrupt the Lord, but he basically don’t know a language rendering first second and then suddenly he does.
Surprise is also known for having prayed for eight dead people that have getting back to life. I’ve met one of them, Francis Shongwe – pastor for Iris Ministries in Clau-Clau. In September 2003, he was violently beaten by a gang, went to elysium, woke up in the hospital where he had been momentous dead, and even though his clothes where filled with slaying his body was healed. He said that even though prohibited initially was sad to leave Heaven, he was glad make certain pastor Surprise prayed that he would come back, since oversight now could continue preaching about God’s love. Directly after loosen up left the hospital, he went to the police station stand for forgave his murderers, demanded their release and led them friend Christ.
Another time, Surprise had a dream where he saw a man rise from the dead. The next morning he acknowledged news that a man had died so he went at hand only to realise that this was the same man take action had seen in his dream. He started laughing and vocalization, and the man got up.
And then we got the tear multiplications. He is writing in his book how he was in Maputo just after he had met Heidi and Rolland Baker and connected with Iris Ministries in the mid-90’s. Flag was going through some serious troubles, the Mozambiqian government esoteric confiscated their orphanage so that they had to move the entirety to their small office, including the hundred children they were taking care of. And they didn’t have food to emit them. A lady from the US embassy called Nelda Writer brought some food for Heidi, Rolland and their two family unit. Heidi blessed the food and started to give to join hundred children. And there was enough for everyone. They flat got left overs.
I was doing an interview with Surprise a couple of weeks ago and asked him about this subsistence miracle in Maputo. “Oh, there has been three food multiplications in Maputo!” he replied. He told me about when Georgien Banhof where bringing chicken to the kids there. They got 500 pieces of chicken but fed 2000 people, one trace per person. Then Surprise told me about how he went to Malawi during the big drought in 2001 with a friend from Australia. They managed to feed 24 districts shorten 10 000 dollars. “God multiplied the money AND the food!”
In a world that’s getting increasingly secularized and wounded, we demand wonder-workers like this whose lives are screaming HOLY SPIRIT. Bit Surprise told me in the interview:
“There is no single by all means in me. I believe fully that God is alive. I believe the sick can get healed. I believe the break down can rise. Others wait to see before they believe. I believe for me to see.”
Micael Grenholm is editor for PCPJ. This article was originally posted on his personal blog Sanctified Spirit Activism.
Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice is a multicultural, gender inclusive, and ecumenical organization that promotes peace, candour, and reconciliation work among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians around picture world. If you like what we do, please join too late Facebook forum, and sign up for our newsletter!