Heaven Touches Earth
Ruth Johnson
 

The following is an eyewitness account by our ministry team
of what happened during our week on Mt. Elgon.

We had only spent time with the people on the mountain once four and a half years ago when we ministered in Pastor Stephen’s church. Yet he told us many times after our departure...

“Our people have never stopped telling everyone on the mountain about the visitation of God that took place during that visit. Then when word spread that you have returned, people excitedly began to say, ‘Mama Ruth and Papa Barry have come back! The white lady with the harp has come back!’”

Now, finally, we were on our way back to the mountain and eventually reached the place to set up our tents. But there was no one there to greet us or help us. Unknown to us, Pastor Stephen had a troubling death in his family the night before and he had to be with them. Also, many people who had waited for Mama Ruth and Papa Barry to return for such a long time didn't think we were actually coming.

 "Now team," Mama Ruth said. "We have come and we are expecting God to do something amazing. So let us disperse and take the strong love and unity we have for one another and go share it with the people."

After that meeting, each of us went into the village. Soon many came who had known Mama Ruth and Papa Barry four and a half years ago. The team was shocked at how friendly they were as they walked into our campsite. Before we came we had heard stories about the hostile people on this mountain. Mama Ruth had even named it the Village of Sadness because it was such a sad, dark place. But now these same villagers came to us with wide-open arms and big smiles. They kept hugging and welcoming the team with tremendous warmth and joy.

Surely we could see that God had touched this place.

 Many of them were quick to tell us…

Sipi Village has never been the same since Mama Ruth and Papa Barry came here four and a half years ago and taught us the kind of worship that brings the presence of God. The Lord came so powerfully upon us that His presence transformed the people in this village and we never went back to the way we were.

Even the unsaved people were so touched by the change that took place that they built us a much larger church. They could see that many new people were born again and we could no longer fit into our very small church. We named it Hope Church because we now wanted to have the same vision to bring hope to the distressed and the lost as the ministry of Mama Ruth and Papa Barry.

The team marveled at this amazing story as each of them heard it being told over and over that first day.

The next morning, we went to the church for the seminar with the pastors, but few of them were there. So we invited the villagers to join us. Still not many came.

The night before there had been a terrible robbery in Pastor Stephen's shop in the village. The thief also brutally murdered a loved and highly respected wife of his landlord while Pastor Stephen's wife and children were sleeping in that same place. Most of the people who were planning to be at the seminar were wildly angry over this murder. They were so distraught they cancelled their plans to come and turned all their attention to finding the murderer and killing him.

Later we discovered that this violence broke out exactly at the same time Mama Ruth became extremely ill.

While we were finding out about all this evil upset rising up against what God sent us to do, a violent rain was coming down on Kapchorwa, which is where vast majority of the people were coming from. This greatly hindered the meetings because most of the villagers travel on foot. We also didn't know that Moses, a powerful spiritual leader on the mountain, had ordered the people in his churches to not attend the meetings. This caused large numbers of them to stay away.

Meanwhile, the pastors who came weren't united at all. They didn't even want to be near each other. Mama Ruth and Papa Barry preached a hard word about worship and love for one another being the most important things to God. But this message was a big problem for the pastors. When they were encouraged to greet one another, they were resistant and had to force themselves to be friendly.

Although there were few people, God moved just as powerfully and miraculously as if there were a thousand.

When they dispersed, they went far and wide and told many others what was happening.

 The next morning, the message of worship, love and unity was taught firmly once again. It was clearly explained that it was impossible to worship in spirit and in truth if we don't love one another. Only this time the church was packed with about four hundred people. Soon there was no room for anyone to enter the room.

Suddenly, everyone began to warmly embrace one another, including the pastors. Such an outpouring of love had never happened before on the mountain. That was when we began to experience the start of the victory that the Lord had promised.

By now, news was spreading all over the mountain that God was doing something in a humble church in Sipi Village. Then on Sunday something miraculous broke out. As far as the eye could see, all roads that led to the church were filled with vehicles coming to where we were meeting. Hundreds of people were also on foot and they were carrying benches and chairs.

 We quickly realized that they wouldn't fit in the church so the service was changed to the outside grounds. But even this large field was soon filled up with people. There were so many coming that they spilled out into the street and on to the hillside that surrounded us.

Multitudes of unsaved villagers were even drawn into the gathering by all of the love and strong unity among the believers.

Now there was a brokenness among the pastors. So when Mama Ruth invited them to come up front, they immediately came close together and put their arms around each other. Never had the people on the mountain seen such a sight. This love among the pastors had never happened before.

The final miracle of the day was equally astounding. It affected everyone so much that even the unsaved were touched who had come to mock us and disrupt the meeting.

 Mama Ruth began to speak about God being a loving Father. As she did, everyone cried, including the unsaved. The Lord touched people in a way that they had never known before. For just about everyone, it was the first time they realized that they had a Father who genuinely and compassionately cared about them.

At the end of the teaching, Mama Ruth led us into deep worship from the heart to the Father. The way people worshipped, compared to the first day of the seminar, was so different. Everyone quickly fell to their knees, weeping and worshipping Papa God from the depths of their souls.

Even the unbelievers, including the mockers, were so overcome with the glory of God that descended upon us, they were weeping and bowing low with their face to the ground.

It had rained heavy all around us the entire time we were gathered in that field, but no rain ever came down on us. Yet, the second the final prayer was completed, it rained so hard that instantly we were totally wet. Everyone danced and leaped with joy. We celebrated with loud shouts because we had asked God to hold back the rain until the meeting was over and that is exactly what happened.

On the following day when we were preparing to depart, streams of people came to our tents to say goodbye. Several asked how to be born again and we prayed with them. At that moment our team knew a mighty harvest of souls would be added to the churches because of the move of God the night before. For heaven had touched earth on this mountain.