Azamono and the Prince
Questions without answers, problems without solutions, lost hope about deliverance or healing from diseases, adverse conditions: in these also the name of the Jesus will do miracles.
Bill Labech, an American missionary, went to Africa for evangelism. He owned a house there and was happily living there with his family.
One day, this missionary was building a wall around his house. At that time, a native tribal man came to him and said, “Sir, my name is Azamono. Please give me a job.”
The missionary asked him, “Do you know how to do masonry work to build this wall?”
“Yes sir, I will do it.”
The poor boy is having trouble because of unemployment, thought the white man who gave him work. Then he went out with his jeep.
When he came back in the evening, he was surprised to see the work of the wall. The bricks were arranged in a random manner. Bill was surprised and inwardly lost his temper, but he still talked to Azamono with patience.
“Azamono, if people like you are masons here, I can be your king!”
Azamono answered, “Dear sir, I don’t know anything about this work, I haven’t come for that.”
“Then what did you come for?”
“I’d like to know about Jesus, I want to live for Him and do something for Him.”
He informed the missionary that he had accepted Jesus as his Savior.
Bill said, “You could have told me this before. Anyway, now you can stay with me.” From that day onward, Azamono stayed with him.
The missionary wanted to teach Azamono something. Azamono didn’t know how to read and write. But he always sat and prayed.
One day Bill received a letter from his friend, which read like this: “If anybody in your village is interested to join a Bible school, send them here. I am going to start a Bible school here.”
When Azamono came to know this, he said, “Sir, send me there, I want to learn the Bible.”
“How will you learn the Bible, when you don’t even know how to read even a single letter?” Bill asked him. Azamono got discouraged, but still he begged Bill to send him to the Bible college. At last after a lot of pressure, Bill took him to his friend’s Bible college.
After six weeks, Bill received a telegram which said, “Come fast to take back your Azamono.” He understood the issue. Bill went there in his jeep to get Azamono. He was sitting alone and crying. “I want to learn about Jesus, I want to do something for Him. I will study, please don’t take me back.” He started begging.
Bill try to console him “Azamono, you can’t even read or write. However much they try to teach, you can’t even read a single letter.” Azamono came back with Bill. On his way back he was crying and praying.
Months passed by. Both of them went to another village to talk about Christ. There was a small church there. The worshipers who gathered together were rich and educated people. They didn’t have a pastor there. When they met Bill they asked him, “Sir, can you send a pastor? He should be from Bible college.” Azamono told him “I will work here as a pastor, I can surely do something for them.”
Bill replied, “The people living here are rich and educated. Their pastor should have college degrees. If you are going to be the pastor here, it will be a shame for me too.”
Azamono answered, “It’s not like that sir, I can do something for Jesus, Please allow me to be a pastor here.” Due to his compulsion, Bill left him there for some time.
Some months passed by. One day some military leaders in their uniforms came toward Bill in a jeep. They jumped down from there jeep and asked, “Are you Bill Labech?”
He replied, “Yes, that’s me.”
“Are you the one who sent a person called Azamono to that village?”
“Yes,” Bill replied.
“Then come with us.” Bill climbed up the jeep and sat with them. On the way, one officer told him “You know, Azamono whom you sent has created a lot of trouble in the village.” Bill Labaech felt so sad by hearing this. When they were nearing the village Bill saw a large crowd in front of Azamono’s hut. He was puzzled and asked himself, “What could have happened?” With the help of the military people he went inside the hut.
Azamono was sitting in one corner of hut. Next to him sat another young man. Struggling with his emotions, Bill asked him, “Azamono, what did you do?”
He jumped from his seat and welcomed Bill. “Remember when we first came to this village, we saw a person who was not even wearing clothes, had mussed hair, an unwashed mouth, and was sprinkling dust and cow dung on his head, cursing and shouting at others?”
Bill replied, “I remember. He threw trash and mud on our jeep?”
“Yes. Last week I went to the shop to buy eggs. He was putting dust on his head and cursing others. Then the Spirit of God told me, ‘In the name of Jesus, place your hands on his head and pray for him, he will be healed.’ I got scared. I walked away without listening to the voice.”
“I took another path to walk back to the hut. On the way I saw, he was sitting on a stone! Again I heard that voice: ‘In the name of the Jesus, place your hands on his head and he will be cured.’”
“When I heard the sound again, I went near him and placed my hands on his head and said in a low voice ‘You are healed in the name of Jesus,’ but when the power of Lord came to me, my voice became so loud.”
“Suddenly he regained his senses, hugged me and said, ‘I am healed. Take me with you and tell me about Jesus.’”
After a small pause, Azamono continued, “Bill, I brought him to my hut. This is the man who was mad once.”
Loud voices were coming from outside of the hut. There was loud cheering. The reason for their happiness was that the young man who was healed was the only son of their king. The prince had gone to Paris for his studies, and after completing his study he came back to his native place ready to be the king. When his father passed away and the day of the prince’s ascent to power was nearing, his uncle poisoned him. Instead of killing him, the poison affected his brain and body and he lost his sanity. For seven years he was wandering here and there as a mad man.
But now he had received a new life. Azamono said, “Bill, can you hear these people shouting ‘yanda yanda’? It means “our king”.
“They want him to be their king, but that can happen only through bloodshed. The brother of the former king is the ruler now. All the people are in streets, they want to make him their king.”
Bill asked the young man, “Do you want to be the king? What is your decision?”
He replied, “I am going to share about Jesus in this country with Azamono.” He insisted that “serving Jesus is a big position compared to being king.”
You Can Find Deliverance in Jesus’ Name
What have you learned from this incident? Deliverance occurs only in the name of Jesus. The position and ability of the person who uses it is not relevant. The power of God is the basis of deliverance. Jesus is the name which is above all names.
You must depend on the name of Jesus. All your problems will be solved. You will be free from all suffering. He will console you.
Remember one thing: when a person believes in Jesus and becomes His child, God frees him from the hands of Satan. That person is not under the power and wrath of Satan anymore. He is a member of God’s kingdom. Because we know that Lord Jesus Christ died for us, was buried, rose on the third day and He is on the right hand of God.
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K.P. Yohannan ( - Present)
Dr. K.P. Yohannan, the Metropolitan Bishop of Believers Church, was born and brought up in Niranam, Kerala. Niranam has immense historical significance in the tradition of Saint Thomas, a disciple of Jesus Christ who planted the first church there in AD 52. K.P. Yohannan dedicated his life to God at a young age to serve the needy and downtrodden. He prayed, “Oh my Lord, let my heart break with the things that break Your heart” and his life was never the same. It’s his belief that one can only demonstrate God’s love by loving people. After over four decades of selfless service, he says, I have no regrets in praying that prayer for I know God has touched millions through what He did in and through me. It is all God’s grace.He spent the early years of his service in North India and traveled to the remote villages sharing the love of Christ and doing charitable works. Through numerous encounters during those years, he was instilled with an increasing passion to bring hope, peace, and comfort to the needy and deprived. His sacrificial commitment, farsightedness and aptitude to perceive helped him to lead a life of unhindered devotion to serve Christ and His church. K.P. Yohannan is also the voice of Athmeeya Yathra, touching millions through his daily radio and TV broadcasts. His 250 books offer practical and spiritual guidance on hundreds of subjects.
Recommends these books by K.P. Yohannan:
Living in the Light of Eternity: Discovering God's Design For Your Life by K.P. Yohannan
The Beauty of Christ through Brokenness by K.P. Yohannan
Crisis in Leadership by K.P. Yohannan
K.P. Yohannan is the founder and president of Gospel for Asia, a mission organization involved in evangelism and church planting in the unreached regions of Asia. Currently Gospel for Asia supports thousands of church planters in the heart of the 10/40 window.
Born in a remote village of South India, K.P. Yohannan's personal journey toward spiritual reality began at the age of eight when he gave his heart to Christ. While he was still a young boy, his mother began fasting each week, praying God would call one of her six sons into full-time gospel ministry. Her prayers were answered in 1966 when 16 year-old K.P., her youngest, volunteered to serve in North India with Operation Mobilization.
From 1974 to 1979 K.P. attended Criswell Bible College in Dallas, Texas, where he earned his B.A. in Biblical Studies. He was also awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Hindustan Bible College in Madras, India. During the time he attended Criswell, he pastored a local church in Dallas. However, he was unable to forget the millions still lost without Christ in his homeland of India, and knew God was calling him to reach his own people. In 1978 K.P. resigned his pastorate and he and his wife, Gisela, organized what is now Gospel for Asia.