In the wintertime I'd hunt till the party [at home] was over, may be daylight in the morning

I used to remember as a little boy... (I hope I'm not holding you too long. But knowing...) Setting out in the--on--on the creek bank, and I'd set there and look around at nighttime. Pop and mom, they're gone on now to their rest. And them days they were sinners; there was no Christianity in our homes at all. And, oh, my, drinking, and parties, and carrying on; it made me sick. I'd take my--my lantern and my dog and go to the woods to stay all night. In the wintertime I'd hunt till the party was over, maybe daylight in the morning. Come home, wouldn't be over, I've laid on top of a shed and sleep, waiting for daylight to break.Then I'd think of how that times, then being out there in the summertime, get my sticks and put them down for a little windbreak, where if it rained; lay there and have the poles sticking in the water, fishing; my old coon dog laying there, I'd say, "Looky here. You know, last winter I camped right here one night; I built a fire right here when I was waiting for my old dog here to tree, and I had a fire here. It was froze five inches deep in the ground. That little flower, where did you come from? See? Where--where--where'd you come from? Who come out here and planted you? And what hothouse did they bring you out of? Or--or what about it, where'd you come from?" See? That little flower, I'd say, "Why, it was froze, and everything, and I built a fire on top here. Besides the freezing element, there was a heat element laying here on a big old log where I burned here. And yet here you are; you're alive. Where'd you come from?"

  What was it? There was another William Branham. See? A little spot of Eternal Life down there, from the--the--the genes of God, the Word of God that was placed in there. Each one of you can think of similar things. See? It was working.Then I looked up to the trees and I'd think, "Leaf, I seen you fall off last year, and what are you back there again? Where'd you come from? What brought you here?" See? It was that Eternal Life working in the body.
Now, then one day as I walked on, that Voice talking, "Don't never smoke, drink, so forth." And the young fellows and all, I got older. See, there was Something moving.
But yet all at once I looked up, and I said, "I'm not the son of Charles and Ella Branham. There's Something calling." Like my little eagle, "I'm not a chicken. There's Something up yonder, somewhere. O great Jehovah, Whoever You are, open it up. I want to come home. There's Something in me, calling."
Then I was borned again. That little Life was laying there; the life of water was poured upon It, then It begin to grow. Now, that old life was forgiven, put in the sea of God's forgetfulness, to never be remembered against me no more. See? Now, we stand justified, as though we never had sinned in the Presence of God.

Excerpts from the message  Communion P:17  [65-1212]

I was looking for James 5:14 in Genesis

" I remember down there, that--about ten o'clock one night, or when I was down there in that little old garage praying, "God, kill me or save me." I went to churches; they wanted me to come up and shake hands with the preacher.I said, "I want something more than that," See? And then in that garage that night when I said, "God, I can't go any further. I--I'll die." And when I was there in that old, wet building, and my knees... I was kneeling on an old, grass sack with my hands up, saying, "God, I don't know how to talk, Mister." I wanted to write Him a letter to ask Him to forgive me. I didn't know how to pray. I wanted to be forgiven. I'd promised that, when I was dying on the bed, and He let me... When the doctor done give me up, my heart was only beating seventeen times to the minute. And you know how slow that was. He said, "He's dying," and I heard it. Told my daddy, and pulled the curtains around me.

And there, in that room that hour, I seen big jays come all over, that curtain was around me like that. I heard that nurse crying. Said, "He's nothing but a kid (See?) and here he's going." Spinal anesthetic had leaked through and got into in my heart. See? It was only beating seventeen times a minute.When I got home, I had to prove that--that I--I loved God. And I--I got down there on that ground, and I said, "I--I don't know how to pray." And I--I'd bite on my thumb nail. I thought, maybe... I seen pictures. I'll folding my hands like this, put my fingers together. And I said, "Dear Sir, I would like to speak with You." I'd listen. I said, "I don't hear You." I said, "I folded my hands wrong. Maybe I ought to do it like this." And I put my... I said, "Dear Sir, I... Jesus Christ, I would like to speak to You." I said, "Sir, I don't hear You answer me. I've heard other people say, 'God talked to me.' Now, I want to talk this over with You. I promised You I would do it. Now, I want to talk it over. Will You please come and speak to me, Sir?" I thought, "No, I ain't holding my hands right, or He'd say something." I didn't know how to do it, never prayed in my life, didn't know what to do--this little old shed.

One day, then, I thought this... I thought, "According to the Scriptures, as I've heard it read, He was a man. If He was a man, He understands as a man." That's right. "And now, I don't know whether You hear me."Devil said, "Why, you done sinned away your day of grace. There's no more. See, you been so mean till they--he won't forgive you." I said, "I don't believe that. I just can't believe it. I believe He'd talk to me." I said, "Sir, I don't know if I make a mistake, if I ain't got my hands folded right, or whatever it is, You--You forgive me for it. But I want to talk to You." I said, "I'm the lowest rascal in the world." I said, "I--I've done all these things. And--and I've run from You, and all." And I went on talking like that. And the first thing you know, while I was talking, across the room come a little Light, and went over on the side of the wall and formed a cross of light. That light... And began to talk with a language I'd never, never heard of such a thing as speaking in tongues, never had even read the Bible. I was looking for James 5:14 in Genesis. I was looking up there, and I seen that Light, and it was talking in some kind of a language. Then It went away. And I said, "Sir," I said, "I--I--I don't know nothing about this Christian life." I said, "If--if--if that was You talking to me, I can't understand Your language, Sir. But if--if You'll talk... If--if You can't speak my language (See?), and I--I don't understand Yours, but maybe we understand one another like this. If You'll just come back there again, that'll be a sign between me and You that You forgive me." There it was again. 

Oh, talk about a V-day, I had one, yes, a real V-day. There it was again, talking the same way. And I had a V-day. Oh, my. And since then when He put the Word in my hand, I've fought to win the prize, to sail through bloody seas".  WMB - Victory day 63-0421

DID YOU KNOW THAT death doesnt change your spirit but it only changes your dwelling place?

"Now, listen, my friends. If you die without the Spirit of Life in you, you cannot go to that place. Listen, as I said in the beginning, death does not change your spirit. It only changes your dwelling place.I was teaching on that a few nights ago. And I come to this subject on where that Saul, when he had backslid on God... And the Urim Thummim wouldn't answer him, neither would a prophet prophesy and could answer him. He couldn't even have a dream from the Lord. And he went down and had the witch of Endor to call the spirit of Samuel. And Samuel had been dead nineteen years; I just looked it up to find out for sure. He'd been dead nineteen years. And when the witch of Endor called the spirit of Samuel, he hadn't changed his appearance. He was still standing there, thin with a mantle on his shoulder. Not only that, he hadn't changed his life any; he was still the same Samuel and was still a prophet". WMB -To whom would we go P:66 [60-0606]

PRISON REVIVAL 600+ CONVERTS IN 78 DAYS

[cross-posted from http://ophara.blogspot.com]

He has a burden for lost souls. Sometimes he goes out for the lost at the risk of breaking up his own family. “Don’t dare mimic what I do”, he warns, “unless God has indeed commissioned you otherwise you’ll break up your family”.

Quite elderly and stoop shouldered Brother Nelson Gomera walks in front after singing a song with his son, Branham, in which the father played the keyboard and the son sang the song. The whole church is anxious to hear the report he has brought from his missionary trip.

He has gone through "thick and wild" and often met obstacles but no obstacle has been too big to block him entirely from reaching out to the lost. He was once beaten and made to scoop a well dry for baptizing new converts after preaching at a funeral http://ophara.blogspot.com/2011/04/must-jesus-bear-cross-alone.html. He doesn’t mind the condition of the place he is going to so long as it’s God leading himhttp://ophara.blogspot.com/2011/04/all-things-work-together-for-good.html

It was last year when he boldly approached the Malawi government to ask for permission to preach in Malawi’s prisons. The government didn’t hesitate to grant him the permit but it was only to the prisons in the southern region. Early this year the permit was extended to cover the whole country after the government noted the effectiveness of this special ministry. Sometime last year about 13 inmates, fruits of this Prison Ministry, from Chichiri prison attended a church service at Newlands Church under Apostle Kandoje. They were accompanied by the Assistant Prison Chaplain and other two officers. The church organized lunch and some cash donation to assist them.

The effectiveness of this ministry is beyond doubt and coupled with Brother Overton Makuta’s ministry a lot has been accomplished. For example, last year a hardcore criminal from Ntcheu believed the Message while at Chichiri Prison and Brother Makuta, during a prayer meeting at the prison, told him he would be released “soon”. He didn’t believe it. To him it was impossible looking at the charges that lay before him. He was a reject in society and yet the merciful Lord Jesus Christ had saved him like He did to the other criminal on the cross.

Just a few days later a prison officer stormed into the cell. “What are you doing here”? he asked the Ntcheu “criminal”. He was too startled to give any meaningful answer. The officer ought to have known why this guy was there. “Follow me", he ordered him. He followed him to his office not knowing what was awaiting him. The officer threw himself into his seat, looked him in the face and told him “You are released”. He didn’t believe it but quickly remembered what Brother Makuta had told him a few days before.

He was very excited but his excitement was short-lived when he thought of the challenges that lay ahead. His main challenge was how would he get home? This was not a financial challenge for there were people ready to assist him. But how would the people back home welcome him back into the society? If they saw him among them they would without doubt report him back to the police. They would rather have him locked up away from them than have him in their midst. Just a sight of him sent chills down the spines of many. Brother Gomera had to escort him to the village and explain to the village headman and relatives what had happened to their own. Today he is still a Christian. He was one of the 215 inmates that had given their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ in the year 2012 through this Prison Ministry.

“You remember I left for Zomba on 31^st May 2013 to start my countrywide mission to the prisons”, starts Brother Gomera. “The Lord was with me and thanks for your prayers. Thanks again for your financial support to my family while I was away. It’s not that I don’t want to work and support my family but God has placed a burden in my heart that I should win souls to Him. That’s my job and He gave you money so that you and me can work together to further His Kingdom. So let’s just work together and God will bless you richly.

“Zomba Maximum Prison has five prisons within it and I decided to spend three days per prison. By the end of my mission there I had baptised 19 inmates including Mr Kala, the ex-MP. He’s now a believer. The rest of the prisons are as follows:

Mikuyu Prison, 58 converts

Mpyupyu Prison, 5 converts

Domasi Prison, 34 converts

Mangochi Prison, 27 converts. We then went to another village and baptized 5 more people

Ntcheu Prison, 41 converts. I’ve just received a report that another 7 inmates have been baptized in my absence as the fire blazes across the country

Dedza Prison, 23 converts

Maula Prison, 24 converts comprising 6 women and 18 men

Kachere Prison, 16 converts

Dowa Prison, 15 converts

Ntchisi Prison, 29 converts

Kasungu Prison, 19 converts. After my departure 5 more were baptized

Mzuzu Prison, 27 converts

Rumphi 25, after my departure 46 more were baptized by the brethren I had left there.

Karonga 36 including Police officer-in-charge’s wife

Chitipa 24

Nkhata Bay where I met Morton Kalefya. I was putting up in his parents’ home who now are believers after I baptized them.

And finally Nkhotakota 63 converts and that was the climax

“I would stay for 3 or 4 days at one place. As for what I was eating I’ll not disclose. God is the boss and was taking care of me. When you have God you have everything so long as you get into His system. Don’t dare mimic what I do unless God has indeed commissioned you otherwise your family will be broken.

“My son, Branham Gomera was also ministering in prisons. He went to Bvumbwe and Thyolo and I joined him last Friday and from his work 30 prisoners have been baptized. Some more will be baptized next week. Please keep praying for me. There’s still more to be done.”

Now all those converts repented their sins and got baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the Bible, Acts 2:38.

Do you want to help Bro Nelson Gomera reach out to the lost? Any coin you contribute will go a long way in saving a soul somewhere. Leave your email address below or write to opharaohiyana@gmail.com and we’ll get in touch with you. May God bless you.

..... and here she come with both legs just as normal as she could be, her hands up in the air, glorifying God

10 Never forget that night, a little Finnish girl…I… They took me into the dormitory, and such as it was. And I didn't know the little thing. And her picture's in the book back there. So she'd had one leg about four or five inches shorter than the other one. She had a big shoe built up beneath it. She had a brace around her here, and a strap in the end of her bad foot went across her shoulder, and she had two crutches. And she'd just come out of the ladies' rest room when I was going through, and these little Finnish soldiers coming in. I was remarking, trying to talk to them, pointing my finger to them Russians there, how they were respecting Deity. And so when we got inside, this little woman, little girl, come out of the ladies' rest room. They'd been saying, "Don't nobody touch." I like kids, and I'd get all of them of an afternoon when the brethren was holding the meetings, and they'd all get in. I'd get some of that Finnish money and get out there. I had a drove of kids all the way up and down the street, buying them candy. I—I like kids.

11 And so this little girl had stepped out… She thought she'd done wrong, she stepped out to where I was, and she stopped. And she held her head down, a little ragged looking hair, and her little skirts ragged. I learned later that she was a little Finnish orphan. She had no father or mother, and so… They'd been killed in the war. And when she seen me, I was going in this way, and she was standing on that side, and she ducked her little head down. And I stopped. The two soldiers behind me motioned on, and they was already singing, "Only Believe." But I just waited. I knowed that kid wanted something. And she looked over to me again, raised up her little face and looked. I couldn't speak her language, so I motioned my finger to her. She come over there where I was at. When she started… The way she'd have to walk, she'd set these two crutches out, take her little shoulder and raise up that foot and set it out like that, then walk; then raise her little shoulder up and set that crippled foot out. I thought I'd just watch that child. It's amazing to watch children. And I watched her, and she kept getting closer, closer, closer.

12 I just stood still, and them soldiers just turned around to watch. And when she got real close to me, she stopped. She looked at me, and she took her little hand and reached down, picked up my coat, kissed the pocket of my coat, let it down. I just watched her. She looked up, and the tears standing in her little eyes. And she took her little crutches, and held herself, and pulled her little skirt out (which is very Finnish), said, "Kiitos." That means, "Thank you." I looked at her, and I thought, "If I'd be the biggest hypocrite in the world, God would answer that child's faith." I started to turn. I seen her going then in a vision walking away from me, normal. I turned around. I said, "Sweetheart," and she kept saying, "Kiitos." She couldn't hear a word I was saying. I said, "Honey, Jesus Christ makes you well." She said, "Kiitos, kiitos," and they kept pushing me. I said, "Well, someday she'll find it out."

13 After I'd had a great big, long prayer line, crutches and things piled everywhere, the Lord revealing to the people and calling them out through the audience, my brother said, "You've had enough now. We've got to preach again tomorrow." So he come to get me, and I said, "Just call just a few more cards." And when he did, the next one on the platform was that little girl. She had—she had her crutches. I said to Mrs. Isaacson (and she may be setting here today), I said, "Mrs. Isaacson, just say what I say." I said, "Honey, out there in the hall Jesus made you well. Have some of the ministers take that brace off of you. Watch what happens." And when they went over there to take it off, I prayed for about another person, and here she come with both legs just as normal as she could be, her hands up in the air, glorifying God. Far as I know, the little thing lives in Finland today, because…

 62-0722 - "Show Us The Father And It Will Suffice Us" Rev. William Marrion Branham

If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty.

2 Kings 1:1-18 KJV
 [1] Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. [2] And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. [3] But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? [4] Now therefore thus saith the Lord , Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.

[5] And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back? [6] And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord , Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. [7] And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words? [8] And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

 [9] Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down. [10] And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. [11] Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. [12] And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

 [13] And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. [14] Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. [15] And the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king. [16] And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord , Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. [17] So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.

I was bitten this morning about eleven o'clock. This is eleven o'clock this afternoon. The God that could protect me this long, can protect me the rest of the way through

........ I see Brother Welch Evans and his wife setting back there, and family, from Tifton, Georgia. Every time I speak at the Tabernacle that man drives a trip of fifteen hundred miles, him and his family, every Sunday to hear the Gospel. Brother Welch, I just wished you and Sister Evans, family there, would stand up just a minute. Fifteen hundred miles… Thank you. 

 5 I remember very well first time seeing Brother Evans. Brother Mercier said, "There's a man wants to meet you in the morning." I was in Philadelphia when it taken place, and when I was getting up out of the bed I saw the man. And he's kind of a sportsman, likes to fish. And I saw him doing a violation. So the morning when I met him I told Meda about it. She said, "You wouldn't say that to that strange man." I said, "I'll find out what he is first." So then, after talking to him, seeing he was just a real fellow, I said, "Say, just recently you was on a fishing trip back, like in a bayou. You had a whole sack full of fish, and you had to hide them three times to keep away from the game warden." My. Looked at me, said, "Yes, sir. I—I…" What—what… He wondered what I was going to say. I said, "There's just one request. Will you take me fishing back there?" 

 6 His brother had been bitten by a snake back there, which is a ground rattler. I don't know whether they have them here in Louisiana or not. And he's a nasty little thing. And that boy, hospitalized (he's not a Christian, young, little younger than Brother Evans here), and he had to have a brace on his leg—walked on a hoop, months. And so, right back in the same place… You know, the Lord kinda told me to go back there. And I—I caught some of the finest bass (Oh, my.), great big fellows. And I had one great big one hooked on, was trying to get him out with a bumblebee popper, you know, and so… And he was so big, his mouth about like that, and that little bumblebee in there. He'd stand right up on his tail (you fishermen know), and he'd flip that thing out. And you just have to hold it. If you don't, you pull it out, and kinda hard. He was angry, and I throwed it back, and had him on three or four times. He'd have been a twelve, fourteen, pound fish. So Brother Evans seen me. And oh, he's just a good country boy, you know—had his trouser legs rolled up, 'cause he'd gotten wet. And so he said, "He must be old Big Jim." I said, "He sure must." So I threw out again, and I—I got one. He said, "That's him." I said, "No, now not quite him." It was a nice bass. 

 7 And we carried little pistols on our hips, because you had to fight your way through alligators and—and cottonmouths to get in there, just swamp, seventeen thousand acres in this ranch. And it's been… A dredge line went through, and that years ago. And that's where we was fishing. And so, we was had to wade through water and everything to get in there, and gators, snakes, just in wads. And so, we'd take a pole, and move around. If we seen a ground rattler, just shoot him, and then just walk on in the water (See?), keep on going, 'cause he'd be laying on top of the lily, or something, coiled ready to strike.

 8 So Brother Welch said, "I'll pick him up, your fish." And he jumped off in some little tules and pads there. And when he did, a ground rattler grabbed him, just about, oh, about a half a mile from where his brother had got bitten. Well, he jumped out of the water there with two holes in his leg—foot, just above, like that, where the snake fang had hit. And he said his bones was freezing in him. Now, if you've seen his size, he's lots bigger than I am. And I'd have to pack him about two mile on my back, get him out of there. That was too much for me. And we was setting there, him holding it, suffering. And the Lord just spoke to me, said a Scripture: "They shall tread on the heads of serpents and scorpions; nothing shall harm them." I said, "Just a minute, Brother Evans." I put my hand over on the snakebite on his foot. I said, "Heavenly Father, we are in a state of emergency. And it is written, 'If they take up serpents, or if they tread on the heads, it will not harm them.' That was for believers, and this brother is a believer. And I'm a believer. And we ask for Your mercy." He stopped kind of breathing and suffering the way he was. And I thought he's just in respects of the prayer. When I got finished, he was laughing. Said, "All the pain's gone." Just put on his shoes and went on. 

9 At eleven o'clock that night, they were out there taking pictures when we got to the place where we were staying, the motel, come back out of the ranch. His brother runs a bait shop then, just across the street. Well, they was over there taking pictures of these big strings of, of these large mouth bass. And so he said… While we were standing there the story come up about the snakebite. His brother said, "It's good to be religious, but not good to be foolish." He said—he said, "You better get to medical aid right now." See? 'cause he was on a hoop from the same kind of a bite. He said, "I was bitten this morning about eleven o'clock. This is eleven o'clock this afternoon. The God that could protect me this long, can protect me the rest of the way through." So there you are. See, He still… He still protects from snakebites.

 62-1125M - "Convinced And Then Concerned" Rev. William Marrion Branham