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The Emmanuel Celebration, organised by the National Evangelical Christian
Fellowship (NECF) and 1,600 churches in Malaysia, was held at the National Stadium at Bukit Jalil,
Kuala Lumpur, from December 11 to 13, 1999. The following is a report on the final
night of the three-night celebration carried by a local newspaper on Tuesday, 14 December.
Christians gather for celebration
KUALA LUMPUR: With swaying hips and raised hands, thousands of Christians of various
denominations thronged the National Stadium here over the last three days in a celebration of
song and praise.
They came from all walks of life, young and old, to see and hear the
preaching of a stocky Argentine evangelist.
Yesterday, even Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik and his
wife Ena were among some 25,000 people who came for the last night of a three-night “Emmanuel
Celebration.”
After the Gospel singing and dancing led by a well-oiled team from the
National Evangelical Christian Fellowship, Anacondia kept the crowd entranced with his
speech for two hours.
With the help of a translator by his side, Carlos Anacondia transcended
language barriers as he railed in Spanish against evil and beseeched believers to
come to God.
He paced in an animated fashion, which many have likened to American
evangelist Billy Graham.
The highlight of the celebration last night was a mass prayer and healing
session which saw many people fainting.
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They did not faint ...
“They did not faint,” the pastor said quite emphatically, referring to the newspaper report.
“No one fainted.”
The pastor was at my house on Wednesday morning to give Bible lessons to my daughter. It was a queer
coincidence. Almost simultaneously, both of us, the pastor
and I, mentioned that the word “fainting” was used to describe what
believers know as being “slain by the Holy Spirit”.
(My wife, our second son and his girlfriend, and our daughter attended the third night of the
celebration on Monday. I was not able to go because of work, and that was why
our conversation turned to the Emmanuel Celebration.)
On Sunday morning, I heard that policemen on duty at the stadium on Saturday night had
wanted to get the event cancelled when they saw many people “fainting” on the field.
I think I understand how they must have felt seeing people fall like dominoes. Fortunately,
they allowed the event to go on after it was explained to them what was actually
happening to those people who appeared to have fainted.
I have been curious about this phenomenon of being “slain by the Holy Spirit” ever
since I first witnessed it some three months ago. Like the policemen at the stadium, I was
initially concerned for those who had this sort of experience.
Another pastor I spoke to did not like to use the term “slain by the Holy Spirit.” He
felt this could give the wrong
connotation, especially since the experience is invariably peaceful and blissful, and the
person is none the worse for it when he or she gets up again. This pastor felt it
might be better to describe the experience as “falling down under the power of the Holy Spirit.”
According to him, a person so “touched by God” has the sensation of feeling light. The person
feels weak in the legs and falls backwards. At Sunday services and other prayer meetings,
church workers and fellow church members are prepared for this, and there is always someone
to catch and “soften” the fall of the person. If the person happens to be standing in front of a chair
at the time, he or she just slumps onto the chair, and hardly anyone makes a fuss about it.
Unlike someone who has fainted, the person is conscious and is fully aware of what goes
on around him/her. It might appear that the person has fainted as he/she lies still on the
floor, with eyes shut. This lasts from roughly five to 20 minutes (so far as I can
tell from those incidences that I have
witnessed). I am told some people laugh for joy while others are so moved by this intense
spiritual experience that they weep. A young woman who has had this experience told me
that she also felt a “pleasant stomach cramp” when it happened to her.
This is not the sort of thing one reads about every day. There is scant mention
or reference to this particular spiritual experience in secular
writings. So, it is quite understandable that most people who see it for the first
time mistake it for fainting. Though I have previously read of it happening at evangelical events
in other countries, I saw it for the first time at the Charles
Doss healing crusade on 4 and 5 September, 1999. I am told there are only a few references
to it in the Holy Bible, but there are many references to the “baptism in the Holy
Spirit” which is yet another intense spiritual experience. – Chin Fah Shin
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P.S. This webpage was completed for the first time and uploaded to the Angelfire
server on Saturday morning (18 December). Since then I have had the experience of being
“slain by the Holy Spirit”. It happened at altar call at the Sunday church service
on 19 December. So, I can now speak from personal experience.
I was fully conscious during
the entire episode. When I felt my legs getting weak, I tried
to tilt my body forward to regain my balance. At that instant, just for a very brief
moment, I felt weightless. Just for a very brief moment, I felt as if I was “lifting
off”.
Then I realised that I was falling
backwards. I could not open my eyes until some time later, but all the while
I could hear the pastor’s prayer
and the singing of the congregation.
I did not get a “pleasant stomach cramp” like
the young woman did. Yes, I am not
ashamed to say this, I cried. At the time of writing this postscript, some 18 hours after
the “event”, I
still feel kind of dazed, or woolly. But my mind is clear enough for me to set down
in writing what happened to me on Sunday, 19 December, 1999 at about 12.30pm.
I want to thank Pastor Hong Seng for delivering a sermon which “found its
mark” where I am concerned and for his prayer, and also Pastor Hock Huat who prayed
for (and over?) me. I am not sure who “caught” me, but whoever it was I want to
thank him or her. May God bless them all.
Praise the Lord!
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P.P.S. 9 January, 2000. At the Sunday church service today, I “fell under the
power of the Holy Spirit”. This was my second such experience. Again I was fully conscious
all the while as I lay on the floor, and
I could hear brother (in Christ) Kean Loong as he prayed for me, and also the singing of the congregation.
I want to thank brother Kean Loong and Pastor Jenn Bang, who was my “catcher”.
I also want to thank Pastor Hock Huat for his sermon entitled "Check Your Foundation" based
on Matthew 7:24-27. May God bless them all. Praise the Lord!
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“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise
man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came and the winds
blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But
everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man
who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds
blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” – Matthew 7:24-27
(NKJ)
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P.P.S. 20 February, 2000. I fell (or was slain) for the third time at altar call
at the Sunday church service today. As I fell backwards, I hit some chairs in the
front row of seats but was not hurt. This time around, I was down on the floor for
a shorter duration. I got up again after the experience and re-joined the congregation
in singing.
I wish to thank brother (in Christ) Jack Cheah for praying for me at altar call.
I also wish to thank Pastor Hock Huat for his sermon entitled “Power from On High” based
on Luke 24:49. May God bless them all.
Praise the Lord!
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“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until
you are endued with power from on high.” – Luke 24:49 (NKJ)
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P.P.S. 12 March, 2000. I fell for the fourth time at altar call
at the Sunday church service today. Unlike the three previous occasions, no one in particular
was praying (one-on-one) for me this time. The entire congregation was praying
after Pastor Hong Seng had asked everyone to come forward and
pray together for everybody. So, the
entire front part of the hall was taken up. I was standing in one of the aisles (with my
wife beside me) when I fell.
At that point, most of the people in the congregation were
“breaking out in tongues”. It happened quite unexpectedly. I felt a slight “knotting
up” of my tummy and suddenly I was falling over backwards.
My spectacle case flew out of my shirt pocket, and I hit some chairs but,
like the third occasion, that did not hurt me. No one “caught” me, but I might
have knocked against someone behind me as I fell over
backwards. I hope he wasn’t hurt also.
My apologies to whoever that might me.
Pastor Hong Seng’s sermon for the day was entitled “How to
Enjoy the Favour of God”. Below, I quote a paragraph from the sermon notes.
Praise the Lord!
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“The favour of God will cause people to go out of their way to bless you
without even knowing why they are doing it. People just want to bless you. God
is behind it all.”
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He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son
of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of
the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue
to believe in the name of the Son of God.
