And these signs shall follow them that believe; in My Name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Mark 16:17-18

"Hold on tight, Anna..." I heard Melchour say as he started the motorcycle.

"I-uh... I'm fine..." I forced a laugh. "I have something to hold on to back here so I guess this'll do."

"Anna... I'd feel much more at ease if you hold on to me, we wouldn't know what might happen. It's better to be safe."

He does have a point; I know I should listen to him but the thought of having my arms around his waist for an hour and a half made the butterflies in my stomach fly. How could I actually bring myself to do that? As I heard the engines of the motor come alive, however, I knew instantly I had to swallow my pride.

"A-alright, then..." My hand shivered as I slowly wrapped my arms around his waist. The scent of his shirt smelt of a fabric conditioner I couldn't remember. Oh good heavens, how am I supposed to keep my heart from feeling these silly emotions if these kinds of things continue to happen!?

"Are you ready?" My thoughts altered as I heard his voice.

"Yes, I am." I saw a smile form on his lips as we felt the motorcycle advance. The wind blew aggressively against us as the motorcycle entered the main road. Oh Lord, would you please steady my heart?

The church workers scurried around to prepare food and other needs for the service. It's been a long time since we had Pastor Melchour visit our church and everyone is excited for what the Lord has in mind for the activity tonight. The church leaders had planned this event thoroughly, after all. No wonder everybody is anticipating what's going to happen. It must've been a few minutes over 4 pm when the busyness intensified even more.

As I went out to check the speakers the view of what seems to be a motorcycle carrying a man and a woman arrived. I narrowed my gaze towards them.

Is that Pastor Melchour? Hmm, wasn't he supposed to be accompanied by Pastor Ryan? As the two came closer however it became clear that it was indeed a woman that accompanied Pastor Melchour. The fair, Long- haired girl walked a step behind him as they made their way closer to the church.

"Hey! Glad you've arrived safely, Pastor. Who's the beautiful lady?" I slowly approached them and stretched out my hand.

"Oh her name's Johanna, a new worship leader in the main church. Pastor Ryan couldn't come because his wife was brought to the hospital a while ago..." Pastor Melchour replied as he shook my hand.

"Oh! Oh my, what happened?"

"She fell off the stairs. I called Pastor Ryan earlier and he said she's fine, she had a minor injury in her left arm that's all."

"Oh... that's a relief. Thank God nothing serious happened!" I turned my gaze towards the woman before I spoke. "By the way, my name is Rebeccah it's a pleasure to meet you, Johanna..." The young woman began to smile as I reached out my hand towards her.

"The pleasure's mine. Might I say the way you decorated the front of the church is just lovely," she replied as she took my hand; her striking coal-black eyes surveying the place...

"Oh thank you, I'm glad you found it beautiful. Well, it's purely the youth ministry's effort, they're the ones who are into these things."

"Nice," She breathed, still probing the place.

"Yeah. So, I'm assuming that since Pastor Ryan isn't here... you're the one who's going to lead the worship?" I asked, to which I saw her nod in confirmation.

"Perfect, the musicians had been waiting for you. You have an hour to practice before the service begins."

"Okay," She took in a breath, "Got it,"

"Pastor Melchour? I guess I'm going to have to steal her away from now, Pastor Roger is waiting for you at his office."

"Sure! Do take care of her though, okay?" Pastor Melchour chuckled as he replied, "I'll see you later, Anna..." He gave the lady a quick smile and left for the minister's office. I couldn't help my lips as it curved to a smile, noticing the clear attraction he had on the girl.

"See you!" Johanna then turned her attention to me as we began to walk to the platform. I couldn't blame the man if he actually liked her, her mere presence emitted a proof of a gentle spirit. I just wonder, though, how Clara would react if she saw...

"For anybody who wants to receive the anointing of the Lord; come, come to the altar... catch the fire of the Holy Ghost!" the voice of Melchour resounded loudly even to the walls of the church. Sobs and cries of hunger resounded as the musicians continually played.

As I began to sing, I felt the Presence of the Lord dominate the place. I watched as the people fell backwards to his touch, responding to God's anointing upon his hand. Inside, I felt my heart hunger for more... somehow I wanted to be used the way he was. 

Out of the crowd, I saw a woman with crutches make her way to the altar. As she arrived, I saw Melchour lay his hands on her, the woman in tears shivered as she was being prayed for.

She must've needed strength; to be in such a dreadful condition must've been hard. Certainly, the strength only God can bring would greatly help her. Suddenly, as Melchour took his hands away, the clutches she held on to fell to the ground. To my surprise, however, the woman remained upright. My gaze widened at the sight. What just happened!?

I felt tears run down my face as I saw the woman begin to walk upright without her crutches; the joy painted on her face was inexplicable.

God is truly amazing! Shouts of adoration resounded in the church, the more we shouted, the more the Presence of God seemed to increase.

I lifted my voice in worship, tears of joy incessant from my eyes.

I want more Lord, I want more!

"Johanna..." I saw her turn around at the sound of my voice. "Thank you, for being willing to support me tonight." A smile was drawn from her face as she heard my words.

Fascination gripped me as I gazed upon her, how even more radiant she becomes in the night time.

I then turned towards the motorcycle, pulling the keys out as she began to walk towards the church's gate.

"Oh! So glad you guys were back safely!" I turned my head, glad as Pastor Fernando occupied my vision.

"Yes Pastor, Praise God. The service went well, thanks to His Grace and the efforts of the church." I saw a relieved smile form in Pastor Fernando's lips as he shook my hand.

"Well, Glory to God for that! By the way, how are you and your lady here?" I saw Johanna jolt her head up as she heard Pastor Fernando's words.

"Huh?"

"The lady, I mean..." He chuckled, "Please forgive this old man, my tongue is killing me! Must've sensed something coming. Well! Uh, I guess I need to get going now. You two should get inside, Marina and Trina are inside doing some stuff."

I scratched my head in wonder. What in the world?

"Ow-kay," I breathed "Well! Have a wonderful night, Pastor!"

"Likewise, son!" He waved and began to walk away.

"Manung" I turned my gaze as I heard Johanna speak,  "Let's get inside its quite cold in here..."

"Oh! Of course... let's get going then. Here, use my jacket for a while, wouldn't want to see you catch a cold." I took off my jacket and handed it to her. She must've felt cold in the motorcycle all this time.

"Oh," For a while she seemed only to stare at the garment, "O-okay,"

The faint voices of Pastor Marina and Trina heightened as we walked in the Pastoral House. They must've been doing some preparation for the anniversary next week.

"Oh hey, there you two are! How was the service?" Pastor Marina asked as she gave us both a hug.

"Well, it was successful, glory to God; we even had the privilege of seeing God heal a woman who couldn't walk all her life!" I replied in excitement.

"Wow, really? Amazing! You have to tell us all about it!" Pastor Trina exclaimed as she approached us.

"Let me guess, it was you whom God had used again this time isn't it, Melchour?" A smile was formed in Melchour's lips as he heard Pastor Marina's question.

"It was all because of God, Pastor... I couldn't have done it without Him..." Pastor Marina gave Melchour a tap in the back as she began to speak.

"Well, doesn't He, always?" The experience went over my mind as we headed to the couch. Today I had seen a great miracle happen, and seeing it happen in front of my face reminded me that God is really a God miracles.

"So! I can't wait to hear the full story... but before that, you can go ahead and freshen up first Anna... I heard you'll be sleeping here tonight so I've prepared extra clothes for you. They're in the bathroom." What Pastor Trina said gave me a sense of relief, for a moment I thought I'd be sleeping in a dress.

"Oh, thanks much! I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Dearie, go ahead." I placed my bag on the couch and headed to the bathroom.

Gosh, my feet are killing me. I quickly entered the bathroom and began to freshen up. And as soon as I got the clothes on I made my way back to the living room and found Pastor Trina and Marina trying on some long skirts.

"So Johanna, as you've probably been informed, next Sunday will be our church anniversary so it's expected that there'll be a lot of presentations, from the outreach churches and even from us." Pastor Marina began to explain. "The presentation for women in our church would be the tambourine dance piece we've prepared. Would you like to join us for that?"

"I'd love to, Pastor, but... I don't know a thing about tambourine dancing..." I replied as I took a hold of the skirt she's handing me.

"Oh don't worry about it; we have the whole week to teach you the steps." She replied with a smile. "Oh and by the way, the dress code for the worship team is ethnic attire, do you have your own tapis or would you borrow from the other church members?"

"Oh really? How nice of the church leaders to have come up with such a wonderful idea! I do have my own Ethnic Attire Pastor. I've got that part covered."

I respired in delight at the news. I've always had been proud of my culture, so being given the chance to show a parcel of it in the church gave me a sense of bliss; looks like this week's going to be a very exciting week, indeed.