Spiritual development
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
The source of all blessing and prosperity is our Heavenly Father, and the core of real life change and character development is found in a vital relationship with the author of life. Our spiritual development programs will focus on assisting people to mature in this relationship. We will teach people to imitate Christ in their daily lives. And we will encourage them to use the blessings and power God has given them, both natural and supernatural, to bless others.
SHUBHAM'S MAGIC DISH TOWEL
Shubham was the six year old son of a poor Hindu woman; the youngest of three siblings. His father had abandoned them when he was younger, and they now lived in a small room in his grandmother’s house. 
His mother called Neepa one day, frantic because Shubham was dying. He was quite ill with a high fever. She had taken him to a doctor earlier that day. The doctor told her that the boy was dying and that she should take him home to die in peace. She went to a second doctor instead, but he also told her that the boy was dying.
His mother called Neepa one day, frantic because Shubham was dying. He was quite ill with a high fever. She had taken him to a doctor earlier that day. The doctor told her that the boy was dying and that she should take him home to die in peace. She went to a second doctor instead, but he also told her that the boy was dying. Neepa told her to bring the boy to us. At the time I was working nearby so on hearing the news I took one of my believing workers with me and went off to join the prayer. There were about 5 believers who prayed for the semi-conscious Shubham that day. During the prayer the fever broke and he came fully awake. We contacted a doctor friend and brought the boy for testing. The tests showed a very virulent case of typhoid fever. Medicine was given.
The next evening, we again received a frantic call from Shubham’s mother – his fever had spiked very high and the medicine was doing nothing to bring it down. He was again semi-conscious. Neepa called the doctor who suggested that maybe mixing two types of medicine would help. She called Shubham’s mother to come and pick up the other medicine.
In the mean time, I was arguing with the Lord – wasn’t the boy healed? Why should this fever come back? Why should this boy die? Would God do half a job and then quit? In the midst of my tirade a stray thought came through my head – people carrying away handkerchiefs that had touched Paul’s body and using them to heal people. The thought passed through almost unnoticed. Then I paused. If the thought wasn’t from the Lord, what would be the worst that could happen – I would look like a fool. If it was from the Lord, the boy could die if I ignored it. I decided to play the fool. I didn’t have a handkerchief handy. In fact, all I had was a dish towel. Checking to be sure it was clean, I lifted it up to the Lord and prayed over it.
I caught Neepa and Shubham’s mother just as she was leaving. With no preface, I gave her the dish towel and told her to put it on the boys forehead so that he could be healed. Then I explained that I had prayed over the cloth and that the Holy Spirit of Jesus was in it with power to heal.
She went back to the boy and immediately put the dish towel on his head. The fever broke. The boy awoke. All symptoms of the illness left immediately. Shubham was so much better the next day that his mother sent him back to school. The typhoid was completely gone, and has never returned.
Through this marvelous display of God’s grace, Shubham’s entire family has come into faith. Through their enthusiastic witness, a few more souls have also come to faith, bringing the total number to ten – all because God cares whether or not a poor, six year old boy lives or dies.