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Posted by barrykind (Member # 35) on :

Pastor Says God Saved Town From Fire

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The pastor of a nondenominational full gospel church in an Arizona town that was threatened last month with the largest wildfire in the state's history says God spared his community.
After starting in two locations on June 18 and June 20 and burning across 468,638 acres and 732 square miles, the blaze was finally declared fully contained Sunday because of several breaks in the fire, the Associated Press reported. The wildfire, which caused at least $28 million in damage, prompted the evacuation of 30,000 people from nine communities and destroyed 467 homes. Although the blaze was on its doorstep, Show Low, home of 7,700 people, escaped the flames.

Tony Whittal, who along with his wife, Dee, has led 150-member Word of Life Ministries International in Show Low for more than four years, said he called a prayer meeting on June 19, a day after the first fire broke out on an Apache Indian reservation. "We prayed the scriptures, the promises of God and for Him to take authority over this area," said Whittal, 63, who is originally from Zimbabwe, Africa. "We got an assurance that night that our homes would not be touched and this town would not be burned."

Five days after it started, the fire inexplicably stopped half a mile from city limits. "We believe this fire had a spiritual connotation," Whittal said. His congregation received a prophecy months earlier that there would be a catastrophic event in the area, he added. "Person after person told us there was something evil about this fire. We believe it was a spiritual battle. And we won because of the large amount of prayers from people everywhere."

Luke 9:11, Word of Life's feeding ministry, whose name is based on Jesus feeding the 5,000, also helped during the crisis, serving more than 10,000 meals to police volunteers and law enforcement personnel during a 10-day period. Other congregations from Show Low and outside the area worked alongside his church. "The unity that has come out of this has been absolutely incredible," Whittal said. "Churches have joined together."