The Lord blessed us with a beautiful warm and sunny day on the second day of the open house. Many of the believers went to the VGR first to tour the facility, but most lined up outside of the building again and eagerly awaited the second day of fellowship.
At 9:00, we walked to the doors and listened as the believers outside sang Amazing Grace. The last verse was sung, and we opened the doors. Yesterday, many stood in line for hours to purchase the new products, so today they went directly to the displays.
Shouts of Hallelujah echoed through the auditorium as Brother Mali gave testimony of at least fifty people being baptized every Sunday at his church in Congo. Some of these churches have over ten thousand members and the numbers are growing every day. He pointed his hand out and recognized his audience as the people who are behind this great work of God.
Brother Calva folded his hands and gave the testimony of a police officer in Mexico who could not control the shaking of his hands because of his long-time abuse of drugs. The man walked through the market place and noticed a vendor selling cassette tapes. Among the rock and roll cassettes laying on the ground, he noticed a cassette with a man holding a Bible. He bought the tape, but he had no idea what the minister was talking about. He played it again. Still, he did not understand. Something kept telling him to play the tape again. Finally, his candle sparked to life! The shaking stopped, and he had no desire to use drugs again. The brother is now filled with the Holy Ghost and believes the Message with all his heart.
On the other side of the building, there are a few very special displays. The first area has Brother Branham's Bible laying on his pulpit. This is the same pulpit that floated to the ceiling of the Branham Tabernacle during the 1937 flood. Next to the pulpit is a large cast-iron stove. People once huddled around this stove to stay warm while Brother Branham brought the Message in the Milltown Baptist church.
The next display was an exact replica of Brother Branham's bedroom when he went beyond the curtain of time. As he was caught up, he looked down and saw his body laying on this very bed. The same furniture that was in his room on that day was in the display area.
Like the bedroom, the den room was built to the exact dimensions. Brother Branham's silvertip grizzly and 42 inch caribou were brought from Arizona, and “Blondie,” his trusty .270, is hanging on the wall. The chair where Brother Branham spent hours in study is sitting in the corner. The furniture in the room was there when the Angel of the Lord revealed the Seven Seals to Brother Branham.
The shooting range displayed the rifle that was bored into a .257 Weatherby magnum, and then blew up on the gun range. The mangled pieces gave an idea of the power that was released when the bullet exploded inside the rifle. The target at the end of the range showed Brother Branham's shooting skills, as he drove six bullets into a tiny group at 100 yards on a windy day.
Again, there is simply too much to tell in this brief article. We will post more in the days to come. We are looking forward to the climax of the Easter gathering tomorrow, when we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The people have high expectations and we all know what happens when we come expecting great things.