SID: Hello. Sid Roth here with Bonnie and Mahesh Chavda. And we found out that Mahesh, coming from a Hindu background, is struggling. Because just like in a Jewish background like mine, or a Muslim background, when someone comes to believe in Jesus, it’s not a lukewarm type of commitment. You’re either in or you’re out. And there’s family to consider. And so, he was counting the cost, and all of a sudden he felt… I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but it sounds to me like what you said was you felt yourself slipping out of your body. Your head hit the table, but you were in heaven.
MAHESH: Yeah, my consciousness was. Who I was, was in heaven. I didn’t know it was heaven, but later on I found out that was heaven. But one of the great things I remember so clearly was the light there was living light. It was not just the light that we have here, or where we go out in the sunlight. It was light, but living. And it had sound in it, as well as illumination. It was music and harmony. Everything was perfect. And then the light got brighter and brighter. That light, I could know… If there was one word the light was saying to me, or one sentence, it was “I love you. I love you. I love you.” I could sense love all over. Thousands of beams of light hitting me at the same time saying “I love you.” Then I saw the light get brighter, and then there was a light that was brighter than ten thousand suns. It did not hurt my eyes. And in that light was Jesus Christ, and He walked towards me with a smile, and put His hand on my shoulder and said “My little brother.” And I knew who He was. I knew I met my Lord, my God. And I knew the truth I was seeking was a person named Jesus Christ. It was like instant. I knew that my life belonged to Him, because He had died for me.
SID: You know, I’m going to fast forward just a little bit, and Mahesh becomes a pastor. A single pastor. And Bonnie becomes a believer in the Messiah, but she’s got a problem. What was your problem Bonnie?
BONNIE: Well, just as, I think, a result of some relationships that I’d had and things that I’d been involved in, there began to be some rather hairy and scary supernatural things that were happening around me. Fearful things, dark things. And as I was struggling with this, it would even include the sense of hearing voices, feeling oppressed; unusual things that were out of my control. And I was sharing with a young friend of mine about this one day, and she said “Oh, I know a man who actually can help you with that problem.” And I said “Take me to your leader.” And so that’s how Mahesh and I met.
SID: Well, at this point Mahesh, you had been fasting for 40 days many times. How in the world did you start to fast for 40 days? That’s not a normal thing done here in the west.
MAHESH: I started fasting when I was working at a state school for mentally handicapped children, and there was one little child that was so burdened and oppressed, and he would hit himself all the time. Chronologically 16, but mentally about a year and a half, or 2. And I heard the Lord say “This kind does not come out except through prayer and fasting.” And so, I fasted. That time it was 14 days. And when I prayed for that little boy, he got completely free. He was crippled, and he started walking, and he stopped mutilating himself. And so I’d learned the truth, that is there’s a healing and deliverance that comes when we start praying and fasting, not only for ourselves, but for others to be set free.
SID: So Bonnie, were you set free when he prayed for you?
BONNIE: Yes, that’s exactly right. I came to Mahesh, he was then a pastor, explained my problem. He said, “Young lady, you need deliverance.” And sat me down in a chair, proceeded to put his hands on me, prayed for me in the Name of Jesus, and I was more astounded than anyone when I actually saw figures of three frogs that sort of came out of my mouth and hopped off. And I know that the people around me didn’t necessarily see that, but I could see something real in the spirit realm that had been oppressing me, that I had opened my life to. And in the Name of Jesus, now had left.
SID: And how long did this take? Was it a real long period of time?
BONNIE: 15 minutes.
SID: And you’re free. You go in a prisoner and you walk out free.
BONNIE: Absolutely, absolutely.
SID: It’s good to be free.
BONNIE: It’s good to be free. And you know, it convinced me of a further reality of the spiritual realm that’s all around us. There’s good and there’s bad.
SID: Just like Mahesh had an encounter, you had an encounter. He’s single, you’re single.
And you found out some interesting information. What was that?
BONNIE: Well umm, one day I came home from work. After some of these kind of encounters with the Lord, I realized Jesus is very real. And I believe that every human being is looking for communion with God.
SID: Of course.
BONNIE: And in that search, suddenly there was Jesus, very, very real in my life. And so, I had a little habit. I would go to work, and then I would come home in the evening and I would spend a little bit of time just meditating on God or reading the Bible, or something like that. And I was doing that as I usually did, and suddenly the room began to fill with something that looked like… You know, you see these smoke machines that they use in the movies and all of that. And there was a literal mist that began to fill up the room. And in a few minutes, the figure of the Lord was standing… I can’t explain it. He was about 16 feet tall, but He fit somehow in the 8 foot ceiling of my apartment. And His presence, His glory, filled the room beyond words. I was saturated with a sense of the reality and holiness and wonder and love and joy of God. His eternal sense, I felt eternal at that moment. And after a bit, that presence just sort of receded. And as He receded, He said “You’re going to be married soon.”
SID: Did He say who?
BONNIE: No, He didn’t say!
SID: I tell you what, we’ll come back in just a moment, and you’re going to find out who she was going to marry. I think you already know. But you’re also going to find out about a dead person that comes back to life – literally. Don’t go away.
