When Hunger Meets the Holy Spirit: Pastor Sam’s Kenya Testimony

Dr. Gilbert

Tuesday, March 31

7:00 am

Dr Daniel & Mary Beth Gilbert

There’s a moment in ministry when you stop teaching and start witnessing—when the truth of Scripture doesn’t just land in minds, but grips hearts like a fire.

"I felt the grace of God for healing going through my hands. She began to cry as God brought relief to her. All the pain in her hip had gone."

Pastor Sam Lee, of Eden Tree Churches recently did a ministry trip with EmPowered Living and experienced that fire in Kenya.

His words carry the weight of what God did during our Intensive Bible Training in Siaya.

A Hunger That Gripped Us All

“What I saw during our time teaching was such hunger and faith in the people in attendance.

There was such a love for the truth of the Scriptures. I felt it grip my heart one morning as I was in prayer for our intensive week.”

This wasn’t just another conference. The pastors and leaders who gathered—some traveling hours by bus or motorcycle taxi—didn’t come for casual inspiration.

They came hungry.

And hunger like that doesn’t just listen.

It responds.

The Weight of God’s Presence

“In one of the sessions, we felt such a weight of God’s presence as we closed one of the teachings in prayer. People didn’t want the session to end.”

Have you ever been in a room where the air itself feels thick with the Holy Spirit? Where time seems to pause because no one wants to leave the presence of God?

That’s what happened in Kenya.

Pastor Sam, Dr. Gilbert, and the team prayed for healing and deliverance. And God moved.

One translator collapsed, overwhelmed by the Spirit. A woman sitting off to the side, her face etched with pain, caught Sam’s attention. She had a walker beside her.

A Healing That Still Echoes

“I saw a woman sitting off to the side. I noticed her face in earnest prayer and pain. She had a walker next to her. I approached her, and she shared that her hip and legs had been in a lot of pain for an extended period of time. I knelt next to her and began to pray for her. I felt the grace of God for healing going through my hands. She began to cry as God brought relief to her. All the pain in her hip had gone. She got up with some help and was feeling no pain in her hips and legs. The next few days, we kept checking, and she shared that she was well.”

This is the kind of story that doesn’t just stay in Kenya.

It travels.

It testifies.

It reminds us that God is just as present in the bush under a tent as He is in the grandest cathedral.

Why This Matters

Pastor Sam’s testimony isn’t just about a healing. It’s about what happens when hunger meets the Holy Spirit. When people who have sacrificed so much to be there encounter the living God—not just in theory, but in power.

This is why EmPowered Living exists.

Not just to teach, but to equip.

Not just to gather, but to transform.

And not just for a week, but for a lifetime.

The woman with the walker? She’s walking in freedom today.

The pastors who came hungry? They’re feeding others with the same truth that gripped their hearts.

And the ripple effect? It’s just beginning.

This Story Has Your Name on It

Because of you, a woman in Kenya left her walker behind. Because of you, pastors traveled for hours to receive training they couldn’t get anywhere else. Because of you, the Holy Spirit moved in power under that tent in Siaya.

This isn’t just our mission—it’s yours. You didn’t just support this work. You made it possible. And the ripple effect? It’s just getting started.

Because when you invest in a leader, you don’t just change a life—you change a generation.