Isabel Chapman, a native of Scotland, has been on the mission field since the Lord called her in 1980. While most of her time has been in the Philippines, she has also served in America, Russia, Australia, Greece and the Greek Islands, Austria, the Netherlands and Jamaica.

Beginning in 2000 she established Covenant Keepers. The ministry includes a fellowship center, a home for teenage girls, a pre-school where the children are taught the true gospel and a Bible training and divine healing center where people have been healed of many and varied sicknesses.

Isabel discovered Katharine Bushnell years ago but only found the GWTW website recently. She contacted us for information which led to correspondence and friendship. When she shared portions of an unpublished book she has written, it was clear she has a story to tell we all need to hear. Here is the presentation of the first part...
 

Testimony of  Isabel Chapman.

Botany Bay, situated on the North East coast of Scotland, is approximately sixty miles north of Aberdeen where I was born and enjoyed my childhood. As a child I loved God for His wonderful creation that surrounded me. I loved Him for the way He protected the fragile sea anemones from the weight and power of the gigantic high-tide waves. I loved Him for all the beautiful wild flowers, especially the little pansies with their beautifully painted faces. I loved just being alone in His presence by the sea shore. At seven years of age I accepted Jesus as my Shepherd. One day I was walking through the fields, taking a short cut home from school singing the 23rd Psalm which I had been taught in school. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want etc." I believed with all my heart that Jesus was my Shepherd.

Suddenly, the scene changed. The field I was walking through was instantly transformed. I was in a meadow of such exquisite beauty so magnificent and indescribable I gasped in wonder and amazement. The heavenly meadow was strewn with the most beautiful flowers, flowers such as I had never seen. Their beauty and colors were so deep, rich, stately and magnificent--not of this world. Looking up ahead, I saw a figure standing in the meadow. I knew it was my Shepherd, my Lord. His arms were outstretched beckoning me to come to Him.

Instinctively I dropped what I was carrying and ran into His outstretched arms. As I drew near to Him, His hands grasped me around my waist, and He joyfully threw me in the air. He caught me, held me above his head, and said. “You are mine, you belong to me.” Jesus had accepted me as a sheep of His pasture. I belonged to Him.

Then I was back in the same old field, which looked so dull and drab compared to the wondrous beauty of the meadow where I personally met with my Shepherd. I knew then, that God had a special plan and purpose for my life.

As I grew in age, I was convicted of the fact that I was a sinner. A mission came to our village and held children's outreach meetings. We heard the gospel message, "Jesus died as the sacrificial Lamb of God, to pay the full ransom for our sins." With the other children I confessed my sins and accepted Jesus as my Savior. I understood that it was through faith in Jesus' death and holy redeeming blood that our sins were forgiven. Not only were we forgiven, but our sins were annulled. The price of sin was paid, "once for all".

It was explained to us that our sins were imputed to Jesus but also that His righteousness was imputed to us as a gift from God. We all understood and believed that nothing, absolutely nothing, but faith and total trust in the atonement in Christ's death and redeeming blood could give us right standing with God. The gospel, the best news in the world. I was overjoyed, and wanted to spread the good news to my parents, and to every one with whom I came in contact. My parents did not like this change and concluded that I had religious mania. They refused to allow me to continue to go to fellowship. During the following ten years I had no Christian fellowship and was brought up in a pagan environment.

I left home at sixteen years of age and went to work as a nanny. I regularly went to church and read my Bible. However, there was no evidence of the miracle working God I read about in the scriptures at work in the church I attended. In my early thirties I attended a Pentecostal fellowship because I was eager to get to know the miracle working of God of the Bible. His Word was my constant companion, and my greatest desire was to obey the Lord's voice through His Word. In obedience to His command, I was baptized by full immersion baptism.

Some weeks later, I was baptized with Holy Ghost power with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Although I never went to Bible School, God's Word and the Holy Ghost were, and continue to be, my teachers. A desire started to grow within me, I wanted God to use me for His glory, so I dedicated my life to the Lord with a simple prayer. "Lord, all that I am, and all that I have, I give to you. Take me, and use me for your glory." The Lord our God wasted no time. His Spirit spoke to my heart and said, "Give up your secular employment, sell your home, and all you own, and go to the Philippines." In spite of opposition from friends and my pastor, I obeyed the Lord.

I had never been out of the British Isles except for a holiday on the island of Jersey. Finding my self in the tropical islands of the Philippines was quite a cultural shock. The Lord led me into the mountains of Kalinga Apayao which was beyond culture shock--an utter astonishment and amazement to me. I learned to identify with the words of the apostle Paul, "I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Every where and in all things, I have learnt both to be full as well as hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4: 12-13.

The mountains of Kalinga Apayao were dangerous ground. They were the hide out of rebels plotting against the government. They lived by hijacking, and many other unlawful crimes. Also, primitive head hunting tribal warriors lived in the mountain regions. The young men had to prove they had reached manhood by producing a decapitated human head, from another tribe. Other customs and traditions were fulfilled by the barbaric practice of head hunting.

God chose a woman as His vessel to evangelize the remote, primitive, dangerous, head hunting grounds of Northern Luzon. That woman was me, all five foot two inches, of me. There were no roads into the mountainous regions, so it was a safe hide-out for rebels. The only way into those remote, un-evangelized areas was by foot, hiking in tropical heat through the mountain ranges.

We hiked not just one or two hours, but it took a whole day of mountain trekking to reach our first destination. After five hours my back was aching and my leg muscles began to give way. It was impossible; I could not carry on. When the heat of the tropical midday sun was became unbearable, I cried out to the Lord. “Please, God, cover the sun with a black cloud. It is unbearably hot down here. In Jesus name, I ask.” My legs were shaking with sheer effort and exhaustion. I had been an insurance agent before I followed God's call to the Philippines, and was not in the habit of using my two feet. The four wheels of my car got me around.

I crumbled in a heap on the dry parched ground. "Look above, Sister Chapman. The Lord has answered your prayer. The sun is covered with a big black cloud." declared our guide in an incredible tone. Our entire team looked up. We were all amazed by the fact that God had answered a simple cry for help by blotting out the scorching heat of the mid-day sun. To see the sun being screened from view with one black cloud in an otherwise cloudless tropical blue sky, was a unique scene, which none of us had ever before been seen or experienced.

Pastor Teckney's voice broke our thoughts. "This has got to be a sign from Almighty God. He is walking with us and has great plans for this mountain mission." We were indeed awestruck, and pricked in our hearts. We serve the same Holy God of Israel with whom nothing is impossible. He opened a dry path through the midst of the Red Sea and made a way for His chosen people to escape from King Pharaoh's perusing army.

We were on this dangerous and remote mountain terrain on God's business. The Lord was revealing to us that nothing is impossible to Him if we only believe. Covering the sun with one big black cloud was no big deal for the one true living God who is the creator of the universe.

"Thank you, Lord, for sheltering us from the scorching heat of the sun. Heavenly Father, I cannot carry on. My legs will no longer carry my body weight. Please release your enabling power into my body. I ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." As I prayed in Holy Ghost with tongues, I was renewed, strengthened and restored. Rising to my feet, I walked on, praising God for His presence and enabling power.

As we continued pressing towards the summit, I mused about the fact that God had personally walked with the Israelites through the wilderness. His presence was seen to be with them in the form of a cloud, by day. This God ordained mission had the Holy One of Israel was revealing His presence with us by covering the sun with a black cloud.

A few hours later we approached the first mountain settlement. It was like a village out of Stone Age times. The men wore only g-strings and were covered with many tattoos. The bare breasted women carried babies in slings either on their backs or fronts. The children were naked. It was obvious their unkempt hair was full of lice. Their beautiful, long eyelashes were stuck together with yellow matter, and their noses were running with mucus. Some of the women had ugly growths on their necks. In some cases the growths protruded out beyond their chins. It looked as though the majority had skin diseases which ran with pus. I felt as though I was in another world in a different age.

How could I love these, dirty, skin-diseased, lice-infected people? I turned my back and walked a few yards away in cultural shock. I was judging the people by their outward appearance. I cried out to the Lord, in the language of His indwelling Holy Spirit. I recollect standing by a rusty old water pump with arms raised upward, interceding in tongues with tears rolling down my cheeks, as God's Spirit dealt with my attitude.

The Spirit moved in me, and I saw the people from God's perspective. They were dry bones, very dry bones, or even dead bones. Although they were living human beings, they were dead to God. The Spirit of the Lord said, "Prophesy to these dry dead bones, and say unto them. Dry bones hear the word of the Lord. I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord."

The people were dead in trespasses and sin with no knowledge of the true living God. However, I was assured that God would put His Spirit in them, and they would receive eternal life. God looks upon the heart. The carnal man looks upon the outward appearance. My encounter with God changed my attitude towards the people. I turned around and walked back towards them, with the love of Jesus pouring forth from His Spirit within. I bent down and lifted a little girl up in my arms, kissed her on the cheek, and wiped the yellow matter from her eyes with my handkerchief. It no longer mattered about their dirty condition, their skin-diseased bodies and lice-infected heads. Jesus loved these people and wanted them in His fold. Jesus died to pay the full ransom payment for their sins and did not want His sacrificial death for them to be in vain.

I moved among the women and gave them a warm embrace and shook hands with the men. They were like ripe grapes ready to be harvested. These people had never heard the true gospel of the grace of our Lord. They had never even heard the name of Jesus Christ.

God has placed a desire within every human heart. This desire is to know our Creator caused these Stone Age type people to make gods in the form of idols they bowed before, prayed to, and worshipped as their god--simple wooden statues.

At the meeting the following day I asked their Chief to bring me, one of their idol gods. I pointed out their idol was not god but a piece of carved wood with no life in it. It had a nose without breath, ears that could not hear, and a mouth that could not speak. It was a dead, lifeless piece of wood.

They explained their religious procedure as follows. When they were hit with fevers or other severe sickness, they prayed to their home-made idol god to which they sacrificed a chicken or a piglet. The witch doctor performed a religious rite. The red devil, as they called him, called off the evil spirit, and the sick were temporarily healed. Then, when the witch doctor got hungry, the sickness returned. So they had to provide another chicken or piglet to be sacrificed, and so it went on. They were all under satanic bondage through the witchdoctor. It amazed me, that they were aware of the fact that sickness is demon oppression which is confirmed in the scripture, "Jesus went about doing good healing all who were oppressed of the devil." (Acts 10:38)

The great commission was burning in my heart. "Go into all the world and preach the gospel. Cast out devils; speak with new tongues, lay your hands on the sick and the sick shall recover." (Mark 16: 15- 20)

Having explained to the people their idols were false gods, I then proceeded to tell them about the one true living God who came from heaven to earth and gave His life as the perfect ransom for all our sins. Not only did Jesus pay the full penalty for all our sins, He also set us free from the consequences of sin. The consequences which sin brought upon fallen humanity were sickness, pain, disease, fevers, poverty and eternal damnation. I explained how Jesus' love for us drove Him to bare the agony of being scourged, whipped, beaten and lashed with an instrument of torture to break the devils power to make us sick. Jesus did indeed redeem us from the curse of the law. (Gal 3:13) The Lord then died the horrendous death of crucifixion to pay the wages of sin. After three days, He rose from death and ascended back to heaven as the only mediator between God and fallen humanity.

We are here in your mountain village because Jesus loves you. He has seen you praying to false, idol gods. He is jealous and wants you to destroy them and accept Him as your only God and Savior. He will forgive your sins, and put His Spirit in you, and you will know that He is the only true, living God. You must not make sacrifices to the witch doctor. Jesus is our healer. If you accept Him as your only God, He will take sickness away from you.

They went back to their dwelling houses and brought back their false, home-made idol gods and threw them to the ground in a heap to later chop up as firewood and burn in the fire to cook their rice. With the help of my interpreter, we led them in a prayer to accept Jesus as the only living God.

God's Spirit moved mightily in our midst. The people had their arms raised in submission and praise to the one true living God who died to give them the gift of eternal life. They were indwelt by the Holy Ghost.

The moment had come. I had preached the gospel, the congregated people had responded to God's amazing grace, renounced their false gods, by throwing them in a heap on the ground. I now had to cast out devils and lay my hands on the sick believing they would be healed. Under the anointing and leading of the Holy Ghost, I walked over to a woman with her arms raised in the air. Tears were running down her cheeks as she worshiped God. She had a huge goiter which protruded out beyond her chin. I laid my hand on the goiter, spoke to the spirit of infirmity and commanded it to leave her in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I then yielded my voice to the Holy Ghost and prayed in tongues. As I prayed in tongues, I felt the goiter reduce in size under my hand. My carnal mind thought, "Is this really happening?"

I opened my eyes, to look and see if the goiter truly had reduced in size. In an instant of time, I felt the goiter grow back to its original size. I was shocked, amazed and dumbfounded. The Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit and said. "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways and can receive nothing from me." The unbelief of my carnal mind offended the Spirit of God, and the miracle was lost.

I cried out, "Lord, forgive me." I placed my hand on the goiter a second time, and in the midst of saying, "Be healed, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ," the goiter instantly and miraculously disappeared. The woman was beside herself with joy. She was jumping up and down, praising the Lord.

Another woman approached me, pointing at her goiter. I prayed, and the Lord miraculously caused her goiter to disappear. Fevers left people, and skin diseases dried up before our eyes. Back pains were healed. A crippled child’s deformed leg was made absolutely normal. The people were healed of all their ailments. God is true to His word when we dispose of all false gods and trust Him to fulfill His word.

We hiked from tribe to tribe preaching the gospel of the crucified, risen, glorified and ascended Lord Jesus Christ. God worked with us confirming His word with signs following. In every evangelized mountain tribe, Pastor Teckney arranged with the chiefs to send a pastor to continue the work of feeding the new lambs.

Many of the pastors were women who were willing to give up life in modern civilization to live in the remote Stone Age communities as under-shepherds for the love of the brethren and the extension of Christ's Kingdom. Head-hunting went into decline with the preaching of God's word. Now, nearly thirty years later it is believed that head-hunting is no longer practiced in the mountains of Kalinga in Northern Luzon.

Having returned to the low lands after an amazing mission in the mountains, I needed time to rest as I was physically exhausted. Within days, I awoke to find myself in hospital, with no recollection of how I got there. A white-clad nurse was by my bed. I asked, "Why am I here?"

"We nearly lost you. You have typhoid fever." I slid back into delirium. For days I was in critical condition. Most of the time I was delirious but had vague flashes of burning up with the fever. I said what I thought was my last prayer, and expected the Holy Ghost to carry my spirit through the valley of the shadow of death, then home to the Eternal City.

I opened my eyes to find myself all alone in a hospital room, yet I knew that I was not alone. God spoke to me, in a way He had never spoken to me before. The audible voice of God said, "YOU MUST GIVE THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCH."

The voice of God resounded around the room for the second time, "YOU MUST GIVE THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCH." If I had to give the message to the church, then it meant that it was not God's will to take me home at this time. I had an overwhelming desire and compulsion to get to water. I had to take a step of faith and get out of that deathbed. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

I attempted to raise my head from the pillow, but it felt like a dead weight. "Help me Lord. Help me get to the water." By the power of God, I got out of bed but fell on the floor and crawled to the shower. I managed to turn on the tap and then collapsed on the floor of the shower with the water pouring over my body. I began to praise the Lord. "Thank you, Lord. I praise your holy name." I gained enough strength to stand on my feet and continued to praise the Lord. "By your stripes I am healed Lord." The power of God went through my body from head to foot, and I knew the battle was over. I was healed! I dressed and signed out of hospital with the promise to return the follow day to settle my bill. The hospital staff was amazed and stared at me with wide eyes as I explained, "'Jesus' healed me."

Since then I have traveled to many nations, preaching the gospel and obeying the great commission, America, Australia, Greece and the Greek Islands, Austria, the Netherlands and Jamaica.

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