‘How the Lord baptized me with the Holy Spirit’

Illuminato Butindaro tells how the Lord filled him with the Holy Spirit

After I believed in the Lord I was baptized in the Lake Maggiore in Switzerland on the 16^th of September 1984.

I wanted to be baptized with the Holy Spirit with the sign of speaking in tongues as it happened to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. I would pray God every day, and as I read the various testimonies of brothers who had already received the gift of the Spirit my desire became greater and greater.

I wanted to have a true experience, I did not want to experience a counterfeit baptism with the Holy Spirit nor did I want to invent anything. I wanted the Lord to clothe me with power and I was praying without ceasing in faith, without doubting the promise of the Father. So, dear brothers, that evening of the 4^th May 1985 in the city of Lugano (Switzerland), it was Saturday, a sister who at that time was about 70 years old, her name was Pauline Parham (a relation of Charles Parham) laid her hands upon me so that I might receive the Holy Spirit. After she prayed, my mouth opened and I began to speak in an other tongue as the Spirit gave me utterance! Alleluia!

That evening, after sister Pauline had said that if there was someone who wanted to receive the Spirit he/she was invited to come forward so that she would pray for him/her, I went forward. I had longed for the baptism with the Holy Spirit and prayed for a long time, and so I did not hesitate, the hand of the Lord pushed me forward, He was guiding my steps, the peace of God was reigning in my heart and I was sure the Lord would keep his Word. Glory to the Name of the Lord! It was like a river flooding the desert and I was weeping for joy and I remember a sister asked me: ‘Why are you weeping?’ And I answered: ‘Because the Lord is faithful! Alleluia!

I spoke with another tongue, a tongue that was unknown to me, and while I was speaking with that tongue I felt edified inwardly in a wonderful way, and from that moment on every time I have spoken in other tongues I have felt edified because - as the apostle Paul says – “he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself” (1 Cor. 14:4 – NKJV).

I embraced the brothers saying to them: ‘The Lord is faithful, the Lord is great!’ I was filled with the Holy Spirit, the presence of the Lord flooded me and now, after many years, I am here to tell you and myself: ‘Let’s pray without ceasing, it is not in vain that we seek the Lord, and in his own time He will raise in favour of his servants, He will open his hand and will give us the desire of our heart.

Let’s ask the Lord to visit Italy and save Italian people. Yes, the desert will flourish, God will pour out His Spirit on those who ask God for the Holy Spirit. The earth will bring forth its bud and its fruit and God will be glorified and his Church will be edified. He will make us glad through His work. Amen

Illuminato Butindaro

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