Articles
The Power in Communion
Ana Mendez Ferrell has seen more of the supernatural than most people alive today. In her ministry she has seen 4 people raised from the dead, countless mentally ill people set free, all kinds of diseases healed, and whole families saved. In addition she has had supernatural language abilities given to her along with prophetic gifts. Her story is remarkable, and her teaching is life changing. Most importantly, God has revealed to Ana how to take the Lord’s Supper in a way that brings spiritual strength and bodily healing.
Speaking of Ana’s revelation, Sid Roth said, “Jesus spent His last night on earth with His disciples at a Passover meal, what we now the Lord’s Supper. He told His disciples that the bread was His body broken for their sins, and the wine was His blood, sealing the covenant of forgiveness. Even more important, He said His body was real food and His blood was real drink. If our spirits don’t take in their needed food and drink, is it any wonder we are weak?
“The first church was Jewish, and they understood the power of the Passover feast. This understanding has been lost through the ages. I have often said that when the Church began to depart from her Jewish roots, much of her power was lost. As we move toward the goal of One New Man, we are bringing the Gentile church back to her Jewish roots. This is leading to a mighty increase in miracles and bodily healing. Ana’s teaching about the Lord’s Supper is one of the most life giving messages you can hear. I urge everyone to consider it carefully, and get her book, Eat My Flesh and Drink My Blood, for more in-depth teaching.”
Sid recently interviewed Ana for both the radio and television programs, and she told him not only about her revelation but also about the remarkable events of her path to salvation. I have summarized her story and her teaching below. However, for purposes of accuracy, please note that this is my summary of her remarks, so any inaccuracies are my responsibility.
Ana was born in Mexico City. At the age of 18 she said she had little interest in religion and was not particularly seeking Jesus. However, He was seeking her, and she had a supernatural revelation of His presence: “I was in a classroom at my school. It was late in the afternoon, when I looked out of the window and saw something very unusual. I saw bright stars shining in midst of dark clouds. I approached the window to get a better look.
“Suddenly, from a star came a brilliant beam of light. In the middle of this beam, Jesus was standing in amazing glory. His grace and love were so powerful that the impact threw me to the floor. I was overwhelmed by the experience of His love. Then I heard Jesus say to me, “You will be my servant. I will be your Lord, and you will know me in its due time.” I wrote these things down immediately before I could forget them or become confused about what had happened. From that time on I was absolutely in love with Christ.”
Ana began an intense spiritual search to be re-united with Jesus, as she had seen Him in the vision. However, she could find no Christian to guide her. No one she knew could relate to her experience with Jesus. She attended Catholic services every day but found this to be a ‘dried out’ experience. She explains that Mexico is mostly Catholic, but the Mexican Catholic church is quite different from American Catholicism. In Mexico the church is very ritualized. There are heavy overtones from the Aztec religion, witch doctors, new age and elements of Santoria from the Caribbean. No one she knew could help her find Jesus as intensely as she had experienced Him in her classroom.
After a long period of searching, she came upon a man who professed to be an ‘enlightened one,’ and who said he would guide her into spiritual truth. She said, “This man was really a witch doctor – a warlock – who had a powerful, hypnotic spirit and a fascinating intellectual quality. He had many Catholic icons around him and other trappings of religion, so I (wrongly) believed He was a Christian. I told him that I wanted to know Jesus and he said, ‘Of course I can help you.’ He used scriptures to tell me that I had to die first in order to be born again. He told me, “To be born again we have to give your life to the spirit of death – that way your spirit will be born into the kingdom of God” Then he led me through a dark, mysterious ritual. The outcome of all of this was that I became demon possessed. I descended into mental illness and terrible personal torment.
“The devil is a deceiver and he will destroy anyone who lets him have a hook. He can get this hook into you through palm reading, Ouija boards and other seemingly harmless things. I urge all believers to be very careful in getting mixed up with any kind of new age or occult practice, particularly those that have Christian trappings.”
Ana wound up in a mental hospital with no hope of ever getting out. A spirit of death drove her to several suicide attempts. After one of the most serious attempts, she was taken to the hospital, and was very near death. She said, “While I was in the emergency room I heard the audible voice of God, as clear as if someone were speaking to me. His voice was saying He would never forsake me.
“A Pastor came to see me. This Pastor spoke the words of life to me, prayed with me, and the power of God came into me. He told me that it is not the revelation of Jesus that saves you, but it is following Him and obeying Him. Even the devils know who Jesus is, but they do not follow Him.
“The Spirit of God told me to repent, and as I did so, the repentance flowed in, and an earthquake shook my life. I saw Jesus as He was on the cross. His wounds were talking to me, and said ‘Because of you, I have paid this price’. The forgiveness came out of Him and hit me with power. The glory of God washed over me and I was instantly healed. I experienced peace such as I had never before known, and all the demons left.”
Ana wanted the other patients to have this peace, and the Pastor said, “They can have it. If you believe the signs will follow!” Ana and the Pastor went through the mental hospital and prayed for all the patients. Miracles hit most of the people and cast their demons out. Ana was eventually released from the hospital. After she left, the chief psychiatrist called her, asking to know more about what had happened, and asking her to pray for to get some seriously disturbed patients to be healed.
But Ana was just beginning her miraculous journey. She was next to receive supernatural gifts of languages – the ability to fluently speak English, French, Portuguese and German, without ever having studied them. This is what she said, “My sister was a translator for Morris Cerullo. He was coming to our city, and my sister heard the Lord tell her that I should translate for him. When she told me about God’s word to her, I told her it was out of the question because I knew not a word of English. The only language I had ever spoken or studied was Spanish. However, I thought about it and I knew that God was speaking to me through her. I knew it was Him, and I knew I had to agree to do it. When the evening came that Morris Cerullo was to speak, I stepped on to the platform not knowing a word of English but trusting. Then heaven opened up and the English language came to me supernaturally and I translated perfectly. Afterward, I had perfect command of English. The Lord is able to do amazing things.”
Ana not only was given perfect command of English, but she given the ability to fluently speak several other languages as well. As Ana has matured in her faith, she has been led into a truly supernatural ministry that includes raising 4 dead back to life and prayer against evil that rules over nations and cities. She has learned to live her life in Jesus and to keep strong in the spirit through daily taking of the Lord’s Supper.
Ana takes no credit for her amazing abilities. She said, “The same Jesus that moves in me moves in you. But there is a thief who steals that power away from you. The thief that steals is wrong teaching. Jesus said, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” We must understand this because it is Communion that lets us partake of all that Jesus did for us. We must learn that when we take Communion in our spirits, the blood of Jesus is literally invading us and filling us with Him.”
Part 2 of this article will describe Ana’s teaching about the life-giving power of Communion in more depth. You can hear Ana’s story for yourself in the TV and Radio section of the website.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright ©1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Linda Josef is a Christian psychologist. She experienced the healing power of God in one of Sid Roth’s healing services. Since then, she has co-authored the books Supernatural Healing and Stories of Supernatural Healing with Sid.