Miracles, healings, blessing – what more can we ask God to do for people?
After a couple of days for Peter and Kerry to ‘recover’ from the journey here, and for Caroline to arrive from France, we hit the ground running yesterday. So did God, it seems! It was was day of great healings, at least one creative miracle, and a load of people blessed.
In the church, ‘Mision El Abrigo’, founded by my dear friends Hein and Teija Hoere, the presence of God was very real from the outset. The worship was lovely (for a smallish church, they have some incredible musicians who are all worshippers). After doing some ‘team’ introductions, I handed over to Caroline to preach, then tied up the ends with an offer to pray for healing, telling a few stories along the way.
I reckon we prayed for everyone in the meeting, and, at least as far as the people Kerry & I prayed for, everyone with something obvious physically wrong with them (as opposed to things x rays/scans/time would prove – a very small number of people) was healed instantly. It’s a wonderful way to start a trip!
Ailments, illnesses, and diseases such as bladder problems, Urinary tract infections – were healed. The first lady, Maria, felt real heat in her bladder and an intense sense of emotion overcome her as she knew she was healed. Claudia, who I’ve known for some years, had quite bad scoliosis: after prayer, I asked her what movement would have caused her pain. Squatting and bending at the waist were the worst. She did both, pain free, for the first time in years. Of course, it goes without saying that more knees were healed (these days!!) – at least three sets of knees in the morning, and the same in the evening.
A young man, Jonathan, was born with flat feet, and had breathing issues from something that had happened around the bridge of his nose. He’s a professional salsa dancer, a very fast dance (I can’t do it!! – various people had tried and failed with me 🙁 ), so breathing is important for him, and flat feet caused him intense pain. The breathing changed instantly as Kerry prayed for him. I asked him to take off his shoes – and there were…arches. Thank you God!!
For our little team – Kerry and me – everyone was healed. Pete had some healed, and some with emotional problems that are hard to ascertain as ‘healed’ there and then. I must ask Caroline what happened with the people she prayed with, but she’s deeply involved teaching Kerry some Spanish!
In the afternoon, we were at another of my favourite churches, in the mountain village of Alto Napoles. The pastors there – Jesus & Angela – are just wonderful. Miracles always happen there, too.
Our first customer (Kerry & me) was a lovely man named Segundo. Here in Cali, there isn’t normally a mosquito problem – there is by the sea, and in the Amazon! – but when they do get mossies, their bite gives you an awful complaint known as chicunguñia. It attacks every joint, every bone, and extreme pain throughout your body. Segundo had been in great pain for 2 years. In just a few moments last night, it all went. He burst into tears, bless him.
A lady named Rose er…something! … had whole body pain, water retention problems (swollen ankles and feet), and blood circulation issues. Walking caused immense pain. It all went….and she walked around pain free, and the swelling in her feet visibly diminishing.
Maria had bad cellulitis, and a strong pain in her neck, behind her right ear. All the pain went. In April, I’d prayed for her for the worst varicose veins I’d ever seen: they’d gone completely.
Juan Sebastian, 8 years old, born 3½ months early, according to doctors would only live a few months. He was very much alive when we saw him last night, but some of the residual issues he’d been left with were urinary problems (he’d had 8 surgeries, and needed another), regular infections, and extremely bad eyesight (no long distance vision at all). He was able to read at distance instantly, and later took the microphone to tell his story of healing… it was wonderful, he’s in complete faith for total healing of the bladder/urinary issues.
Many others were healed, too – Pete had someone healed of long-term carpal tunnel pain, among other things.
In April, the guys with me reckoned (conservatively) 90-95% of the people we prayed for were healed. It’s my goal to better that, not for my own satisfaction, but for two reasons – for the people we pray for, and also, because Jesus ‘went around doing good, healing all who were under the power of the devil’ – and we can do what Jesus did, and then some….
Thank you, Lord, for an amazing first ‘ministry’ day. The schedule is filling up much more now as each day goes by, and tomorrow morning, I’ve been asked to speak for a while to a pastors Bible school, with the opportunity to pray for them: I reckon our ‘diary’ might be choc-a-bloc after that!