THURSDAY

 

Thursday morning we all met up at the church offices before heading out to some of the local townships. These are settlements that were created under apartheid to segregate blacks and they remain very poor, ghettoised communities. The group split into smaller groups and visited individual homes. At each place they were able to pray with the people living there, get to know them and encourage them.

 

Jon & Amanda, on a visit to one home, prayed with a woman who had been paralysed with a stroke. She had been suffering considerable pain for a long time and needed to be transported everywhere she needed to go. After praying for her healing, she reached down and touched her toes, then got to her feet and started dancing! She had been a dancer and singer before the stroke and she showed Amanda her c.d. The lady couldn’t wait to get outside and tell people about her miracle. There was much excitement, kisses and hugs all round!

 

After this, Jon noticed a lad who had been at the back of the room in the shadow and he asked him if there was anything he would like prayer for. He was the woman’s son and although he was rather reticent at first, when Jon asked him if he wanted to know Jesus, he nodded and put his hands together. Jon prayed a line at a time, with the young lad repeating his words. After saying his prayer he was beaming with excitement at his mother’s healing and his own salvation!

 

The younger children were then invited in to join us from a back room. Jon and Amanda prayed for the kids and had an incredible time of hearing word after word from God for them so that by the time they had finished their visit, every member of the family had been prayed for.

 

In the evening, it was time for the first session of the conference. We met up with Julian Adams and spent some time in prayer together before heading into the meeting. Julian was speaking on living under an open heaven. He reminded us that Heaven is the hidden dimension of our ordinary lives, not just a future state. He talked about how we have access to Heaven now and we are already living in the favour of Heaven. At the end of his message we got to pray and minister with those who had come to the conference. We quickly lost count of the number of healings but we can remember at least seven!

 

John Balding and Amanda prayed for someone who had suffered with pain in her shoulder for ten years since having a bicycle accident. There was no result when they prayed initially but when they prayed again, she experienced total healing! At the end of the meeting, John spotted her packing up the p.a equipment and windng up the electrical cables.

 

Karen spent some time praying with a young woman in the worship group that she would experience more of God. She told her that God loves hearing her sing. At this, the girl broke down and wept. After a few minutes, Karen asked her what was going on and as she tried to explain she began to sob again and receive what was God’s opinion of her. A really significant encounter at the start of a conference opening up with a heart knowledge of our acceptance of God’s love for us.

 

On a lighter note, ZoeJoy and Karen got to sample a local delicacy;’ bunny chow! Essentially it’s half a loaf of bread scooped out and filled with curry!

 

 

 

 

 

FRIDAY

 

In the first session, we heard testimony from people who had received healing from the evening before.

 

A girl came forward to say that she had suffered with a growth in her nose for the last six years. She had gone through a number or operations to have it removed but that this year it grew back again and was preventing her from breathing properly. Last night she had prayer for it to be healed. She said she could suddenly feel the air rushing up her right nostril where before she hadn’t been able to. Usually she wakes several times each night and she needs to get up and open the window but last night when she kept waking she could still feel the air rushing into both nostrils.

 

There were several others who spoke about meeting with God in ways that they had begun to give up on and had received a filling of the Holy Spirit.

 

Wendy spoke on ‘Knowing your Identity in Christ’. She reminded us that our primary identity is that of a saint, not a sinner and the ministry time that followed centred around confessing old sins for the first time and having prayer for fear and anger.

 

Over lunch at the Bangkok Wok, directly opposite the church, we shared stories from the morning. Ingrid prayed for two women who both needed some deliverance and although she didn’t know who to pray for first, they both received at the same time as she laid hands on them.  ZoeJoy, taking inspiration from Reuben Parkinson when he has to put his toys away, encouraged a woman she was praying with to say ‘bye bye fear’! She was laughing at the end of prayer and much of the fear had been lifted. Kirsty was drawn to a young woman during the same session and was given a specific word of knowledge that resonated with the woman. She was happy to receive prayer.

Several people felt their prayers were significant and recommended the people they were praying for, pursue their healing more beyond the conference.