CAVANNA

I was honoured to be invited to speak at the Simply Compassion Missions’ Conference in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. This was not a ‘healing weekend’ as such and my main purpose was to inspire a compassionate motivation in mission and outreach. However, the Lord showed His power in Rotherham too. Notable testimonies received there included a young woman wonderfully healed of a back complaint (caused by surgery) and an older lady who demonstrated with great delight her freedom from painful arthritis. A senior man received prayer for a bad knee and was thrilled to tell me that he did not need to use his scooter to go out the following day; while another lady whispered in my ear on the last day of the conference that her asthma was much improved. I would receive emails and correspondence a couple of weeks’ later that spoke of something having been ‘broken open’ during my visit, with people coming into the church from the community and being physically healed of problems, weeks after I had left. Hallelujah for that!

The travelling ministry continued in October 2010 with a return visit to the West Country area – first of all, theBridport Christian Fellowship, a church that had been receiving my input for many years. I will not quickly forget an astonishing miracle that occcured during the Saturday evening meeting  (9th October). A lady told me that she had recently been fitted with new teeth, and this was causing great discomfort and ulcers in the mouth. She also told me she had some pain in her back/hip. I had never seen or heard of God making someone’s false teeth fit in the mouth before, and so my faith was much more inclined to look for the removal of her hip pain. Amazingly, as I prayed and asked God to touch her side, the Lord chose to do something extra special and the lady suddenly gasped that, seemingly in a second of time, her ulcers had gone and her new teeth were suddenly comfortable in her mouth. Praise God! I had certainly not believed it could have happened! Another lady, with pain throughout her body, became free after a lengthy time of ministry, and could suddenly bend and walk speedily around the room. It was a great evening of kingdom power in Bridport.

Leaving Dorset behind, I travelled further south west to my birth town of Paignton, arriving just in time for the six o’clock service at Living Waters. I was once again a little taken aback by the testimonies that we heard. The first was a young man, who had spent the duration of the church meeting in the foyer (I was watching him through the glass doors while I was speaking). Painful kidney stones prevented him from comfortably sitting down and when the prayer for healing was given, the Lord touched him wonderfully and set him free. He came boldly into the main hall from the foyer and testified to his healing. Of course, we could not know if the stones had gone, only that he was no longer suffering from them. It reminded me of other cases where people have shared their stories of being healed from kidney stones in my meetings – maybe this is a something God is graciously giving me to especially witness.

There were many other miracles in Paignton. A youth leader was healed in his arm and shoulder, as was another slightly older man, his face betraying his amazement at the marked improvement he was experiencing. Equally shocked to be cured was an African lady, cured of pain and discomfort in her hips. She couldn’t believe it, and clasped her hand over her mouth in astonishment. Just as the service was closing, there was one more story. This time, a young man healed in his foot. It was quite glorious. John had been told by the doctor to “write his foot off” after it was severely fractured and treated with all manner of pins and surgery. With pleasure and not a little surprise, John leapt up and down on his fractured foot. This problem was well known to the local church members who shared in his joy of being healed. The moment was filled with awe. What a mighty God we serve!

God continued to heal people part of our local church fellowship. Dr Sheryll, a physician from the Philippines, testified to being set free from terrible pain during a Sunday service, believed to be connected to gall stones. After a Bible Study evening, one of the students asked for prayer for a lump on her hand and finger. It appeared to shrink to a much smaller size almost straight away, although not completely gone. ‘It shrivelled” she told us a few days’ later!

The final healing service held for that month was at Linton Free Church, in a village just south of Cambridge. While I was preaching, a lady received relief from a stiff neck, while another who was not able to straighten her right arm, suddenly found that she could do so. When I prayed for her, the pain began to leave as well. It was amazing! A number of others shared testimonies too, usually of some partial recovery. A lady testified to some recovery from a painful trapped nerve, while two other ladies found they were able to move their arms again, one of which after an injury on the Wii game console!  Precious to me was a young boy who responded to a word of knowledge given about asthma. After a short time of prayer, he claimed that his chest and breathing was much better. Time would be the judge of just what had truly happened, but he had great faith and I would not be surprised if the Lord had touched him!

It had been a very special October, with quite strong signs and wonders in evidence, both out on itinerary and back at King’s Church. I was blessed and privileged once again to see God’s goodness.

Praise God!

October 2010