CAVANNA

It was a delight to be asked to share God’s Word at the “Wath Revival” in the Dearne Valley, South Yorkshire. The local “Father’s House” AOG church had decided to host a number of weeks of special meetings of worship, ministry waiting upon the Holy Spirit each weekend throughout the summer of 2008. The gathered congregation that packed the house were from the surrounding area and I taught on the importance of having local churches actively involved in the healing ministry. At the close of my message, two people shared that they had recieved healing while I had been talking – the first was a lady who described how a back condition had miraculously eased, and the other was keen young footballer Aaron who had been unable, due to injury, to bend down on his knee. Testing out his condition as I finished preaching, he found himself able to do it and we rejoiced with him. As always, a number of people gathered for prayer and I began to lay hands upon them, seeing a few of them released from various pains.

Of the stories I heard that night, two testimonies will stay with me especially. A senior aged lady asked for “a full MOT” as she was suffering with the various aches and pains associated with old age. After prayer, while she could not say that her arthritis had gone, God worked something special in her eyes. Suffering with cataracts she was used to seeing “floaters” – irritating shapes that pass in front of the vision. She was delighted, and perhaps also a little surprised, to tell me that these had wonderfully vanished and she was leaving the meeting with much improved sight! Amen for that.

I was asked to pray for a young man, James and his wife Lisa who were sat on the back row of the church. James had been suffering for fourteen weeks without any relief from a very unpleasant suspected form of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). After several visits to the doctor/hospital he was no better and had strong pain in his groin and backside area, while his stomach was permenantly uncomfortable and in pain. I laid hands upon him and asked the Lord to heal the young man. To my surprise, James arose from his chair and with wide eyed amazement began to check his body. The terrible pain and discomfort had gone from him, and he was left stunned as he and his wife embraced each other with joy. When giving their testimony to the camera, Lisa literally wiped tear after tear from her eyes. It was a powerful miracle.

I often comment that we cannot always know all that God is doing on the actual night of the meeting. Some are healed instantly and others recover over the next few days. Forty-eight hours after the Wath meeting, I received a joyful message from a lady called Shellie (left). Here is an extract: “My daughter had impetigo… on Friday her face was covered and blisters where all around her mouth and down her chin but since Friday’s meeting her skin is being renewed and the blisters have dried up and the scabs are falling away…”

Back in Cambridge the following week, I read this testimony out at Living Waters and was approached by a visitor at the end of the service who had also been suffering with skin related problems. I recalled her face and had prayed with her a few weeks’ earlier. Beaming with delight she reported that she was now healed of the condition and we rejoiced together.

Praise God!

August 2008