To anybody following this blog - it's moved. It can now be found at http://www.tptrust.org/blog/hots/ and if you want to follow it, just click on the RSS feed icon at the top of the screen.
Stay with us if you want to read more life-changing testimonies of God's heart for the poor.
Thanks, Jon
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Breaking out of the box
No HotS last week due to the security risks in Kibera, but this week we were back. No Pastor Shadrack, and no Eunice, as they are both recovering from their car accident. So this week, joining Godwill, Emily & myself, we had Judy. It was a first time for her, and it was another great week out on the streets.
Not that there were any dramatic healings this week. Yes, some people came in pain, and left pain-free. But no broken bones were fixed, no eyes were opened, and no skin diseases wiped away in front of our eyes. But that's not what it's about, though it is nice when it happens. What it's about is being a conduit through which God's love can flow to His people, and it's not up to us who comes along.
Up till the last few weeks I had been feeling a little disappointed when somebody wasn't sick, but asked for prayer because they need work. I had felt that praying for God to provide work was somehow less important than for physical healing. But over the last few weeks I've been reflecting a little on that, and realised that part of God's Kingdom coming in Kibera may well be that it becomes a place where people are able to support their own families, because they do have work. So today I was pleased that we had many people coming who needed, and asked for prayer for, work. We had one young man who confessed a desire for a wife, and it was a real honour to pray for God to bring a godly young lady for him to marry, as well as for him to have a job to support her and their future family with. We had another guy come who really wants to stop drinking, but can't do it by himself.
And that's a little bit of what I think God's Kingdom coming in Kibera might look like. Yes, a place where God physically heals people, but not just that. Also a place where God provides for people in all the ways they need Him to. I appreciate this doesn't fit the HotS model, but then I never do like to conform and be boxed in, and I see the model as a starting point, rather than necessarily the final answer.
So with Judy now on board, our small team is slowly growing. With another couple of regulars we could set up in a second part of Kibera too. It was circumstances that forced us to grow the team today, but I believe it was a God-inspired thought to ask Judy to join us. Who else will God bring to us to join in demonstrating His amazing love for His people of Kibera.
Not that there were any dramatic healings this week. Yes, some people came in pain, and left pain-free. But no broken bones were fixed, no eyes were opened, and no skin diseases wiped away in front of our eyes. But that's not what it's about, though it is nice when it happens. What it's about is being a conduit through which God's love can flow to His people, and it's not up to us who comes along.
Up till the last few weeks I had been feeling a little disappointed when somebody wasn't sick, but asked for prayer because they need work. I had felt that praying for God to provide work was somehow less important than for physical healing. But over the last few weeks I've been reflecting a little on that, and realised that part of God's Kingdom coming in Kibera may well be that it becomes a place where people are able to support their own families, because they do have work. So today I was pleased that we had many people coming who needed, and asked for prayer for, work. We had one young man who confessed a desire for a wife, and it was a real honour to pray for God to bring a godly young lady for him to marry, as well as for him to have a job to support her and their future family with. We had another guy come who really wants to stop drinking, but can't do it by himself.
And that's a little bit of what I think God's Kingdom coming in Kibera might look like. Yes, a place where God physically heals people, but not just that. Also a place where God provides for people in all the ways they need Him to. I appreciate this doesn't fit the HotS model, but then I never do like to conform and be boxed in, and I see the model as a starting point, rather than necessarily the final answer.
So with Judy now on board, our small team is slowly growing. With another couple of regulars we could set up in a second part of Kibera too. It was circumstances that forced us to grow the team today, but I believe it was a God-inspired thought to ask Judy to join us. Who else will God bring to us to join in demonstrating His amazing love for His people of Kibera.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Bananas
Every week is different. Today, for the first hour, we struggled to get anybody to stop. There were plenty of people around, and they noticed us and read our signboard, but most refused to stop. Some of those that did stop chatted briefly then moved on, unwilling to receive prayer for any needs.
In our preparation, we felt the Holy Spirit give us three names, and surprise surprise, none of them were right. However, 2 of the 4 sicknesses we did get, and those people were healed. After last week's broken leg, this week we had someone with a broken arm in a cast, who after prayer was waving his arm around saying it was better.
Most of the last half an hour, I spent with Gabriel who stopped. He was quite clearly drunk, and through the course of the conversation informed me that he was a doctor, a soldier, and a bio-chemist. We were eventually able to pray for him, and then spent a considerable time persuading him to leave, which he would only do after buying a banana for each of the white people on the team today.
Florence came to find us after we'd finished and were back at the centre. Last week we prayed for her hands to reform and grow, and she felt something stirring in her upper arms. Today she came, still without hands, and when we prayed she again felt something happening in her upper arms. Does God feel compassion for her and want to heal her hands – I don't know. If He does, you can be sure it'll feature on this blog.
In our preparation, we felt the Holy Spirit give us three names, and surprise surprise, none of them were right. However, 2 of the 4 sicknesses we did get, and those people were healed. After last week's broken leg, this week we had someone with a broken arm in a cast, who after prayer was waving his arm around saying it was better.
Most of the last half an hour, I spent with Gabriel who stopped. He was quite clearly drunk, and through the course of the conversation informed me that he was a doctor, a soldier, and a bio-chemist. We were eventually able to pray for him, and then spent a considerable time persuading him to leave, which he would only do after buying a banana for each of the white people on the team today.
Florence came to find us after we'd finished and were back at the centre. Last week we prayed for her hands to reform and grow, and she felt something stirring in her upper arms. Today she came, still without hands, and when we prayed she again felt something happening in her upper arms. Does God feel compassion for her and want to heal her hands – I don't know. If He does, you can be sure it'll feature on this blog.
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