Saw the Queen again today - Queen Elizabeth that is (see 10th May blog post). Her ankles are completely healed, so she was coming back for prayer for other needs. Other returners today as well, including Maximilla who two months ago had no sight in her left eye, and through prayer is gradually receiving her sight. She can now see distance, and we continued to pray for complete healing - I told her off for not coming back sooner so we could continue to pray - hopefully we'll see her next week for an update.
A massive privilege today was praying for Sylvester. He's a grown-up street boy, probably now 25. Every day he wanders around with a sack on his back, sifting through rubbish and sewage to get anything he may possibly be able to sell. Grown-up street boys are the outcasts of society here - nobody talks to them, and even the dogs are trained to chase them away. In fact Sylvester had a wound on his leg from a dog bite he recieved recently. We were able to spend a few minutes praying with him, for the wound to heal, for him to get work, and for him to know God's love for him, and his worth to God.
I recognised Sylvester as having walked past on previous weeks. Then I had half wanted him to stop, but half wanted him to carry on. If you could mentally picture someone completely devoid of hope, you'd be seeing Sylvester. But today, by God's grace in me, I was able to genuinely feel some of the love that God has for him, and to pray that he would know that love for himself. It was a privilege to lay hands on and pray for someone whom society would rather ignore, or kick down further into the dirt where they have to live. Surely he is the sort of person that Jesus would have spent time with, would have valued.
In fact, a number of the people who stopped today, we sensed needed prayer for more than what they had asked for. Many needed to know God's love for them, and to know God's power breaking through into their lives. We had physical healings too, and no doubt God is continuing to bring physical healing and restoration to many, but today we were able to go deeper than just the physical, and speak words of affirmation, grace and love into people's hearts.
We had Tom with us, who's been involved in HotS in Inverness for a couple of years now. It was good to speak with him and to compare how we do it differently to them, and he enjoyed the experience of praying in the warmth (!), and of experiencing people just coming and sitting down with their needs, and openly sharing them.
Another great week. Like the people we pray for, it just keeps getting better!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Is anybody sick?
What a strange week!
For most of this morning's session we were jokingly wondering if God had healed everybody's sicknesses. People were stopping and asking for prayer, but none of them were sick! Today seemed to be about praying for people who need work - which is probably more than 50% of the population of Kibera.
Towards the end of the time we got a few people who were sick, and after we'd packed up and returned to our centre we had three people over the next two hours come and find us and ask if they were too late for prayer, so we prayed for their illnesses. One had damage to his eyesight, and another had growths in her stomach. The third was really coming to report a healing from the previous week's prayer, but also needed prayer for another condition.
So it was a strange week. As humans we like to rationalise things, and come up with explanations and reasons. During this week's HotS I was doing that, and trying to think of why it was different this week, and where all the sick people were. But then I started to see what I was doing, and realised the futility of it. We don't serve a rational God - at least, not rational in human terms. So why should there be a rational reason for why one week is so completely different to the next.
What will next week hold? Only God knows the answer to that question, and I probably don't want to know, and certainly don't need to. We'll make ourselves available to the Holy Spirit, and see who He brings our way. We'll pray for them, and see what He does.
The lady who came to report her healing today also told us that she now has faith and is praying for her friends!
For most of this morning's session we were jokingly wondering if God had healed everybody's sicknesses. People were stopping and asking for prayer, but none of them were sick! Today seemed to be about praying for people who need work - which is probably more than 50% of the population of Kibera.
Towards the end of the time we got a few people who were sick, and after we'd packed up and returned to our centre we had three people over the next two hours come and find us and ask if they were too late for prayer, so we prayed for their illnesses. One had damage to his eyesight, and another had growths in her stomach. The third was really coming to report a healing from the previous week's prayer, but also needed prayer for another condition.
So it was a strange week. As humans we like to rationalise things, and come up with explanations and reasons. During this week's HotS I was doing that, and trying to think of why it was different this week, and where all the sick people were. But then I started to see what I was doing, and realised the futility of it. We don't serve a rational God - at least, not rational in human terms. So why should there be a rational reason for why one week is so completely different to the next.
What will next week hold? Only God knows the answer to that question, and I probably don't want to know, and certainly don't need to. We'll make ourselves available to the Holy Spirit, and see who He brings our way. We'll pray for them, and see what He does.
The lady who came to report her healing today also told us that she now has faith and is praying for her friends!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Praying for the Queen
Oh yes - it's good to be back!
This morning we welcomed Ashley onto the team. She's visiting from the UK where she's a Children's Pastor, and it was great to have her with us. And it was a welcome return to the team for Emily, back from the UK & India.
Even just setting up this morning,we had such a sense of anticipation at what God was going to do - it was so exciting. Actually, setting up sounds a bit grand - it's really just erecting our sign and placing a few stools on the ground to sit on.
After prayer to claim the time, the ground, and the people God wanted to send to us, we sat and waited. Some weeks we have to wait a while before anybody stops, and today it was about 30 minutes, but once the first had stopped, we hardly had a minute without both teams having someone to pray for.
As on previous occasions, some people were interested passers-by, others had come specifically. One lady walked past and saw the sign, went home and brought her teenage son back with her. He had been experiencing pain and weakness in his arms since the start of the year. Today he wasn't at school because of the pain. After we'd prayed for him he said the pain was less, so we prayed some more until he could say the pain was completely gone. We feel confident that God will restore his strength too, but the relief of pain was immediate.
There was also a lady who came with a rash on her arm, and pain in her arm. She was instantly healed too. And another lady with pain in her ankles whenever she stood up. She sat down, we prayed, and she stood up pain-free!
We prayed for people with back pain, colds, bleeding, stomach pain, gynae problems, TB, and a broken leg. We prayed for people who are out of work and desperately trying to find jobs so they can care for their family. We prayed for healing & freedom for a couple of men who are alcoholics, and who have lost their families because of their alcoholism.
One of the lady's we prayed for introduced herself as Queen Elizabeth - no joke! She was born in 1952 and was named by her parents after the Queen. She went away healed.
Once again we witnessed the love that God has for the people of Kibera in action, and felt privileged to be a part. Roll on next Monday!
This morning we welcomed Ashley onto the team. She's visiting from the UK where she's a Children's Pastor, and it was great to have her with us. And it was a welcome return to the team for Emily, back from the UK & India.
Even just setting up this morning,we had such a sense of anticipation at what God was going to do - it was so exciting. Actually, setting up sounds a bit grand - it's really just erecting our sign and placing a few stools on the ground to sit on.
After prayer to claim the time, the ground, and the people God wanted to send to us, we sat and waited. Some weeks we have to wait a while before anybody stops, and today it was about 30 minutes, but once the first had stopped, we hardly had a minute without both teams having someone to pray for.
As on previous occasions, some people were interested passers-by, others had come specifically. One lady walked past and saw the sign, went home and brought her teenage son back with her. He had been experiencing pain and weakness in his arms since the start of the year. Today he wasn't at school because of the pain. After we'd prayed for him he said the pain was less, so we prayed some more until he could say the pain was completely gone. We feel confident that God will restore his strength too, but the relief of pain was immediate.
There was also a lady who came with a rash on her arm, and pain in her arm. She was instantly healed too. And another lady with pain in her ankles whenever she stood up. She sat down, we prayed, and she stood up pain-free!
We prayed for people with back pain, colds, bleeding, stomach pain, gynae problems, TB, and a broken leg. We prayed for people who are out of work and desperately trying to find jobs so they can care for their family. We prayed for healing & freedom for a couple of men who are alcoholics, and who have lost their families because of their alcoholism.
One of the lady's we prayed for introduced herself as Queen Elizabeth - no joke! She was born in 1952 and was named by her parents after the Queen. She went away healed.
Once again we witnessed the love that God has for the people of Kibera in action, and felt privileged to be a part. Roll on next Monday!
Monday, May 3, 2010
It's not just for the poor
We were due to start up again today - unfortunately I'm sick and the two Kenyans on our team are a bit too busy with it being the first day of the project reopening after the Easter break. So instead of updating on HotS, I thought I'd update on someone I had the privilege of praying for after church a couple of weeks ago, let's call him Adam.
Adam had been experiencing a lot of pain on the right hand side of his chest and abdomen, and the doctors were baffled. In the ministry time after the service Pastor Doug asked a lady and myself to pray for him. We talked a little first, then began praying. We could sense the Holy Spirit with us as we prayed, and took authority over the condition and commanded it to come out. After a while of praying we asked Adam what he was feeling, and he could feel the Holy Spirit at work. I had a sense that something had to be pulled out from Adam's right hand side, and repositioned myself so I could concentrate on that area. Now it might seem weird - it did to me - but I felt that I needed to mime pulling something like a rope from his side, in a sort of tug-of-war style. I was a little hesitant to do this, especially as we were at the front of church and there were still many people there. But nevertheless, and feeling a bit of an idiot, that's what I started to do, praying whilst I was pulling this imaginary rope from Adam's side. At the end of the prayer time we asked Adam how he was feeling, and he said that the pain levels were coming down.
I didn't see him again till yesterday, and I approached him to see how he is now. He informed me that he's completely better, that there is absolutely no pain, and that God had really taught him some stuff through the sickness and healing process.
It's great that God healed Adam, but I felt a little sad that the healing needed to be justified by God teaching him through this time. And I said, "Maybe God healed you just because He wanted to heal you, not because He wanted to teach you anything".
We do like to rationalise God, but I think the Bible points to a God who is completely irrational, from a human perspective, and does things His own way, for His own reasons - and often just simply because He loves us and we ask.
Adam had been experiencing a lot of pain on the right hand side of his chest and abdomen, and the doctors were baffled. In the ministry time after the service Pastor Doug asked a lady and myself to pray for him. We talked a little first, then began praying. We could sense the Holy Spirit with us as we prayed, and took authority over the condition and commanded it to come out. After a while of praying we asked Adam what he was feeling, and he could feel the Holy Spirit at work. I had a sense that something had to be pulled out from Adam's right hand side, and repositioned myself so I could concentrate on that area. Now it might seem weird - it did to me - but I felt that I needed to mime pulling something like a rope from his side, in a sort of tug-of-war style. I was a little hesitant to do this, especially as we were at the front of church and there were still many people there. But nevertheless, and feeling a bit of an idiot, that's what I started to do, praying whilst I was pulling this imaginary rope from Adam's side. At the end of the prayer time we asked Adam how he was feeling, and he said that the pain levels were coming down.
I didn't see him again till yesterday, and I approached him to see how he is now. He informed me that he's completely better, that there is absolutely no pain, and that God had really taught him some stuff through the sickness and healing process.
It's great that God healed Adam, but I felt a little sad that the healing needed to be justified by God teaching him through this time. And I said, "Maybe God healed you just because He wanted to heal you, not because He wanted to teach you anything".
We do like to rationalise God, but I think the Bible points to a God who is completely irrational, from a human perspective, and does things His own way, for His own reasons - and often just simply because He loves us and we ask.
Monday, March 29, 2010
No more till May
Another week, another Monday, and another opportunity for people in Kibera to experience God's love for them through His healing power.
And it was another busy week, with more reports of healings from previous weeks. One lady that we prayed for last week was so grateful for the healing she received that this week she came with a thank offering of money - needless to say we pointed out that the healing ministry is free, and she went away even happier!
Maximilla has a serious problem with her left eye, and last week came for prayer. Last week she couldn't distinguish anything through her eye, now she can see light and dark. We prayed that God would continue the healing He has started.
Other prayers this week were said for diabetes, toothache, healing from burns, chest problems, malaria, sore rashes, reuniting of families, one lady with an alcoholic husband who regularly beats her, and a few who need employment. Some of these people had tried doctors, clinics, and various different medications without any improvement, some came to us deliberately, others were attracted by the offer of something for free. All received prayer, and we believe the Holy Spirit was with us once again, and even now is healing those we were privileged to pray with.
I'm still fasting on a Monday, and plan to continue as I'm still enjoying it, and find I am more spiritually aware on a Monday than on other days! However, last night I woke up in the night, with the words in my head "you are released from your fast". It was as if God was saying to me "you fasted when I asked you to fast, and now I'm releasing you". So now it's a personal choice, rather than something I feel God is compelling me to do.
The Turning Point project closes for the Easter break this week, so our HotS ministry will take a break too. We are excitedly looking forward to May 3rd when we'll be back out there, and Emily will be back with us, and we can be witnesses to God's heart in action for the poor of this world.
So, to God be the Glory, great things He has done!
And it was another busy week, with more reports of healings from previous weeks. One lady that we prayed for last week was so grateful for the healing she received that this week she came with a thank offering of money - needless to say we pointed out that the healing ministry is free, and she went away even happier!
Maximilla has a serious problem with her left eye, and last week came for prayer. Last week she couldn't distinguish anything through her eye, now she can see light and dark. We prayed that God would continue the healing He has started.
Other prayers this week were said for diabetes, toothache, healing from burns, chest problems, malaria, sore rashes, reuniting of families, one lady with an alcoholic husband who regularly beats her, and a few who need employment. Some of these people had tried doctors, clinics, and various different medications without any improvement, some came to us deliberately, others were attracted by the offer of something for free. All received prayer, and we believe the Holy Spirit was with us once again, and even now is healing those we were privileged to pray with.
I'm still fasting on a Monday, and plan to continue as I'm still enjoying it, and find I am more spiritually aware on a Monday than on other days! However, last night I woke up in the night, with the words in my head "you are released from your fast". It was as if God was saying to me "you fasted when I asked you to fast, and now I'm releasing you". So now it's a personal choice, rather than something I feel God is compelling me to do.
The Turning Point project closes for the Easter break this week, so our HotS ministry will take a break too. We are excitedly looking forward to May 3rd when we'll be back out there, and Emily will be back with us, and we can be witnesses to God's heart in action for the poor of this world.
So, to God be the Glory, great things He has done!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Breakthrough!
What a morning! Last week we had been sat waiting, waiting, waiting for people to come, and it seemed as if there was a spiritual barrier preventing people from even showing any interest.
This week, the complete opposite. There was hardly a moment when one of the groups wasn't involved praying with someone, and a lot of the time both groups were busy, and I was noticing people walking by and slowing down to see what was going on - this while I was attempting to hover between Pastor Shadrack and Eunice as they were praying - come back Emily!
Once again, we had people coming back reporting healing, and all told we had 15 visitors in our two hour stretch, and were able to pray for them and a variety of their family members who were sick. And, me being an Arsenal supporters, I was very pleased and privileged to pray for a young boy called Arshavin. This week's list of illnesses included malaria, typhoid, stomach ulcers, colds, boils, asthma, alcoholism, boils, fertility, eyesight, painful legs, pain & growths in mouths... I could continue.
We also prayed for employment for people desperate to find a way of supporting their family - one man was actually on his way to an interview and stopped for prayer. Today it was a privilege again, but it was also very exciting! All the team had a very real sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and I think our confidence and faith is growing. One lady came with an obvious eye problem, but wasn't asking us to pray for it - she'd come back to report healing from her first visit to us. But I felt I really wanted to pray for her eyesight, so asked specifically what the problem was with her eye, and if we could pray for healing. I'm hoping to see her next week, and that she can clearly see me!
Next week will be our last HotS session until May, as the project closes for the Easter holidays. And then in May we'll be restored to full strength with Emily returning - we're still praying for God to bring more to join us, and this morning is the first morning that we could have prayed for more had we had a larger team. No doubt, in God's timing, we'll have more helpers.
And just as I was about to sign off for this week Francis came through the door of the office in Kibera. He's the man who was going for an interview this morning, and he was coming to report that he'd got the job - praise God muchly!
This week, the complete opposite. There was hardly a moment when one of the groups wasn't involved praying with someone, and a lot of the time both groups were busy, and I was noticing people walking by and slowing down to see what was going on - this while I was attempting to hover between Pastor Shadrack and Eunice as they were praying - come back Emily!
Once again, we had people coming back reporting healing, and all told we had 15 visitors in our two hour stretch, and were able to pray for them and a variety of their family members who were sick. And, me being an Arsenal supporters, I was very pleased and privileged to pray for a young boy called Arshavin. This week's list of illnesses included malaria, typhoid, stomach ulcers, colds, boils, asthma, alcoholism, boils, fertility, eyesight, painful legs, pain & growths in mouths... I could continue.
We also prayed for employment for people desperate to find a way of supporting their family - one man was actually on his way to an interview and stopped for prayer. Today it was a privilege again, but it was also very exciting! All the team had a very real sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and I think our confidence and faith is growing. One lady came with an obvious eye problem, but wasn't asking us to pray for it - she'd come back to report healing from her first visit to us. But I felt I really wanted to pray for her eyesight, so asked specifically what the problem was with her eye, and if we could pray for healing. I'm hoping to see her next week, and that she can clearly see me!
Next week will be our last HotS session until May, as the project closes for the Easter holidays. And then in May we'll be restored to full strength with Emily returning - we're still praying for God to bring more to join us, and this morning is the first morning that we could have prayed for more had we had a larger team. No doubt, in God's timing, we'll have more helpers.
And just as I was about to sign off for this week Francis came through the door of the office in Kibera. He's the man who was going for an interview this morning, and he was coming to report that he'd got the job - praise God muchly!
Monday, March 15, 2010
I'm not a great advert for HotS this week
Another Monday, another 2 hours sat by an open sewer in Kibera, with people milling around going about their daily business. This week a local man decided to clear out the sewer a bit, as it was so blocked that it was preventing anything running down. This entailed raking out clumps of rubbish and sewage, and leaving piles at intervals along the edge of the sewer. It did improve the drainage, certainly, and for a few minutes I was grateful that I was so bunged up with cold that I couldn't effectively smell much!
However, being bunged up with cold isn't a great advert for a Healing ministry. Smiling weakly at people walking by whilst blowing one's nose repeatedly in front of a large sign proclaiming 'Healing' is a little ironic. The team did pray for me, but my nose continued to think it was in training for a marathon.
So, apart from me, we only had 3 takers this week. One mum with her 2 year old daughter who she was taking to a clinic. She had a persistent cough that we prayed for. Another mum came that we know because one of her children is in the TP Mashimoni project. She's a single mum with a lot of problems and issues, and we're fairly certain she's HIV+. She had a bad cough, which may well have been the signs of TB, and she asked for prayer for healing for it. She didn't want prayer for anything else, but if God heals her cough then maybe she'll come back for healing prayer for some of the other problems she experiences.
And the last lady was a repeater from last week. She'd come with her daughter who last week had painful boils on her bottom. we prayed last Monday, and by Friday they had completely disappeared - from memory she'd been suffering with them for a couple of months at least. We were also able to pray about the mum's marriage, as she suspects her husband has been looking elsewhere. It must take quite some courage to open up and admit something like that, and once again, it was a huge privilege to pray for her.
So once again, we have been witnesses to the healing power of the Holy Spirit at work in Kibera. It may not be as dramatic as Peter & John, but God is reaching people at their point of need, and they are acknowledging it as Him. Awesome!
However, being bunged up with cold isn't a great advert for a Healing ministry. Smiling weakly at people walking by whilst blowing one's nose repeatedly in front of a large sign proclaiming 'Healing' is a little ironic. The team did pray for me, but my nose continued to think it was in training for a marathon.
So, apart from me, we only had 3 takers this week. One mum with her 2 year old daughter who she was taking to a clinic. She had a persistent cough that we prayed for. Another mum came that we know because one of her children is in the TP Mashimoni project. She's a single mum with a lot of problems and issues, and we're fairly certain she's HIV+. She had a bad cough, which may well have been the signs of TB, and she asked for prayer for healing for it. She didn't want prayer for anything else, but if God heals her cough then maybe she'll come back for healing prayer for some of the other problems she experiences.
And the last lady was a repeater from last week. She'd come with her daughter who last week had painful boils on her bottom. we prayed last Monday, and by Friday they had completely disappeared - from memory she'd been suffering with them for a couple of months at least. We were also able to pray about the mum's marriage, as she suspects her husband has been looking elsewhere. It must take quite some courage to open up and admit something like that, and once again, it was a huge privilege to pray for her.
So once again, we have been witnesses to the healing power of the Holy Spirit at work in Kibera. It may not be as dramatic as Peter & John, but God is reaching people at their point of need, and they are acknowledging it as Him. Awesome!
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