Jesus Heals. And We Saw It!

This is an aside from Outside Light news - I hope you won't mind me talking about the week-end that I've just had with Phil.

Phil and I heard about a HOTS (Healing on the Streets) conference in Winchester; some lovely people from Holy Trinity Church, Knaphill had gone to another of these in Coleraine N. Ireland last year; Vineyard Church, Coleraine is where HOTS is based. Others from HTC had attended similar conferences at other places around the UK. Of those who returned from those, I don't think there were any who were ambivalent about what they'd seen. One had received healing to a long-term leg injury and is as right as rain even today.

Phil's been on strong painkillers for more than three years, but he took himself off of them a week or so ago. Through the past week he found that the pain lessened, but there was still residual pain that made it difficult for him to stand still for longer than a few minutes.

On Friday night we heard Mark Marx speak, Mark pioneered the HOTS ministry. Mark set out in simple language the background and methods of Healing on the Streets. He did this with great humility and with a clear but quiet voice; though the claims he made of healings of cancer and other severe illnesses sounded too good to be true. That said, they would only be too good to be true from a worldly perspective. In order to believe that these healings happened, you'd have to accept them from a different perspective. Whether we can do that or not depends on us having either a child-like acceptance of what we see and believe, or a God-like one. Since none of us is God-like, we therefore have to suspend our worldly beliefs - and that's really, really hard to do.

Despite my positive experiences of God this past year or two - including healing through prayer (bad back), when it comes to the supernatural I still lack faith. Also, when it comes to preachers, particularly those who claim insight into the supernatural, I tend toward cynicism. For me this stems from a worldly cynicism and this was 'confirmed' by a bizarre service I attended in Maidenhead where there was a visiting American preacher - the style of preacher that you might see in an anti-Christian documentary. So theatrical that I'm surprised Equity hadn't demanded he join their union. I felt really uncomfortable with his approach, methods and preaching and I left before the end - behind a group of other people who evidently felt the same. Listening to Mark Marx however, was the antithesis of this experience. There is nothing theatrical about him.

Anyway, the Friday HOTS evening finished and as Phil and I were leaving for home, Phil excused himself and said 'hang on a minute'. At which he marched up to the now resting Mark Marx and asked for prayer for his leg. Mark had already said that evening that if any of us were to ask him for prayer he'd very likely say 'no', because they should take the opportunity to go out to the streets the next day and be prayed for by a team there. In other words, he didn't want us thinking of him as the one who was doing the healing. He was very clear that it was Jesus.

Nevertheless Mark relented and invited Phil to take a seat - telling him to sit with his hips well back into the chair so that when his legs were outstretched it became clear that there was a difference in the length of each leg - probably 10/15mm. Mark prayed, with Phil's feet both supported by a couple of fingers of each of Mark's hands, and others and I watched as the left leg grew to the same length as the other so that the heels equalised. Phil stood and said he no longer felt pain - but I could see a look of doubt on his face still. He said to me on the drive home that it felt like Mark was pulling his foot to be level with the other. The pain, though, had gone altogether.

Roll on to the next day - Saturday morning - and Mark continued with his teaching. This time he demonstrated another leg-lengthening, which was filmed. He also prayed for a lady with a medical condition that was not cured instantly. The previous night, he had told us that healing would not happen every time, but that it WOULD happen others. He also said that healing wasn't always instant and that often they would hear afterwards that healing had occurred. And so in the afternoon we went onto the streets of Winchester.

Something to know about this conference is that the Winchester churches describe themselves as being 'Joined at the hip'. In other words, their activities, prayer and fellowship is based on the one central figure of Jesus, not on differing doctrine, or team colours. They are United in Mission. They act as ONE BODY. On the streets there were a couple of hundred people at least - Baptists, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and we divided into two groups to go to different venues. So when 100+ of us knelt on the ground to pray in heavy rain in the very centre of Winchester, it got noticed!

At the end of our prayers Phil and I found standing behind us a group of young lads. They turned out to be trainee squaddies and wanted to know what was going on, so we told them and invited them to take a seat if they had any health issues. They wondered off, but kept coming back and wondering off again. I had a chat with them and it turned out that one or two had aches and pains from training but they were afraid to sit in the chair. How odd that they were frightened of sitting in a chair but they would be prepared to face bullets! Anyway, one of them eventually summoned up courage, sat in the chair, was prayed for and said afterwards the pain had gone.

I noticed that Phil had been standing and talking with one man for most of the time we were there. Phil thought it was for only 20/30 minutes but we were there for two hours in all and this man had kept him chatting for most of that time. I didn't keep count but the 6 or so chairs were mostly full throughout the two hours.

Anyway, it turned out that the chap followed a sect and he believed that Christian healing was wrong. Phil had listened to Mark's teaching, that we shouldn't try to push anyone to accept healing, or to argue with them. So he stood for all that time listening to the other chap giving him scriptural references for why we shouldn't have been there. But Phil said after, that the longer the chap spoke, the more Phil realised that without the previous night's healing, he wouldn't have been able to have withstood the pain in his leg. He would have had to have moved it/lifted it from the ground/shifted weight or even, perhaps, to have excused himself and sat down on a chair. In other words, every word, every minute this chap spoke, he was confirming to Phil that healing does work and that God works through us in miraculous ways. Phil also felt 'fed' by this man's recital of the Scriptures. At the end of it he was able to shake the man's hand and thank him.

Afterwards, Phil, Mark and I chatted as we walked to the Baptist Church for the day's debrief. Phil admitted to his lack of belief and worries that he'd had his leg 'pulled'. Mark showed him a picture on his mobile phone taken in Oxford of a man holding in his hands a pair of orthopaedic boots, one of them very built up. But he was wearing a shiny new pair of shoes. He'd gone to buy those on the day that his leg had grown and he had returned to show Mark. Mark's point was that there was no way that he could have 'pulled' his leg to the length of the other given that the difference was inches and that the man had always had to wear orthopaedic boots.

Yesterday, Phil went to church and told Nancy about the week-end. She encouraged him to give that testimony at the front of the church. At the end, the Worship Group leader said that Phil would be at the back of the church for those who wanted prayer - which wasn't what Phil was expecting. He'd been dropped in the deep end.

Apparently a line formed, and Phil prayed for several people. One man said he no longer felt pain in his knee. Others wanted prayer too so they moved to the prayer room. One man had had his trousers made for him with one leg longer than the other to compensate for the 20mm difference in the length of his legs, which caused him back pain. Phil went through the taught process and was determined that if this was to work, then he must not attempt to pull the leg in any way. He let the man's heel rest on his hand, prayed and watched as the leg grew, heel "sliding" on the palm of his hand. Others saw this too and after it happened Phil asked the man to stand and sit again to see whether he could make the legs a different length as they were before. When sitting back in the chair, this time the legs were of equal length and they couldn't get the legs a different length. A second lady had been complaining of back pain, so Phil prayed for her legs too - with the same result. The man and the woman had both felt a 'pulling' sensation at the tops of their legs - but it wasn't Phil exerting pressure or tension to give them that sensation.

Having seen what I've seen and heard what I've heard it's really, really hard to remain cynical about supernatural healing. A part of me wants to believe that it can't be true - I think because if it is true it shakes my world-view and is a bit scary. But I've seen that it IS true. It's not a trick, it's not people wanting it to be true and feeling healed when they're perhaps not; there's physical evidence for it - legs of a differing length becoming of the same length once they were prayed for. AND there's nothing to be scared of.

What a great thing it would be if God wants Woking's churches to work together, to be 'joined at the hip' in the same way that Winchester's churches are. I was really encouraged to discover that there were people there from Christ Church as well as the churches that Phil and I represented. Will Woking's churches hear the call to unite in mission and take Jesus' healing to the streets, really making Him visible through Word and Power? Or are we perhaps a little scared to take this step out of the boat and discover what it's like to walk on water? Plenty to pray for here.

Blessings - John

Hungry? In Woking? In Surrey - England's Richest County?

from: Outside Light Memorandum of Association:

The Charity's objects (“the Objects”) (acting in accordance with Christian biblical principles, and in particular Christ's teaching to feed the hungry, provide for the thirsty, clothe the poor and look after the sick)

To tell you the honest truth, when I was sat with our wonderful solicitor Mike Tinling of Robbins Olivey drafting our Memorandum, I’d no real concept that there might be young people in Woking actually going hungry. I’d thought of this form of words more as an ‘excuse’, if you like, to entertain and encourage. But last night a couple of things happened that woke me up.

We were visited by another church youth worker who’s set up a youth drop-in similar to ours, in Old Woking. They meet twice a week and attract very much the same group of kids that we do. He mentioned at the beginning of the evening that he was concerned that there were a couple of kids who seem malnourished and who eat ravenously when they’re visiting his group. Volunteers in our group had noticed the same two lads' behaviour and appearance, and there was a question-mark over whether they were getting enough to eat.

My thoughts were that they’re just skinny lads who can ‘get away’ with eating several slices of pizza and drinking milkshake by the bucket and that they keep their weight off by running around. I’m still not sure why they’re so thin but we’ll keep an eye on it. That said, something happened later that made me feel uneasy about my lackadaisical attitude.

The evening went really well – we’ve been operating a yellow and red card system, which seems to have had a positive effect on behaviour. More than that though, we’ve installed a new tv so that the kids can bring along their x-boxes. We’ve had a pool table up since day one, and last night was the first for a new volunteer, Paula, to run her most excellent Street-Dance lessons. This proved really successful - boys and girls, about 15 of them, were strutting their stuff to Paula's leading and were having a great time - but for a spat between a couple of girls who have a problem with one another. But the most excellent development of the evening was that another girl of 16, a kind of alpha-female who has the respect of the other kids, intervened and took one of the girls aside, and explained in a very controlled way, why she should behave when she’s in the Drop-in!

This girl came to our notice a while ago. On the field she’s been keen to encourage us – yes, that’s what I mean – by getting the other kids to fall in line when they’ve stepped well away from it. She’s also helped practically in the Drop-in by volunteering to help clear up. In short, she stands out from the others because of her maturity, integrity and willingness to see things from another’s point of view.

She asked for prayer before leaving - we had no idea why. Bravely, she explained that she wanted prayer for the relationship with her mother who has effectively stopped feeding her. This girl has applied for four jobs, and been rejected, but she says that her mother wants her to pay rent - which she's unable to do!

She explained a lot more about her life that I can’t write about here. But suffice it to say that this girl has been ‘through the wars’ in more ways than one – and yet she faces life with dignity and noble bearing. There wasn’t a volunteer in the room last night whose heart didn’t go out to her after what she poured out to us. And so it seems that the words from our Memorandum of Association shown at the top of the page will take on real meaning now that Outside Light has promised to help her in practical ways, providing food as well as a job-reference that she can take with her to her next job interviews. We'll find other ways to help too - with God's guidance.

There have been times on a Tuesday when others and I have wondered why we take some of the abuse that’s thrown at us – most of it the result of the kids' idea of humour, some of which the more sensitive petals among us find hard to take. But last night we had revealed to us one excellent reason; this young woman who exists within the raw underbelly that we laughingly call society. A "society" that has let her down so badly that I'm ashamed to be a part of it; and yet she survives with dignity - she has grown into someone of whom we should all be proud. With young people like her around, there is hope for us all.

Please pray for her healing, and for her provision.

For help with finding a job - she's been looking for shop work.

and for God to smile on her.

MUGA-Lite

Mondays
These past few weeks we’ve not had much opportunity for relationship-building in Knaphill as the young people have been inside in The Cabin, and we’ve been concentrating on preparing the ground for the Inkerman Estate. But, hopefully we’ll have more opportunities these coming weeks now that the MUGA floodlighting has been installed –making it more likely that young people will venture out on dark evenings.

I went there a few nights ago and took some photos (with permission) of some 16-year olds playing football under the floodlights. One of them said, ‘This is awesome’, another said, ‘We’re loving it’. The £10k+ grant application for the lighting installation was submitted by one of our Outside Light lads and supported by Geoff Ward of Woking Borough Council, our local Knaphill councillors and Knaphill Residents’ Association. We’re really blessed to have been able to have worked with this excellent group of professionals, and we know from the young people who are using it, that it’s already a huge success. Thanks to everyone for pulling out the stops to enable this to happen.

I’m hopeful that as a result, dynamics in the area will change from last year, where young people were congregating in the car park next to residential property and playing football there amongst other things. Now that the MUGA is floodlit, there’s no reason for them to do that. The main benefit though, is that young people have further evidence from society that they’re cared for.

Since Outside Light’s arrival on the scene last year, they’ve seen adults taking an interest in their wellbeing; The King’s House was opened to them as a drop-in; The Vyne provided a larger venue, thanks to Eileen and Knaphill Residents’ hard work; and now they’ve got MUGA lighting. Hopefully it’ll dawn on them soon, if it hasn’t already, that they’re valued and cared for. Hopefully this’ll have a positive influence on their lives, which will be realised in the coming times.

Tuesdays
Opening New Life Church as a drop-in has proved to be really challenging. A few weeks ago you’ll recall that the first evening open there was a fight that ended in the road outside. The second week was a little calmer and each subsequent week the evenings have become calmer still.

A feature of these evenings is that the kids are really keen on singing and playing instruments in the Church’s Sanctuary. This amuses me, because most of them rush to be in there. In more usual circumstances we might have expected to have had to have dragged them screaming and shouting into a church building. What’s really good is that one of the young lads, who fought in the street a few weeks ago, is actually quite good at singing. The kids seem to enjoy it so much that we’re planning a talent contest in five weeks, to take place just before Christmas. Plenty to pray about there :o)

This week we’ll also be setting up prayer for the latest vision for Outside Light, which is that we’re not to restrict ourselves to serving young people, but to look at needs across our society. So our prayers are now being specifically targeted at what we might do to serve the elderly and infirm, particularly those who have little contact with other people, perhaps because they find it difficult to leave their homes.

We’re looking for this vision to be confirmed, so if there’s something about this that speaks to you then please do let us know.