Forty-three people showed-up for street ministry this week, about 10 of them first-timers. Kevin, Alyssa and Chris divided-up the first timers, and then Kevin and two other teams headed for Main Street, and the rest of us went to Portage Place.
Our team’s first encounter was with a big man named Douglas who walked with a cane. He wanted prayer for the pain in his knees. After we prayed he said his knees felt much better. He then told us that normally on Thursday evenings he leaves the mall at 6, but tonight he had been detained, and now he knew why. He also told us that he had seen us enter the food court, and he knew we were praying Christians. Before we had prayed he said something interesting, “I want the kind of prayer where you command healing, not the kind where you say long-winded prayers begging Jesus to heal.” And that is how we prayed. Before we left he also asked for prayer to be free of his addiction to food. Maybe we will see him again, and find out how that went.
The 2nd man we encountered was Purnell. I could not clearly hear what he wanted prayer for it was related to a Doctor’s appointment he had the next day – he was very soft spoken. Mike, Mel, and Laney conversed with him and prayed for him. After prayer, he said he felt something moving inside of him, and he touched his abdomen. I asked is what you’re feeling a good thing. He assured me with a smile that it was very good. Still not sure what he was healed of, as I didn’t get a chance to ask.
I then noticed John, the man with the walker from last week. I asked him how his pain was, and if he was walking better. He said everything was better. I asked if he would like more prayer, but he said what he needed was 5 dollars. He seemed uncomfortable in talking to me. I gave him 3 dollars as I thought that would cover his bus fare, and I didn’t want him to see me as a cash dispensing machine. I recognized one of the men he was visiting with. It was the guy who called himself Elvis of the North, whom I had met on June 24th, only this time he said he had left his guitar at home. He also was not interested in talking to me, and he got up and left.
Our team then surveyed the food court and noticed there were several prayer teams active there so we decided to go to Central Park. On the way through the mall, my grandson told me that his leg was really hurting, and he was having trouble walking. He said he had hurt it earlier that day at hockey school. I then told him we needed to pray for him. His answer was that there was a lot of people that needed prayer more than he did. We assured him that he was important also. So he sat on the end of a bench and we prayed for him 3 times. Each time we prayed his leg improved until he said he was good to go. He demonstrated how high he could lift it pain-free, which he couldn’t do before.
I recognized the lady on the other end of the bench as Chatty Cathy whom I had encountered in the park on June 16th. I reminded her of our encounter and asked how her epilepsy was. She said as she did last time, that she has pills for that. I told her pills or no pills tonight we are going to pray for that epilepsy to go. She laughed and agreed. She also has a problem of feeling the cold all the way down her left side and we also prayed for that. She was pleased we prayed for her. I hope we see her again sometime soon and find out about her healing.
The rest of the team headed for the park, while I went looking for the washroom. When I caught up to them they had just had an encounter with a Muslim man who appeared to be feigning interest in finding God. They pointed him out to me, and he looked like the same guy who had lectured me about Jesus not being the one on August 4th. We saw him join a couple of others and they were performing some kind of rituals. We concluded they were targeting Christian groups like ours in order to deter us. There is a mosque across the street from the park.
While in the park a very drunk/high man approached me. He wanted to talk, but I have no idea what he was talking about as it didn’t make any sense at all. He asked me several times how old I was, and when I would answer “70” he would stare off into the night and say, “What does it mean?” I sat with him for a while, quietly praying for Jesus’ guidance. After a few minutes the team started to head back, and so I said goodbye to him, and he thanked me for listening to him. I am not sure what that was about.
Prayer teams were gathering just outside of Portage Place, and debriefing with one another. Brad had just led Alex to the Lord, and he wanted me to meet him. Alex was a sober First Nations man about 50 years old. He said he had purposefully come to Portage Place on a Thursday night because someone had told him that there would be Christians there that could help him find Jesus. Several of us celebrated with him, and I told him Angels were rejoicing in heaven over his salvation. That brought a smile to his face. I then gave him a Zion Church business card. He said he had to go to the hospital right away to visit a friend. Brad offered to drive him, and together they would pray for his friend who was waiting in the emergency.
It was 9:30, the bathroom at Portage Place had been flooded for the last hour, and my carload was eager to hit the road and find a bathroom. When we dropped my grandson off at 10:30 his leg was starting to bother him again, and by morning it was causing him pain again. Not sure what that was about neither, but at least the prayer enabled him to complete the evening.