“Humility is ‘not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” CS Lewis
Forty-two people came out to minister this week. Sixteen of them were students from the Kingdom H2O Street Ministry Boot Camp – the first time on the streets/malls/hospitals for many of them, and some of them saw blind eyes healed – read below.
Teams went to Main St, Health Sciences Center, St. Boniface Hospital, Siloam Mission, Union Gospel Mission, Garden City Shopping Center, St. Vital Shopping Center, City Place, Portage Place, and McDonald’s.
I was at Portage Place with Gaylene, Ryan, Sheyenne, and Kean. We decided to make our way through the walkways to City Place and the Library, and talk to people we met. As we were entering the MTS Center a security guard who was following us asked if our group was now leaving Portage Place. We asked her why she was asking? And she said never mind and motioned us to keep going. After that, we noticed a security presence everywhere we went (a couple of weeks ago they told us we couldn’t pray for people in the mall anymore). We approached several people, but none of them wanted prayer. On the way back a young man who was a Christian from Ethiopia came up to us and asked us for help. I had difficulty hearing and understanding his broken English, but Gaylene who works downtown as a full-time missionary to needy people and refugees engaged him and determined his prayer needs. We also gave him some cash.
When we got back to Portage Place, Josie, a First Nations regular came up to me and told me she had been looking for me because she needed prayer. Her daughter, Jasmine (recently off of drugs) had gone to BC to get help and hasn’t been heard from for 2 weeks. Josie was very concerned, and as a Christian, she said she knew prayer was the best answer. Because there was such a heavy security presence in the mall I explained to Josie that our prayer would look a little different than usual. I told her that we would pray with our eyes open, and without placing our hands on her. I said we will look like we are just having a conversation. She understood.
Meanwhile, Chelsea was playing Christian songs on the public piano, and a couple of others were singing along, security was a few feet away, but said nothing. Strange, because a couple of weeks ago they told her she could play the piano, but not sing Christian songs.
Kevin Penner’s Report:
I had a team of students from the Street Ministry Boot Camp. We started by buying 5 pizza’s and handing out food on Main Street and blessings people as they were open.
One lady we ended up talking to, had a stroke as a 3-year-old and lost her vision in one eye. Now in her 50’s, when asked to tell me how many fingers I was holding up 2 feet away from her, she guessed wrong. After I had one of the students pray for her eye she was able to accurately tell me correctly how many fingers I was holding up, and then proceeded to read a sign 15 to 20 feet away with that same eye. She said it was now sharper than her good eye.
We also talked to a lady that had fuzzy vision, all the street lights looked like big fuzzy balls, after prayer by one of the new students she said everything was crystal sharp and it was so weird.
We encountered a man that said he could not work for the last 20 years due to a back injury and constant pain, after prayer he said he felt no pain and was able to bend over and put his hand on the ground. No sign of a back injury any longer.
The Boot Camp students ministered to many people. Not everyone’s eyes that we prayed for had the same instant results, but there was a lot of love and sharing that happened throughout the evening.
Pastor Thomas’ Report:
Tonight I was teamed up with Clair, Diana. Liz, Daniel, and Lana but we got split up on the 3rd floor of The Health Sciences Centre and never reunited. We ended up praying for some of the same people as last week and saw some of the changes from having prayed. We saw Edward who received Jesus two weeks ago he continues to improve and his wife Darlene can’t believe the changes in him. Clair and Diana prayed for Mae in the next bed who was in pain and discomfort. We also prayed for her mental state. We then went across the hall to pray for Darlene who had her leg amputated recently and was struggling with hip pain and leg pain. After a couple of times of praying, the pain diminished until it left. Darlene also said she could see better in the eye we prayed for last week. More blindness going. Praise God!
We then went and found Tim Charlotte a young man who has been in the hospital from a serious stomach infection and has had tubes in his throat. He is a Christian and welcomed prayer and communicated that he has improved a lot. He couldn’t speak because of the tube in his throat but wrote on a piece of paper how drug and alcohol abuse had caught up to him. We ministered God’s love and prayed over his mind.
We also went to see Chasse who has improved so much from the bullet shot in his stomach last December. He has been moved to The Rehab Centre next to HSC and was told he can go home in two weeks. He looked so good and so much stronger. We prayed over his legs for strength to continue to improve.
Liz’s Report:
I was blessed to be in a group going to the HSC (Holy Spirit Centre 🙂 with my son Daniel and a great new friend Lana. It was a quiet night at first with not many people around and the one man we offered to pray for politely declined.
We went to buy some drinks in the cafeteria in order to “blend in” especially since there were 6 security guards on break there while we were looking for people to pray for. I was feeling stirred to speak to the couple ahead of me in line at Tim Horton’s but didn’t feel it was the right time or place.
On our way out of the cafeteria, there was a woman in a wheelchair right on our path. All 3 of us felt drawn to her and Lana heard the Holy Spirit say “Ding!”. We began talking with this lovely lady Cheryl who seemed quite down at first as she had suffered a stroke. She warmed up quickly when Lana asked if she was a believer, which she was. We prayed for her physical healing and the Lord gave us words for her including that she had lost some children. She said, “Yes, but I got some of them back”. At that moment her daughter came out of the washroom. Cheryl said, “She is one of my miracles. Now she is speaking for our people.” Daniel sensed that the daughter was a woman with authority who could influence many lives and that she needed to see the Lord bless her mother.
On our way out of the hospital, there was the couple from the Tim Horton’s line! We had a sweet opportunity to share with them and see a smile light up a sad face. Though this couple was quite shy we knew they were very blessed. They followed us out of the doors and said thank you to us.
Thank You, Holy Spirit, for being with us all. When we are weak, You are Strong!
Jeremiah’s Report:
I tried something new! I went to Garden City Mall and that was a new experience!
I’ve been to “middle-class malls” to minister before but at least people humored us and talked with us. At Garden City people wouldn’t even talk with us.
I learned something, walking up to a stranger and striking a conversation on the spot is a bit socially unacceptable. No one in the real world cares to talk to a stranger so when you approach someone and talk with them their mind is going ‘what is this persons motive’ or ‘what is this person trying to sell me!’
But don’t think for a second I didn’t have fun!!
At Garden city, Daniel and I made friends with the security guard, which is awesome!
Also, Trevor and I got to speak with an older couple.( Lawrence and his wife )
That would be my highlight. I walked up to them and asked them if I could show them something cool,
He asked why and I told him we were Christians and that we pray for people and we see miracles all the time. Then I told him that I don’t even need to pray I can just put my finger on his knee. He didn’t let me touch him.
Nevertheless, we talked with him and his wife. Lawrence was very funny he made little funny jokes about certain things. We got to bless him and he did eventually let Trevor pray from a distance. Afterward, I went to shake his hand and he almost did but he didn’t want to touch my hand!!
Daniel’s Report:
Riley, Daryl, Dale, Jeremiah and myself started at Garden city. We talked to a few people and shop owners who frequent the place. I got to talk to a security guard who was a Christian. It was good for making friends with the authorities there. We prayed for a few people and loved on some folks.
We then made our way to Portage Place. Dale bought a meal for a man, and we got to pray for a gentleman’s eyesight. Didn’t see a manifestation of healing, but he felt loved.
Towards the end, a woman named Linda who we had prayed for a month earlier came and asked us for more prayer. She said she liked being around us because we made her feel uplifted and happy. It’s nice to hear that our presence brings light into peoples lives. We walked her part of the way home as she felt rather unsafe in the area at night. We look forward to more contact with her.
Michelle’s Report:
Ed’s group consisted of Antoine, Harrison and myself. We went to Siloam Mission first. It felt like we were building bridges with people tonight. Ed and Harrison were giving out hot chocolate, I handed out socks and Antoine gave out a man’s winter jacket. We engaged in conversations with several people and prayed for a fellow’s knee with chronic pain, a lady with arthritis in her legs and back. We had a chance to share with Shaun how to ask Jesus in his life. Shaun wanted us to keep him in prayer as he wasn’t ready to commit to inviting Jesus to do life with him. Said hi to Barry and Rob who are regulars.
Our group also decided to then go to St Boniface hospital. We asked one lady if we could pray for her although she said no, I gave her a hug and blessed her. The lady was overwhelmed and had tears in her eyes. Michelle and Harrison prayed for Tracy who had cancer. And also with Tenisha whose stomach was hurting. Harrison and Michelle laid hands on her and commanded the pain to leave. The pain was at a 6 and went to a 4. We asked to pray again and then the pain was gone. Thank you Jesus. Antoine prayed for a fellow in a wheelchair. It was a good night!
Lorraine’s Report:
There were 4 of us on the team. We went to the Health Sciences Centre tonight and came in at the Williams Street entrance. As we walked through the main halls on the main floor we encountered a woman who was sitting at a table. Her name was Monica and we asked her if she needed any prayer. She indicated that her husband (Frank) did as he was being tested with some kind of kidney problem and had a growth on his back near the kidney. We asked if she needed prayer as well and as it turned out Monica was a diabetic and had injured her right foot a few months before and the wound had not healed. She was in level 7 pain in her right leg and foot and couldn’t walk well. We prayed with her first and commanded the pain to get out of her body and healing to come. We also prayed for her diabetes. After a few minutes, she said the pain had gone down to maybe a 5 or so. We prayed again and suddenly her leg felt very warm. The pain was lower. We prayed again and then she felt heat throughout her leg and her ankle/foot area. Within a few minutes, all the pain left Monica’s body! Praise Jesus!! And Monica said she felt much better and could put pressure on her foot and leg again with no problem! Later, we prayed for Frank and he also felt the heat in his kidney area. We commanded complete healing to his kidneys and body in the name of Jesus. He said he felt better, but he wouldn’t know for sure until he went to the doctor again. We are expecting a good report!
Later, one of our team members intercepted a man who was obviously in pain and limping past us while we were praying. They asked him if he was in pain and he seemed to understand even though he said that he spoke mostly Arabic. After indicating that it wasn’t necessary to be able to speak English, they prayed for his leg and pain. Not 100% sure if he was healed then, but he seemed to indicate that he was feeling a bit better. He quickly left.
Also had a chance to bless a young woman in McDonald’s who was mopping the floors after most of the debrief team had left for the night. As Les & I sat there, I noticed her. The Lord gave a word of knowledge that she was a student and she was taking sociology at the university. She indicated that yes, indeed that was true! In fact, she was in the second year of her undergrad degree and hoping to go to Law school. And then we introduced ourselves and asked her name: “Blessing” was her name! We found out that Blessing was a Christian, a believer in Jesus and that she was working at McDonald’s for finances for school, etc. So we blessed Blessing and she was very encouraged by that! Yes, Jesus!! The interesting twist to this encounter was that I had just met her a few evenings before when she was at the drive-thru window at McDonald’s and I had shared with Jeremiah S. who was with me that the Lord told me that she was a believer in Jesus as she served us! Totally cool to meet her again and see that the ‘word’ I received was right. So awesome to hear ‘words of knowledge’ and then be able to use them to bless someone!!
H2O Equipping & Healing Nights (7 PM at Zion)
Saturday, February 24 – Pastor Erin Mohr
More info coming soon.