Twenty-seven people came out to minister this Thursday night, and 3 of them were first-timers. Teams went to St. Boniface Hospital, Health Sciences Center, and Portage Place. There is also a team now that is going to the Health Sciences on Monday afternoons, and some have reported going out to Portage Place on Saturday’s. As our numbers increase, we will need to consider spreading our activities more and more throughout the week, and to other locations.
The highlight for me was praying for a Christian man named Doug who is a regular at Portage Place. He has always told us he doesn’t need prayer, but last night he asked our team if we would pray for him. He said he had some burning and discomfort in an area to delicate to mention. He also said he had observed that we no longer prayed with our eyes closed, and we no longer lay hands on people in the mall so security wouldn’t know we are praying, and he was ok with that. So Tyler prayed twice and his burning ceased, then Griffin prayed, and his discomfort completely left, then Ryan prayed a blessing over every aspect of his life. He was very pleased. He also told me he thought he should also be praying for people to be healed, so I invited him to join us on Thursday nights. Before we left the mall he told Tyler he was definitely healed and he was very excited about it.
Not all the healing takes place on Thursday nights. After Street Ministry Boot Camp this Tuesday, students Jeremiah and Dance prayed for another student, and here is her testimony: “The biggest change was they prayed for my right leg to lengthen and be the same as my left. I was wearing my winter boots which do not have my orthotics in them so I always feel a bit unsteady. They sat me down and they prayed for my right leg to grow, it was the weirdest experience, I felt stretching from the hip and we all saw my leg grow till it was the same length as my left. I have had to buy new boots this week as my orthotics are not comfortable anymore. I plan to come on Saturday night so I can share more. I am still a little unsteady and getting used to normal shoes.” Margriet Stoffman
“And now Lord, observe their threats and grant to Your servants, FULL FREEDOM, to declare Your message fearlessly, while You stretch out Your hand, to perform signs and wonders, through the authority, and by the power of the Name of Your holy child and servant Jesus.” Acts, 4:29,30
Even now, I feel like I’m jumping out of my skin just writing this!!! 😅
Geraldine, Michael and I went to Garden City mall. Michael saw 3 young men and asked if they had pain in their body. They said no and seemed uninterested, so Geraldine explained that we were Christians and we were going around praying for people. At that time, a big man approached us and upon overhearing, he told us he wanted prayer for pain in his shoulder due to a tumor. It turned out he was the grandfather of the three. His name was Rocky.
Michael proceeded to pray for Rocky’s shoulder and we prayed with him. After the prayer, Rocky moved his right arm and showed us movements he couldn’t do before. I noticed the improvement in his arm’s mobility. At that moment, I felt the Lord’s deep love for Rocky and that he wanted to comfort him and honour his boldness in asking for prayer. I asked if I could pray for him and he said yes. He also told us about his grandchildren and that he was a Christian. He told us that he has dedicated his life to taking care of his grandchildren. I prayed a blessing upon him and his family. I felt the Lord wanted me to specifically tell him that he will honour his faith. We parted ways with Rocky having new hope shining on his face.
Just as we left Rocky, we saw a man in a wheelchair and a man sitting beside him, we proceeded to talk to them. Michael asked the person beside the man in the wheelchair if he wanted prayer, but he said no dismissively, he said that maybe his companion wanted prayer. The man on the wheelchair told us his name was Percy and that he was undergoing dialysis. We joined Michael in praying for him. As we were praying, I again felt the Lord’s deep compassion and love this time for Percy. I asked Percy if he knew Jesus, and he said he has received him as his Lord and Saviour. I prayed a blessing over Percy and gave him the assurance of God’s love and care. We left Percy with peace in his heart and his companion bright-eyed and seemingly amazed.
Then Josie (another mall regular) came up to us and asked us to pray for her again for family issues. She even had a word for Riley which we agreed was accurate. Pretty cool. We were praying with her and a gentleman confronted me on the bandana I was wearing. He said I shouldn’t pray for people while looking like a gypsy. It was pretty funny until I realized he was actually quite serious and offended. I geared up to throw down theologically but pulled myself back from the brink, realizing it wouldn’t have been any good for either of us. He gestured a hand sign representing his feelings towards me and went on his way. No harm was done! (Al’s comment – I was nearby when this encounter took place. While the intruder was harassing Daniel telling him he shouldn’t be a Christian praying if he looked like a gypsy, Josie was yelling at him in colourful language telling him to get lost – often the streets are full of this kind of drama – never a dull moment – read on).
We were then approached by a woman claiming to be the queen of heaven. She had a magic wand and blessed our coffee cups. She had all the right Christian lingo but was clearly confused. We talked with her for a bit but suddenly she had to go and walked away.
We gave out some money to people and talked with a couple others.
Then, right before we left, a man who was intoxicated started picking a fight with us. We calmed him down and encouraged him a bit. It was a wild night. But we never once had to reach out. Someone approached us every single time tonight. I think someone in the pre-meeting had prayed for divine appointments. Looks like we got some!
Jesus is so good. It’s good knowing his love for people goes beyond all the offense and misunderstandings. None of that changes a persons value to Him. We are all in need of His mercy.