#26 Let the River Flow

     There are two healing waters mentioned in the Bible: the pool of Bethesda (John 5:2-4), and Ezekiel’s river (Ezekiel 47:1-12), and they both are examples of God’s grace.  Bethesda’s pool was an actual pool and it represented the healing that is available for us today.  Ezekiel’s river was a vision, of a future time, and it represented a time when God’s healing grace will flow like a river.  The pool was a place people went if they were seeking healing.  The river, on the other hand, just flowed and healed those it encountered.  The street ministry more resembles the river than the pool, as so many people experience healing every week.  It is as though when we go to the streets we are stepping into Ezekiel’s healing river as we partner with Jesus.  And I think we are just experiencing the trickle, and the ankle deep water – there is a greater, deeper flow coming (see the description of the flow in Ezk. 47).

     There were a total of 27 people who showed-up for this week’s Portage Place ministry, which was amazing considering the roads, from the recent storm, were snow packed and driving was challenging.  The mall was fairly busy.  It was a Jets game night, so parking lots were full and parking jumped from the normal $4 to $12.

     The first person our team encountered was Hung.  He is the professional poker player, who is an alcoholic and who has been told his liver is about to shut down, and he will die soon.  He is very open and told us that since we saw him last he has had long periods of not drinking, and then days when he would start again.  He was in a very talkative mood, and he was waxing eloquent on his internet gained knowledge about addictions and the human body.  Team members were having trouble getting a word in, and he didn’t appear open to our praying for him, although he said he prayed every day for himself.  He told us several weeks ago he is not afraid of dying, he is afraid of suffering as he dies.

     While we were listening to Hung, Candice came to tell me that Gaylene needed me on the other side of the food court.  She was engaged with Sandra, who I have prayed with before.  Sandra is still struggling with alcoholism, and she is full of guilt and shame about it.  She is homeless and spends nights with family members and friends on a rotation basis, and she says she receives no Social Security of any kind.  I felt the source of her addiction was the pain in her heart, and I asked her to tell me what were the things that pained her.  She broke down crying and said there were so many bad things in her life and she couldn’t talk about them.  We spoke words of love, peace, and hope to her.  We prayed for her to be sober, and we prayed for her to be released from her addiction.  I gave her a scarf my granddaughter had knitted and told her to let the scarf be a reminder to her that she can call on Jesus to help her when she is tempted.  She was very appreciative of the gift, especially that my granddaughter knitted it.  It was then that I noticed she had a bottle of whiskey in her bag, and we asked her if she would like to give it to us or throw it away, but she wasn’t willing to let go of it.  Alcoholism is a cruel master.  I expect we will see Sandra again.

      Our team was scattered at this point, and so I joined our leader Chris.  He engaged a couple of ladies showing them card tricks.  He asked if any of them had any pain, and one of the ladies said she had arthritis in her lower back, with a constant pain of 8.  He showed her a card trick where a card she chooses goes blank while she holds it (I don’t know how he does it).  He then tells her that just as the face of her card disappeared so has the pain in her back.  She checks her back, and exclaims, “I have no pain”.  She twists every which way testing it, and is totally dumbfounded at the results.  Chris then explains the card trick isn’t magic (it is ‘slight of hand’) and God loves her, and has healed her.  He then goes on to talk to her about God’s love.

     Right at that point, Lorraine came to get me.  She and Alyssa were engaged with a First Nations man named Barry.  He wanted to be free of his alcoholism.  He was a Christian, very co-operative and easy to talk to.  He listened carefully as I told my story about being healed by Jesus of alcoholism.  I explained the difference between being a recovered alcoholic who still struggles with temptation and being healed so that all desire for alcohol is removed.  I told him I would impart to him the same healing I had received.  I first prayed a blessing of sobriety, and then prayed a release from alcoholism.  The second I was finished praying his left hand started shaking and flicking, it turned a dark red and blue colour and his fingertips went numb.  His right hand was normal in every way.  He tried to hold his left hand to keep it from shaking, jumping and twitching, but he couldn’t control it.  We immediately discerned this was a spirit, and it was saying to Barry that this is the price he had to pay for being released from his addiction.  We assured Barry he didn’t have to pay any price, that Jesus had already paid the price.  We also instructed Barry to declare his freedom.  The demon was stubborn, but after considerable prayer Barry’s hand stopped shaking, twitching, and jumping, the normal colour returned, and the numbness left.  Lorraine with her spiritual eyes saw the demon leave.  Barry was relieved and had a big smile.  Right then 2 security guards came and Barry said, “I have to leave now I am not supposed to be in the mall”, and they ushered him out of the mall.  God’s good timing that we were finished before they showed up.

     Other teams also had great experiences.  Ryan, on his third time out, led a man to the Lord, and another man he talked to received a vision while he was talking to him about Jesus.  My friend Guy was out for the first time, and in his first encounter, he witnessed a blind eye being healed.

     Thank you Jesus – Let the River Flow

For those team members who want to do something special for the Portage Place patrons the Thursday before Christmas we are encouraging you to buy $5 or $10 gift cards from Portage Place businesses, and hand them out during your prayer encounters.  Some of the stores that are known to have gift cards are: Tim Horton’s, Subway, Starbuck’s, A&W, Joey’s, Dollar Store, and Shopper’s Drug Mart.