#53 – Healing Amidst All the Drama

     There were 18 people, representing several different denominations on the streets last night.  As we arrived we noticed a very strong police presence.  Later in the evening several men were arrested near the park.  Ken is a newbie so I took the time to introduce him to some of the regulars at the mall.  We had some interesting and challenging conversations with the street people.  While visiting the Sanctuary House of Prayer group in the Park, a young man wheeled-up on his bicycle and asked us for prayer.  He had seen the sign that said “Need Prayer”.  Gaylene told me that many people who see the sign stop by and ask for prayer.  How easy is that?

     Our group, Michele, Ed and I decided to start off in Portage Place and then head out to Central Park. Walking through the food court we noticed a dejected looking lady. When asked if she had pain.  She said she has arthritis with a level 10 pain.  We prayed for Linda. and she said it felt really good in her body. That encouraged us to keep going in prayer so we prayed for her three times, the third time she said her pain was at 0. Yay! We left with her receiving hugs from all of us, and her face was uplifted.
As we left the food court we noticed Gregory, who when asked if he wanted prayer, immediately said you can pray for my knee. We did, and again prayed three times. Not a noticeable difference in pain, but when Ed had his hand on Ed’s knee he felt heat radiating, and we believe there was healing started for Gregory and it will come to completion for him. We encouraged him to come back on a Thursday and share his testimony.
On our way to Central Park , we noticed a lady with a walker and neck brace across the street. She asked for prayer for her friend Dorothy who was in critical condition in the hospital. We eventually prayed for Dorothy, but first prayed for Paulette. Paulette rated her pain a level 12, and when we prayed she said it went down to an 8. We prayed for her again, and she said it was at 0. “Really” we all exclaimed! Such a privilege to see someone with that much pain be able to say it was at 0. She said that she did believe and that she was an advocate for others. We encouraged that in her and blessed her.
Continuing on, we met a lady who had lost her wallet. We walked with her back to Portage Place to help her search. She was from up north and had just had twins, a boy and a girl, who were in NICU due to weighing only 3 pounds each.   We didn’t find the wallet and on the search we met a lady called Sandra. We spent about half an hour praying and talking to Sandra, and it was an encounter God had set up to encourage her in her journey of recovery from addiction and in ministering to her people. She was from Pine Falls, as is Michele, and that was an amazing connecting point. She teared up a few times as our prayers and words ministered to her heart and spirit. We encouraged her to continue to reach out to others and and gave her a card for Zion. Pastor Tom walked by a few minutes later, and we pointed him out. Sandra said with a smile, “oh, I’ve seen him around. He often buys people food.” What a great way to be known.
So off we went again towards Central Park , and on the way met the lady, Michele, who had lost her wallet. We walked back to the Portage Place entrance with her, and prayed for her and her babies, and gave them bus tickets.
We did finally make it to Central Park. As we got there, we saw a police car pulling in swiftly and then four young men on the ground getting handcuffed. A crowd gathered and a young boy, Mohammad, came over to ask us to pray for the situation. He must have seen Gaylene’s ‘need prayer’ sign earlier and identified us as part of the group that prays. It was a bit of a disturbing scene, and we prayed at the end for a few of the guys that had been handcuffed.
A great evening of seeing God heal people’s high levels of pain and meet their heart needs of connection. My heart is full tonight with joy as I type this. Such a privilege to be part of this.

     This evening I went out with Jeremiah and Dale who also brought his camera to capture some of the miracles that are taking place on Thursday nights. At Portage Place we met Gina and her husband who were visiting from Trout Lake, Ontario and she asked for prayer as the day before her 12 year old daughter committed suicide and she was going back for the funeral. We really ministered to her as she had heard from other preachers that anyone who commits suicide goes straight to hell.
We then went to Central Park where we ministered to four aboriginal young people. They let us pray for them and they could feel the presence of God.  We then spent the rest of the evening ministering to a homeless couple Sandra and Riley who needed lots of prayer.  We prayed for Riley’s aching feet that were blistered.  The pain eventually left completely after praying 3 times and he opened up to accept Jesus into his life.  He was also released from all his anger.  He was hungry so I walked with him to get some food at portage Place while Jeremiah and Dale continued to minister to Sandra.  While we were gone two men came along one by the name of James who had major back pain.  We prayed for him and he was healed. Ken joined our group and also ministered some more  to James and he also got healed of a stomach issue.  A great evening with the added excitement of a police take down of suspected drug dealers.