Joyce Meyer writes, “God is not looking for someone with ability but someone with availability.”
This Week’s Highlights
*Christmas Card Leads to Divine Appointment – see Pastor Lorraine
*Shame and Rejection Broken Off – see Jeremiah
*Demons and Addiction Prayed For – see Gaylene
*Words and Pictures Bless Boys – see Brian
Sixteen Kingdom Advancers came out to minister this Thursday. Teams went to St. Boniface Hospital, Quest Inn, and Portage Place. We had Christmas cards, and toiletry kits, as well as scarves, hats, and mitts to give away.
I spent some individual quality time with several of the regulars. What struck me was the total lack of joy each of them had about the season. To them, the Christmas Season is a sad and lonely time, and the heavy traffic, and the holiday closures of the places they frequent, disrupt their usual routines. I blessed each of them with food or a drink, and I gave each of them a Christmas card – probably the only Christmas mail or e-mail they will get (none of them have computers). I had some good conversations and left each of them a little cheerier.
Pastor Lorraine’s Report:
We were invited to go to St. Boniface Hospital to pray for a man who had serious lung/breathing problems and was in ICU. Les, Anna, Kevin, and I went to the hospital where we located Wayne. His situation was very serious, but God’s power is much greater than any affliction. His wife was with him and two other family members. We gowned up (gloves & masks) and Kevin went in to pray for this very ill man while the rest of us stood outside and prayed quietly. Initially, there was an unsettled feeling on the ward. Afterwards, there was a noticeable shift as peace came to the entire room. His wife was very grateful for our ministry and we were very honoured to be asked to go to the hospital to pray for him. Later, we prayed together in a family room where we shared and ministered to the other members of Wayne’s family. What a privilege to pray, encourage and prophesy over them!
Later, as we were leaving the building, we ran into a couple that we had handed a Christmas card to and found out that it was Gary and his wife who had come to H2O on a Saturday evening a number of months ago. Meeting them again was a divine appointment I am sure! Our teams had prayed for him at that time months before as he was in pain and using a walker. That night, he was completely healed, folded up his walker and walked out of the building! So, I asked if he was still healed. “Yes”, he said he was! Praise the Lord! So wonderful to have the results of prayer confirmed months later. As we walked out the doors of St. Boniface he told us he was there now because he had pneumonia! So we asked if we could pray for him. If God healed him months before, God could certainly do it again. As we prayed we felt the power of the Spirit of God come upon him, faith rise up in him, and I believe he was healed. When we asked him how he felt afterward, Gary said he felt really good! There was definitely a shift in his body so we’re believing, just like months earlier, that he is healed!
Jeremiah’s Report:
That was fun! (Do I say that every week?) I mean, what could possibly compare with hanging out with other Christians, performing miracles, and learning how to share my faith with others! It really is the highlight of my week.
Now, what happened last night?
I teamed-up with Pastor Tom, Audrey, and Jeremiah Vega. We spent half the night at the Quest Inn, a hotel near Portage Place that caters to First Nations folks.
Our team approached a lady named Jean, she had 8/10 pain in her arm, after I held her hand for a few seconds, the pain dropped to 5/10! and after a second time holding her hand, she said it was better! We prayed for other things and we also gave her a Christmas card.
We met a Pastor from Cross Lake named Matthew. We talked, prophesied and prayed with him.
When we arrived at Portage Place, the team split up so there was an encounter that I wasn’t a part of, but Pastor Tom explains it below.
Tom adds – Audrey and me went to the Food Court area where we met 27-year-old Chrissy, short for Christian, from the Fairford Reserve. She shared how she used to sing at Gospel Crusades but how she doesn’t feel close to the Lord anymore and doesn’t see her 5 children. We broke off all the shame and rejection she was carrying as well as healed the numbness in her hand and finger. You could see her countenance change dramatically with a big smile that appeared on her face. Audrey continued ministering to her while I prayed for Jocelyn who came with so much pain and brokenness. Just being a listening ear seemed to make a big difference.
Gaylene’s Report:
I teamed up with Iris, Ed, and Andy at Portage Place.
The first people we encountered were a couple of young Eritrean men by the fountain, who were quite surprised at our offer for prayer but in a hurry to catch a bus.
On the other side of the fountain, we came upon two friends – Danai from Kenya and Christopher from Kenya – and chatted with them about their lives in Canada. Christopher is a refugee and Danai is an international student. Both were Christians and were happy to receive prayer and encouragement.
Right afterward we met a trio sitting in the massage chairs. The woman, who was pregnant and hungry, said her cousin David was in need of prayer because of demons. We talked at length with David. He told us he made an agreement with a dark spirit several years ago and believed he was out of God’s reach because of it. We spoke truth to him for quite some time and explained the Gospel, the life of Jesus and the power of His name. David was open to listening, but admitted he wasn’t ready to accept Jesus at this time although he did let us pray for him. Both Ed and I felt our hands get very warm when we prayed for him but he didn’t feel much different. I asked if he had any pain in his body and he said “just addiction” so we prayed for him about that. As we left, Ed gave David a Tim Hortons gift card and suggested he take his pregnant cousin for something to eat.
Iris felt we should walk towards MTS Centre and we ran into Genevieve and her brother Curtis, both from Oxford House. Chelsea, Andy and I met Genevieve at HSC on Monday when she had prayed to meet some Christians to help her process her own health issues and because her nephew was hit in the head with a hammer and was slated for surgery. We went to his room and prayed for him and they told us the surgery went well and he’s already back home in Oxford House, which is a huge answer to our prayers. We’d mentioned the Thursday night outreach so she came to Portage Place to find us. Unfortunately, another of their relatives had just been admitted to HSC with suspected brain cancer. We prayed with both Genevieve and Curtis about all the situations their family is facing and that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, would bring them hope and even joy this Christmas.
As we were leaving, we met Clement, a refugee from Burundi, who I felt God had highlighted earlier. In the new year, Clement is going to Rwanda to see family. He was a Catholic, but was curious, but open about our offer for prayer so we were able to pray and prophesy over him about his future and the coming year.
Merry Christmas and much love to you all.
Brian’s Report: (from December 13th)
When we first got to The Forks Mall, nothing was happening. I was opening up conversations with people but no one had pain and when I put my hands on them to see if Holy Spirit would do something, they felt nothing.
It felt like it was going to be a short night. So after 3 encounters of “nothing” Sandra and I decided to just wander around and enjoy the evening. When we decided to leave, we noticed a severely handicapped boy with his two older brothers. I figured, one more and then we’ll go. We went over to them and I opened with a card trick. But instead of praying for them, I looked at the one young man and said, “I don’t know why but I get the feeling you’re a writer!” He said yes with mild astonishment. Then I said, “Yeah you write poetry… political poetry and you’re trying to change the nations with what you’re writing.” His eyes got huge and he began jumping up and down. “Yeah!!! OMG!” Both brothers were getting super excited and started explaining to me what they do. Then I put my hand over the one I was speaking too and he mentioned he felt pressure. I admitted that I did not see a physical literal light, but something like a blue light in my minds eyes (seeing how accurate I was about the word of knowledge I figured I would go with the flow and it would still be part of what’s happening. I didn’t really know what the blue light meant. I asked Sandra and she said, “I think it represents that you’re going to have to make a decision about something – a big decision.” Once she said that I got sort of a picture of a train at a station that was leaving. I said to him, “Yeah! the change is about the direction you want to go with your writing. I got this picture of a train, this is not a literal train but it’s a metaphor. You have a choice to make – get on the train and take this thing international, or stay on the station and change Canada. They both seemed extremely excited. Turned out they were Christians as well and this whole encounter was very encouraging to them!