BACKGROUND STORY:
Fast forward to this year. Last Sunday, we went back to Grace Church and there was Elizabeth. We invited her to do street ministry with us again! Last time we went with her, like I said, was almost nine months ago, and it was our first time doing any sort of prophetic ministry outside of the Church.
Since then, this sort of outreach has become routine for Vanessa and I. We have enjoyed, and even become accustomed to, being used by the Holy Spirit to minister encouragement, prayer, and God's healing to people. Just as our adventure last April with Elizabeth marked the start of our street ministry together, our next get-together with her marked the start of something new: this time, we would be using our new Go-Pro cameras to document testimonies and miracles. I thought that was fitting.
FRIDAY'S DOWNTOWN MINISTRY:
So, this past Friday was the first time we were blessed to incorporate our Go-Pro cameras into street ministry. And God really, really blessed us. Vanessa and I drove to downtown Southern Pines and met Elizabeth there. We discussed how we might approach people with the cameras, and concluded that younger people might like being on video, so we would ask them if they wanted to answer a few questions for a documentary on healing we were making. In hindsight, this worked well. It's easier to be turned down a chance to someone a couple questions, than to be turned down after asking someone if they'd like prayer.
When approaching older people, though, we decided to ask them if they wanted prayer first. If they accepted, we told them about our desire to make a documentary about it, and asked if we could film it. Almost all of them said yes! One lady thought about it for a second, and then said, "Alright! I'll do it for the Glory of my Savior!"
FIRST HEALINGS:
We started off with this plan in mind, and began doing loops around downtown. The area we encircled was probably four blocks long and one block wide. On the backside of our first loop, we saw two younger guys playing basketball in the court. One of them had sat down on a bench, and we asked him if we could ask him a couple questions for our documentary on healing. He said sure--he had asthma and stiffness in his hands. Vanessa asked if she could pray for him. Afterwards, he said the stiffness was gone. The other guy also had pain--pain from a wrist injury, and a painful ACL. I prayed for his wrist and felt such a weightiness in it. Huh--more on this later. I prayed again and it was much better. I prayed for the ACL, and it felt them same. I think Vanessa had more faith than I did, so she prayed for the ACL. It got better slowly. She prayed about 4 times and it felt better every time, but in the end he wasn't fully healed. We weren't given any words of knowledge about why he wasn't fully healed. We are still learning with every day. A lot of the time the Lord shows us that unforgiveness prevents a person from being fully healed. I did feel the Lord impress upon me to tell the young man to go to church with his parents. We shared some encouragement and then left the two, praising God for the healing that He did do!
CUPCAKE SHOP ADVENTURE:
Prior to starting our outreach, we were seeking the Lord for people, places, and things to be on the watch for during our time downtown. Often He shows us in mental images or visions what He wants us to be on the watch for. I saw a cupcake, and I didn't feel it was symbolic. So, we decided to go into the cupcake shop. The cupcake I saw (with a heart on the top) was there...and so were a few nice ladies working there who said they both had back pain. They seemed really shy about being on camera, so we just asked if we could pray for the pain to leave. They joked back and forth about it, but shied away from accepting prayer. That was a little disappointing, but we left in good spirits. Once outside the store, we asked the Lord to reach down and heal them. We prayed for His presence to come into that building and reveal Himself to them. We never did go back in ourselves, but some things, you just have to take by faith. We are hopeful in the Lord that He did something there. It takes faith to be assured of the things you do not see.
HAND PAIN HEALED:
Next we went up to a black man on a bike at the post office. He had pain from surgery on both his hands. Vanessa prayed for his hands, and he said they felt better. She said that if they weren't perfect, she'd like to pray again. He accepted, and after the second prayer, they were fully healed! This man was quiet, but afterwards he began asking, "What did you do? What did you do?" We explained that it was the power of God, and not us. We told him that God was expressing His love, and that God has the power to keep him free from that affliction in the future. The man had a relationship with God himself, which was good to see. I think this experience marked a turnaround in his life.
BACK PAIN GONE:
A man on his way into the liquor store had back pain. He said he was really in a hurry to get to work...he took twenty seconds for prayer before he went right into the store. He didn't really seem to believe. Vanessa, Elizabeth and I prayed outside the store in agreement that God would still heal Him. We turned around and saw him exit the store, going back to his motor bike. He was still in a hurry, but after being asked, he said, "It actually is better!" Praise Jesus! We prayed that God would finish the work, and more importantly, touch that man's heart. He's in God's hands now.
NECK PAIN HEALED:
A nice Christian women had pain in her neck. She was very open to prayer but, like the last man, also in a hurry--on her way to the chiropractor! We prayed for her neck and her pain was totally taken away. She was very surprised and thankful to God! I told her that she had a great testimony once she gets to the Chiro. Praise God.
KNEE PAIN GONE:
A nice lady was on her way into the post office when we asked if she'd like prayer. She said, "of course!" She had knee problems, and one of her knees had already been replaced. We prayed for a complete healing of her knees and legs. The pain went away, and was replaced by a heaviness. God was right there with us--we enjoyed some powerful prayer and time in the Spirit. Next, the heaviness left, and her healing was nearly complete. We believe that 'heavy' sensation is the time just prior to a bad spirit leaving, but it's something we haven't really witnessed before. God is faithfully teaching, step by step! We encouraged the woman that God would finish the work. It was still improving when we left her. Glory to God!
NERVE DAMAGE HEALED
We said bye to Elizabeth at five o'clock. Vanessa and I decided to do one more loop around the town. Coming up to the basketball courts, Vanessa received a sharp pain in her left foot. So, we walked up to the courts and asked if anyone there had any pain in their left foot. One of the guys said, "What? I do." We told him we believed God wanted to heal it, and he came right over. He had nerve damage in his left foot, and said he'd had it for a while. He didn't seem to believe, but God was made real to him! We prayed for new nerves and no more pain. The other guys there seemed pretty amused and I heard them laugh a little during our prayer. The foolishness of men can be pretty exciting sometimes, you know? After prayer, this young man was completely delivered. Glory! We shared with him the source of his healing, and a few short words of encouragement in the Lord. It's up to God to do the convicting. He's in God's hands.
SUMMARY
All in all, what a richly blessed time. Our first experience using the Go-Pro in ministry was so wonderful. All the Glory to our God, who sent His word and healed them. We are so thankful for His pleasure to use us. There isn't a whole lot Vanessa and I like more than Street Ministry. We'll get out the video of our experience as soon as possible. Stay tuned for that, as well as more updates. Be blessed!
Too much to comment on individually....so let's just say AMEN and THANK YOU GOD! :)
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