We've been in Springfield for a few days now, and it's been pretty quiet, for the most part. We've enjoyed some downtime, gotten settled in, and Vanessa's been finishing up the distribution process for her new album, OPUS. In the past couple days we've had more of an opportunity to do street ministry. God's really blessed us with nice weather, nice people, and creative ideas that allow us to be more effective in our ministry for the Lord.
Yesterday, Vanessa, Lane (Vanessa's younger brother) and I headed to the library for a social club's potluck. We were invited the day before by a few friends, and figured, why not? God might have something in store for us. So, we met those friends at noon, right on schedule...and as it turns out, we went to the wrong library. Oh well. We decided to have a picnic in downtown Springfield, in the square, instead! It was the perfect day to eat outside, anyways, so we drove the short distance from the library to downtown and settled in on the square.
PICNIC LUNCH
We had a nice lunch of guacamole and chips, wasabi peas, and brownies--each of us had only brought a few select items, which we'd been planning to be brought to the potluck. But everything was great! While in the square I met a few of Vanessa's friends, and we all had a great time. I 'happened' to meet an older man down there, who was praying for revival in the square. He was so secure in the Lord. He said he was confident that a move of the Holy Spirit would indeed happen. I told him that I was hoping and praying for the same things! I think we both walked away encouraged.
STREET PERFORMING AND FIRST 'SPIRITUAL READING'
After that V did some street performing with two girls she'd met downtown. They sang a mix of their own songs, worship music, and praise. I made a sign, on cardboard from the library, that said, "Instant Healings and Spiritual Readings". I was hoping that this would attract a new subset of people who would otherwise be turned off by words like prayer, prophecy, etc. "To the Jews I became a Jew" (1 Corinthians 9:20)...
So, Vanessa and co. sang and even played around with a tambourine, and I enjoyed listening and holding up the "Healings" sign. After some time, a younger guy, maybe early twenties, came up and asked what the 'Spiritual Readings' were about. I explained that they were the obtaining of knowledge through Jesus, the Spirit of God. Sort of like physic readings except with a pure filter, I said. In Christian terms, I'd call it a personal prophecy. It turns out this guy was himself a strong believer, and we enjoyed some good conversation together afterwards.
To ensure privacy, I won't go into the details of this first personal prophecy (oops, "spiritual reading"). But I want to report that the Lord is blessing the prophetic aspect of our ministry very much. I have almost never gotten insight into family situations, job opportunities, past injuries, etc, but now they have become pretty commonplace. In the past two days, the Holy Spirit has been revealing deep things and accurate words in these personal prophecies. We've been asking for this. Also, I think the Lord wants to provide a pure alternative for the physic readings that are so common, which do not point to Jesus or obtain knowledge by Him. (To us, the Lord was the one who created the ability to be know things about others by His Spirit, but the enemy has once again taken something pure and corrupted it. Satan is not a creator, only a distorter and destroyer.) But now, the Lord is showing us how to really target the specifics in prophecy and directed prayer. Glory to God!
HIP AND BACK PAIN HEALED
Two guys in their sixties walked up. They were pretty entertaining...they both had long hair, unique clothing, and bamboo walking sticks. It turns out they'd been to woodstock. Anyways, one of them had back pain which also affected his hips. Vanessa prayed for this, and he was healed after two prayers. The man was actually a strong Christian, and I think he was surprised. He said, "It feels a lot better! Praise God!" After this we talked with the two of them for a little while longer, before they walked off down the street.
PERSONAL PROPHECY
A younger guy sat down on the sidewalk to listen to the street music. People do this sometimes--and that's good, as it makes for a nice ministry opportunity! So, this guy sat down next to Vanessa, who was taking a break from singing at that point (another girl was playing Vanessa's guitar at that point). After a while, she called me over to prophecy over (sorry, 'spiritually read') this guy. Once again, the Lord really was so gracious. He did so much more than I could have hoped for, and the man was really blessed from what God revealed. This guy received spiritual encouragement, insight into a potential new job, and encouragement regarding His unsaved sister, among other things. God revealed all these things in the spirit of prophecy.
After this, the Lord showed me one more thing. I saw a cool towel being wrapped around the guy's neck and upper shoulders. It was made known that God was healing this area, slowly, and doing so by 'cooling' and reducing the inflammation. I shared this knowledge with the guy, and he expounded on the story. He said that he'd been severely injured in the past, to the extent that doctors told him that he'd never walk again. So God had already worked quite the miracle. And this upper back area was the only afflicted area left. I encouraged the guy, that I felt God would heal the rest, too.
Vanessa and I prayed for the back pain, which was also causing left hand numbness, to leave. It didn't, even with a few prayers. The guy wasn't that surprised, and I didn't push it because of what God had shown through the vision. I felt compelled to leave it in His hands, and accept His timing. I trust that God will be faithful and complete the last segment of the healing.
KNEE PAIN AND DISCOMFORT HEALED
A laid-back guy walked by twice, and asked about the sign. I told him that the healings were done through prayer, and asked him if he needed any. He said his knee was off, and bent it a few times to make sure it was still bothering him. And he wanted prayer! I felt I had a lot of faith at that moment, so I just put my hand on the knee and said, "in the name of Jesus". Nothing happened. So, we tried again. I put my hand on the knee one more time, and as we prayed I felt it pop. I asked him, "Did you just feel that pop". He did not, but it was proof for me. I said, "move it around a little!". He said it felt good, and that it was not hurting him anymore. Glory to God! This just about marked the end of our time downtown on Saturday. We headed home after a long day out!
On to today, Sunday. We visited North Point Church in the morning. The message was very timely--it always is there. Then, we headed downtown again in the early afternoon. The Lord ensured that we had a blast!
NECK AND HEAD PAIN HEALED; PERSONAL PROPHECY
Vanessa's perspective:
While I was street performing, a young man stopped and listened. After I finished a song, he asked if he could play my guitar. While he was playing, I asked him some questions about himself, and God began to give me some insight about his past as he was talking about surface things. Once I shared some things with him that God showed me, he seemed more open to talking about deeper things. I shared some encouragement with him and asked him if he had physical pain. He said he had gotten hit in the head the night before, and also had neck pain. After commanding the pain to leave, he said his head felt much better, and his neck felt only a little better. I felt like these issues weren't the major issues in his life right now, but that it would be better to encourage him in deeper things rather than continue to focus on the surface pains. I called Thomas over and asked him if he saw anything for this young man. Thomas sees (in the Spirit) clearer than I do, so I usually divert to him at this point.
Thomas's perspective:
So, Vanessa called me over and introduced me to this young man, and I asked God to show me something for him. Things came kind of slowly at first. but eventually God revealed that there were many disappointments in the man's past. I explained that God shows these things so we can instead look to His promises and pray into the positive. Step by step things were revealed--job struggles, relationships, etc. I felt compelled to give the man a bible. He confirmed that He didn't have one, so I ran to the car and got one for Him. Then we got back into prayer, and prophesied and prayed into a few more things. The guy was really, really touched by some of the stuff the Lord showed near the end. I am so, so thankful that God has increased our insight into these things for His Glory. Praise Him!
COCKATOO GUY HEALED (written by Vanessa)
While street performing, I saw an older guy walking towards me with a cockatoo on his arm. I was so excited, I let out a girly scream. I asked him some questions about it and made regular conversation, and when I would laugh, it laughed at me! The entire experience made my day; it was so awesome. Before he left, I asked him if he had pain in his body. He said he had arthritis pain in his feet, and was open to prayer for it. After prayer, he said it felt a little better. I asked if I could pray again, and he said yes. After a second prayer, he said it felt significantly better, but not totally gone. Sometimes I am not bold enough to persist, and this was one of those times. He said thank you very much for the prayer and I let him leave without asking again. I am glad God took most of it away.
BACK PAIN HEALED (written by Vanessa)
While I was street performing, I saw two men go into a restaurant across the street. I felt God impress upon me that one of them had back pain and wanted to be healed. About 45 minutes later, they both came out, and I went across to catch them. I asked one of them had back pain, and he said no, but the other one said, "that's me." I asked if I could pray for it to leave, and he answered with an enthusiastic, "Yes!" I told it to leave in the name of Jesus, and then asked the man how it felt. He was overjoyed as he told me that as I was praying he felt it leaving. He said it felt 75% better. I asked if I could pray one more time, and he was very open and wanted it. After that prayer, he said if felt "so much better." I didn't ask him if it felt perfect, but he was overjoyed at what had happened and we thanked God. It was encouraging to see someone really happy about it, because some people are just kind of "eh" when they are healed. I'm not sure if they don't really believe it just happened, or they can't process what just happened, but I always get really encouraged when other people rejoice about being healed!!
SUMMARY
So, that wraps up the last two days of street ministry. Honestly, things have been kind of slow--not many people have wanted prayer. And not many have even wanted a 'spiritual reading'. But we can see now that God used the sign to tell us something--namely, to reveal to us that prophecy can and should be taken to the forefront in our ministry. This is something that there is a lot of potential in.
We are thankful for new friends. We are thankful for every opportunity to speak God's truth, His Light and His Love into the lives of others. We are thankful that everyone we've prayed for has experienced some amount of healing. We are thankful that many have been fully healed. And we are thankful that God is backing us and showering us with so many blessings!
Yesterday, Vanessa, Lane (Vanessa's younger brother) and I headed to the library for a social club's potluck. We were invited the day before by a few friends, and figured, why not? God might have something in store for us. So, we met those friends at noon, right on schedule...and as it turns out, we went to the wrong library. Oh well. We decided to have a picnic in downtown Springfield, in the square, instead! It was the perfect day to eat outside, anyways, so we drove the short distance from the library to downtown and settled in on the square.
PICNIC LUNCH
We had a nice lunch of guacamole and chips, wasabi peas, and brownies--each of us had only brought a few select items, which we'd been planning to be brought to the potluck. But everything was great! While in the square I met a few of Vanessa's friends, and we all had a great time. I 'happened' to meet an older man down there, who was praying for revival in the square. He was so secure in the Lord. He said he was confident that a move of the Holy Spirit would indeed happen. I told him that I was hoping and praying for the same things! I think we both walked away encouraged.
STREET PERFORMING AND FIRST 'SPIRITUAL READING'
After that V did some street performing with two girls she'd met downtown. They sang a mix of their own songs, worship music, and praise. I made a sign, on cardboard from the library, that said, "Instant Healings and Spiritual Readings". I was hoping that this would attract a new subset of people who would otherwise be turned off by words like prayer, prophecy, etc. "To the Jews I became a Jew" (1 Corinthians 9:20)...
So, Vanessa and co. sang and even played around with a tambourine, and I enjoyed listening and holding up the "Healings" sign. After some time, a younger guy, maybe early twenties, came up and asked what the 'Spiritual Readings' were about. I explained that they were the obtaining of knowledge through Jesus, the Spirit of God. Sort of like physic readings except with a pure filter, I said. In Christian terms, I'd call it a personal prophecy. It turns out this guy was himself a strong believer, and we enjoyed some good conversation together afterwards.
To ensure privacy, I won't go into the details of this first personal prophecy (oops, "spiritual reading"). But I want to report that the Lord is blessing the prophetic aspect of our ministry very much. I have almost never gotten insight into family situations, job opportunities, past injuries, etc, but now they have become pretty commonplace. In the past two days, the Holy Spirit has been revealing deep things and accurate words in these personal prophecies. We've been asking for this. Also, I think the Lord wants to provide a pure alternative for the physic readings that are so common, which do not point to Jesus or obtain knowledge by Him. (To us, the Lord was the one who created the ability to be know things about others by His Spirit, but the enemy has once again taken something pure and corrupted it. Satan is not a creator, only a distorter and destroyer.) But now, the Lord is showing us how to really target the specifics in prophecy and directed prayer. Glory to God!
HIP AND BACK PAIN HEALED
Two guys in their sixties walked up. They were pretty entertaining...they both had long hair, unique clothing, and bamboo walking sticks. It turns out they'd been to woodstock. Anyways, one of them had back pain which also affected his hips. Vanessa prayed for this, and he was healed after two prayers. The man was actually a strong Christian, and I think he was surprised. He said, "It feels a lot better! Praise God!" After this we talked with the two of them for a little while longer, before they walked off down the street.
PERSONAL PROPHECY
A younger guy sat down on the sidewalk to listen to the street music. People do this sometimes--and that's good, as it makes for a nice ministry opportunity! So, this guy sat down next to Vanessa, who was taking a break from singing at that point (another girl was playing Vanessa's guitar at that point). After a while, she called me over to prophecy over (sorry, 'spiritually read') this guy. Once again, the Lord really was so gracious. He did so much more than I could have hoped for, and the man was really blessed from what God revealed. This guy received spiritual encouragement, insight into a potential new job, and encouragement regarding His unsaved sister, among other things. God revealed all these things in the spirit of prophecy.
After this, the Lord showed me one more thing. I saw a cool towel being wrapped around the guy's neck and upper shoulders. It was made known that God was healing this area, slowly, and doing so by 'cooling' and reducing the inflammation. I shared this knowledge with the guy, and he expounded on the story. He said that he'd been severely injured in the past, to the extent that doctors told him that he'd never walk again. So God had already worked quite the miracle. And this upper back area was the only afflicted area left. I encouraged the guy, that I felt God would heal the rest, too.
Vanessa and I prayed for the back pain, which was also causing left hand numbness, to leave. It didn't, even with a few prayers. The guy wasn't that surprised, and I didn't push it because of what God had shown through the vision. I felt compelled to leave it in His hands, and accept His timing. I trust that God will be faithful and complete the last segment of the healing.
KNEE PAIN AND DISCOMFORT HEALED
A laid-back guy walked by twice, and asked about the sign. I told him that the healings were done through prayer, and asked him if he needed any. He said his knee was off, and bent it a few times to make sure it was still bothering him. And he wanted prayer! I felt I had a lot of faith at that moment, so I just put my hand on the knee and said, "in the name of Jesus". Nothing happened. So, we tried again. I put my hand on the knee one more time, and as we prayed I felt it pop. I asked him, "Did you just feel that pop". He did not, but it was proof for me. I said, "move it around a little!". He said it felt good, and that it was not hurting him anymore. Glory to God! This just about marked the end of our time downtown on Saturday. We headed home after a long day out!
On to today, Sunday. We visited North Point Church in the morning. The message was very timely--it always is there. Then, we headed downtown again in the early afternoon. The Lord ensured that we had a blast!
NECK AND HEAD PAIN HEALED; PERSONAL PROPHECY
Vanessa's perspective:
While I was street performing, a young man stopped and listened. After I finished a song, he asked if he could play my guitar. While he was playing, I asked him some questions about himself, and God began to give me some insight about his past as he was talking about surface things. Once I shared some things with him that God showed me, he seemed more open to talking about deeper things. I shared some encouragement with him and asked him if he had physical pain. He said he had gotten hit in the head the night before, and also had neck pain. After commanding the pain to leave, he said his head felt much better, and his neck felt only a little better. I felt like these issues weren't the major issues in his life right now, but that it would be better to encourage him in deeper things rather than continue to focus on the surface pains. I called Thomas over and asked him if he saw anything for this young man. Thomas sees (in the Spirit) clearer than I do, so I usually divert to him at this point.
Thomas's perspective:
So, Vanessa called me over and introduced me to this young man, and I asked God to show me something for him. Things came kind of slowly at first. but eventually God revealed that there were many disappointments in the man's past. I explained that God shows these things so we can instead look to His promises and pray into the positive. Step by step things were revealed--job struggles, relationships, etc. I felt compelled to give the man a bible. He confirmed that He didn't have one, so I ran to the car and got one for Him. Then we got back into prayer, and prophesied and prayed into a few more things. The guy was really, really touched by some of the stuff the Lord showed near the end. I am so, so thankful that God has increased our insight into these things for His Glory. Praise Him!
COCKATOO GUY HEALED (written by Vanessa)
While street performing, I saw an older guy walking towards me with a cockatoo on his arm. I was so excited, I let out a girly scream. I asked him some questions about it and made regular conversation, and when I would laugh, it laughed at me! The entire experience made my day; it was so awesome. Before he left, I asked him if he had pain in his body. He said he had arthritis pain in his feet, and was open to prayer for it. After prayer, he said it felt a little better. I asked if I could pray again, and he said yes. After a second prayer, he said it felt significantly better, but not totally gone. Sometimes I am not bold enough to persist, and this was one of those times. He said thank you very much for the prayer and I let him leave without asking again. I am glad God took most of it away.
BACK PAIN HEALED (written by Vanessa)
While I was street performing, I saw two men go into a restaurant across the street. I felt God impress upon me that one of them had back pain and wanted to be healed. About 45 minutes later, they both came out, and I went across to catch them. I asked one of them had back pain, and he said no, but the other one said, "that's me." I asked if I could pray for it to leave, and he answered with an enthusiastic, "Yes!" I told it to leave in the name of Jesus, and then asked the man how it felt. He was overjoyed as he told me that as I was praying he felt it leaving. He said it felt 75% better. I asked if I could pray one more time, and he was very open and wanted it. After that prayer, he said if felt "so much better." I didn't ask him if it felt perfect, but he was overjoyed at what had happened and we thanked God. It was encouraging to see someone really happy about it, because some people are just kind of "eh" when they are healed. I'm not sure if they don't really believe it just happened, or they can't process what just happened, but I always get really encouraged when other people rejoice about being healed!!
SUMMARY
So, that wraps up the last two days of street ministry. Honestly, things have been kind of slow--not many people have wanted prayer. And not many have even wanted a 'spiritual reading'. But we can see now that God used the sign to tell us something--namely, to reveal to us that prophecy can and should be taken to the forefront in our ministry. This is something that there is a lot of potential in.
We are thankful for new friends. We are thankful for every opportunity to speak God's truth, His Light and His Love into the lives of others. We are thankful that everyone we've prayed for has experienced some amount of healing. We are thankful that many have been fully healed. And we are thankful that God is backing us and showering us with so many blessings!
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