JESUS IS The WAY and The TRUTH and The LIFE

Healings on the Street

December 2014

The Great Commission

Have you ever thought about the Great Commission?

Mark 16:15-18

¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Matthew 28:18-20

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Have you ever asked yourself if you are doing any of it? As Christians, we are all called to do this (regardless of our positions in the church). Jesus told us to go into all the world to do all things listed above; we were not to pick and choose what part we may want to do.

Recently, we attended a Christian conference about the Great Commission. One afternoon was devoted into practicing what the Great Commission told us to do. We were to get kickstarted on healing people on the street, through which we could then share the gospel. We were divided into groups. I ended up with a guy called Chris, whilst my husband Rob was in some other group with a couple of women.

Street Healings

Chris and I scoured the high street for 2 hours, during which time we found four people we prayed for healing. This is the first healing that happened:

1. There was a couple; a German man and a French woman. We asked if they had any pain in their bodies, to which they shook their heads, saying "No", but then the woman asked why we asked such a question. Being able to speak semi-fluent French, I began to converse with her in French. She was startled and amazed. She then said how she loves my French. I had not spoken French in over 6 years, so I was very rusty, but continued on anyway.

After exchanging a few sentences (by which time she appeared to be much more comfortable with me), she then owned up to having pain in her foot, especially when walking. We offered to pray for her, which she accepted. After a couple of very short prayers (approximately 10 secs in total), I asked her to walk on her foot. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped, out of which came the words, "You are scaring me!" She couldn't believe it. The pain was gone! In her amazement, she began to ask lots of questions, at which point I realised now was the time to share the gospel. I shared the gospel with her in English, however her German boyfriend would oppose me now and again, adamant that the healing was psychological, and that it wasn't Jesus.

So, I found myself sharing the gospel in French. Without much religious vocabulary, I was really struggling. However, all the while, she listened attentively, saying just how perfect my French was, and that she loved it. I ignored this comment from her initially, but as I continued to talk, she kept complimenting my French. She told me that the words were placed so beautifully in order, and so correct and she asked how I was doing that?

Then suddenly, I realized it wasn't me who was speaking, but it was God speaking to her through me in the French tongue. The few words of broken French that left my mouth became a string of perfect French sentences as they entered her ears. I told her this, which amazed her even more.

We parted after sharing the gospel. She now knows that she has to respond to God in repentance, and to be baptised. I also had a prophetic word for her - that her boyfriend would also come to know Jesus through her. She nodded, and even agreed with me! Praise be to God!

2. After a short walk away, we saw an old lady sitting down on a bench with a crutch next to her. She didn't say much to us, but accepted our offer of prayer for her. It was a problematic, scarred knee which had been operated. After one short 5-second prayer, she stood up, and walked pain free. She held both thumbs up at us, and smiled. She continued on her way walking with her crutch off the ground! Chris and I could hardly believe our eyes. We watched her for a long while until she was out of our sight, still walking with her crutch off the ground. Praise be to God!!

I managed to take a picture of her before she went.

3. Our next case was a young, fit-looking guy who looked like he could be a rugby player. He had a bad shoulder which was painful, and which kept clicking. After a couple of 5-second prayers, the pain left him, but the clicking was still there. We continued to pray for another two times before the clicking finally stopped. He looked amazed. We told him that Jesus had healed him, and had shown Him mercy today. Before we could say anymore to share the gospel, his friend beckoned for him to go. He thanked us, and looking into his eyes, we could see that he was thinking about Jesus. Planting the gospel seed was all we had time for in this case. Praise be to God for every healing opportunity.

4. Our last case was a bunch of men. I felt the Holy Spirit urged me to talk to them. It turned out that they were a bunch of Indonesian men, so I began to converse with them in Indonesian. I didn't know what their religion was, but most Indonesians are Muslims, and do not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. I asked if any of them had any pain, to which they replied, "Why"? I simply said that I would like to pray for healing. Looking intrigued, and especially by the offer of healing, one of them said that he had a bad shoulder. They were looking to see if I could really heal. It is quite common in Indonesia for "special" people to be able to heal (usually witch doctors), so I could see that they were wondering if I was such a person.

I began to pray my 5-second prayer for healing to the bad shoulder, a prayer that I ended with, "in the name of Jesus Christ". I watched their faces as I said Jesus' name, knowing full well how they would react to this name. Sure enough, they were shocked, looking rather annoyed, and offended as if they had been cheated. But it was all too late, as soon as I said the name of Jesus, the healing happened!! The pain in the shoulder was gone! Glory be to God. I smiled lovingly as I said, "Amen", and then left them with the seed of the name of Jesus Christ now planted in them. They couldn't do or say anything against me, but watched me go.

We all met back at the camp after the street healing. Unfortunately, Rob did not have as good a day. He said that he had never met so many fit, and healthy people in his life. He only managed to find a few people that needed general prayers, rather than prayers for healing. So his day was somewhat disappointing.

After hearing this, I prayed to God for Rob to have the opportunity to pray for healing for somebody... and that very evening God answered my prayer - see "Healing in a Restaurant".