Faith And Healing

In our last lesson, we discussed that it builds our faith to listen to testimonies from others that God has used in healing prayer. This lesson is going to share some of those testimonies. The testimonies come from a ministry team of "everyday believers" who accompanied Randy Clark on a ministry trip to Brazil in May 2002. The testimonies were initially sent out on the Global Awakening email list, and they are used here with permission.

(If you would like to know more about Randy Clark and the Global Awakening ministry, their URL is http://www.globalawakening.com. If you would like to subscribe to the Global Awakening email list, go to http://list.globalawakening.com and select the ga-randyclark list.)

Randy Clark's 15-member ministry team arrived May 21 in Curitiba, Brazil, for 10 days of intensive healing and deliverance ministry. After only three days of the trip, there were 75 salvations, 718 physical healings, 252 inner healings and deliverances and 29 people called to ministry for the first time.

One of the ministry team, Frank Mellace, an attorney from Rome, N.Y., reports a woman who was crippled rose from her wheelchair and walked for the first time in eight years. Several of the team had gathered around her and prayed. As the healing power of God hit her, she began to rise from the wheelchair. She stood up and took a few steps. But she began to turn back to the wheelchair. That's when Frank turned and saw her from a few feet away. The power of God hit him, too, and he screamed, "No! Don't sit down. Walk! Walk! You're healed!" She immediately turned around and began walking toward Frank. Her husband and other friends from her church were in the back of the auditorium when this happened. When they saw her walking, they all ran to the front, shouting, crying and praising God. But she was too busy to stop to shout. She immediately turned to her deaf son who was also there for prayer and kneeled on her knees to pray over him. Frank said this week was the first time he ever prayed for the sick and saw them healed. In Frank's words, "My life will never be the same. That was not me yelling at that woman. That was the Spirit of God."

Bill Fischer, a student from Redding, Calif., had a very strange word of knowledge that had something to do with a white horse - that's all he knew. A woman raised her hand. Bill and his interpreter went to her to pray. She told them that she had been in an accident with a white horse that had rolled on her and broken her ankle and injured her head. The head injury had left her a schizophrenic. As Bill prayed for her, she says she saw an angel come down and touch her head. Her mind immediately cleared and her ankle was healed. Praise God!

Bill also prayed for a man who had been totally deaf for 30 years in the left ear and 50 percent deaf with loud ringing in the right ear. After prayer, normal hearing returned to the left ear and the ringing stopped in the right ear.

On Wednesday evening, Patricia Schroeder, a minister from Ontario, Canada, was asked to minister to the children in children's church while adult ministry was going on in the auditorium. There she prayed for a 10-year-old girl named Andrea. Her hands were both covered with water blisters and red blotches from a skin disease. When Patricia began to pray for her, the girl began to weep. Patricia said, "Look at your hands and watch Jesus heal them." Then Andrea began to laugh as she watched the skin gradually clear after about 15 minutes of prayer. The teacher and others around her began to cry and rejoice over the healing.

Another child, a 12-year-old girl, had a problem with her leg and was not able to straighten it when she sat. After prayer, she was able to twist and turn her leg for the first time and was totally healed.

Patricia also prayed for a little girl, about 6 years old. Her left eye was crooked and turned inward. The eye was straightened as Patricia prayed.

Dan Hazekamp, a software engineer from Rochester, N.Y., prayed for a women in a lot of pain with kidney stones in one kidney and cysts on the other. When Dan prayed for the cyst to dry up, she immediately felt a pop in her side and the pain on that side was gone. Dan then prayed for the kidney stones to break up in the other kidney and the pain left that side, too.

Don Walker a retired railroad worker from Colfax, Calif., reported that a 7-year-old boy with blurry eyes and thick glasses was 40 percent healed. After 15 minutes of prayer, all of a sudden excitement rose in his face and he began to cry. His parents also began to cry as they realized their son could see.

J. C. Ebersole, a youth pastor from New Holland, Pa., prayed for a middle-aged business owner who was very discouraged and heavy hearted because of financial problems. In spite of working very long hours, he was unable to pay his bills. At times his family had been without food on the table. J. C. prayed against a curse of poverty and prayed for financial abundance. His countenance immediately changed and the spirit of depression also left. The man said he was also delivered from an addiction to cigarettes. He began to rejoice, dance and wave his arms in thanks to God.

Don Walker gave a word of knowledge about labyrinthitis. At the same moment the word was given, a woman reported the disease was removed and she was healed.

Don also reports about a man who had burning eyes and fuzzy vision for 11 years. As Don began praying for him, the man closed his eyes. After the prayer he opened his eyes. His sight was totally restored and all the pain was gone.

Dan Hazekamp also prayed for a woman with a hernia in her throat. The hernia gave her a lot of pain and made it difficult to swallow. As he prayed, she felt a pop in her throat. The pain disappeared and she was able to swallow freely. Dan went on praying for others, but soon the woman returned and said the Lord had shown her there was more for her. Dan began praying for her again and she doubled over in pain as he cast out a spirit of affliction. She then left free as well as healed.

Dan also reports a woman in her forties came for prayer who had had migraine headaches since she was 8 years old. The doctors had told her they didn't have any stronger medicine for her than what she was already taking. As Dan interviewed her before prayer, she told that her father had died when she was 4 years old. Dan began to pray that God touch her and told her that God said He is her Father and loves her dearly. She began to sob and weep as the Lord healed her heart. Then the headache completely disappeared.

Marcia Lorenzon, an interpreter for the ministry team and member of the local church, saw a 45-year-old woman who was deaf fall to the floor during the ministry time. The woman was saying, "Victory," over and over. She kneeled beside her and began to say, "Jesus, Jesus," softly in her ear. The woman suddenly turned wide-eyed to Marcia as she heard the words for the first time. She rose up from the floor able to hear in the one ear where Marcia had spoken the name of Jesus. The woman began saying "Jesus, Jesus," over and over. Marcia began to speak, "Jesus" into the other ear and that ear, too, was healed. There were several deaf people in the area so Marcia turned to the next person, a 17-year-old deaf girl, and began to speak, "Jesus," in her ear, too. She, too, was healed.

Joy Dark, a 22-year-old student from Atlanta, Ga., got a life-changing experience as she prayed for healing for a woman with near-sightedness. As God slowly restored her sight as Joy persistently prayed, Joy realized that God does indeed use "little ol' me's." The woman said her sight improved about 80 percent.

Jean Andrews, a technical writer from Atlanta, Ga., reported that a man came for prayer for freedom from an annoying twitch. As she prayed for the Lord to fill him with the Father's love, he began to sob and weep. Later, with great joy and peace, he told Jean that during the ministry he was finally able to forgive his uncle for murdering his mother and sister.

Jean also remembers a woman who had broken her wrist two months before. The wrist had not healed properly, and she was able to move only her fingers and hand slightly. As the Lord touched her, she regained full motion of her hand, wrist and fingers.

Jean also reports on a young girl who was nearsighted. Her mother held her glasses as Jean and the interpreter prayed. At first she could not read signs in the auditorium just a few feet away, but as they prayed, she was able to see more and more of the auditorium clearly. Her vision was about 80 percent restored. She and her mother walked away discussing what they were going to do with her glasses!

On the first night of the trip, in the city of Campinas, Randy gave a word of knowledge about pain in the arms and six people reported healed during the general prayer. One man said he had had pain in both arms for a year. He said he knew the Lord was going to do something. He closed his eyes and saw blue rays of light as the pain left. Several people reported they were healed during the general prayer and others were healed immediately as they walked to the front of the building.

For more than 10 years, a woman had had pain in her back and her right arm. Randy asked several people who had just been healed of pain to lay hands on this woman and pray for her. All the pain left suddenly as the people prayed.

Follow-Up Note

The above testimonies were from the first three days of ministry. Here is a summary of one week's worth of ministry results: 1,181 healings, 361 deliverances and inner healings, 214 salvations and 101 called into full- time ministry. The team has counted 14 people who have been healed or partially healed from deafness, and two people, bound to a wheelchair, healed to walk.