Canterbury HOTS Newsletter 2. Aug 09 - Feb 10
We have now been out every Saturday for 41 weeks and no two weeks are ever the same. The last testimonies I produced were at the end of week 14, so I have a lot of catching up to do here!
What a wonderful response from everyone who has a heart for this ministry. Over this time 676 of you have come to serve, honouring our covenant that we will be church on the High Street, every week, whatever the weather!
The passion to see God honoured and Canterbury transformed is palpable and the expectancy that we are just scratching the surface of what God will do as our prayers build.
 I have stopped worrying about who will come to serve each week as a variety of people from all the participating churches have given their time freely and it always works out!
The first miracle is that we have been blessed with consistently dry weather when we turn out, but it has got colder! On three occasions only we have had the lightest of rain, but on many occasions we have packed up and only then the heavens have immediately opened! I check the weather forecast on a Wednesday and how often it has shown heavy showers for Saturday morning and so we pray to take Authority of the rain and the wind and God has been so gracious.
We said that we would be there 52 weeks of the year whatever the weather and people have come up to us on the High Street and even in the Supermarket to say that they think it’s really good we are there. What a wonderful expression of church to show people that we are of all ages and background and that being a part of church is fun!
I continue to be surprised at how many people have been hurt by the church and how many misconceptions exist about the Father’s love.
The team has encouraged each other and shared wisdom, testimonies and scripture.
Recently we read Acts 5 14 before we started;
‘..more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.’
We set out to show people that as 98% of our local population were not coming to church, we would come to them, where they are, in the High Street, shopping. We want to be a gentle ministry that people are drawn to, in contrast to all the people hustling passers by in the High Street to take a boat ride, visit a certain restaurant or sign a gift aid form for a charity.
We continue to hear people go by and comment’ Those are the people that pray for you for Healing’. We’ll I’ll settle for that as a way for our churches to be thought of.
We have all tried one off events to meet people and then retreated to the seeming safety of the church walls , hoping to bring people back with us, which a friend recently described as ‘In grab’. We are not there to evangelise, we are there to show God’s love to people who may not know he is waiting for them with open arms.
What better way to show that we worship a living God, than to allow him to interact with people in the High Street. We hope that once people have had an encounter with him, they will want to know more and so we are helping them start a journey.
There is so much prophesy about the importance of the UK, and Canterbury in particular, to preserve and grow the kingdom and prevent the growth of secularism, comprising of lost people with nothing to hold onto.
We have built bridges with the local retailers and have looked to bless their businesses through prayer and physical custom, particularly the pie shop, an attractive venue at the end of a session now it is getting colder!
Many HOTS venues have noted that the retailers have seen increased business since the team meet nearby regularly. At the beginning we encountered opposition from some retailers, frightened that we would affect their businesses.
I can report that despite the recession, that the boat trader advised me that he has had a good season, and I note the café opposite is never empty and the pie shop has almost a permanent queue. The dialogue with us maybe their only experience of ‘church’ and it is important that we make a good impression therefore. A trader selling cider nearby at Christmas time remarked how friendly the whole team were and that he had had some really good conversations with them.
Thus we have defined our role every Saturday as being beyond counting how many people we prayed for or how many people were healed. In fact we say, how many people is it worth a team of some 13 people turning up for? The answer everyone is happy to give is nil! What a wonderful group of people to work with, truly Christ like in their passion to serve and make themselves available. We all realise that we are there to witness to the love of God and what a witness they are! How different people’s perceptions must be when they see a group of people having fun and engaging with them. The smiles on some of our team members fill me with joy just looking at them!
We have continued to attract many spiritualists, keen to discuss their beliefs and understand ours. This usually starts with ‘we believe the same thing really…’ and we try to gracefully point to something much more than personal auras.
We also attracted the attention of the Advertising standards Authority following one complaint about the statement on our flyer that ‘God can heal’, sadly from a Christian who attends a church in Canterbury. The ASA executive body gives guidance that ‘religious organisations may make claims about healing only if it is clear that they are referring to spiritual not physical healing’. This clearly contradicts 2000 years of Christian teaching and the Evangelical alliance has taken up the cause. The ASA is not bound by this guidance but is wrestling with the issue and so the Evangelical alliance made representations to them but were told that even a statement that ‘We believe God can heal’ was not acceptable.
We were blessed to receive offers of help from other churches, including the HOTS team at Winchester, the Evangelical Alliance and Linda an advertising expert.
We dealt graciously with the ASA, consistent with the values of this gentle ministry and praise God they have responded similarly, allowing us to make the belief statement’ We believe God loves you and can heal you’. The Evangelical alliance was very surprised that we got such a positive response and wrote to me stating;
‘In a suggested guidance document that we wrote, and which we sent to them, we included the phrase ‘we believe god can heal you’, and we were explicitly told that was not acceptable.
I find this very interesting as they’re definitely letting you get away with more than previous churches.
I hope it’s a sign that their stance is softening.’
We agreed to make some changes to our flyer on this basis and avoided a full hearing of the ASA which would have been an unnecessary distraction to what we are trying to do. We have used the revised flyer to incorporate the other types of healing prayer we have regularly been asked to give, such as addictions, anxiety and family issues and to bridge the issue that not everyone is healed immediately, without diminishing our faith statements. We have also shown ‘prayer for healing’ in five languages to encourage foreign visitors as we have prayed for many nationalities over the past 10 months.
Being on the street is making us all braver to reach out and extend the love of God wherever we are, whether it be Tesco, college, work or hospital. So HOTS is training a group of prayer warriors in Canterbury to live out ‘ACTS’ in a very real way. I am delighted that more people are coming forward to be trained to join the ministry and we are blessed by the video of our training weekend in May that was made by the City church. Thank-you guys!
It is very exciting that the Baptist church will be leading the churches in Canterbury in the Street Pastors scheme which has been blessed by a wonderful funding injection. This is another great ministry that will bind the churches together and show the love of Christ in a really practical way.
There is another great initiative begun for a multi church prayer house called the Boiler room which is being attended by a range of churches.
What a vision for Canterbury, of enveloping the City in prayer of all the churches together, with the HOTS ministry on Saturday mornings, and the Street Pastors in the busy evenings and the boiler room 24-7!! Many prophetic words have been spoken over the city, which say that we will see a new level in the work of the Holy Spirit in Canterbury, when we work together and pray together passionately.
We have been contacted by other churches keen to start a HOTS ministry in Kent, and it is spreading fast! Kent is a strategic route to Europe and I firmly believe that God wants to see the Church rise up and take back the territory it has lost.
We have prayed for almost 640 people now (excluding those on team duty) and are engaging with people on the High street who are keen to ask questions. We are pleased to point people towards a church if they are seeking to find one and are pleased that many have done so.
I was initially surprised in the responses we have had following conversations, when we have suggested prayer for someone, ‘No I’m a catholic, or no i’m a vicar! One gentleman even showed us his cross and said’ what do I need prayer for!’ We hope that we can contribute to heal the wounds within the church as well as outside it as the concept of healing uncovers vast swathes of disappointment within Christians as well as some misunderstood theology.
This list of testimonies picks up from week 15 to week 41; sorry it’s taken so long. We never know what to expect and why sometimes we are inundated and others it can be very quite. We are on a journey to understand how the Holy Spirit is working in Best Lane, but we know that we see him working in a more powerful way when we have spent time with God in the week.
Our thanks go to the leaders of the participating churches that have all given such solid support to this ministry, Tom, Jim, Aaron, David and Geoff in particular. Also to the team leaders who faithfully give extra
time to meet to plan the weeks ahead, Alex, Alison and Luke, Hilary and Anne. We need to thank our faithful prayer team, Valerie and John Puleston who pray for us whilst we are on the street each week and Esther Squirrell and the other prayer groups operating in the week also. Finally thanks to all the team members. I have learnt so much from you all and you are mighty warriors.
Big thanks to David Steadman for organising the wonderful Unity service at the Cathedral on the 24th January, where leaders from at least 10 Churches in Canterbury came together in worship. Psalm 133 was read reminding us
‘How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head’
Geoff beautifully unpacked the next lines
‘It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
Even life forevermore.’
We finished singing
‘Men of faith rise up and sing….
Rise up, women of the truth,
Stand and sing to broken hearts,
Who can know the healing power?
Of our glorious king of love?’
Thank-you David, those lines perfectly sum up the HOTS ministry and the chaplaincy that was celebrated that night.
I have collected a range of stories and testimonies that summarise the journey we have taken and I am struck how many people I can remember when I read the book again, which shows the strength of the relationships we build. I think the seemingly small encounters are as important as the healing testimonies and so I include them all!! I have also included some of the experiences of team members when they are not on the street, to show that we are taking our expectation of what God will do with us into our experiences in Church and elsewhere.
All of our prayers start by telling people that God loves them and Christian or not people need to hear this.
15/8/09
When we arrived to set up today the Pagan march was coming up the High Street past our site in Best Lane, as they were based at the Westgate hall for a conference.
As they went by there were 15 of us on our knees praying for the light to reach into that darkness and it felt good to be making a prayerful response to this event. The Whittards shop alarm was set off by the commotion and it felt like we were under attack! As they returned we were on the street giving out our leaflets and quite a number of Spiritualists came back to talk to us later on and we were able to discuss who we believe does the Healing. I suggested to two attendees that they try reading Mark’s gospel to get a picture of Jesus healing and they seemed keen to do so.
A lady who described herself as a white witch asked for prayer for her daughter.
A lady who was visiting from London had come a few weeks ago and came back to tell us that the prayer for her osteoarthritic knees and left shoulder had been really successful and she now had better mobility and reduced pain. She asked for more prayer for the residual pain and some of the team prayed again. She said that she felt heat in her joints during the prayer and would let us know further.
Another lady came back to tell us that she had previously had prayer for leg pain which had gone and had come back for prayer for a headache and eye problem.
A lady came and shared that she had experienced a terrible upbringing and wanted prayer for anxiety. She was only in Canterbury for three days and so won’t be back. She left smiling and said that she hoped the prayer would make a difference in the future.
We prayed for an anxious mother whose baby was restless and unsettled. One of the team had a word of knowledge that the child might have food allergies and so also advised her to speak to a doctor.
Another lady came to us anxious and tired. She said that she felt a thick cloud lifting off her and after some more prayer she said she felt much lighter and at peace.
We prayed for a man from Hereford who had no sense of smell and the doctor said nothing could be done. After prayer he said he could smell the pastry shop and he left to test this further!
People were watching what was going on which gave us opportunities to discuss what we were doing with passers by. We also have tried to build relationships with the local traders, and now regularly talk with the ice cream vendor who shares a pitch next door to us and try to bless his business with trade when we finish!
Three elderly women sat down and described that they were lonely due to being widows and two had lost sons. One had been prayed for previously and found it comforting and so had returned with her two friends.
There were tears during the prayers and one lady felt that at last she could have a good cry and let things go.
We prayed by proxy for one of their daughters who is epileptic and the lady left saying she would return again.
Another lady who was prayed for said ‘I won’t go to church, I won’t read the bible, but I will come and sit on a seat on Saturday’. She had difficulties with her relationship with God, because she was angry at being widowed and because a friend of hers had died. One team member saw a picture of a huge brick wall with one brick knocked out, creating a window through which God could be seen and had a bible verse for the lady. But we always ask whether we can share such things and the lady declined to hear this.
22/8/09
We prayed for a lady L and her daughter B who had been getting epileptic fits. She said that since she had been coming for prayer the fits had reduced. We prayed again for the mother’s health and for the fits to be gone completely.
An elderly lady received prayer for her back pain and she left saying she was much more relaxed.
We prayed for D’s son who has serious eczema.
We prayed for K, whose son T is a drug addict that he should be made whole and given a new purpose to life.
29-8-09
We pray for people who pass by and do not stop for prayer. On one occasion, a team member saw that a lady who passed him couldn’t bend her left knee and prayed for movement in her knee whilst she was in the shop opposite and had a clear picture of her walking normally. As the lady left the shop her she was able to bend her knee a little and there was more prayer directed her way and then she began walking normally!
We prayed for D’s headache and lower back pain and afterwards both felt better. D is a poet and shared two of his poems in exchange!
One team member said that some weeks ago, the others had prayed for her dry sore eyes. The next day they were moister and watering more and she felt much better.
Sunday, 30 August, 2009 16:41:36
From :David Stedman <minister@canterburybaptistchurch.org.uk>
To: simonredman@btinternet.com>;
________________________________________
Thanks Simon - this is all V encouraging. We have a couple coming into membership at CBC in a few weeks. They came to church after he was prayed for in the street on one of the early weeks. It’s a complicated story but healing is taking place. Thanks to everyone who is involved.
Shalom,
Dave
5-9-09
B received prayer for a hiatus hernia and for stress. B felt that during prayer she’d heard a voice saying ‘It is done’ and believes she is healed.
12-9-09
As we knelt on the ground the presence of mist was felt again by two of the team. Last time this happened we could smell the fragrance of sea air and this was the case again today.
There seemed to be lots of adults coming in today because of pain about their children.
Prayed for K&R on a weekend break from Buckinghamshire who wanted God’s peace, strength, wisdom and restoration of family relationships. During prayer R’s legs began shaking until the team closed the prayer by asking for God’s peace.
S came for prayer one month ago and was hearing voices and was very afraid. She returned today and says she now hears no voices, is attending church and following Jesus! She came for prayer today for a friend who is sick and for an infection.
A is on a healing team in London and came to see us for prayer. She felt she had given out so much she needed to receive and also asked for prayer for knee and stomach problems.
As we were packing up three people came for prayer, so we got chairs out of the car again praise God!
A young lady with a drug addiction came back again for more prayer and was much more relaxed when sitting in the chair.
We held a bring and share lunch on 13 September for team members. This was a great chance to get to know each other better and swop stories. Esther spoke powerfully about the prophesy over Canterbury that another revival would emanate from here.
19-9-10
Today had a special feeling about it and it was our busiest day since the first two weeks with 40 people coming for prayer!
A German visitor came to see us but we had no-one on duty who spoke german. He asked for prayer for inner healing and we told him that language wasn’t a problem for Jesus. He said that he felt a sense of the Holy Spirit on him as we prayed.
L was a young man who said that he was playing Rugby the next day and needed healing of his leg. His young friends stood and watched. When he left he said to us all that it was much better and walked away without a problem!
L is a Canadian who had a lower back injury from a sports injury and had settled in England hoping to get a visa to stay. He had got very stressed about this over the last two months. We prayed for his back, the visa
application and relief from worries that he had been carrying. When he got up he said that his back felt much better and so we asked him to come back and tell us about the visa!
B came and shared that he had children who were on drugs and who were not attending church. We prayed for relief from all the burdens he had been carrying and he wept in the chair, and said he felt much better afterwards.
26-9-09
When we started today it felt different. There was no-one waiting to be prayed for at the start and no-one seemed to want to make eye contact. We prayed hard about this and asked him to bring those he wanted to meet and about midday, suddenly a wave of people arrived and the seats became busy and we were running short of people to pray for them!
P came back to see us again. She had come a few weeks ago and said she found real difficulty walking, but had been healed from the prayer she received! Her doctor couldn’t understand what had happened and she had come back from Hertfordshire to come and tell us and receive more prayer! She jumped out of the chair after prayer and did a little boogey!
Her sister had been so encouraged by this she had come too and we prayed about problems with her digestion.
An Italian man returned for more prayer today saying how it had really helped him in settling in Canterbury. He brought his mother who was visiting today for prayer as well.
I spoke to G today who came to tell me that the prayer she has received has really turned her life around.
Maria spoke with a woman who described herself as a white witch who liked to help people. She is going to recommend her friend to come for healing!
There were many prayers for people from different nationalities for physical and emotional conditions and we were encouraged at the feedback that people described the peace they experienced and the blessing from God they had received and the presence of God was evident on them.
From: joanxxxxx@hotmail.co.uk
To: office@smb.org.uk
Subject: Healing on the Street
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:00:36
Hi
My name is Joan and I was recently on a visit to Canterbury and was able to partake in the Healing on the Streets. 3 ladies prayed for me and my husband to help me through a difficult time. Whilst I haven’t received a complete cure I did feel so much better and my husband said he thought I looked much calmer than I had done in a long time. I did have one day completely pain free so there is hope yet. In your leaflet you say that you will continue to pray for those in need, this I would like very much.
I wonder were to go from here. 1 of the ladies mentioned looking for a living church but am not sure where I find these in my locality. Whilst there are plenty of churches in my area don't think they fit this category. We are members of the local Methodist church and go occasionally but I find that it is rather "clicky" and mainly older people, in fact numbers are falling as they don’t attract the younger ones these days.
How can I find out about healing ministries in my area as I would so like to go again?
I noticed that the leaflet mentions the alpha course, is this the next step?
I would like to thank the 3 ladies who helped me so much on Saturday the 12th September. Unfortunately I
can’t remember all their names except one was Sonia, the others were a young lady and an older lady who sat on a chair. They spent some time with me and didn't rush. The sense of peace was overwhelming. Thank you.
I live on the Wirral which is in the north west near to Liverpool and Chester .
I hope that I haven’t rambled on too much and hope that you can assist. I wasn't really sure which church to contact so I hope that is okay to write to you.
Many thanks for all your prayers
with kindest regards Joan XXXXX.
Christchurch college Christian Union 29 Sept 09
Tom Shaw preached on healing to the Christian Union and a couple of HOTS team members came along and at the end prayed with the students.
B had had back pain for a long time and said that she had had loads of prayer for it but it had not improved. With prayer her leg grew some millimetres and her back pain disappeared completely. She was very emotional!
We also prayed for the right knee on a young man who had injured it. When asked whether it was better he said that he would only know when he went for a run.
Feedback came from Tom Shaw: The young man came to City church on Sunday 4 October and said that his knee was better!
Students received the HOTS flyers and were encouraged to undertake the training by the City church with the DVD which many did.
3-10-09
We spoke with a number of people today who had seen HOTS in other towns and cities praise God!
Prayer today seemed to be for people who wanted the peace of God in their lives and we were encouraged that people continued to be touched by their experience.
Saturday, 3 October, 2009 17:41:07
From:
Alex Ewing <alexewing100@yahoo.co.uk> ...
Hope you & Maria had a good day at Orpington
HOTS went well 10 of us were on the team. V. windy here. The wind snapped off the top pole of the banner within 30 mins of us starting so we had to do without it. But God still kept people coming! Several people came at the very end as we were packing up around 2pm.
A lady called Susan & her son Ezekiel stopped by. Susan said she felt much better after prayer and asked for the name of a local church to attend tomorrow. I suggested SMB so watch out for them on Sunday morning!
Best wishes Alex
10-10-09
We were encouraged by a lady who came to tell us that her brother had received prayer by chance whilst talking to a team member as his brother in law was receiving prayer. Her brother was completely healed of all the pains in his body!
We prayed for M’s eyes as he had diabetes and for strength in his body. He could read the letter we gave him after the prayer and I hope he will come back and see us.
B from Essex was visiting today and was delighted to have the opportunity to be prayed for What a lovely man!
D had no nerves in her leg and toes and yet the team reported that D could feel heat and tingling in her toes when she was prayed for.
M felt the peace and presence of God as he was prayed for and commented that he was not aware of anyone in the high street whilst he was on the chair!
D had received prayer for her legs and afterwards went for a walk and came back and said that she could now go down stairs easily! The team received a word of knowledge about
D’s bone alignment and prayed into this and were able to share more about Jesus the healer.
A also came back for more prayer and similarly felt God’s presence and A said she felt cleansed.
L received prayer for a personal condition and generational issues that she raised, and the team quietly took authority over this and the lady started twitching uncontrollably on one side and then eventually sank back into her chair.
One of the team shared that a lady from the Vineyard church had received prayer (not at HOTS) for a medical condition. She had an operation in September and when the surgeon carried out an incision, closed it up again, because he ‘couldn’t find anything!’
17-10-09
We give out leaflets to people, and it can be some time later that they take up the offer to sit in a chair and meet with God.
Our prayer warriors of John and Valerie Puleston had a word that they needed to pray for members of the public that had felt too nervous to come in for prayer, to pray them in!
Two women came independently today to visit us and both had been thinking of coming for about three weeks and had now summoned up the courage. Both were tearful as they were prayed for and both felt very peaceful afterwards.
At the launch in May we prayed for many young men, but since then it has been relatively few. Today we prayed for a 16 year old boy who said that he felt really peaceful afterwards.
24-10-09
The weather forecast was for torrential rain and we went prepared for it but as on so many occasions we have found the weather was ok we had only a few spots in the end.
We prayed for N’s shoulder and it was healed!
We prayed for V for her cigarette addiction and loneliness. It was a chance to share about the Breakfast club. She was very open and said she would be in contact.
D received prayer as she felt very unsettled and went away saying that she now felt very peaceful.
Being on the street gives us a chance to engage with those who are living outside. We talked with a guy in the street who was full of the wrong spirits who cried and spoke with us for some 30 minutes.
C had cartilage pains and had tears in her eyes when we told her God loved her.
One lady has returned several times and each time more of her story is spoken and then prayed about. It is clear in her face how the healing is happening in her over time.
One of our team members was not on HOTS duty but waiting by the Cornish pastie shop on the corner for us to finish. A lady from Latvia came up to her and asked her what was going on. She said that she had been walking along the High street and felt she had to stop as she felt a sense of presence, of atmosphere as she approached the site. She couldn’t find the words as her English was limited (but better than my Latvian).The team member suggested ‘peace’ and she said Yes that’s it!
This had happened with another person who had spoken to this team member on a different occasion and this encourages us as we can do nothing without the presence of the Holy Spirit when we are out there.
I was very excited to get an email from Tom Shaw below together with a note of encouragement from Terry Virgo, cool!!
From: tom.shaw@thecitychurch.org.uk
.
To: <simonredman@btinternet.com>
________________________________________
Hi Si
I shared about HOTS and some of what been happening recently to 7-800 elders at a Newfrontiers prayer and fasting event and have had so much feedback, including from Terry Virgo just today about it
I thought your contribution at prayer and fasting was absolutely superb. What an amazing testimony to God’s power to heal. I thank God for the courage and vitality of those going out onto the streets. I believe it’s a hugely important breakthrough that many are enjoying. It would seem that we are experiencing fresh things in terms of healing and that it is becoming increasingly widespread. Praise the Lord!
Wishing you every blessing.
With loads of love,
Terry
,... and as a result, I have been asked to lead a session on healing etc at a very significant meeting of guys who oversee dozens of churches within Newfrontiers next month!
Much love
Tom
31-10-09
A member of the public wanted to receive forgiveness for his sins and the team were able to bless him.
H came for prayer for spiritual oppression and we had experienced team members who were able to bind any oppressive spirits and certainly the demeanour of H changed for the better when he left.
7-11-09
D received prayer for dry eyes and for sleepiness. She said it was a wonderful ten minutes and she felt much better for it.
Other prayers today were for stress, coughs and by proxy with a mother whose daughter has epilepsy.
H came back and received further prayer. He asked questions about the bible and so we gave him a copy which he since told me he has started to read it.
14-11-09
It was forecast to deluge again today and yet it was blustery and we only saw a few drops of rain. Praise God!
L came back for prayer and it is wonderful to see how life is coming back into her face. She looked brighter with pink lipstick, scarf and nail varnish and a wonderful sense of humour coming out. God is working in her life.
Many people stopped to watch us today and we had many good conversations.
The team were getting cold now and people were rushing by with their hands in their pockets so I suggested that we pack up and went over to a team member who was looking very faithful and very cold. A then came to speak to him and said ’What’s all this prayer then?’ He said ‘I’ll come back after I’ve had my lunch!’ We told him he better come now as we were packing up so A came over and we prayed for his job prospects and for his mother. What a great encouragement just as we were packing up!
We packed up and went into the pastie shop to thaw out from what has been a fairly cold and blustery day. We were talking about faith and healing and the team are so passionate about serving God faithfully on the
street whether we pray for one or a hundred. I could see that there was a woman on another table taking an interest. As we left, the lady came up to one of our team members and hugged her, said Thank-You, I was listening and left!
21-11-09
ML from Holland came for prayer. She was in a wheelchair and had had cancer several times but wanted prayer to increase her faith and to feel closer to God. We prayed for the presence of the Lord and for her to now God in a real way. She said she felt really peaceful and happy.
We spoke with a man who we had prayed for previously to stop his addiction to cigarettes. He said he had been healed after the prayer and stopped for three months.
Sadly he had started again. We hope he will accept prayer again.
28-11-09
One lady came to us in a very distressed state and in desperate need of prayer. We stood with her and prayed and she was able to cry.
This was followed by another lady who was embarrassed about sitting on a chair but felt touched by the Holy Spirit. We prayed for healing of Lupus and she was much more peaceful after prayer and asked us about finding a church in Faversham.
5/12/09
When we arrived there was a vendor of cider placed squarely in the middle of our pitch. We talked with him but decided not to make a fuss, so we worked around him and God still
blessed us. He believed that everyone found their own spirituality and if they attributed it to God then it was up to them. He had many conversations with team members and was keen to tell me at the end how friendly everyone was.
S had just got a bus to Canterbury and had been reading a book that told her that if she doesn’t love God enough she would go to Hell. We spoke to her about what the gospel really means and asked if she knew about the Holy Spirit and how it can help her. We then prayed for her to be baptised in the Holy Spirit and she started shaking, crying, opening her hands and lifting her face to God. Afterwards we asked her about her experience and she said that she saw Jesus on the cross and light coming from him and him calling her name. She was very excited and happy when she left.
We prayed for a team member’s husband by proxy for healing of a hernia unbeknown to him. As she crossed the road to give out leaflets again her mobile rang and her husband told her that his hernia pain left a minute or so earlier and the depression he had been experiencing had lifted!
One team member had been praying all morning that he would have the opportunity to pray for some French people. Near the close of the session he was introduced to a French guy, who it turned out only wanted directions to the coach park. He felt a bit downhearted but then immediately a Frenchman and his daughter came asking for healing for his mother in law which he did in French!
We meet people who have been hurt by religion and one team member talked to a man who was desperate for a relationship with God but had not found him in the churches he had visited. We assured him of God’s love and encouraged him to look again.
The weather was lovely today, but after we packed up it started raining and continued into Sunday!
After the session, a number of team members rushed up to Elliott college to hear teaching on the healing ministry from Suzanne Pillans.
We are very excited that one of the team members is spending four months in India. After hearing Suzanne Pillans talk about her recent crusade in India he was very eager to be going. Suzanne told us she had spoken to crowds of thousands and spoke for over half an hour of healing miracle after miracle taking place. She spoke from Acts and encouraged us to exercise the Authority placed in us. One team member summarised her visit;
Suzanne Pillans visit to Canterbury University Elliot College – Sat. 5 December 2009.
We had teaching on the Holy Spirit.
Two healings took place towards the end of the evening. Suzanne asked those who needed healing to come forward for prayer. Suzanne prayed for a young woman who had had depression and commanded the spirit
of depression to leave, she then asked Jesus to heal her and to fill her with His Holy Spirit, which He did, and this young woman started laughing and giggling and just kept on being filled with joy and happiness all evening.
The last healing took place when R called out a girls name and said “Jesus wants to heal you!” At that moment another person got caught up in the fire of the Holy Spirit and prayed loudly in tongues as Suzanne stepped towards the young lady who had hearing aids in both ears. Suzanne prayed very briefly for healing and asked the young girl to remove her aids, which she did and she discovered she could hear perfectly well in both ears.
What a mighty God we serve!
One of the joys of being on the street each week is the team members sharing what God has been doing in their lives and this massively encourages us all. It is vital that we are all growing in our faith and spiritual wisdom if we are to see God’s kingdom working in Best Lane. We were blessed that two of our team went with Suzanne on her recent mission to India and here is a short summary of their experiences, which they shared with the team at a celebration party recently!
12-12-09
W had pain from angina and received prayer. She said that when she closed her eyes she saw a bright light and reported a real feeling of peace (which was visible) and reduced pain.
19-12-09
Today was very cold! Maria brought mince pies and mulled wine. The team were so glad to be there and witness. What an inspiration they are and what better example of God’s love!
Chief Superintendant John Malloy, the local Commander was on patrol and came to visit us today.
A lovely young lady came and wanted prayer for a fresh start next year. As the spirit rested on her she became tearful and the prayers were so gentle that we all felt touched by the experience.
A lady who had been on a marriage course, run at SMB saw us from the café and came to see us to tell us how wonderful things had been for her since doing the course. She looked absolutely radiant and said they were considering starting a family next year praise God! She spoke to a team member who had been praying for delegates during the conference and said what a difference the prayer had made.
Just as we were clearing up, a woman came in for prayer for her knee. She explained that she thought she might have chipped her knee cap and was in a lot of pain when kneeling and exercising. As the team prayed, one of them felt an electric current of heat shoot down their arm through her hand to the lady’s knee. She could also feel the bone rumbling beneath her hand. The lady was rushing off so didn’t attempt to kneel but said that she felt the heat during the prayer.
One of the traders who had been extremely unhappy with our presence in the early days came and spoke to us very cordially and wished us the season’s blessings. Praise God for grace!
We prayed for E who has MS and suffers epileptic fits. She shared something of what had happened that year and when we prayed for her she said that she felt something rising up in her and was very tearful. She lives in Dover and we asked her to come back and tell us how she is doing.
We prayed for a man on the street who didn’t want to sit down and for a couple who said they were spiritualist healers.
Boxing day!
We said that we would be there every Saturday whatever the weather and some of the team turned out today which is amazing especially as it was not warm! People were surprised to see us and commented that it was good that we kept coming. We only prayed for a few people as passers by were purposefully fixed on their potential purchases but the team spirit was great.
New Year!
When we arrived J was waiting for us on the corner of the site. He was visiting from France and had heard of HOTS! He asked for prayer but helped us set up first!
People were covered in scarves and hats with coat collars up and rushed by as it was very cold! We shared out the special chocolate biscuits to give us energy! Even the pastie shop was quiet today as people didn’t venture out unless they had to and were certainly reluctant to stop for anything!
We chatted to the man on the bridge today who was blowing into a harmonica and who is sleeping rough at night on the Wincheap estate. We were able to take him a drink and some food although not pasties he specified!
J sent us a note about his prayer time.
From
jxxxxx@gmail.com>
.
To: simonredman@btinternet.com
________________________________________
Hi Simon and Maria
I am very bad at memorising names so I can't put a face in front of a
name with any sort of certitude. I was at the healing prayer today
(the Frenchman with a small rucksack).
It was great to see how God's love comes onto us.
Concerning my own condition, I can't say anything for sure for the
moment, and heart (sentimental) pain is hardest to measure! (Mt 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted). However
I had already suffered two other similar heart-breaking events and
never went into such a peace and confidence in the Lord. I knew -in
theory- that I had to leave the steering wheel to Jesus but this was
theory as I was so reluctant to really do it. Now I feel like washed
from inside, my burden is light as Jesus is actually the One who
carries it. The following days, weeks, months will say.
My body things - I can't say yet as it is not permanent pain. However
my left hip was getting painful in cold weather and the pain used to
disappear after, say 10 or 15 minutes walking once the body has warmed
up. Today I did not feel any pain there. And the weather was not
really warm.
I will tell you after some time, to make sure.
Thanks again for your warm welcome, all the goodies (sorry I ate so
much of your chocolate biscuits! I was so hungry after the prayer!
Next time I'll bring a box)
Many many thanks. Hope to see you again, and praying God to heal more
people.
Blessings
J
Martin came for prayer on HOTS when he returned from mission in Uganda as he had suspected rabies. He has now recovered and returned to Uganda in January. He sent us this message to encourage us! God is great!
"mjhayter@aol.com" <mjhayter@aol.com>
...
ViewTo:mariaredman@btinternet.com; simonredman@btinternet.com
It is great and so exciting to be back here. I've preached three times already and have already seen God do some amazing things, including an eighteen year old girl who was born deaf and dumb, who I have personally known for the last two years. Last Sunday, five of us prayed for her and she started hearing and speaking for the first time in her life. She could only say "Mama" over and over, but she has never been able to make any noise or utter any sound before. She is like a little child having to start to learn to speak but how so fantastic that she can now use her mouth and her vocal chords! It was so exciting for all of us. Her mother was almost struck dumb herself, she was that surprised when Esther spoke!
9-1-10
 We set up on a bank of snow, well we do say on the leaflet ‘whatever the weather’! I think people have got the message that this group of Christians are committed!
J arrived again and said ’Ah at least you have one person to pray for today!’
It was encouraging to us (and a rebuke to me!) as the thinking of man said to us well no-one is going to come today!
As we braved the blizzard, people smiled and said well done for being there. At the end we went into the pastie shop to thaw out and they couldn’t believe we had come today.
Praying for J in the snow!
I received an email from J saying
‘Nice to see you today-the prayer was very good-such a lift. Thank-you.
16-1-10
Boy it was cold again! The weather was forecast to be heavy showers and once again we prayed in the week to take authority over the elements and we saw only very light spots of rain, until we had finished, when the rain came down as forecast! But a brilliant turn out from the team and lots of opportunities to engage in conversation on the street. What a team spirit to witness and everyone is prepared to be there for ‘the one’ or just to pray for Canterbury and the people passing by even if they don’t stop. We know that some will be healed just by passing by.
The team prayed for C who was very interested in HOTS and he came to the City church the following day!
We prayed for L who has been a heroin addict for 8 years. He is on methadone and wants to quit drugs. He asked us questions about whether we had experiences of suddenly believing in God and we shared these. We prayed for this to be the day that his life changes and he quits and he said that he felt it was. We asked him to come back and tell us and he said he would be back.
H came back and asked me to talk with him whilst he was having a coffee in the café opposite. One of the team spoke with him and answered his voracious questions about God and moral issues.
People seemed to be ready to chat to us again on the High Street including one American who had dropped his son off at university and wanted to find a good church for him.
23-1-10
We had parked the car on the site and unloaded and were huddled ready to pray when a parking warden came and looked at the car. Maria rushed over and said I’m just going to pray and then I was going to move the car. Ok he said, and left looking as this was a fairly common response from a motorist!
We had prayed against the elements as the prediction in the week was for showers all day but it was totally dry again!
A young teacher came for a prayer of blessing as she was going to Haiti to help out.
We prayed for two boys and then their mother and for a number of others.
One team member received prayer and described how a weight had been lifted off her.
One of the team from New Life popped in to chat and said that he had received prayer last week when Suzanne Pillans had preached at the Sunday service. His right shoulder had been damaged in a sporting accident. As he was being prayed for he wasn’t sure anything had happened but he went to the toilet and started to move his upper body in a way that he had not been able to recently. He rushed out and said to a friend that he was going to do something he hadn’t done in ages, and proceeded to pick her up looking away as he did it in fear that it would not work. Well it did!
This reminds me of Mark Marx’s teaching that when we are prayed for, healing may happen straight way, as we leave (as for the lepers) or maybe at a later time. We must not undo what is happening by unbelief.
Another team member works for Kent Police now in the control room. The HOTS site sits under a council CCTV camera and she was on shift in the force control room where we have a bank of TV screens which view locations all around the county. Sadly she was working on a Saturday, when she looked up and saw the HOTS team on camera!
Praise God that 15 new church members are waiting to be trained and join the HOTS team. At the last City church training session, they practised the prayer model a couple of times but nothing appeared to happen. At the end some of the trainees had another go and were stopping to correct each other. Suddenly the girl being prayed for said I’m healed! She had apparently had a headache from getting concussion on a fall earlier, but the lump on her head that she had since childhood had also disappeared!
30-01-10
The weather forecast on Wednesday was for snowy rain today, so we prayed over the elements and today it’s sunny!
One of the team had some verses for us today from Isaiah 62 10 which spoke to us all as we moved the bins, and raised our Healing banner ready to prepare the way for people of Canterbury to meet with God.
Pass through, pass through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway!
Remove the stones.
Raise a banner for the nations.
Perhaps verse 12 sums up where we hope for the people of Canterbury;
They will be called the Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord;
And you will be called Sought After,
The city No Longer Deserted.
We know that when we give leaflets out, people may take some time before they pluck up courage to come and see us. So it was with a lady today who had passed by many times before and did so today until she finally decided she would come and talk to us. We prayed for her standing up for an infection in her bone behind the eye. She has had four major operations and wants the infection to clear without the need for more surgery. She lives on the coast and asked about a church there and we were able to suggest one that would suit her and offer more healing prayer.
One of our regular visitors came again today and we prayed for her arthritis and for her daughter’s epilepsy. She wept as the Holy Spirit fell on her. She said that she finds the regular prayer support really helpful.
Another lady who comes regularly mentioned how relations are continually improving in her family.
At SMB the following day, one of the congregation spoke of prayer they had received from a team member. She had fallen badly on a piece of wood at night and hurt her hand which was badly cut and swollen. She loves playing the piano and this prevented her from doing so or from leading worship. She was very sad about that and went to see a friend and right at the end her friend said oh we better pray for that hand which she did. That night the hand felt strange with a tingling at the base and the lady decided she would see what the Lord had done in the morning! When she woke up her hand had healed up and the swelling gone down and she went and played the piano!
The expectation is rising amongst us all now and we are hearing of stories of healing all over Canterbury. In the City church they prayed for a man who was blind in one eye and then he could see out of it! They have videoed his testimony of what happened. Praise God!
Over the summer I have just heard of another man healed by prayer at the CityChurch of a long term heart murmur who has also given a testimony on video!
Amazing things have been happening for team members at the New Life church. After a visit by Suzanne Pillans one of the team members prayed for two people and saw more miracles!
6-2-10
Today was foggy and damp but dry and the sun came out at the end! One of the team members told us afterwards that he saw angels on the site when he arrived. Praise God for that.
It felt different to previous weeks, with may people stopping to watch the prayer again. As we were unloading the chairs J stopped and asked for prayer. He was on his way to visit his mother in the hospice, who has cancer and doesn’t know Jesus.
It was a true privilege to pray for J and for his mother which we did standing up. We were able to talk about his concern about his mother not knowing Jesus.
After we had set up and as soon as we had finished praying there were two people sitting in the chairs today.
E had stopped and asked for prayer for drink problems and health concerns and after prayer he was clearly much calmer. We told him we were here every week and hopefully he will come back.
A lady had been chatting to a team member on the bus and when she saw her again came and received prayer for a problem with her lower back. We want to show that we are the church on the High Street, building relationships and I am delighted when I see the team chatting to people that pass by.
A couple from South Africa stopped to talk to us. They had just arrived and were looking for a Pentecostal church and so we introduced them to a member of New Life Church who told them all about it and they will go there.
One of the team smelt incense when she was praying for another team member.
I love to hear of team praying for people ‘on the spot’ whenever they encounter opportunities, whether it’s in Tesco or in church. Two team members met another HOTS stalwart with raging toothache in Tesco. He was looking for painkillers so they suggested they lay hands on him there and then, which they did! He acted in faith and said he wouldn’t buy the drugs now and his toothache went!
Another HOTS faithful said that she was at a church meeting sitting in the seats when her friend complained of neck pain. She casually said I’ll pray for you now and the lady immediately said the pain has gone!
At the end today, Jim prayed for God’s provision for the team who had given out so much today. A group of us went to the pastie shop to defrost and were approached by a lady immediately who asked if we would like to answer a quick survey, for which we would get a free meal and drink. We asked if all five of us could do it and she said yes, so we all had a free meal that day!
13-2-10
The forecast on Wednesday was for sleet rain and we prayed against the elements. We were cold (definitely!) but once again we were dry and the rain didn’t start until the afternoon after we had finished and all the next day!
We pray for a variety of issues besides physical healing and today we prayed for a particular person to become a Christian and for someone who had been evicted from their home.
A HOTS member not on duty came for some prayer for her painful foot and the pain went!
I am continually encouraged by the wisdom of other team members. We are all hungry to see heaven break through in Canterbury more often and in more powerful ways and know that we need to be preparing all week for HOTS not just on Saturdays.
In October I went with my wife to Ffald-y-Brenin, a Christian retreat centre in West Wales. Christian prayers were spoken here even before St Augustine came to Canterbury and there is certainly a wonderful revival taking place here described in the book The Grace Outpouring which we have been able to share with friends on our return. There are many stories to encourage us and increase our expectancy of God’s grace. In one a visitor to the centre had fallen badly which had caused her hand to swell up and go black. The pastor came across her whilst she was on the phone to NHS Direct and asked to pray for her. As a result the swelling immediately went down and the blackness disappeared! When the lady tried to explain what had just happened to the NHS nurse they were very angry as they thought she was a hoax caller! One of the speakers at the conference Mike Endicott has a wonderful healing ministry despite being blind himself. I am sharing one of his talks with team members where he describes shadow healing, where people were healed in the congregation as he spoke about Jesus.
Like everyone on HOTS I am keen to see more of God’s outpouring but am battered by the secular and some parts of the religious world that constantly tells me I have got it all wrong.
Last Sunday evening I listened to Jim Denison speak of the miracle of Abraham and Sarah becoming parents when he was very old and she was barren and Jim expounded a lot more about how we must submit to God’s control. For someone who is a control freak at work, this is a message I needed to hear
So I started this week determined to refresh my faith and expectation by listening to Mark Marx in the car to remind myself of Mark’s amazing personal experiences and teaching on healing and so to refresh my faith. At the start of his talk he says ‘do we believe that God can cure all diseases, turn metal into bone, glass eyes into real eyes, raise the dead?’ And he chides us not to grade God’s power in human terms, ie that a headache is easier to cure than a crippling disease. All are the same in God’s kingdom.
And then in our network group this Thursday we studied part 3 of ‘Freedom in Christ’ on ‘Faith’ which starts with the core reading from Hebrews 11.6
‘And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.’
Yesterday I woke up sure that God wanted to say something to me in scripture and was disappointed when I opened ‘Sparkling Gems daily reading’ to find something that wasn’t at all appropriate. Then I realised my watch had the wrong date and turned the page to see an exposition of Hebrews 11.6 and in fact the whole chapter is about Faith, including verse 11 that reminded me
‘By faith Abraham, even though he was past age- and Sarah was barren-was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise!
Thus I am going to ensure that I do not limit what God is going to do in Canterbury by applying a worldly expectation.
Esther Squirrell has kindly given HOTS a coal from Wales to bless our ministry and I now bring this to HOTS every week. The coal is a symbol of the coals on the altar and the cleansing flames of revival. I would like to remind friends what was happening when this coal was in the ground in Wales.
In Wales there had been some 15 major revivals from the middle of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th, but towards the latter 19th century a spiritual decline had begun to set in.
On December 31st 1903 and January 1st 1904, Joseph Jenkins a minister in New Quay Cardiganshire, who was undoubtedly a key man in the Revival, held a "Deeper Spiritual Life Convention". Joseph shared the testimony of his experience of the Holy Spirit engulfing him as a flame of fire. This was to impact his Church.
During the spring of 1904 a young Welshman named Evan Roberts was repeatedly awakened at 1:00 a.m. He met with God in prayer until 5:00 a.m.
Evan had a thirst for spiritual things from an early age. The story is often told of how he would take his Bible down the mine to read it during rest periods. One day there was an explosion that took the lives of five of his fellow workers. He narrowly escaped death, but the flames scorched the pages of the Bible he was reading. Later, when the revival came, pictures of Evan Roberts' scorched Bible were sent around the world - epitomizing the fire that had fallen on Wales.
In 1904 he received a mighty Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
When it became known that some of the outstanding characters of the neighbourhood had been converted after withstanding gospel appeals of eminent preachers for a lifetime, and that these were declaring newfound joy and faith without shame or fear, the excitement became tense.
Revival teams, consisting of young people, mostly Spirit-filled young women, conducted evangelistic revival meetings.
Down in the bowels of the earth, miners not only discussed the services, but sang boisterously the grand old, almost forgotten hymns, learned in their childhood.
Meetings went on for many hours - often for more than 10 without a break. People lost all sense of time and churches were so full that crowds gathered outside until they could somehow squeeze their way in.
Wherever Evan Roberts went the Holy Spirit brought deep conviction of sin and a new spiritual dimension into the lives of formerly cold churchgoers
The sales of Bibles increased to such a degree that the shops sold their entire stocks. Everywhere there was a new spirit of prayer and an urgency to preach the Gospel.
As revival fire spread across Wales in late 1904 and early 1905, although no official records were kept of the actual number converted, 150,000 is considered a very conservative estimate, during the first six months! Thousands of meetings were held. This was indeed, a sovereign move of God's Holy Spirit!
David Lloyd George said the movement was’ rocking Welsh life like a Great Earthquake’.
Whole communities were turned upside down, and were radically changed from depravity to glorious goodness. The crime rate dropped, often to nothing. The police force reported that they had little more to do than supervise the coming and going of the people to the chapel prayer meetings, while magistrates turned up at courts to discover no cases to try. The alcohol trade was decimated, as people were caught up more by what happened in the local chapels than the local public houses and bars. Families experienced amazing renewal, where the money earning husband and father, the bread winner, had wasted away the income and sowed discord, but now under the moving power of the Holy Spirit, following the conversion to be a follower of Jesus Christ, he not only provided correctly for family needs, but was now with the family, rather than wasting his time, and wages, in the public houses of the village or town. Souls were saved, individual lives were changed and Society itself was changed. Countless numbers were converted to Christ.
Men whose language had been filthy before, learnt to talk purely. It is related that not only did the colliers put in a better day's work, but also that the pit ponies were so used to being cursed and sworn at, that they just couldn't understand orders being given in kind, clean words! Yet, still the work output increased. The dark tunnels underground in the mines echoed with the sounds of prayer and hymns, instead of oaths and nasty jokes and gossip.
100 years later in Wales, Dr Winslow was celebrating the 1904 revival and spoke of the coals and flames of cleansing revival fire when a man in the congregation produced a bag of coal that he had felt guided to collect from a redundant pit that day and bring to the meeting. The presence of the Holy Spirit was experienced that night and each person received a piece of coal as a symbol of the ‘coals on the altar and the cleansing flames of revival’.
Since that time coal from Wales has been distributed with the prayer and hope described in 2 Chronicles 7 14
‘If my people ,who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land’
Esther kindly gave me a copy of a prophecy attributed to Smith Wigglesworth in 1947 just before his death.
‘’During the next few decades there will be two distinct moves of the Holy Spirit across the church in Great Britain. The first move will affect every church that is open to receive it, and will be characterised by a restoration of the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit.’’
‘’The second move of the Holy Spirit will result in people leaving historic churches and planting new churches.’’
‘’In the duration of each of these moves, the people who are involved will say, ‘This is a great revival.’ But the Lord says, ‘No, neither is this the great revival but both are steps towards it.’
When the new church phase is on the wane, there will be evidence in the churches of something that has not been seen before: a coming together of those with an emphasis on the word and those with an emphasis on the Spirit. When the word and the Spirit come together, there will be the biggest move of the Holy Spirit that the nation, and indeed, the world has ever seen. It will mark the beginning of a revival that will eclipse anything that has been witnessed within these shores, even the Wesleyan and Welsh revivals of former years. The outpouring of God’s Spirit will flow over from the United Kingdom to mainland Europe, and from there, will begin a missionary move to the ends of the earth’’
On May 9th, we will have been ministering on the street for a year.
We are grateful to Roger Vick of Canterbury City Council for the permission to use the site and for his agreement this week that we can continue to use this location.
Thank-you to everyone who has faithfully been involved in this ministry. I pray that our whole congregations will become a part of this through prayer chains, visiting us to encourage us and experiencing prayer themselves in this Holy place.
All Saints Church 1769-1937
And so I finish with a comma not a full stop expectant that God is going to do so much more,
Much love
Simon and Maria Redman
20-2-10
HOTS is on the previous site of All Saints church
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