September 2017 - Paul Bennison

Don’t throw your dad away…

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Paul Bennison Posted in Journal, Personal, Random Thoughts, Testimony 2 Comments

Today is the 52nd anniversary of my dad’s ‘transfer’ to be with Jesus. He was 41, I was 12: his death wasn’t expected in that his doctor was treating him for pneumonia, but he’d got something different – pulmonary embolisms – which took him away from us pretty quickly.

Dad was a gorgeous man: ‘filled with the Holy Spirit and faith’ was the funeral sermon, from the death of Stephen in Acts. I still miss him. If you’re the same with a parent ‘lost’ young – or any age, come to that – it’s OK to miss them. Even now there are times I’d love to sit and talk to him. Especially about his time in World War 2, when he was a bomber pilot.

It’s funny, but I’m perhaps the world’s most impractical man – DIY and anything practical are totally alien to me. Yet dad was brilliant with his hands, a very fine joiner, though that was a hobby, not his profession. Perhaps if he’d lived, I could saw a piece of wood straight!!

Chessington Zoo, as it was in then in 1965! A fun park in a jacket and tie???!! Hmmm!!

He was an accountant by training, and was a borough treasurer for the London Borough of Leytonstone until he and mum upped sticks and moved to Eastbourne – totally for my sake, as I’d been born so sick that the doctors said the improvement of air quality would do me good. They sacrificed home, church, and job so that I would live, so that makes them so incredibly special to me. The photos were taken just four months before his ‘promotion’ to heaven

If I could only do one thing, leave one legacy, it’d be: ‘don’t throw your parents away. Nothing is so unforgivable or bad that you can’t forgive, can’t love.’

Enjoy your 52nd birthday in heaven, my lovely dad! The photo was taken 4 months before he said ‘goodnight, see you in the morning’ …. see you soon, dad!

The miracle of the kid’s refuge in Cali, Colombia – almost complete!

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Paul Bennison Posted in Evangelism, Journal, Personal, Testimony, Travel Leave a comment

In less than three weeks, a return trip to Colombia begins 🙂 – this one is exciting for all the usual reasons, the salvation, miracles, and healings: but this time, because, God willing, it’ll mark the completion of the wonderful building that Thanney Pyper began the third week in March (just for a week), continued for 3 weeks in July, and by mid November, he’ll be handing over the keys to Hein Hoere, leader of the El Abrigo ministry, and Wilmar, pastor of El Abrigo church…. it’ll be a wonderful achievement!

The only ‘hiccup’ is that we still need £9,000 (US$12,000, 11,000 euros, AU$15,750) in the next 3 weeks….it’s been amazing to see God, and God’s people provide £45,000 plus so far this year for the building, which will house 350 troubled kids, street kids, in a facility that is just unbelievable in Cali. The new ‘home’ is 15 metres x 9 metres (more than 1250 square feet), and it will be so well equipped, air-conditioned (essential in Cali!), and will function as a brand new church in an un-churched district of the city, on Sundays. It’ll take 250 people as a church, and we’re hoping and praying that all we need financially to buy microphones, speakers, video projector, etc., will come in, too…..

I’m taking a good team – Thanney (of course!!), Davy King from Londonderry, all being well Johnny Mawhinney (Bangor), Dennis and Cathy Acott (Maidstone), Simon Allaby (Bolney, Haywards Heath), and possibly my great friend, Ian Roberts, from Williamsburg, Virginia. Lots of preachers, a great builder (!) and a few labourers(!), counsellors – and me! I’m praying that it’ll work out, this trip, to take on a permanent apartment for future teams – there are plans underway to build another house for street kids – for refuge, safety, education right across the spectrum (including English, which is becoming more and more essential everywhere, and IT), for food, clothes, games, and love….

If you feel this is a project/ministry that you could help financially, we’d be so grateful. What is needed to complete the refuge is the installation of the toilets, a kitchen, the floor tiles, the air-con, doors, a lot of ‘cosmetic’ fittings, cabling for the instrum- ents for the church, microphones, speakers, video projector – maybe you’d be able to sponsor something specific? If you represent a church that I come to, perhaps you’d consider a special offering? We – and hundreds of kids, plus ministers in a very poor district of Cali – would be eternally grateful. Email me at paul@paulbennison.com, or message me on Facebook, and I can give you info. Thank you and bless you for your prayers, and your help, if you can.

God’s goodness evident!

Posted on September 29, 2017 by Paul Bennison Posted in Journal, Personal, Testimony, Travel Leave a comment

It’s been a great few days so far on this trip around the Cotswolds – Evesham and Worcester, where the sauce comes from! – and a great few days in Welshpool, Powys. I was with some fantastic churches in Evesham, lovely pastors – Steve Wilderspin at Vale of Evesham Community Church, and Steve Mizzi, at Evesham, Elim. I stayed in Worcester with my longtime friend Graham Coyle, we met at Roffey Place Christian Training Centre in 1984. I loved being with the Evesham churches – a number of meetings, a more ‘seminar’ style get-together on healing, services in each church Sunday morning and evening, and visits to people one to one to pray for them. God did some lovely things….

A lady with multiple sclerosis and osteoarthritis was in a lot of pain, understandably, she’d been stricken with the MS for 9 years, and has a young family, which of course was very difficult for her, as some days mobility was pretty non-existent. What was even more non-existent was sleep – she slept most nights for two hours. Her legs were especially painful when we met for prayer: and she had virtually no movement side to side or up and down in her ankles. It was wonderful to watch her start to move her ankles, and even better to hear her say that the pain in her right leg, especially, was much reduced. As I prayed for her, I felt that I should command sleep to her. As someone who, for many years, suffered from sleep deprivation, I know how incredibly debilitating it can be, so I prayed for her that she’d sleep for 8 hours, not just for one night, but from last Wednesday onwards….

Well, thank you Jesus, she called the pastor next day to say that she’d slept for 12 hours! I didn’t hear about the next night, but, after such a radical answer to prayer, I don’t see any reason why it should revert to two! Another lovely lady with a lot of shoulder and neck pain, and sciatic pain, had all her pain go…. As always, there were others whose pain or disability was reduced, even much reduced, so it was a real blessing and privilege to be in Evesham.

In Welshpool, I was speaking at the Filling Station, an inter-church meeting for worship, encouragement, and great cakes(!), as well as visiting people in their homes to pray for them. Again, God did some beautiful things, and it was a particular delight to pray with a slightly older couple Tuesday morning – for a wide variety of things from cancer to osteoparosis, eyesight, and other things, and they are such an adorable couple, it was a blessing to be with them. The Filling Station was really well attended, and I felt very much that, having told the people that THEY could pray and see people healed, that I should get them to do it. Which they did. And saw results. A couple of testimonies were shared at the start, of people who’d been healed when I was in Welshpool in April, that was so encouraging. One was of a totally ‘unlikely’ transformation in a large cancer tumour, another of a major miracle in a foot that was due to be amputated within days (it wasn’t)….

I’ve loved being involved in Wales this year: as my dad’s birthplace, it’s the first time I’ve been in Wales for ministry in all of my 39 years, and I’d love to do more.

On the road again…

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Paul Bennison Posted in Evangelism, Journal, Personal, Random Thoughts, Testimony, Travel 1 Comment

After a few weeks of lots of one-to-one ministry in Northern Ireland, I head off tomorrow for England, to speak in the glorious Cotswolds for a few days – in Evesham, at Vale of Evesham Christian Centre, headed up by Steve Wilderspin, Evesham Elim Church headed u by Steve Mizzi, and (I think) Pershore Community Church, who are coming together for some meetings, and then on Sunday, I’m with Vale of Evesham Christian Centre in the morning, and the Elim Church in the evening. It’s my first time with them all, praying that God does the wonders he’s so good at, and that his precious Holy Spirit will bring healing and miracles into many lives! My prayer is that the presence of Jesus will fill every meeting in an incredible measure, and we’ll be left awe-struck at what he does….

I move on to Welshpool, Montgomeryshire/Powys, Wales, to my great friends Jonathan & Kathryn Crosskey – for their Filling Station meeting on Tuesday evening, it’ll be so good to catch up with them again: I was there in April, but it seemed like a ‘flying visit’ as the meeting didn’t end until way past midnight due to the number of people to pray for! Kathryn, for those with short memories (from April!), was the driver of the Mini Metro that was crushed between two 38 ton artics (18 wheel semis) when she took me to Heathrow in March 1994 – an amazing, miraculous story that I’ve subsequently blogged as so many people asked about it!

Back on 27 September, to make the final preparations for the team trip to Cali, Colombia – 20 October to 14 November: when Thanney will finish the building project, God willing – we’re praying for £20,000 to make that happen. If you’re able to help financially with the completion of this amazing project, the refuge house for 300+ street kids, then please let me know! It’s a much bigger team than July (three of us then) – this trip, all being well, is Thanney Pyper, Davy King, Dennis and Cathy Acott, Johnny Mawhinney, Simon Allaby, and – possibly – my great friend Ian Roberts, an Aussie who lives in the USA. Looking forward to ministering – and labouring with Thanney – under the open heaven that IS Cali…. as always, there’ll be (almost) daily blogs then!