-In the enforced absence of Cathy (really missed her) and Johnny (really missed him, too) on Thursday night, Thanney, Dennis, and I headed for the lovely church of Edwin Suarez – Avivando el Fuego – to speak, share, and pray in a church that is living up to its name – Revival of Fire. Dennis and Thanney both spoke excellently, and then I was able to bring the house down – well not quite literally, you understand – when I got up to speak… I’d been suspicious of the white plastic chair I was sitting on, so, in trying to extricate myself from it carefully, it decided to do the splits, and jettisoned me to the floor (on my knees, yes 🙁  ), much to the raucously laughing and giggling Carlos Pelaez Escobar and Wilmar Gomez, who’d gone there with us….

I did say that I wanted to pray on my knees before speaking to truly hear from the Lord – but I’m not sure anyone believed me! Truth is, though I was laughing, it was laughter through gritted teeth, as I really crashed my knees so hard on the floor…. half way down the church, there’s a cunningly plan in place for visiting speakers – a small but quite sharp slope, which all but thrust me to the pulpit head first at Hein’s feet, waiting to translate. I suppose if I’d gone headfirst, and he was on the platform, and he’s very tall, I might have landed at ‘Hein’s feet on High Places‘…. you may have to be of a certain age to know the classic devotional book, ‘Hind’s feet on High Places’ by Hannah Hurnard….

Good thing is though, that once people laugh, you’ve normally got some semblance of attention – apart, of course, from said Carlos Pelaez and Wilmar Gomez, still giggling uncontrollably….

I ought to do the splits more often – well the chair, at least – because it was one of those (few?) times when I felt I spoke quite well!! So to some tetimonies and stories….

Dennis Thursday testimony report:

Thursday night found Paul, Thanney and myself at Iglesia Avivando El Fuego Para El Mundo, Cathy and Johnny being indisposed and confined to barracks. The three of us each spoke and then, after the congregation was split into 4 or 5 groups, we joined one each, with Wilmar and Hein taking the other group(s) I think. This was for a Q&A session (something new) and an opportunity to pray for healing for those in each group who requested it. We prayed for Sandra only as time was against us, sadly.

Dennis & Cathy report of some of Friday’s testimonies:

Friday night at El Bajo de Uncion del Espiritu Santo in the Agua Blanca part of the city. Dennis, Cathy and Paul Bennison spoke before, having only 10 minutes before closing time at 9 pm, a general prayer from Paul while we, with Wilmar and Hein joining us, went round laying hands on those who stood up for healing. Then we were told that people wanting individual ministry could see us afterwards. We finished at 10.45!

Amongst many other things we prayed for back pain, a gunshot wound to the knee, high blood pressure, hernia, larynx/throat issues, abdominal pain, blurred vision, diabetes, leg pain, young boy with speech difficulties, young boy ‘sold to Satan’ by his father as a baby, young boy with behavioural problems, kidney stones and many other things.

Of course, complete healing was not obvious in every case, at least at the time, but more than enough for us to believe this was the most “successful” meeting in that regard. Glory to God!

Thanney had good testimonies, too, on Thursday – I need to extricate them from him!

Friday was lovely – great worship, a lot of ‘remoliando-ing’ (!! – great word, eh? Means ‘whirling’ – though I don’t whirl a lot these days…). Dennis and Cathy spoke excellently  – the people even seemed to understand Dennis’s humour, so miracles were about to happen!).

One of the wonderful things about things about this amazing city, is the faith of the people – who go the church EXPECTING God to do something for them, and there seem to be no limitations of what, how, age, background…. my first ‘to be prayed for’ person, who came up to the front instantly and expectantly, was a lovely 10-year-old lad, Juan I think his name is – who’d got – there and then, had it all meeting, and before he arrived – a really bad sore throat and a lot of pain in his neck and oesophagus. I love the word for neck in Spanish – it’s ‘garganta’  – I think with my double chin, it’s a very relevant word! Here’s how Google translate defines it:

Needless to say, the pain went instantly, and he hugged me for some moments, then just hung around while getting a bit involved in praying for the next folk… one dear lady – I’d guess late 30’s – had so many things wrong with her that if she’d written them very small on her arm, she’d have had a list as long as her arm. One by one the pains went…. severe head and neck pain, shoulder pain, back… almost literally top to toe. Her face was a picture as years of pain lifted off of her.

So many other people I could list, but just to mention a boy – Mateo – a very big lad for three years old, dedicated to Satan y his father as he was born…. it was a blessing that he was asleep, as doing deliverance with kids can be traumatic for them – it can be, and often is – for adults. The atmosphere in the ‘space’ around him changed as we all prayed for him, Hein, Wilmar, Laura from Chile, plus my gang of three (Thanney and Johnny had been installing the suspended ceiling and the insulation – that awful to handle fibreglass type stuff – and they got back to the apartment pretty much as we were leaving for church. A real change in Mateo’s sleeping face. A lovely energetic, full of life lady (name forgotten, sorry), who ran her own business, of events, activities – a lot of spinal pain, which for an activity-based job isn’t ideal – was healed instantly.

The church – ‘Bajo la Uncion del Espiritu Santo’ is lovely – it was pretty full for a Friday night meeting – I should think somewhere between 75 and a 100 – and, as its name suggests – ‘Under the Anointing of the Holy Spirit’ is very accurate! I’m wondering that, if we named churches like these names in the UK, the church would come into ‘line’ with its own declaration of name…? Maybe NOT like one in Africa ‘Holy Spirit Wines and Beers’, ‘The Lamb of God Mattress Company’, or another ‘The God has done it beauty Parlour’ – but ‘Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit’ – wow, a church moving forward constantly in expectation and miracles, where 10-year-olds virtually run to the front (not of a kids’ meeting, either, the normal meeting!) to be healed.

Another really lovely lad, also 10, came and sat next to me, pain in his leg and ankle – he’s a budding football prodigy – and was healed, then he, too, hung around while others were prayed for – it’s like they’re waiting for, and wanting the anointing of God to rub off on them, so they can do it. So I involve them: why wouldn’t I? Just encourage them to lay their hand on the person, and command the pain/infirmity/disease to leave…. IT WORKS!!

Today, we’re at ‘Mision Abrigo Internacional’ – Wilmar’s church: ALWAYS great worship, always healings, always miracles, and of course, in March, my knees got healed for the 3 months until I fell down the stairs…. so this morning, I’ve lined up prayer from them for Thanney’s hand first, and then Johnny’s back (which, despite the immense amount of work – and heavy lifting he’s done these 2 weeks – doesn’t seem to be ‘suffering’ as a result. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he goes home totally healed….as it won’t for Thanney, or me…..

This afternoon – 5 pm – we’re at the church of lovely ‘Morgan Freeman lookalike’ (slightly older looking!!) Alcides Valentierra Perea, in one of the most dangerous barrios – Siloe – though their barrio within Siloe is La Sirena. It was here, 8 years ago, a young man, 2 days to live, was healed of AIDS just being hugged, and a dead lady came back to life…. MORE OF THAT, LORD, PLEASE!! – the unbelievable privilege of being on the end of the RAW POWER of the Holy Spirit is indescribable. It’s only like an extension in reality – plug it into the wall, and you have the same power at other end as you do the plug in the wall. That’s what th Holy Spirit gives us….

Tomorrow morning, my really lovely mate Simon Allaby arrives from England, for the final week of the trip: can’t wait for him to be here, it’s a while since we were here together. Sadly, tomorrow night, Dennis and Cathy fly home. We’ll REALLY miss them, they’ve been fantastic to have around, brilliant in what they’ve shared, effective in what they’ve prayed, concise in what they’ve taught, and huge fun – even Dennis’s sense of humour!! Thank you, Dennis and Cathy, for coming here: thank you for all you’ve contributed, not just spiritually, but in every way, to this little team. You’ve been an amazing blessing, a real blessing to countless Calenos (people of Cali!), and such a blessing to me, personally, I’v loved having you here, and maybe next year, half a dozen full-blooded Sozo’s with whoever you need from the UK to be in tandem with you!!