The surreal nature of the past few days was utterly overshadowed by the events of today! Having not got in from church last night until 00.45 am, as the pastor took us out to eat, bless him, we were up to go for breakfast with my friend Dario, the favela boss. When
we arrived at his house, having been met by him in his car with only a tiny gap opened in his window beckoning us (he doesn’t risk being seen on the streets), we were welcomed like long-time friends: and then, as seems to be usual, many of his wider family and colleagues started arriving…. Sitting on his verandah, drinking fresh orange juice in burning sun was delightful!
As we sat down for breakfast, Dario lifted the bottom of his t-shirt and removed his gun from his waist-band as I guess it’s uncomfortable to sit down with…! Not sure that’s ever been in zone of experiences in the past! Some of the friends then had breakfast after we’d vacated the table: and then I was asked if we’d pray for people…. again, surreal in that some of these guys are seasoned drug lords, siccario killers…. one lovely guy – genuinely lovely – Diego, came in on crutches: having been shot 7 times, 3 years ago, twice in the back of the head, twice in the neck, and three times in his spine…. that day, most of the others in the house where it occurred had been killed, but Diego survived: some of his injuries had healed, but he showed us the bullet holes. He was still in extreme pain in his right leg, where nerves had been wrecked through the spinal damage, and couldn’t walk without the crutches. We prayed for him: seriously, within minutes, all his pain had gone, he was lifting and straightening his leg, which he hadn’t done in 3 years, and then he got up, put weight on it without support, and then walked across the room. We didn’t see him on crutches again before we left… he didn’t straighten up fully, but that was most likely due to loss of muscle and sinew tone in three years of not using the leg.
Everyone with pain was healed; migraines went; arthritic pain went; Dario’s gran had chronic shoulder pain, wrecked muscle and tendon – she was healed; poor eyesight was restored; so many more that once again, they slip from your mind. Then Wilmar heard that the Pastor of the church we were going to tonight, Arsenio, had been robbed at gunpoint this morning, and pistol whipped: he and Marie, his wife, really were believing they’d be shot as the robbers wanted the keys to his only form of transport, a 125cc motorbike (and they live at the top of yet ANOTHER mountain!), and he didn’t have them with him. His phone was stolen, so he had to try to get a message to Wilmar to cancel taking us there. He did that, but we all said we had no intention of NOT going, we wanted to stand with them, identify with them, and bless them (hopefully!) and their congregation. Dario’s ‘shot’ leg had much of the pain go, it seems our prayers for him are driving the pain down his leg, and out through his foot! After we left Dario’s, he took us to the home of his god parents: the wife has been seriously sick for 13 years, with violent pain and ‘electric shocks’ in her both sides of her face, and bedridden for a long time due to the knock-on referred pain down the rest of her body. Nick had a wonderful word of knowledge, which was the ‘key’ not only to unlocking her healing, but the healing of their 40 year-long marriage (with a 13 year hiatus as the husband went off with another woman and had 3 kids with her…). Forgiveness happened: repentance, too: and salvation, as they were fully re-united having lived the interim years since his return effectively as not married though living in the same house. The husband asked for forgiveness, she gave it, and was healed, instantly. Then to Dario’s cousin (!) – Lorena – probably mid-thirties (hard to tell when the lady had no hair due to chemo) – dying with cancer. Totally reliant on her oxygen tank to keep alive, God began – that’s the best I can say – to restore her breathing, heal her dreadfully painful hacking cough – and then, having left home for ‘breakfast’ at 8.30 am, we finally got back to the apartment at 3.45 pm! And we were due at Wilmar and Marlene’s for dinner at 4pm, which he graciously made 5pm so we could just have a few minutes to gather our thoughts. Dario has asked if Wilmar will start two cell groups/churches in Siloe: one in the home of the widow, from the blog on the 11th November, and another elsewhere. I think he’s thinking of asking the same for his own home in the south…. that’s TRULY GOD’S KINGDOM COMING TO EARTH – as Siloe is genuinely the most dangerous place in the city. He asked me, on our way to his cousin, ‘Can we start to spend whole days together just to hang out?’…. I just find that so utterly humbling, I’m almost 30 years older than him and his wife (or girlfriend, we’re not quite sure! – he’s 32). I’m just asking God if I should come back here before next Easter, which from here, right now, seems light years away. We’re at Dario’s ‘finca’ for a barbecue tomorrow afternoon, so I guess dozens more bullet-ridden folk will be there! And so, after Wilmar’s, straight Melendez, up yet another unbelievable mountain road, to the pastors robbed this morning. An amazing meeting…. loads to pray for, especially for the ‘obvious’, but the stories from our three little prayer teams of two, was that pain went, sight was restored, and healings of just about every sort….they also had 300,000 pesos stolen, about £30, $45AU & US, about 3 months salary in a community like theirs: that was money they’d saved to build the next part of their church building. I know that God told me to give Arsenio my phone…. ho hum, no choice, so done, with no regrets, and a humongous thanks from him and Marie…. Tomorrow, we’re picked up at 06.45 am for church at 7 am, then it’s unlikely we’ll be back home before about 1 am Monday morning from the last church. 3 meetings, and a healing barbecue….
Again, Rob’s and Si’s reports – so sad that tomorrow we wave goodbye to Robert on his awfully long journey home. He’s been brilliant here, and is such a great bloke to have around on a trip: he’s down to earth, honest, good speaker, prophetic, and has wonderful faith for healing. Thanks, Robert, for coming: I’m going to miss you.
Went out at 8:30 for breakfast and just got back now. We were treated to a Colombian breakfast by our new friends that on the whole tend to have circular scars on their skin….hmmm….maybe cigar burns. Anyway prayed for a guy that was shot 8 times 3 years ago and all his pain went but he didn’t straighten up. That will come. Prayed for some eyes that improved but didn’t go all the way yet. Also just prayed for their family and broken relationships. We went and visited another couple and there was healing there and the last one was a lady with aggressive breast cancer. We won’t know for a while how she gets on.
The pastor of the church we are going to tonight was robbed at gun point this morning. Our new friends said they might be able to get his stuff returned…..must work in negotiations.
Well that’s the end of the visits. I’m absolutely stuffed. Tonight we went to the church where the pastor was held up by gun point, pistol whipped and shot at this morning. I don’t have big cahoneys or a death wish because quite frankly, I didn’t want to go. BUT, sometimes you just have to suck it up and just go.
It was up one of the mountains where the road is so narrow and so rough only a car and a bike can pass each other. The climb is just mental. The town looks completely lawless When we started to pray for people first we prayed for the pastor and his wife who were pretty trashed by the whole thing. Then I first got a guy that had a motorbike accident 3 years ago and he was still in pain. All his pain went and he got movement in his joints. Next was a lady with headaches and pain down her left side. That all came good. Then a guy with a broken toe from soccer, that got healed, so I squeezed the living shit out of it and he didn’t even flinch. I thought he was bullshitting that it was better so I really gave it some curry. 2 ladies with sore knees got healed, I made them do squats to prove it. I know it isn’t me, I know it’s all Jesus fixing stuff that is wrong. It’s hard to imagine these things just being fixed just by laying on hands and commanding it but I know what I have seen and done. I guess it’s time to stop reading between the lines of the bible and read the actual lines. This will be my last post here so I hope you have enjoyed reading about my trip. I didn’t put it on my normal fb page because I only wanted those that were really interested to see it. I just put the trivial crap there. So god bless you with all your hearts desires and see you all someday. And when he say ‘go’, just go, he’ll sort out the details.