Wow… it was a packed weekend – partly my fault, and lots of people to pray for! – in Seaford, on Sussex’s wonderful coast. Fresh Springs fellowship met in the lovely Clinton Centre – certainly a lot more impressive a building than when I used to wait for the bus home from school almost outside it 50 years ago! A lovely fellowship, too: very warm, friendly, and open. Three meetings, 3pm and 7.30pm Saturday – which effectively became one meeting as I finally finished praying with the ‘afternoon’ folk at about 7.20! – and another at 10 am yesterday, which ended around 2pm! I’d chosen to fly over Saturday morning early, and back Sunday md-evening, so it sort of compacted the weekend into a lovely continuum of God touching, blessing, healing, and encouraging people.

One lovely lady, Lesley, who has the most awful problems with her feet and legs, mostly due to failed surgery, said yesterday morning that she could stand up without staggering and almost falling for the first time in many years: Rosie, also with leg and other problems, including feet, said that she was ‘comfortable’ for the first time in a very long time! Friends from Facebook from quite a radius came, too, and here’s the report from one – Gail – whose husband, David, a retired doctor (enforced, because of cancer everywhere) – they’d driven quite a distance, from Pembury in Kent, o be there – with David weak and in pain – a ‘your faith has made you well’ situation:

• Thank you so much for praying for David This morning he said his leg weakness was 20-30 per cent improved! Thank u Jesus ! We are standing in faith for lots more to come ! Bless you ..x

David & Gail have been friends for many years, and I know that David has got so much left to do for the Lord, so it’s wonderful to read that! You know, so often, we’re looking for the ‘instant miracle’ – which, of course, we ALL want, for ourselves, and those we pray for, but the Apostle Paul DID separate gifts of healings (a process, by nature of the word) and gifts of miracles). We can lose the ‘healing’ because we end up disappointed, maybe even angry, at God, as we didn’t get the miracle, so God bless you, David – and Gail – and I’m with you every step of the way until you can come on at least one long trip overseas with me! And you’ll be back in Albania….

There were other stories of blessing and healing: and also – and this is often the case! – one lovely young lady, Nicky, who got worse after I’d prayed for her…. here’s another ‘you know’… Nicky and her wonderful husband, Ross, have just taken a massive leap of faith in their lives: Nicky has (I’ve forgotten the name of it again, Nicky!) – a disease whereby the ligaments and muscles are too loose, and bones continually go out of line. It’s very painful. You know, the enemy is out to steal, destroy, and discourage: and here’s a couple walking right to the edge of the cliff (and that’s a perfect analogy if you know what they have done for the past few years! – Beachy Head ‘Suicide’ Chaplaincy), and when Nicky said she was ‘worse’ yesterday, I was almost delighted… not that she was in pain, but that the enemy is so hacked off with them he wanted to stop her… he ain’t going to stop them….

Friends Dennis and Cathy Acott came down from Maidstone: I’m too embarrassed to precis what Dennis posted on Facebook, so I’ll paste what he wrote here:

• Keep doing what you are doing, young man. Don’t stray out of the SONshine. Sure you should stay just the way you are. It’s who\where you were called to be. Explains why you love it so much.
• What can one say? The sheer nerve of the man!

  Matron and I go out for a nice leisurely day after my full return to work. What could be nicer than to have a mooch around Alfriston before a great pub lunch and a short drive on to Seaford?

  We find a car park near the Clinton Centre, where we plan to catch up with Paul Bennison for his 3pm meeting, stroll down for a quick look at the sea, then buy a baguette for the young man’s tea before going to the CC to wait for his arrival.

  It was a great meeting and then comes the ministry time. Well, we thought, this will be good to watch – before we say our au revoirs and toddle off home for a quiet evening. Then he does it!

  “Come on out and help me,” he says, casually. We were still there for the 7-30 meeting and finally got in our car at 11pm! Got to bed at 1-30am!

  There is no point in saying what a privilege it is to minister alongside this man. He is genuinely too humble to acknowledge that. Should we even say how much fun and how exciting it is? If you have never done it yourself you would not understand. If you get anywhere near Paul you will be encouraged to find out, though (like the young couple he also persuaded to join him last night) and so you should.

  That is Paul. He knows it is not all about him (but Him) and that’s how he operates. Yes, he has got a nerve. And we love him for it! God is so good!

  Oh, and we met and ministered to some lovely people and it was a joy to see Father blessing so many.

Thank you, Dennis. It made me cry…. here’s some of the comments:    Gail Chaput de Saintonge It was a joy to see Paul again … And of course you two. Well done for wading in and blessing others .We were fortunate to have been on the receiving end of Paul’s wonderful ministry in the afternoon and to be home by our fireside by 7 !!

Brian Louden He has a habit of doing that Dennis. It’s a large part of the reason I ended up in Colombia this year!!!

And I got to see some people I haven’t for years, thanks again to Facebook! Wonderful to see John & Patricia Musgrave, though I DID see them about 3 years ago, and Juliet Dann, who was Juliet Hillman when I last saw her in about 1983! And to meet Karla Willows, whose mum I’ve known since the early 70’s, Beatriz, a lovely Colombian! – looking forward to meeting Alex, Karla!

I have to say that by the time I staggered to the boarding gate last night, at Heathrow, I thought my knees might not make it off the plane this end: and, just occasionally, for a few moments, I think to myself, ‘I can’t keep doing this!’ when every step is agony… but only for a few moments… and Thursday, crack of dawn, I’m back to the singing/dancing airport (check out my Facebook page, the video of Belfast City airport!) to go to Rouen, France: with my great mate Mark Hendley, I’m so looking forward to being with the lovely church there ‘Le Gospel’ (fairly self-explanatory name for a church, eh??!!) and to being with Mark for a few days.

Another ‘you know’ – I’ve long been ‘under pressure’ – and am, currently, from certain quarters, to ‘charge’ for ministry invitations. The sort of sum of £300 a day has been been mooted: I can’t. I JUST CAN’T. Jesus said, in commissioning the disciples to go and ‘establish the Kingdom’, in Matthew 10: 7 – ‘Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, raise the dead. FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE’.’ I’m not sure that most of the places I go to would ever be able to contemplate such a sum, particularly if they’re ‘liable’ for airfare, and all other expenses….I know that I was blessed in Seaford, will be blessed in Rouen, without knowing if anything was coming back/will come back… but I DO know that God has, thankfully, shown up increasingly in power of late, and my heart is to see that happen more and more, without my bank balance being worried about the consequences!

So, France – baguette! YES!! Cheese! YES! Red grape juice! YES! And God, in power, doing what God does best, through plonkers like me….