Category Archives: Journal

Just back from a really lovely fun-filled yet powerful service at City Church, Worcester – I’ve been a number of times in the past to preach here, but today was just a ‘punter’. I felt welcomed like an old friend and was almost immediately greeted by a lady who told me that when I last preached at the church, I prayed for her and she was healed – she was in a rush somewhere so didn’t get the chance to ask what! Afterwards, I was asked to pray with a lovely lady in extreme pain – from a badly failed knee-replacement surgery (another reason not to have had it done!) last year, in considerably more pain than before the prosthetic was fitted. I’m not sure I’ve prayed for the ‘healing’ of a prosthetic – but all her pain and inflammation went, and she could stand without pain for the first time since the surgery.

A lovely young lady I’d prayed with previously told me she’d been healed of anorexia and raynaud’s syndrome: today  she asked for prayer as she’d got a problem with one leg being shorter than the other – sometimes a back or hip issue, but not always – and her orthotics specialist was in church this morning, too. Five minutes before being prayed for, the orthotic specialist had measured her hips, and they were about an inch out, as was the alignment of her knees….we watched as they equalised, and her mum confirmed that her walking up stairs had changed. The specialist confirmed that her hips and knees were now in line….. God’s so amazing, isn’t he?

Prayed for a great young man who was born with three teeth missing: the orthodontists won’t do implants unless there were six missing, only do a ‘bridge’ – not as expensive as implants but still, in the UK, as with all dentistry, expensive, so I prayed for three new teeth to be supernaturally created. They weren’t – instantly – but watch this space!

I can’t tell you the privilege it is to pray for people and see them healed – or the process of healing begin. I’m so grateful to God that in a year of immobility and extreme pain, he still chooses to use this East End of London ‘plonker’ even when I’m not expecting it. And if he can heal a ‘failed’ prosthetic, he can heal – and is healing -my knees. Not HEALED – YET – but in the process….praying that before I move into my new home, assuming I can get the money together! – he’ll heal mine totally as my flat is on the second floor and there’s no lift/elevator! That would be the best Christmas gift I could have,,,,

I’ve realised a lot of things this year, having to spend a good deal of it immobile, not the least being what an amazing creation our bodies are, made even more amazing when parts of it stop working as my legs did. When we read in Psalm 139 that we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ it has significantly more impact when a critical part, like your legs, stop moving. I’ve been so grateful to God for Robert Miller, who travelled some distance to pray for the knees of a man he didn’t know, and the next day they started working again! When I pray for people, I’ll often ask if they’ve noticed any change in their condition. Some are instantly healed, some know something’s happened but still have pain, or symptoms (I’ll always say ‘don’t say you’re healed if you’re not’ as I’ll pray again: by the same measure, as it’s not possible for God to answer prayer, as I was vehemently reminded many times in China in the ’80s by Chinese pastors, don’t say ‘it didn’t work’ because sometimes the change might be imperceptible, but there WILL be change. I am in the process of a miracle, much as I’d have loved it to be instant, I’m so, so grateful for the MEASURE of healing I’ve received so far.

I learned to listen to God more, too, which was such a blessing, read more (Bible and books), and pray more. Now, it’s great to be able to start again to put all of this into practice, though I did preach in Ireland, made a Colombia trip in a wheelchair (which took some getting used to!), and once mobile, had the privilege of speaking at a men’s conference in Dublin. Doors are opening for next year, and God has said through various prophetic words that there’s going to be an increase in impact and gifting in 2019 – now I can move again, I want to take every opportunity I can, with this wonderful created ability called ‘walking’. I’ feeling very blessed as I have a number of invitations and potential invitations for 2019 when I honestly thought that having a year where I was able to accept few invitations people would have forgotten me. If I used to come to your church until 2018, I’d love to come back, if you want me! And I have a few opportunities to go back and preach in Ireland, which is a blessing.

When you travel a lot, it’s essential to have people around you who understand – or at least try to understand – the itinerant’s needs, lifestyle, and the support that’s necessary. I’ve never been or wanted to be, a ‘lone ranger’, which is one of the reasons I love taking teams with me. So to now be going to a church that sends teams out a lot, as well as other missionaries, is a tremendous blessing. If Eastgate Church ever wanted me to be involved in that, it will be a blessing. I’ve also got together what would best be called a team of advisors (accountability group?) – I’m over the moon with the great guys who have agreed to be part it, all of them leaders or in ministry, spread across all styles of church, a wide age range, and all wonderfully in touch with God. They’ve given great advice already, and, what’s really lovely, believe in me and the vision God’s given me. Our ‘meetings’ will be by Skype (especially as one lives in the USA and is a dear friend who is never afraid to tell me if and when I’m wrong!).

Having hit 66 years old 4 days ago, and on the ‘slope’ towards 70, I’m praying that God will continue to bless and provide, as I have to trust him through my ”pension years’ as well through the last 40! I’m told that I can buy seven years of National Insurance stamps (I’ve bought one through the kindness and generosity of a group of friends in France, so six to go) for the (many!) years where I didn’t have enough to pay the stamp: and there’s no other pension hiding in the background that I can rely on.

The last couple of weeks I’ve had the delight of staying with great, long-time friend Graham Coyle, in Worcester. We first met 35 years ago, Graham and his lovely late-wife Ann’s lives intertwined with mine first at Roffey Place in 1984, and much more regularly since. Graham and his two lovely daughters, Bex and Lizzie, have very kindly asked me for Christmas, the first Christmas I’ll have not spent alone for quite a few years. So until 7th January, I’m at 15 Lilac Avenue, Worcester WR4 9QU, I hope I can remember how ‘do’ Christmas!

And, God willing, I move into a flat in Northfleet, Kent, the second week of January. It’s a mighty leap of faith for me, as I – and many others to whom I look to for advice and input, felt that the lovely Eastgate Church, in Gravesend, was where God wanted me to go. Gravesend’s proximity to London, and to Ebbsfleet International Channel Tunnel Train Station, makes that area of Kent lethally expensive rent-wise, especially compared to Northern Ireland! My rent will be 120% higher than Ireland, the council tax 300% higher than Ireland’s rates, and inNorthern Ireland, you don’t pay water rates (so much rain, I guess!!) so that’ll be on the expenses list in Kent. Living anywhere in the south-east of England is expensive – I understand that a two bedroomed flat in somehwere like Eastbourne (where I spent many of my growing up years) is about £1000 a month, so north-west Kent, with it’s ‘immediate’ accessibility to numerous motorways, four airports (five if you include Southend) with the furthest – Heathrow – only being 75 minutes away (the others being Gatwick, Stansted, and Luton): and Europe, through the tunnel or ferry, makes it ideal for an itinerant missionary.

For people who live the way God’s called me to, we face something of a dilemma, where support raising is concerned. For me, I don’t find it too difficult to write, or ask, when fund-raising for projects, like the fantastic building Thanney constructed last year for the desperate, threatened, and vulnerable street kids in Cali. However, when it comes to support raising for me, I find it almost impossible. Most people say ‘If we don’t knw what you need, how do we know how to help you?’, which makes it so much easier to ask  Perhaps I’m overly conscious of the few who, when I write stating those needs, tell me ‘So you’re not living by faith anymore, you’re begging’. I have to try and dismiss those as most people in ministry fundraise: and, as many of you know, I ‘suffered’ this year because of immobility and couldn’t walk, so therefore preach, and about 40% of my income comes from offerings even though I don’t charge. When you watch Christian TV, the ‘money’ appeals are endless, yet seem more acceptable to the ‘few’! So, I’m still some way short of what I need to rent – and buy things for – the flat, things that I had to leave behind in Bangor that either didn’t fit on the trailer or belonged to the landlord. Fairly important things like a fridge-freezer, two beds, a washing machine….. IF you’re in a position to help with support, and to make up the loss from offerings this year, I’d be very grateful. www.Stewardship.org.uk is brilliant, in that they reclaim the tax and pass it on to me as well (Paul Bennison Healing Ministries Worldwide, account no: 20028331), the Halifax Bank (if you don’t pay tax) 11-08-75, 00256003: or PayPal (paul@paulbennisoncom).

I’m looking forward to celebrating this wonderful creation’s legs when I move, as I’m in a second floor flat without a lift (!) so I’m asking for God’s support, too, in healing them totally before I move in January. The wonderful ‘upside’ is that it’s only 500 yards from the church. What marvellous inventions knee were by God.

I pray that you’ll have a wonderful Christmas, filled with peace and the amazing Presence of Jesus. I look forward to seeing some of you in 2019, maybe at your church if you want me!

It’s been a long time since I wrote a blog – I guess you might have noticed! I’ve learned a lot, especially about patience, listening for God’s voice – and then TO God’s voice, forgiveness, how to handle and begin to deal with whatever the enemy throws at me – and boy, has he had a field day this year! I’ve learned an immense amount about pain, and coping with it, loneliness, hurt, rejection, and – MUCH more importantly, about the LOVE of the Jesus I adore, worship, and who loves me with an unspeakable love. I’ve learned that, even after all my 65 years (soon to be 66!), he can still surprise me, and delights in doing so.

Come January 1, 2019, I celebrate 40 years of God’s unbelievable faithfulness: it was in 1979 that I started out on the wonderful road – often tough, difficult, and attractive for the enemy, loss, gossip,  – of full-time Christian ministry. There have been incredible moments of amazement at what God has done – miracles, healings, provision, resurrection. There have been almost unbearable ‘down’ times – pain, criticism, lies. jealousy out of which comes the ‘magical’ (lol) Christian grapevine. Often, Chinese whispers have nothing to compare with that!

It’s been a very difficult year, to say the least, right at the start of January I had a ‘statutory’ 2 yearly-appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon in Belfast. The letter said it was one I knew: when I got there, it was someone different. I think I’d go as far as to say he didn’t know what he was doing, and ‘wanted to try something out’ and my right knee – the worst one for the osteoarthritis – was….er…. ‘manipulated, with dreadful cracking noises from the already badly damaged knee. I couldn’t stand after it: was taken by wheelchair to my car (I hadn’t gone IN in a wheelchair!) made it home, and then couldn’t walk for the next 8 months. The first few days I had to get around on my stomach until the pain subsided enough to ‘climb’ up cupboards and walls to stand using 2 walking sticks. I could say a lot about the ‘support’ (??) I got from local Christians, but I’d rather tell you about how God drew close to me as I had to sit and rest my leg as much as possible.

Help DID come, when some dear friends phoned to ask if I was doing anything at the weekend’ (no,  couldn’t walk!) and they said they wanted to come for 5 days to clean my house (I couldn’t), cook a load of meals (I couldn’t stand to cook), and do whatever I needed done….FROM 500 MILES AWAY in Plymouth at their own expense (and no, they’re not rich!)…. THAT is church, Acts 2:42 –> It’d be an interesting church survey to find out how many Christians live within a mile of my house, when others would come 500 miles…!!

In September, some other good friends arranged for a man with a healing ministry (who also came a long way to my home) to come and pray for me: the next day, I could walk, ok still with pain, but I could WALK! Not being able to walk, living on your own, with an upstairs loo (Toilet, for non-Brits!), with a staircase so steep and difficult it’s more like a ladder, is something I now want to use AGAINST the devil when praying for other people. I’ve seen, over the past few years, hundreds of pairs of osteoarthritic knees: believe me, that’s going to increase!

Last weekend I had the privilege of speaking at the AVM Ministries Revival Conference in Dublin, with Thanney: it was a great conference, our sessions seemed to go down well, and ended up with quite a few to pray for, including a lady who had osteoarthritic knees: she was healed! Another lady, a ‘seer’, had a vision of an open heaven over the lectern, and shaft of brilliant white light coming down to engulf the speaker – me! – before was due to speak on…’Healing under an open heaven’! She then saw a black spear driven into and under my right kneecap by the enemy…. if ever I’m asked (quite often!) to explain what the pain is like, I describe it as a very long sharp knife driven into my knee under the kneecap….se prayed for me, and did the ‘action’ of pulling the spear out. A prophet, Billy Beattie, had a vision of shackles around my knees, in the form of bicycle locks, so my knees could only move in limited directions, and nails driven into my knees in the full circle around them. He ‘removed’ them in the spirit, too, and as with the spear, I could feel them go…. his colleague in the prophetic ministry, Niall Fahy, then had a vision and a word about me carrying the marks of Jesus in my body – the stigmata – which totally blew me away…..

Billy then said he wanted to anoint me: I was expecting a cross on the forehead as is usual – but he had quite a large bottle of very fragrant oil, which he proceeded to empty over my head! I felt like Aaron with it dripping off my chin, nose, into my eyes, over my clothes…! I’d rather have the anointing than a sweatshirt.

Then on Friday comes a day I’d never expected as little oas 5-6 weeks ago: a home move back to England! God has brought it all together so fast, including the miraculous provision to purchase a new trailer in which my home is no loaded outside the house…. and a ferry crossing to Heysham on Friday during the day, a trip for the weekend to Joel’s house in north Kent, another visit to the fantastic Eastgate Church on Sunday, and then on Monday to a beautiful cottage in the countryside for a few weeks…. I’ll fill the rest of the story in another blog!!

Thank you so much for your prayers during this harrowing year of immense pain and immobility – culminating (today, though not yesterday when the trailer was being loaded – incredible pain) in less painful knees today than any day recently, and the ability to walk. My friend Davy is crossing with me, as there is no life on the ferry, just some very interesting steep stairs (he’s going to follow me up in case I fall backwards! and lead me down in case I fall forwards!) and then staying with Joel too. He’s a good friend. Thanney has been brilliant through all this, and I’m truly going to miss his regular company drinking coffee together….but I’ll come back here for a couple of weeks at a time to see people and preach…..