This is the testimony of a woman who survived cancer only to be told she would never speak normally again due to nerve damage affecting her vocal cords. Her healing was not instant, but if finally arrived.
Aug 19, 2012
Aug 17, 2012
Healing In The Workplace
This is an excerpt from my upcoming book on healing.
The first ten verses of Luke 5 describe what happened to Peter when he allowed his workplace be a platform for the ministry of Jesus. After the Lord taught from Peter’s boat, he asked Peter to go into deeper water and let down his nets. After telling Jesus he’d been fishing all night without catching anything he reluctantly obeyed. He was astounded when the catch was so great it began to sink the boat, requiring help from others to bring it in. God blessed Peter, James and John with an immediate increase in their business when they allowed their occupation to be used by him. Just as he did with the fishermen, God wants to bless us when we’re willing to be used by Him where we work.
The first ten verses of Luke 5 describe what happened to Peter when he allowed his workplace be a platform for the ministry of Jesus. After the Lord taught from Peter’s boat, he asked Peter to go into deeper water and let down his nets. After telling Jesus he’d been fishing all night without catching anything he reluctantly obeyed. He was astounded when the catch was so great it began to sink the boat, requiring help from others to bring it in. God blessed Peter, James and John with an immediate increase in their business when they allowed their occupation to be used by him. Just as he did with the fishermen, God wants to bless us when we’re willing to be used by Him where we work.
One day, while working on the ambulance, my regular partner took the day off. I worked with someone I didn't know very well. ‘Cindy’ and I were having a slow day. We were five hours into the shift and hadn't run a call. To help the time pass, we talked about different things, including one of my favorite subjects; dreams.
I shared a few dreams I’d had about healing. That led to a discussion of healing itself. I shared a few healing stories, which prompted her to tell me about the car accident she was in a few years ago that left her with chronic pain between her shoulder blades. We talked and I gained her trust. So when I asked if she wanted to be healed she was comfortable having me pray with her. I explained the process then put my hand on her back and commanded it to be healed. And it was.
In ministry, it's helpful to build relationships. Before asking someone if they want to be healed it’s wise to spend a few minutes getting to know them. The degree to which you’ll minister to anyone is dependent on the relationship you have with them. Some Christians have turned ministry into a game of numbers, boasting about how many people a day they’ve reached for Jesus. Many of those converts remain strangers to the believer and God. Society has grown tired of it. Christianity devoid of meaningful relationships is empty and its fruit doesn’t last. Jesus asked us to make disciples, not converts. Discipleship is relational.
If the one you want to pray with is someone you know, the relationship may already be strong enough for prayer. Asking a stranger if they want to be healed isn’t something most people do. It’s natural for them to wonder about our motives. With a stranger it’s helpful to engage in safe conversation, allowing them a few minutes to evaluate us and our motives. You should expect to have your motives questioned. Spend time thinking about why you’re doing this and how you’ll explain your motives when asked.
As we minister in the workplace, we should remember a few things; Jesus healed all who came to him, but many chose not to come. As badly as we may want others to receive God’s healing touch, we must always ask permission and respect the wishes of those who say no. If we show honor and respect, it will be shown to us, even from those who disagree with us. “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (Proverbs 16:7)
Another thing to keep in mind is that employers hire us to work and they have a right to expect us to be productive. We should desire to make our employers successful. If we spend too much time engaged in ministry while at work and it interferes with productivity or proficiency, they may need to take corrective action. We should treat customers and co-workers well and be diligent in our duties. When we’re good employees, we fulfill the command to “do all things as unto the Lord”.
A generation ago, it was common for people to talk about their faith in the workplace. Today, separatists and secularists are trying hard to ban public discussions of faith. Workplace evangelism is becoming a risky proposition. In some parts of the world discussing Jesus puts you at risk for harassment, punishment or termination. Many people believe we have no right to engage in religious discussions while on the job. Make no mistake there will always be a cost that must be considered by outspoken disciples of Jesus.
At the outset, I had concerns that God wouldn’t heal the people I prayed with and I’d look foolish. Concerns about how we’re perceived by others are sometimes rooted in pride. In this case I had to choose obedience over what others thought about me. Humility allows us to take risks at the expense of our ego. My fears were short-lived. I did go through a season of praying with people who weren’t healed, but not because God didn’t want them healed. It was because I didn’t know what I was doing yet. After changing my approach and commanding healing instead of begging God to do it, I saw the number of people healed increase dramatically. I never really experienced the things I feared. I suppose the enemy may have been trying to discourage me. He’ll probably try it with you, so be brave if God asks you to step out in faith.
Operating as a divine healer in the workplace can be a challenging task, but the rewards are profound. When I began I met a few people who objected to a paramedic praying with patients while at work. I had a discussion on a medical blog with a doctor who was offended when she learned that I talked to my patients about God. In her mind my actions were unethical. She believes that patients are vulnerable and see medical workers as experts. Her fear was that I would abuse my ‘expert’ status and push a vulnerable patient into accepting a religious point of view, without having time to fully consider it. I suppose some may operate this way, though it seems rather manipulative. There is no reason why open discussions can’t occur which allow both people to share ideas without crossing the lines of sound ethical practice.
Rules regarding discussions of faith vary depending on your occupation and where you work. Check to learn what restrictions apply to you. The medical industry allows for some people to discuss faith openly with patients. If you’re on the pastoral staff you’re allowed a lot of freedom. These positions enjoy a privileged status the rest of us don’t. There seems to be a trend toward more restriction on workplace discussions of faith. This trend needs to be challenged and the responsibility falls on us. If you work in a place where you aren’t free to talk about God, it’s your responsibility to engage in discussions with management to have the rules changed.
If our attempts to bring Jesus into the workplace cause customers to go elsewhere or co-workers to file complaints against us, perhaps we should re-think our strategy. After years of ‘witnessing’ to people on the job, and having no fruit come from it, I began instead to discuss healing. In the time I’ve used this approach, which I use almost daily, I haven’t had a complaint from anyone. Many have been healed, and even the people who weren’t were grateful.
There are a thousand ways in which healing can be brought to the workplace. The only limitation is our own creativity. Healing is often used as a tool for evangelism, but it’s also a gift of the Holy Spirit and the gifts are intended to benefit the church. I tend to operate more in the gift of healing with believers than in healing as an aid to evangelism.
I keep my eyes open for anyone who is walking or moving in a way that shows they are in pain. I look for immobilizers, canes, crutches, and wheelchairs or a look of pain on anyone’s face. If I see someone taking Advil, I ask why. I’ve also developed selective hearing, where I tune into certain conversations and tune others out. I listen for medical words. After a bit of practice you become more perceptive to the needs of others. One day you’ll realize that asking a stranger if they want prayer is no longer considered ‘risky behavior’, but a normal activity.
It’s surprising how many people discuss their health problems in public. When someone discusses a surgery, a chronic painful condition or even something like insomnia, there’s a need for healing standing in front of you. All you need to do is politely ask about the condition, maybe share a testimony of healing and ask if they’ll let you pray with them. After a few people are healed, your co-workers will begin to talk. As word gets around, you’ll find more opportunities. As more people are healed, your faith will grow and you’ll probably see more miracles. If you’re experiences are like mine, co-workers will start coming to you first, before making an appointment with their doctor.
The disciples of Jesus became habitual healers. They kept routines and visited certain places often. And wherever they went, the sick were healed and the dead were raised. They became so well known for healing, and their routines so regular that people laid the sick in their path, knowing that as their shadow passed by, sickness and disease would leave. There’s nothing keeping you from developing this same kind of reputation for healing. It’s a matter of how much compassion you have and how closely you want to follow in the steps of Jesus.
Aug 15, 2012
Neurologist Testimony of Healing After Brain Death
This is a powerful testimony from a neurologist, who was paged to go to a hospital to confirm the brain death of a young woman who had a brain tumor. The patient suffered herniation and the neurosurgeon declared her brain-dead. She was being prepared as an organ donor. After praying with her friend, the doctor drove to the hospital. On the way to the hospital the patient made a full recovery.
Aug 13, 2012
Jesse's Story
This is the testimony of Jesse Snow, a Facebook friend who agreed to let me post the story of his introduction to the supernatural life. The original message can be found on his Facebook page here.
One day during the summer of 2010 I was checking my email and opened the latest update from Intentional Gatherings, my brother Aaron's non-profit organization. The email was talking about a new project that I.G. was starting to get involved with called Student CPx (Church Planting Experience). SCPx is basically a week long training for college students to plant simple churches on their college campuses and reach the world around them with the love of Jesus.
This email included a testimony from one of the recent SCPx's, which are held all over the nation. I read about how God healed the injuries of several football players after a student and one of the leaders prayed for them. This was completely foreign to me, but I loved it.
A few weeks later I was down in Austin, Texas with my brother Samuel visiting Aaron, his wife Morgan, and their baby girl Eliza. While I was there Aaron and I had a conversation about things he had been learning lately. He explained to me what it meant to pray "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." He explained that Jesus told his disciples to declare "The kingdom of heaven is near" and that when the kingdom of heaven comes supernatural things happen - like people getting healed. There is no sickness or disease in heaven, and according to Jesus' model prayer God doesn't want it to exist on earth either.
I thought that I ought to go to a SCPx before moving to Hawaii in late July. Aaron encouraged me to do so too. The next one was in San Diego and Aaron was already scheduled to be on leadership. We flew out to be there the week of July 19 - 23, 2010.
Student CPx
This week in San Diego is really where it all began. The event was hosted by Origins, a campus ministry at UCSD led by Brian and Cecilee Orme. There I met a group of (mostly) college students who truly lived together in community as a real spiritual family. Eric Waterbury came down from Sacramento to be one of the speakers and shared with us his personal testimony and teach us about spiritual family and identity in Christ. Brian Orme, Eric Waterbury, Brad McCoy, Erik Fish, Pam Arlund, and Neil Cole all came to speak. All of these leaders are simply incredible and if I go into depth on any of them this note will be way too long. They have all had a tremendous impact on my life. The first two days were all about identity in Christ - knowing who you are and whose you are. Knowing the love that God has for you and finding your value in Him and nothing else. This is something I will spend the rest of my life uncovering.
The next part of the training was on healing and deliverance taught by Brian Orme. Brian shared some amazing testimonies and taught us about the authority we have. Once again, this was all brand new to me and I was eager to learn as much as I could. I was asking him about it and he gave me a simple challenge: "Pray for 200 people [to be healed]. If you don't see anyone healed after the 200th person, then its not for you. But I guarantee you won't make it to 200 before people start getting healed."
That was exactly the type of prompting I needed. I needed something measurable, something I could grasp. Those words stayed in my mind long after the week was over. I had always wanted the power to heal people, even before I knew it was possible. I grew up obsessed with superheroes and superpowers. Then 20 years into my life somebody told me I had some, and I haven't been the same since.
Back to the week of SCPx. This week was my introduction to the supernatural. That week was the first time I saw people speaking in tongues (and they weren't crazy people, they were of a sound mind and passionately in love with God and humanity), the first time I saw people "drunk in the Spirit" (I'm sorry if that offends you, its just terminology people use, but it is a biblical manifestation, please ask me about it), the first time I saw prophetic dreams come true before my eyes, and the first time I saw a miracle of healing. It was also where I received the gift of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues for the first time (see my note "One-Year Anniversary," this is another idea that offends people but is absolutely biblical).
A Dream Come True (literally)
On one of the days we were sent out to do a "treasure hunt." I had never heard of that before, but it is basically a method of evangelism. It starts by asking the Holy Spirit for clues about certain people that He wants to speak to. The clues can be names of locations, clothing/appearance, etc. After you write down enough clues your group sets out to find those people. When you find the people whom the Holy Spirit was telling you about, you tell them about how you're on a treasure hunt and they are the treasure (God's treasure). You show them the description of them that you had written down and share God's love for them and why He sent you to them. If they have any need you give to them whatever you can (money, food, healing, prophetic word, encouragement, direction, whatever).
We started in groups of 3 (ours was Caryn Werner, Erik Bagley, and me) and prayed to receive words of knowledge from the Holy Spirit (see 1 Cor. 12). I had never had a vision, received a WoK, or anything like that before, so I just kind of went with it and let Caryn and Eric write down all the "clues." We set out and found the people that they had written descriptions of, which was pretty cool in itself, but the coolest thing that happened was when we were finished.
You see, at the beginning of the day, Erik told us to let him know if we saw a girl with a fish on her shirt. He explained that he had had a dream 3 nights ago when he was still in Redding, CA (where he was a student at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry). In that dream God showed him that he would soon meet a girl with a fish on her shirt. That girl would have back pain because one of her legs would be shorter than the other. I thought, "that's interesting."
Then at the end of our treasure hunt we were just hanging out when a girl walked by us. When Erik saw her he immediately left us and went to talk with the girl. When I saw them talking I immediately went to see if this was the girl. I walked up to them, looked at Erik, looked at the girl, looked at her shirt, which had a fish on it, and thought, "Noooo way." They were just having a normal conversation and then Erik asked her if she ever got back pain. She responded yes, that it ran in her family. He asked if she knew whether her legs were even in length or if she'd ever had that checked, because uneven legs cause back pain. She didn't know, so he asked her if she would mind sitting down to check.
We went over to a place where she could sit and Erik held her feet with her legs straight out in front of her. Her right leg was noticeably shorter than her left by about an inch or inch and a half. Erik spoke to her leg and told it to grow out in Jesus' name, then we watched it obey (see Mark 11:23). That was pretty exciting to say the least. Not only did I watch everything he told me about his dream come true, I saw a miracle for the first time of my life. She stood up, walked around and felt totally different and free of her back pain.
This girl had already told us she was getting involved witchcraft, but instead of shoving religion down her throat, Erik just introduced her to Jesus. Then he got to tell her how much Jesus loves and cares about her. He cares about every aspect of her life, even an inch difference between the way her legs grew and the way he designed them to be, even her back pain. I'd like to point out that God didn't say, "renounce witchcraft," "believe," or "repent" before he would heal her, he just showed her his kindness. Its His kindness that leads us to change (Rom. 2:4).
God Smells
One of the nights that week we were all gathered in our regular nightly meeting room to worship God. We praised Him in song and many sang songs of love in angelic languages (1 Cor. 13:1). I heard the most beautiful languages I had ever heard that night. Many were overwhelmed with the supernatural peace and joy of the Holy Spirit, what people call "drunk in the Spirit," and were laughing almost uncontrollably for hours straight. They had felt a touch of God's infinite love for them and couldn't help but be excessively happy.
Not long after a few girls next to me started getting really drunk, a scent manifested in that spot where we were. It was a sweet fragrance, and since we were in a closed room I looked around to see if anyone had opened perfume or something. No one had, and the scent, which I could now clearly distinguish as the smell of wine, only grew stronger and filled the room. I would have been really confused if I hadn't already been introduced to the supernatural, and if I hadn't heard a hint of such a manifestation earlier that week when Caryn mentioned that she had "smelled God" (which I thought was the craziest thing I had ever heard). I was still analyzing all this in my head and trying to come up with a logical explanation when Brian Orme came over to us. He leaned in and cleverly joked, "that's the best wine tasting you've ever been to, huh?" I realized that the scent was a sign the Holy Spirit gave us to confirm the word when Jesus spoke of "the new wine." The Holy Spirit is the new wine, and we are the new wine skins.
My First Miracle
I think it might have been Wednesday night when we were sent into the city to heal the sick. We went in groups and prayed for a man with a broken leg, he thanked us and then said he had to go into the restaurant for dinner. We didn't see anything happen, but we were still feeling pretty free and joyful. We didn't see anyone else that night who needed physical healing but did minister to some other people.
Once again, we were finished doing what we were doing and all just hanging out on the sidewalk at the end of the night waiting to be picked up. Courtney and I were sitting on some stairs with a girl named Sky with us who was visiting from China. I was telling Sky about the girl whose leg had grown out and she was pretty shocked. Courtney said, "Have you ever checked if you have a short leg?" (turns out its actually a pretty common thing). Sky put both her legs out straight and sure enough one was short. I looked at Courtney as if expecting her to do it, but she just told me to do it (she had already done it many times before and was wise enough to give me the opportunity to experience it firsthand).
So I held Sky's feet, closed my eyes (I was afraid nothing would happen so didn't want to look), and started telling the right leg to grow out. I still had my eyes closed when I heard Sky start exclaiming, "Ah! My leg stretched! I felt my leg stretch!" I opened my eyes and she was freaking out (in a good way). But now instead of being even, her right leg was an inch longer than her left leg, which confused me. Thank God Courtney was there! She just said "that happens sometimes, just grow the left one out now to match!" So I did the same thing and her left leg grew out an inch. Both legs were now even and she stood up about an inch taller than before! Later in the car I heard Sky very excitedly telling her mom over the phone in China what had just happened. She was still freaking out and was nearly brought to tears. I was pretty excited too!
My Own Personal Prayer Language
I think it was Wednesday or Thursday night of that week when we were in that same room we had been meeting each night to worship. Brian stood up and started talking, but I had no idea what he was talking about at first. He said, "When I first heard about this I thought, 'There's more? Of course I want more.'" He said to stand up if if we hadn't been baptized in the Holy Spirit yet and wanted to. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I did know that anything that was of God, I wanted. I knew there was more and I wanted it.
I still didn't know what "it" was though. He taught us, "Its not just going to happen by itself, you have to choose to speak it out." A group of five or so people gathered around each of us who were standing and put their hands on us. They started praying in tongues aloud and every now and then one of them would tell me an instruction from God, like, "Don't over think it, just receive." I just stood there for a few minutes with my mind reeling. I had no idea what to do, how to "listen," or how to "receive." I knew I was supposed to "speak it out" but I had no idea what to speak out. Eric Waterbury was directly in front of me, and he told me to just start thanking God aloud. So I thanked God for everything I could think of, which at that time, didn't take very long (not because there wasn't an innumerable amount of things that God could've been thanked for, but because of my spiritual immaturity). After a minute or two I couldn't think of anything else and stopped speaking.
I was listening to Eric speaking in his prayer language and remembered what Brian said, that I had to speak it out. I decided to just move my tongue in my mouth and immediately it started dancing around in my mouth. That's the only way I know how to describe it. Then I decided to stop and it did. Then I started again and it started dancing again. So I figured I should speak it out now, though I was still timid and it was little more than a whisper. Fortunately the room was filled with people speaking in tongues so when I spoke out I didn't feel like all the attention was on me. I spoke for a few minutes and then we finished. As soon as we did, Caryn and Courtney Werner were like, "Did you feel that!?" "Yeah, electricity shot up our arms as soon as you started speaking!" I thought that was pretty cool, but I had still never felt anything like that before and didn't then.
Immediately doubts started coming at me about what just happened. It felt too easy, too natural, like it was something I could have done my whole life. Caryn helped explain to me in the few minutes we had and told me how I could test it myself. She said just count while speaking in tongues and you'll realize that its not your mind producing it, its your spirit, because your mind can still count and do everything else. I tried and realized I could think, count, and later realized that I could read and write and do anything while speaking in tongues. My mind is absolutely not involved at all besides choosing when to start and when to stop. "The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church" (1 Cor. 14:4). "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also" (1 Cor. 14:14-15).
I hadn't yet learned these things though, so I was still struggling with doubt. It just seemed too easy and like something I could have done all along (later I looked back and realized that in the past I was never able to speak in tongues if I tried, for instance when I tried to fake speaking a foreign language it would not be fluent or sound real at all). So the next day when I talked to Erik Fish about it, he told me about his experience and showed me every chapter in the Book of Acts where it happened. He really encouraged me and solidified the truth of this for me.
Back Home
The last couple days of SCPx included awesome teaching from Brad McCoy (on prophecy), Erik Fish (on the origin of SCPx), Pam Arlund (on missions), and Neil Cole (on simple church, discipleship, and how "that stuff can't get on me"). They all also shared lots of amazing testimonies of God's supernatural works. I can't thank any of the leaders enough for what they do and the impact they've had on me: Aaron Snow, Eric Waterbury, Brian Orme, Brad McCoy, Erik Fish, Pam Arlund, Neil Cole, and Eric Bagley (even though he wasn't an official leader, he was still a leader and really impacted me, not just because of the prophetic dream and miracle, but the spirit of love and peace that he carried).
When I got back home I had less than a week left before I would move to Hawaii on July 29, 2010. I told my parents and my brothers almost all of what I had experienced. My brother Samuel went to the next SCPx in Austin about a month later and had amazing supernatural encounters too.
One day during the summer of 2010 I was checking my email and opened the latest update from Intentional Gatherings, my brother Aaron's non-profit organization. The email was talking about a new project that I.G. was starting to get involved with called Student CPx (Church Planting Experience). SCPx is basically a week long training for college students to plant simple churches on their college campuses and reach the world around them with the love of Jesus.
This email included a testimony from one of the recent SCPx's, which are held all over the nation. I read about how God healed the injuries of several football players after a student and one of the leaders prayed for them. This was completely foreign to me, but I loved it.
A few weeks later I was down in Austin, Texas with my brother Samuel visiting Aaron, his wife Morgan, and their baby girl Eliza. While I was there Aaron and I had a conversation about things he had been learning lately. He explained to me what it meant to pray "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." He explained that Jesus told his disciples to declare "The kingdom of heaven is near" and that when the kingdom of heaven comes supernatural things happen - like people getting healed. There is no sickness or disease in heaven, and according to Jesus' model prayer God doesn't want it to exist on earth either.
I thought that I ought to go to a SCPx before moving to Hawaii in late July. Aaron encouraged me to do so too. The next one was in San Diego and Aaron was already scheduled to be on leadership. We flew out to be there the week of July 19 - 23, 2010.
Student CPx
This week in San Diego is really where it all began. The event was hosted by Origins, a campus ministry at UCSD led by Brian and Cecilee Orme. There I met a group of (mostly) college students who truly lived together in community as a real spiritual family. Eric Waterbury came down from Sacramento to be one of the speakers and shared with us his personal testimony and teach us about spiritual family and identity in Christ. Brian Orme, Eric Waterbury, Brad McCoy, Erik Fish, Pam Arlund, and Neil Cole all came to speak. All of these leaders are simply incredible and if I go into depth on any of them this note will be way too long. They have all had a tremendous impact on my life. The first two days were all about identity in Christ - knowing who you are and whose you are. Knowing the love that God has for you and finding your value in Him and nothing else. This is something I will spend the rest of my life uncovering.
The next part of the training was on healing and deliverance taught by Brian Orme. Brian shared some amazing testimonies and taught us about the authority we have. Once again, this was all brand new to me and I was eager to learn as much as I could. I was asking him about it and he gave me a simple challenge: "Pray for 200 people [to be healed]. If you don't see anyone healed after the 200th person, then its not for you. But I guarantee you won't make it to 200 before people start getting healed."
That was exactly the type of prompting I needed. I needed something measurable, something I could grasp. Those words stayed in my mind long after the week was over. I had always wanted the power to heal people, even before I knew it was possible. I grew up obsessed with superheroes and superpowers. Then 20 years into my life somebody told me I had some, and I haven't been the same since.
Back to the week of SCPx. This week was my introduction to the supernatural. That week was the first time I saw people speaking in tongues (and they weren't crazy people, they were of a sound mind and passionately in love with God and humanity), the first time I saw people "drunk in the Spirit" (I'm sorry if that offends you, its just terminology people use, but it is a biblical manifestation, please ask me about it), the first time I saw prophetic dreams come true before my eyes, and the first time I saw a miracle of healing. It was also where I received the gift of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues for the first time (see my note "One-Year Anniversary," this is another idea that offends people but is absolutely biblical).
A Dream Come True (literally)
On one of the days we were sent out to do a "treasure hunt." I had never heard of that before, but it is basically a method of evangelism. It starts by asking the Holy Spirit for clues about certain people that He wants to speak to. The clues can be names of locations, clothing/appearance, etc. After you write down enough clues your group sets out to find those people. When you find the people whom the Holy Spirit was telling you about, you tell them about how you're on a treasure hunt and they are the treasure (God's treasure). You show them the description of them that you had written down and share God's love for them and why He sent you to them. If they have any need you give to them whatever you can (money, food, healing, prophetic word, encouragement, direction, whatever).
We started in groups of 3 (ours was Caryn Werner, Erik Bagley, and me) and prayed to receive words of knowledge from the Holy Spirit (see 1 Cor. 12). I had never had a vision, received a WoK, or anything like that before, so I just kind of went with it and let Caryn and Eric write down all the "clues." We set out and found the people that they had written descriptions of, which was pretty cool in itself, but the coolest thing that happened was when we were finished.
You see, at the beginning of the day, Erik told us to let him know if we saw a girl with a fish on her shirt. He explained that he had had a dream 3 nights ago when he was still in Redding, CA (where he was a student at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry). In that dream God showed him that he would soon meet a girl with a fish on her shirt. That girl would have back pain because one of her legs would be shorter than the other. I thought, "that's interesting."
Then at the end of our treasure hunt we were just hanging out when a girl walked by us. When Erik saw her he immediately left us and went to talk with the girl. When I saw them talking I immediately went to see if this was the girl. I walked up to them, looked at Erik, looked at the girl, looked at her shirt, which had a fish on it, and thought, "Noooo way." They were just having a normal conversation and then Erik asked her if she ever got back pain. She responded yes, that it ran in her family. He asked if she knew whether her legs were even in length or if she'd ever had that checked, because uneven legs cause back pain. She didn't know, so he asked her if she would mind sitting down to check.
We went over to a place where she could sit and Erik held her feet with her legs straight out in front of her. Her right leg was noticeably shorter than her left by about an inch or inch and a half. Erik spoke to her leg and told it to grow out in Jesus' name, then we watched it obey (see Mark 11:23). That was pretty exciting to say the least. Not only did I watch everything he told me about his dream come true, I saw a miracle for the first time of my life. She stood up, walked around and felt totally different and free of her back pain.
This girl had already told us she was getting involved witchcraft, but instead of shoving religion down her throat, Erik just introduced her to Jesus. Then he got to tell her how much Jesus loves and cares about her. He cares about every aspect of her life, even an inch difference between the way her legs grew and the way he designed them to be, even her back pain. I'd like to point out that God didn't say, "renounce witchcraft," "believe," or "repent" before he would heal her, he just showed her his kindness. Its His kindness that leads us to change (Rom. 2:4).
God Smells
One of the nights that week we were all gathered in our regular nightly meeting room to worship God. We praised Him in song and many sang songs of love in angelic languages (1 Cor. 13:1). I heard the most beautiful languages I had ever heard that night. Many were overwhelmed with the supernatural peace and joy of the Holy Spirit, what people call "drunk in the Spirit," and were laughing almost uncontrollably for hours straight. They had felt a touch of God's infinite love for them and couldn't help but be excessively happy.
Not long after a few girls next to me started getting really drunk, a scent manifested in that spot where we were. It was a sweet fragrance, and since we were in a closed room I looked around to see if anyone had opened perfume or something. No one had, and the scent, which I could now clearly distinguish as the smell of wine, only grew stronger and filled the room. I would have been really confused if I hadn't already been introduced to the supernatural, and if I hadn't heard a hint of such a manifestation earlier that week when Caryn mentioned that she had "smelled God" (which I thought was the craziest thing I had ever heard). I was still analyzing all this in my head and trying to come up with a logical explanation when Brian Orme came over to us. He leaned in and cleverly joked, "that's the best wine tasting you've ever been to, huh?" I realized that the scent was a sign the Holy Spirit gave us to confirm the word when Jesus spoke of "the new wine." The Holy Spirit is the new wine, and we are the new wine skins.
My First Miracle
I think it might have been Wednesday night when we were sent into the city to heal the sick. We went in groups and prayed for a man with a broken leg, he thanked us and then said he had to go into the restaurant for dinner. We didn't see anything happen, but we were still feeling pretty free and joyful. We didn't see anyone else that night who needed physical healing but did minister to some other people.
Once again, we were finished doing what we were doing and all just hanging out on the sidewalk at the end of the night waiting to be picked up. Courtney and I were sitting on some stairs with a girl named Sky with us who was visiting from China. I was telling Sky about the girl whose leg had grown out and she was pretty shocked. Courtney said, "Have you ever checked if you have a short leg?" (turns out its actually a pretty common thing). Sky put both her legs out straight and sure enough one was short. I looked at Courtney as if expecting her to do it, but she just told me to do it (she had already done it many times before and was wise enough to give me the opportunity to experience it firsthand).
So I held Sky's feet, closed my eyes (I was afraid nothing would happen so didn't want to look), and started telling the right leg to grow out. I still had my eyes closed when I heard Sky start exclaiming, "Ah! My leg stretched! I felt my leg stretch!" I opened my eyes and she was freaking out (in a good way). But now instead of being even, her right leg was an inch longer than her left leg, which confused me. Thank God Courtney was there! She just said "that happens sometimes, just grow the left one out now to match!" So I did the same thing and her left leg grew out an inch. Both legs were now even and she stood up about an inch taller than before! Later in the car I heard Sky very excitedly telling her mom over the phone in China what had just happened. She was still freaking out and was nearly brought to tears. I was pretty excited too!
My Own Personal Prayer Language
I think it was Wednesday or Thursday night of that week when we were in that same room we had been meeting each night to worship. Brian stood up and started talking, but I had no idea what he was talking about at first. He said, "When I first heard about this I thought, 'There's more? Of course I want more.'" He said to stand up if if we hadn't been baptized in the Holy Spirit yet and wanted to. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I did know that anything that was of God, I wanted. I knew there was more and I wanted it.
I still didn't know what "it" was though. He taught us, "Its not just going to happen by itself, you have to choose to speak it out." A group of five or so people gathered around each of us who were standing and put their hands on us. They started praying in tongues aloud and every now and then one of them would tell me an instruction from God, like, "Don't over think it, just receive." I just stood there for a few minutes with my mind reeling. I had no idea what to do, how to "listen," or how to "receive." I knew I was supposed to "speak it out" but I had no idea what to speak out. Eric Waterbury was directly in front of me, and he told me to just start thanking God aloud. So I thanked God for everything I could think of, which at that time, didn't take very long (not because there wasn't an innumerable amount of things that God could've been thanked for, but because of my spiritual immaturity). After a minute or two I couldn't think of anything else and stopped speaking.
I was listening to Eric speaking in his prayer language and remembered what Brian said, that I had to speak it out. I decided to just move my tongue in my mouth and immediately it started dancing around in my mouth. That's the only way I know how to describe it. Then I decided to stop and it did. Then I started again and it started dancing again. So I figured I should speak it out now, though I was still timid and it was little more than a whisper. Fortunately the room was filled with people speaking in tongues so when I spoke out I didn't feel like all the attention was on me. I spoke for a few minutes and then we finished. As soon as we did, Caryn and Courtney Werner were like, "Did you feel that!?" "Yeah, electricity shot up our arms as soon as you started speaking!" I thought that was pretty cool, but I had still never felt anything like that before and didn't then.
Immediately doubts started coming at me about what just happened. It felt too easy, too natural, like it was something I could have done my whole life. Caryn helped explain to me in the few minutes we had and told me how I could test it myself. She said just count while speaking in tongues and you'll realize that its not your mind producing it, its your spirit, because your mind can still count and do everything else. I tried and realized I could think, count, and later realized that I could read and write and do anything while speaking in tongues. My mind is absolutely not involved at all besides choosing when to start and when to stop. "The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church" (1 Cor. 14:4). "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also" (1 Cor. 14:14-15).
I hadn't yet learned these things though, so I was still struggling with doubt. It just seemed too easy and like something I could have done all along (later I looked back and realized that in the past I was never able to speak in tongues if I tried, for instance when I tried to fake speaking a foreign language it would not be fluent or sound real at all). So the next day when I talked to Erik Fish about it, he told me about his experience and showed me every chapter in the Book of Acts where it happened. He really encouraged me and solidified the truth of this for me.
Back Home
The last couple days of SCPx included awesome teaching from Brad McCoy (on prophecy), Erik Fish (on the origin of SCPx), Pam Arlund (on missions), and Neil Cole (on simple church, discipleship, and how "that stuff can't get on me"). They all also shared lots of amazing testimonies of God's supernatural works. I can't thank any of the leaders enough for what they do and the impact they've had on me: Aaron Snow, Eric Waterbury, Brian Orme, Brad McCoy, Erik Fish, Pam Arlund, Neil Cole, and Eric Bagley (even though he wasn't an official leader, he was still a leader and really impacted me, not just because of the prophetic dream and miracle, but the spirit of love and peace that he carried).
When I got back home I had less than a week left before I would move to Hawaii on July 29, 2010. I told my parents and my brothers almost all of what I had experienced. My brother Samuel went to the next SCPx in Austin about a month later and had amazing supernatural encounters too.
Aug 11, 2012
Practical Examples - Todd White
Todd White teaches how to (and how not to) build relationships with strangers.
Aug 9, 2012
Covered By The Blood
As Shante slept soundly, an invisible voice whispered her name in the darkness.
"Shante...."
She awoke and scanned the room, looking for the one who called her name, but found no one. Looking a second time she realized her husband was missing.
Slipping on a robe, she made her way to the bathroom, located on the other end of the house. She opened the door.
Her husband lay naked in the bathtub. His arm bled profusely from a deep incision across his brachial artery. Both wrists were cut. His blood flowed freely, turning the bath into a crimson pool of death.
Shante knew what to do. This wasn't the first time. She called 911 and tried to wake him.
The men in uniform made quick work of getting him out of the tub and on the way to the hospital. After a unit of blood and 3 liters of saline in the ED, his pressure was still around 60/30. They had another problem. The hospital had no ICU beds open.
We arrived to transport him to the nearest hospital with an ICU bed. His nurse filled me in. They applied a pressure dressing to the open brachial artery and checked it before we arrived. It was still bleeding. His blood pressures had been horrible in spite of fluid resuscitation, although they'd only given him one unit of blood. He was a rare type and they had no more available.
He was restless and in pain. His physique was that of a bodybuilder. For a man pushing 60 years old, he looked like he was in good shape.
On the outside.
The inside was a different story.
I'm always saddened by suicide attempts, but some are worse than others. It's not unusual for a 17 year old girl to take a handful of pills after breaking up with her boyfriend. She's hurting. She wants attention and she knows how to get it. These gestures are pretty harmless and most people outgrow them.
But when you have grown children and grandchildren, you're supposed to have most of this stuff figured out. I can't think of anything sadder than a man who's been walking the earth for over 50 years who's still in bondage to his demons. Especially when he's a Christian.
Didn't Jesus came to free us from all of this? How is it that so many people come to the cross and receive salvation, but live the rest of their lives tormented by thoughts of ending their life?
I talked to his wife and asked if I might pray with him. She said he'd appreciate prayer then told me about how she found him in the bathtub. She was sound asleep at around 2:30, when a mysterious voice called her name in the night. There was no one around. We concluded it must have been an angel. I told her that God has been healing a lot of my patients and that He's been teaching me about healing mental illness. I didn't make any promises, but told her I'd do what I could to help him.
We loaded him in the ambulance. His son got in and sat next to me. I can't imagine what a 30 year old man would be thinking as he watched his father try to end his life.
"I have a question, sir...."
"What is it?"
"Can I pray with you?"
"Sure."
I prayed for peace to reign in his heart and commanded evil spirits to leave. "Holy Spirit, bring your presence to rest upon him and give him joy, unspeakable. Papa, show him your amazing love and mercy."
He finished the prayer with me..."In Jesus name."
We arrived and whisked him to the waiting ICU nurses and got him settled in. His wife was waiting in the room for us. I put my arm around her shoulder. She gave me a squeeze and said, "Thank you."
"Shante...."
She awoke and scanned the room, looking for the one who called her name, but found no one. Looking a second time she realized her husband was missing.
Slipping on a robe, she made her way to the bathroom, located on the other end of the house. She opened the door.
Her husband lay naked in the bathtub. His arm bled profusely from a deep incision across his brachial artery. Both wrists were cut. His blood flowed freely, turning the bath into a crimson pool of death.
Shante knew what to do. This wasn't the first time. She called 911 and tried to wake him.
The men in uniform made quick work of getting him out of the tub and on the way to the hospital. After a unit of blood and 3 liters of saline in the ED, his pressure was still around 60/30. They had another problem. The hospital had no ICU beds open.
We arrived to transport him to the nearest hospital with an ICU bed. His nurse filled me in. They applied a pressure dressing to the open brachial artery and checked it before we arrived. It was still bleeding. His blood pressures had been horrible in spite of fluid resuscitation, although they'd only given him one unit of blood. He was a rare type and they had no more available.
He was restless and in pain. His physique was that of a bodybuilder. For a man pushing 60 years old, he looked like he was in good shape.
On the outside.
The inside was a different story.
I'm always saddened by suicide attempts, but some are worse than others. It's not unusual for a 17 year old girl to take a handful of pills after breaking up with her boyfriend. She's hurting. She wants attention and she knows how to get it. These gestures are pretty harmless and most people outgrow them.
But when you have grown children and grandchildren, you're supposed to have most of this stuff figured out. I can't think of anything sadder than a man who's been walking the earth for over 50 years who's still in bondage to his demons. Especially when he's a Christian.
Didn't Jesus came to free us from all of this? How is it that so many people come to the cross and receive salvation, but live the rest of their lives tormented by thoughts of ending their life?
I talked to his wife and asked if I might pray with him. She said he'd appreciate prayer then told me about how she found him in the bathtub. She was sound asleep at around 2:30, when a mysterious voice called her name in the night. There was no one around. We concluded it must have been an angel. I told her that God has been healing a lot of my patients and that He's been teaching me about healing mental illness. I didn't make any promises, but told her I'd do what I could to help him.
We loaded him in the ambulance. His son got in and sat next to me. I can't imagine what a 30 year old man would be thinking as he watched his father try to end his life.
"I have a question, sir...."
"What is it?"
"Can I pray with you?"
"Sure."
I prayed for peace to reign in his heart and commanded evil spirits to leave. "Holy Spirit, bring your presence to rest upon him and give him joy, unspeakable. Papa, show him your amazing love and mercy."
He finished the prayer with me..."In Jesus name."
We arrived and whisked him to the waiting ICU nurses and got him settled in. His wife was waiting in the room for us. I put my arm around her shoulder. She gave me a squeeze and said, "Thank you."
Aug 7, 2012
Metal Bars Disappear
Randy Clark interviews a woman who testifies that two metal bars in her arm somehow disappeared during a healing service.
Aug 5, 2012
Prince of Peace
We arrived to transport Alfred. From his ER bed, he sent another text message. His wife gave him a hug and his nurse gave me report. He came in because he'd been having chest pain for 2 days, but according to the nurse, he hasn't had any since he arrived. His cardiac enzymes were slightly elevated so he was being transferred to a hospital with cardiology services.
His chief complaint now was a killer headache. I introduced my partner and asked a few questions.
"Hi Alfred....are you having any chest pain now?"
"No, just a real bad headache."
His wife interrupted. "Why don't you tell them about the chest pain?"
His wife ratted him out. He sent her a text about an hour ago sayng he was having chest pain. But he didn't tell the nurse. He was afraid. He wasn't sure what would happen if he told them he was having chest pain. In his mind, He was too young for a heart attack and too young to be facing the possibility of cardiac surgery.
I glanced at his face sheet and found the box for religious preference. He was a non-denominational Christian.
"This oughtta be good," I thought.
We got a set of vitals and got him loaded. After we were underway I took a seat next to him.
"Hey, Alfred, I have a question for you....would you like me to pray with you?"
He agreed. The smile on his face was priceless. My new friend has been under a lot of stress lately. Much more than he's used to. The chest pain only made things worse. Now he had his health to worry about. I asked how bad his headache was. He rated it at 8 out of 10.
I placed my hand gently on his shoulder and asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence and touch him.
"Spirit of pain, I command you to leave. Holy Spirit, touch him with your power and remove all sickness and pain from him. I bless your work of healing and Lord, I thank you for your mercy."
I went on for a few minutes then asked what he felt.
"It's gone. It's all gone."
"Your headache?"
"Yeah."
"Are you lying to me?"
"No, I'm not lying. As soon as you put your hand on me and started praying, it left. It was like...two seconds later."
We both smiled and laughed and started talking about how amazing God is. Not only was his headache gone, but so was all of his anxiety and fear. All of it. Instantly.
He was the third person I prayed with this week who described an overwhelming sense of peace come over him when we prayed. The Prince of peace is making himself known.
We talked the rest of the way about healing, the kingdom, and the goodness of God. I taught him what I could about faith and healing and what to do if the symptoms returned. I gave him a card to the website and told him to leave a comment if he had time.
We dropped him off at the other hospital...a new man. When he left, he was a nervous wreck. When he arrived, he was smiling and laughing. His wife must have wondered what happened to him along the way.
Jesus happened to him.
His chief complaint now was a killer headache. I introduced my partner and asked a few questions.
"Hi Alfred....are you having any chest pain now?"
"No, just a real bad headache."
His wife interrupted. "Why don't you tell them about the chest pain?"
His wife ratted him out. He sent her a text about an hour ago sayng he was having chest pain. But he didn't tell the nurse. He was afraid. He wasn't sure what would happen if he told them he was having chest pain. In his mind, He was too young for a heart attack and too young to be facing the possibility of cardiac surgery.
I glanced at his face sheet and found the box for religious preference. He was a non-denominational Christian.
"This oughtta be good," I thought.
We got a set of vitals and got him loaded. After we were underway I took a seat next to him.
"Hey, Alfred, I have a question for you....would you like me to pray with you?"
He agreed. The smile on his face was priceless. My new friend has been under a lot of stress lately. Much more than he's used to. The chest pain only made things worse. Now he had his health to worry about. I asked how bad his headache was. He rated it at 8 out of 10.
I placed my hand gently on his shoulder and asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence and touch him.
"Spirit of pain, I command you to leave. Holy Spirit, touch him with your power and remove all sickness and pain from him. I bless your work of healing and Lord, I thank you for your mercy."
I went on for a few minutes then asked what he felt.
"It's gone. It's all gone."
"Your headache?"
"Yeah."
"Are you lying to me?"
"No, I'm not lying. As soon as you put your hand on me and started praying, it left. It was like...two seconds later."
We both smiled and laughed and started talking about how amazing God is. Not only was his headache gone, but so was all of his anxiety and fear. All of it. Instantly.
He was the third person I prayed with this week who described an overwhelming sense of peace come over him when we prayed. The Prince of peace is making himself known.
We talked the rest of the way about healing, the kingdom, and the goodness of God. I taught him what I could about faith and healing and what to do if the symptoms returned. I gave him a card to the website and told him to leave a comment if he had time.
We dropped him off at the other hospital...a new man. When he left, he was a nervous wreck. When he arrived, he was smiling and laughing. His wife must have wondered what happened to him along the way.
Jesus happened to him.
Aug 3, 2012
Bill Johnson - God's Concealed Glory and Sovereign Healing
Bill Johnson discusses why God generally conceals His glory and on rare occasions, reveals it more fully. He also discusses the purpose of God's sovereign acts in the earth.
Aug 1, 2012
Dead Man Makes House Call to Doctors
In this news story, broadcast on WSMV, two physicians testify that they were visited by a man shortly after he died.
Jul 29, 2012
Jul 27, 2012
No More Shackles
This message is a bit longer than most of my stories. What God did today was too wonderful and full of intricate detail to be told in a shorter story, so grab a cup of coffee or tea and a box of tissues....
Timothy sat hunched over in a wheelchair at the entrance to the prison hospital. Wrapped in a white blanket, shivering, pale and emaciated, the long awaited day had finally arrived. He was going home.
The state prison in Florence sits like an old fortress atop a hill in the middle of the Sonoran desert. Outside the city limits are miles and miles of sand, saguaro, and sun-baked reptiles. Not a hospitable environment for a would-be escapee.
We arrived at the main prison gate. There was a newbie at the control panel opening and closing the gates. The guard yelled for him to open one gate and close another, but his orders went unheeded. The confusion would have served us well, if we had plans to break someone out. I was mildly amused when we were allowed inside without passing through the metal detector or being searched. I couldn't tell if there were angels present.
Our ambulance left deep tracks in the meticulously raked gravel driveway. Meticulous, because every day the inmates spend hours in the scorching sun, raking every driveway in the prison compound. We backed up to the hospital door, unloaded the gurney and went inside.
The information we had was sketchy. I asked a guard if he was being released early because he was sick.
"Heck, no!" She said with a laugh. "We don't let anyone out before their time is up. If they die here, they die here....and we have plenty of people die in here all the time."
I walked over and introduced myself. Timothy's cracked lips trembled with fear as he stared straight ahead. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Stuttering badly, he tried in vain to form words that made sense. The prison nurse put her arm around him and asked what was wrong. Stammering and stuttering, searching for the right words, he strung together a short phrase.
"I don't....want.... to be.... a burden...."
I took the nurse aside and asked for all the information she had. Timothy was in his early 30's, had HIV, a brain tumor and right sided weakness from a stroke, which left him unable to speak clearly. He had a Foley catheter and a PEG tube for feeding. He was being sent to an unknown destination for hospice care. His fear was that the one responsible for taking care of him, would be burdened by his extensive medical needs.
The nurse needed to know the name of the facility we were taking him to. We didn't have a name, just an address. We called dispatch, but they didn't have a name either. My partner Googled the address.
"It looks like a private residence. There's no business name and it's in a residential neighborhood."
Timothy spoke up and asked what the address was. We told him. After a long pause he smiled.
"That's....my.....sister's........house."
I was clear now that he was going to his sister's house and a hospice nurse would meet him there. That information helped. The likelihood of him actually being a burden to his family was somewhat lessened. Hospice nurses do an excellent job of preparing family members to provide care while they take care of the more technical issues. I put my hand on his shoulder and reassured him that he wouldn't be a burden to his family.
More tears.
We helped him up from the wheelchair and with measured, slow steps he positioned himself to sit on the gurney, his frail frame still draped with the white cotton blanket. The hospital building was well air-conditioned. I was getting cold after just a few minutes inside.
"You won't have to worry about being cold, Timothy. It's about 105 (40 C) outside. Even with the air conditioning on, it'll be 90 (32 C) degrees in the back of the ambo."
Another smile.
In staccato phrases he asked where his medications were. The nurses looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders. He said he had a bag of meds in his cell that were supposed to go with him, but no one knew where they were. They told him the prison's policy was to ship out any personal belongings left behind by inmates. He wasn't reassured.
His favorite nurse gave him one more hug before we loaded him up. More tears. She dried his eyes and gave him a few tissues for the road then we put him in the back of the ambo.
Leaving the prison was a strange ordeal. Since moving to Arizona, I've transported dozens of inmates. We always have two guards. And the inmates are always shackled.
Always.
But not today.
We stopped at the first gate and a guard climbed in, clutching a pile of papers. He sat next to me on the bench seat.
"This is so weird", the guard said. "There aren't any guards going along. No chase car. No shackles. We never see anyone leave in an ambulance without shackles and a guard."
He gave Timothy a check for $50 and had him sign for it. He explained what the rest of the papers were for and hopped out the back door. We approached the next gate. Another guard opened the back door. He took Timothy's yellow Department of Correction ID and gave him a new white one. Timothy looked at the picture on his new ID card with disgust, turned to me and said, "Can.....we....burn.....this?"
We both laughed.
He asked the guard about his bag of medications.
"We have 12 bags of medications inside, but none of them are yours. I don't know where yours are, but when they turn up, we'll ship them to you."
He wished Timothy good luck then closed the door. We pulled out of the compound onto the main road. My patient was a free man.
Well, sort of.
A few miles down the road, I asked if he had anything special he wanted to eat for his first meal. Words and phrases fell from his lips but nothing made sense. He couldn't say the name of his favorite restaurant.
"burger......burger...."
"Burger King?"
He shook his head.
"McDonald's?"
Wrong again.
"Wendy's?"
Nope.
I rattled off all the burger places I could think of, but missed each time.
"Cali....Cali....in and in...."
"In-N-Out?"
A big smile and a nod of agreement. I asked if he was going to order off the regular menu or the secret menu.
"Four by four", he said with a grin.
The thought of eating a good burger must have put him in a better frame of mind as he told me what was on the legendary "Four by Four". Four beef patties with cheese and all the fixin's. Unfortunately, the nurse clued me in to the fact that he frequently vomits after eating solid food.
I asked him what was the hardest part of being in prison. I assumed it might be the manual labor, the disgusting food, the oppressive heat or fear of what other inmates might do to you.
With a somber look, he started at his feet.
"Shackles".
Trying his best to form the right words, he explained the feelings that come from being shackled everywhere you go; in your cell, in the prison yard, on the bus, in the ambulance; even lying half-dead in a hospital ICU 50 miles from the prison, inmates are never free from the shackles.
"Well, you never have to wear shackles again. Today you're a free man."
"I'll Fly Away" was playing softly in the recesses of my mind. It was about that time when my partner received a call from dispatch telling him they found the missing medications. I broke the news to my new friend.
"It looks like we have to take you back. But this time, no shackles...they found your meds."
We retrieved the bag of pill bottles then headed out once more - our destination was 81 miles away. I told him I see a lot of people healed and asked if I could pray with him. He smiled and said yes. I laid my hand on his shoulder and asked Papa to bless him with peace, confidence, joy and health. I commanded disease to leave and asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence.
I asked if he felt anything.
"I feel.....relief."
"Well, I suppose that's better than shackles."
I prayed one more time then turned my attention to charting. Timothy rested, gazing out the back window of the ambo. God only knows what must be going through his mind.
About thirty minutes went by. He slept a little but was awake again. Staring intently and fidgeting.
"What are you thinking about?"
With his eyes still looking out the back widow, he slowly explained that he was thinking about how he'd lived his life.
"I wanted.....to be....a good.....example."
More tears.
I can only imagine how this young man must have viewed his life. What kind of bitterness and disappointment was he feeling? What would it be like to wake up tomorrow morning, knowing you're a free man, trapped inside a life that went horribly wrong?
"Timothy....I was a terrible role model for most of my life. It was only a few years ago that things changed for the better. The doctors I know have a saying - "You learn to make good decisions, by making bad decisions." It's never too late to be a good example."
He smiled, nodded in agreement, wiped away the tears and rested his head, turning his gaze to the back window.
An hour later we approached his sister's house. With joy and excitement he told me in the best words he could find when we were going to turn and which stores we would see. His mother greeted us at the back door of the ambulance. Inside, a house full of relatives waited with excitement. I helped him to bed then went to the living room and gave report to the hospice nurse. His mother came from the bedroom.
"He wants to see you before you go."
I returned to his bedside. He held out his hand. I gently grasped it and we slowly shook hands as he tried to speak. Stammering and stuttering he told me thanks for being so nice to him. I bent down and hugged his frail body. With my head against his I said, "You're just awesome, you know that? God loves you and He has a great plan for your future. And if I don't see you in the future, I'll see you in the pasture. And remember....it's never too late to be a good example."
With tears in my eyes, I made my way to the kitchen, left a copy of my report with the nurse and headed for the door.
God's love and compassion just amaze me......
Timothy sat hunched over in a wheelchair at the entrance to the prison hospital. Wrapped in a white blanket, shivering, pale and emaciated, the long awaited day had finally arrived. He was going home.
The state prison in Florence sits like an old fortress atop a hill in the middle of the Sonoran desert. Outside the city limits are miles and miles of sand, saguaro, and sun-baked reptiles. Not a hospitable environment for a would-be escapee.
We arrived at the main prison gate. There was a newbie at the control panel opening and closing the gates. The guard yelled for him to open one gate and close another, but his orders went unheeded. The confusion would have served us well, if we had plans to break someone out. I was mildly amused when we were allowed inside without passing through the metal detector or being searched. I couldn't tell if there were angels present.
Our ambulance left deep tracks in the meticulously raked gravel driveway. Meticulous, because every day the inmates spend hours in the scorching sun, raking every driveway in the prison compound. We backed up to the hospital door, unloaded the gurney and went inside.
The information we had was sketchy. I asked a guard if he was being released early because he was sick.
"Heck, no!" She said with a laugh. "We don't let anyone out before their time is up. If they die here, they die here....and we have plenty of people die in here all the time."
I walked over and introduced myself. Timothy's cracked lips trembled with fear as he stared straight ahead. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Stuttering badly, he tried in vain to form words that made sense. The prison nurse put her arm around him and asked what was wrong. Stammering and stuttering, searching for the right words, he strung together a short phrase.
"I don't....want.... to be.... a burden...."
I took the nurse aside and asked for all the information she had. Timothy was in his early 30's, had HIV, a brain tumor and right sided weakness from a stroke, which left him unable to speak clearly. He had a Foley catheter and a PEG tube for feeding. He was being sent to an unknown destination for hospice care. His fear was that the one responsible for taking care of him, would be burdened by his extensive medical needs.
The nurse needed to know the name of the facility we were taking him to. We didn't have a name, just an address. We called dispatch, but they didn't have a name either. My partner Googled the address.
"It looks like a private residence. There's no business name and it's in a residential neighborhood."
Timothy spoke up and asked what the address was. We told him. After a long pause he smiled.
"That's....my.....sister's........house."
I was clear now that he was going to his sister's house and a hospice nurse would meet him there. That information helped. The likelihood of him actually being a burden to his family was somewhat lessened. Hospice nurses do an excellent job of preparing family members to provide care while they take care of the more technical issues. I put my hand on his shoulder and reassured him that he wouldn't be a burden to his family.
More tears.
We helped him up from the wheelchair and with measured, slow steps he positioned himself to sit on the gurney, his frail frame still draped with the white cotton blanket. The hospital building was well air-conditioned. I was getting cold after just a few minutes inside.
"You won't have to worry about being cold, Timothy. It's about 105 (40 C) outside. Even with the air conditioning on, it'll be 90 (32 C) degrees in the back of the ambo."
Another smile.
In staccato phrases he asked where his medications were. The nurses looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders. He said he had a bag of meds in his cell that were supposed to go with him, but no one knew where they were. They told him the prison's policy was to ship out any personal belongings left behind by inmates. He wasn't reassured.
His favorite nurse gave him one more hug before we loaded him up. More tears. She dried his eyes and gave him a few tissues for the road then we put him in the back of the ambo.
Leaving the prison was a strange ordeal. Since moving to Arizona, I've transported dozens of inmates. We always have two guards. And the inmates are always shackled.
Always.
But not today.
We stopped at the first gate and a guard climbed in, clutching a pile of papers. He sat next to me on the bench seat.
"This is so weird", the guard said. "There aren't any guards going along. No chase car. No shackles. We never see anyone leave in an ambulance without shackles and a guard."
He gave Timothy a check for $50 and had him sign for it. He explained what the rest of the papers were for and hopped out the back door. We approached the next gate. Another guard opened the back door. He took Timothy's yellow Department of Correction ID and gave him a new white one. Timothy looked at the picture on his new ID card with disgust, turned to me and said, "Can.....we....burn.....this?"
We both laughed.
He asked the guard about his bag of medications.
"We have 12 bags of medications inside, but none of them are yours. I don't know where yours are, but when they turn up, we'll ship them to you."
He wished Timothy good luck then closed the door. We pulled out of the compound onto the main road. My patient was a free man.
Well, sort of.
A few miles down the road, I asked if he had anything special he wanted to eat for his first meal. Words and phrases fell from his lips but nothing made sense. He couldn't say the name of his favorite restaurant.
"burger......burger...."
"Burger King?"
He shook his head.
"McDonald's?"
Wrong again.
"Wendy's?"
Nope.
I rattled off all the burger places I could think of, but missed each time.
"Cali....Cali....in and in...."
"In-N-Out?"
A big smile and a nod of agreement. I asked if he was going to order off the regular menu or the secret menu.
"Four by four", he said with a grin.
The thought of eating a good burger must have put him in a better frame of mind as he told me what was on the legendary "Four by Four". Four beef patties with cheese and all the fixin's. Unfortunately, the nurse clued me in to the fact that he frequently vomits after eating solid food.
I asked him what was the hardest part of being in prison. I assumed it might be the manual labor, the disgusting food, the oppressive heat or fear of what other inmates might do to you.
With a somber look, he started at his feet.
"Shackles".
Trying his best to form the right words, he explained the feelings that come from being shackled everywhere you go; in your cell, in the prison yard, on the bus, in the ambulance; even lying half-dead in a hospital ICU 50 miles from the prison, inmates are never free from the shackles.
"Well, you never have to wear shackles again. Today you're a free man."
"I'll Fly Away" was playing softly in the recesses of my mind. It was about that time when my partner received a call from dispatch telling him they found the missing medications. I broke the news to my new friend.
"It looks like we have to take you back. But this time, no shackles...they found your meds."
We retrieved the bag of pill bottles then headed out once more - our destination was 81 miles away. I told him I see a lot of people healed and asked if I could pray with him. He smiled and said yes. I laid my hand on his shoulder and asked Papa to bless him with peace, confidence, joy and health. I commanded disease to leave and asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence.
I asked if he felt anything.
"I feel.....relief."
"Well, I suppose that's better than shackles."
I prayed one more time then turned my attention to charting. Timothy rested, gazing out the back window of the ambo. God only knows what must be going through his mind.
About thirty minutes went by. He slept a little but was awake again. Staring intently and fidgeting.
"What are you thinking about?"
With his eyes still looking out the back widow, he slowly explained that he was thinking about how he'd lived his life.
"I wanted.....to be....a good.....example."
More tears.
I can only imagine how this young man must have viewed his life. What kind of bitterness and disappointment was he feeling? What would it be like to wake up tomorrow morning, knowing you're a free man, trapped inside a life that went horribly wrong?
"Timothy....I was a terrible role model for most of my life. It was only a few years ago that things changed for the better. The doctors I know have a saying - "You learn to make good decisions, by making bad decisions." It's never too late to be a good example."
He smiled, nodded in agreement, wiped away the tears and rested his head, turning his gaze to the back window.
An hour later we approached his sister's house. With joy and excitement he told me in the best words he could find when we were going to turn and which stores we would see. His mother greeted us at the back door of the ambulance. Inside, a house full of relatives waited with excitement. I helped him to bed then went to the living room and gave report to the hospice nurse. His mother came from the bedroom.
"He wants to see you before you go."
I returned to his bedside. He held out his hand. I gently grasped it and we slowly shook hands as he tried to speak. Stammering and stuttering he told me thanks for being so nice to him. I bent down and hugged his frail body. With my head against his I said, "You're just awesome, you know that? God loves you and He has a great plan for your future. And if I don't see you in the future, I'll see you in the pasture. And remember....it's never too late to be a good example."
With tears in my eyes, I made my way to the kitchen, left a copy of my report with the nurse and headed for the door.
God's love and compassion just amaze me......
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