Last month we had our Annual Parochial Church Meeting at St Martin’s. All those in charge of church activities are requested to write an annual report about the work. This is what I wrote about HOTS:
Healing on the Streets Annual Report 2013
A group of us from St Martin’s and other churches in Birmingham go outside on Edgbaston Street to pray for people each first Saturday of the month.
The ‘Healing on the Streets’ model is a simple way to reach out to the lost and hurting on the streets. It enables us to connect with our community expressing God’s love in the market place. We simply invite people to sit on the chairs so we can pray for them. Over time we build relationships, creating stepping stones for people to come to Jesus and be healed along the way.
An account of one of the prayers
A lady who is a regular member of the Saturday service since we did Alpha Course in 2013 has been coming to HOTs since then. This is what she said to us:
‘I went for a check-up and tests and inflammation in my eyes decreased. The doctor was encouraging. I know God had a role in this’. She has a condition called epiretinal membrane. The wonderful thing about this lady is that every time she comes we see her growing closer to God and opening her heart to receive his love and to know him as her personal saviour and Lord. She said she will continue to come to HOTS every month as part of her spiritual growth.
Now I see we have church outside on Edgbaston St for two hours once a month! I invite you to come and see that too.
The lady I mentioned in my report came back this month. She joined us in with the prayer we do outside before we start giving out leaflets. She even knelt down on the pavement together with us. Then she sat on the chair. We prayed for her and she asked if she could say a prayer herself too. She did and thanked God for directing her life, for the healing she has and is receiving and for bringing her closer to him.
Here are some other prayer requests.
- A man from Manchester with back pain
- A man with limit movement and pain in legs – after prayer he could move his legs without pain
- A lady grieving for the loss of her husband
- A man from Yorkshire asking protection for his family.
- A man having reoccurring bad dreams
- A man suffering from bad eye sight
- A teenager wanted prayer for his home life and school
- A lady whose father had a stroke
- A man diagnosed with motor neurone disease. The Team prayed for healing and for him to know God deeply.
- A lady with diabetes an chest infection
- A lady involved may with the occult. We gave her the ‘Why Jesus’ booklet and she said would read it. ‘O Lord, may this lady be convicted by your Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit now and convicted her. May she see the salvation in Jesus. Amen
Here are some folks now who came back to tell us about their improvement after prayer:
- A man came back to tell us his knees were better and had no pain since we prayed for him last month.
- A lady returned to spy that although she still has leukemic she has felt a lot better since receiving prayers before.
- A lady came back to teal how much God has done for her and her nephew and asked further prayer. Her nephew is recovering from drug addiction and went to re rehab. He went to house with 24hr carer instead of a hospital. Now he is due to leave there. The team prayed he will go a good place for him to continue with his deliverance.
Between April and May we have 50 accounts recorded in our book. Not all the prayers are recorded and I can’t feed back all of them to you. But as I said in my Annual Parochial Church report for HOTS –
‘Now I see we have church outside on Edgbaston St for two hours once a month! I invite you to come and see that too’.
This invitation is for you too.
Blessings
Revd Elsie Blair Chappell
