Here’s a fuller, updated report from Newday 2012 in three parts. This is part 1 of 3 . . .On Thursday 16th August, about 6,700 people packed into the big top at Newday, at the agricultural showground just outside Norwich, Norfolk, for the evening meeting. It was day 4 of the event, an evening we’ve traditionally given over to the continuation of Jesus’ ministry of healing and gospel preaching.
About 20 minutes into the worship time, we heard 6 healing testimonies from last year’s Newday. Gemma Puddle from Southampton said she’d worn glasses throughout her life, but had been instantly healed, so much so that when she put her glasses back on, her vision was blurry. She was holding an eye sight test result in her hand, which said that she no longer needed glasses. This, like the five that followed, was a healing testimony from the equivalent same night when I prayed for the sick at Newday 2011.
Next, Debbie Thwaites from Woking, was clutching a wad of letters from doctors detailing a 4 year struggle whereby following complications in her shoulder after an operation, she’d been unable to raise her arm above shoulder height since 2007. I read some of the correspondence myself, and these letters referred repeatedly to this long-standing restricted movement. Last August, at Newday, Debbie was totally healed, and on the night of the healing meeting, she could raise both hands above her head normally. “I love swimming and I’m no longer swimming round in circles,” she told me.
Georgia Synder, from Keswick, had suffered from a long term severe wheat intolerance. Even the tiniest breadcrumb smuggled unknowingly into butter would leave her doubled up in pain for hours. It was a very severe condition, which meant a very restricted social life, at least whenever food was involved. At Newday 2011, she was totally healed. A very intense experience where her hands “froze” while she was being healed!
Kirsty Gates from Derby suffered from Visual Stress Syndrome, (she was holding the pink overlay that she’d had to use to be able to read through her glasses.) She too had been back to see the optician since being healed at Newday 2011, and the optician had said “you don’t need glasses, and you don’t need the overlays anymore.”
Abby Foster from Bournemouth had had to lipread for 17 years, being unable to hear properly, but she too was immediately healed at Newday last year. Again, you were left thinking that her sudden, immediate ability to hear sounds that she’d never heard was extraordinary. “I didn’t know a coke can made a noise when you cracked it open. I’d never had a conversation in the dark. I had no idea what anyone was saying unless I was looking at them.” To go from that lifelong condition to normal hearing in the space of a few minutes was remarkable.
Andrew Brundle, from Hailsham had been born without an arch in his left foot. This had given him problems for years in his left knee and for 3 years he walked with a limp. Specialists at Eastbourne Hospital repeatedly tested him. The great thing about Andrew’s healing is that he had a scan just before and just after Newday 2011. So the medics were able to see the healing on the screen. One of his muscles in his knee had doubled in length! And an arch had appeared, which was clearly visible to all.
So it was great to hear about 6 healings that had stood the test of time, and it was especially encouraging to see the “before” and “after” documentation. It demonstrated that the healings were sudden, immediate and real, and it did help build faith for the prayer that followed.
This is part 1 of 3. More to follow . . .