We thank God that 440 people filled out a healing report card to say they’d been physically healed after I prayed for the sick at Newday on Thursday.
At the start of the evening, after about 25 minutes of sung worship, I interviewed 4 people who’d been healed at the event in the past.
The first person I spoke to was Daisy Witherall from Lewisham, SE London, 21 years old.
I don’t have video available, but I do have/been sent an edited transcript (below).
Daisy said: “When I was13 years old, I broke my arm in a gymnastics injury. I had surgery on it and they put a screw right on the joint. That meant my arm was going to be stuck in a right angle position for the rest of my life.”
“So it was going be locked in a 90 degree shape for the rest of your life from age 13 onwards?”
“Yes.”
“But you came to New Day and what happened?”
“On the healing night I was standing with my cousins and the church I went with. And we literally just watched my arm go from a 90 degree angle to completely straight.”
“And this is something that the doctors had told you was impossible? That the doctors had said because of the position of the metal pin, that it was actually impossible for you to extend your arm?
“Yes.”
“Has your arm been okay since?”
“Yeah, it’s been totally fine.”
“And on that night, what else happened?”
“That was night. I gave my life to Christ.”
The next person I spoke to was Jazz Varoujian, aged 19, from Farnham in Surrey.
She said: “When I came to Newday last year, I couldn’t read red writing because the letters would shake. And if I was in a room lit with only red light, I couldn’t see anything. It was like there was a sheet of red paper in front of my eyes.”
“So this was going to be a challenge I guess if you ever wanted to learn to drive, you couldn’t drive because it’s either all red or it’s all black? Or what was the deal?”
“It was just, if there was any red light and it was in front of me, I couldn’t see anything. It was just a sheet of red.”
“So it was like a red problem?”
“Yes. A very red problem.”
“You were telling me that the first time, well one of the times you realized you had this red problem was at Thorpe Park?”
“Yeah, so I was at Thorpe Park with a friend and we went on the Walking Dead ride. And if you’ve been on that ride, then you know that it’s either completely pitch black or it’s lit with red light. So everybody else was screaming whenever they saw, I dunno, a zombie or something. And I, I couldn’t see anything. I was wondering what was going on.”
“So you came to Newday last year and you were here somewhere in the crowd? A year ago. We prayed on this healing night. And what happened?”
“I was healed. I could see. I could see red again. When the worship started after the prayer, I realized that when the lights had turned red, I could see my friends next to me and I grabbed them by the shoulders and I said, ‘I can see you’. And that was an amazing moment.”
“Now you’re completely healed?”
“Yeah, I can see in red light, I can read red. It’s absolutely amazing.”
“And you’re learning to drive?”
“Yes, I’ve had three lessons. And another thing to say about that night last year, on that night, as soon as I was healed, the lyrics on the screen with the worship finally made sense to me and I realized what it was to be a Christian and that’s when I gave my life to Lord.”
Next was Taylor Nash, aged 15, from Ramsgate In Kent.
“Taylor, what was the problem that you had when you came to New Day last year?”
“I’d damaged a nerve in my back playing sport, which meant I couldn’t bend over, I couldn’t exercise. I couldn’t do any kind of normal activity that my mates all did.”
“How many months had it been damaged by the time you came here?”
“It was Jan/Feb, so five to six months”
“So when you came to New Day, you couldn’t walk around normally or what was the situation?
“I could walk, I could stand still, but I couldn’t run. So I was always getting separated from my friends. In fact on the healing night itself. I’d lost them. I was standing on my own over there.”
“But we prayed. Tell us what happened?”
“When the prayer ended, about two seconds afterwards, I had feeling in my back! I could run, do press ups, I could sit ups, anything!”
“And have you had any problems since? What’s it been like since?”
“I haven’t had any injuries, haven’t had any pain, it’s just back to normal.”
Fourthly I spoke to Jess Turner, aged 16 from Medway in North Kent.
“Tell us what was the problem, Jess, that you had when you came to New Day last year?
“So I was born with hip dysplasia, which means my pelvis joint is too big for my hip. So growing up I wasn’t able to do a lot of things people my age would be able to do. Last year walking to the big top was very difficult. It, I’d be crying and stuff about it.”
“So you’d had hip dysplasia for 15 years, is that where your hip moves out of the socket?
“Yep”
“So when it comes out, what, you just sort of push it back in?
‘No, you’d have to go to hospital.”
“So last year you were here in the crowd, we prayed in Jesus’ name. What happened?”
“God healed me. I had been lying down. I stood up, I jumped and I was like, ‘it does not hurt’. And I basically just ran around hugging everyone. And that’s not the only thing he healed me from last year. So previously I’d also faint and have seizures and stuff so I was in the process of being diagnosed with epilepsy and he also healed me from that as well.”
By the way in the photo, it’s Daisy on the left, then Jazz, then Taylor then Jess.
Those 4 then went off stage having each shared their story for a couple of minutes each.
Then I asked everyone in the big top who was seeking healing to put one hand on the part of their body where the problem was. And as I prayed for the sick, there were excited bursts of cheering as people were being healed all over the tent. I led two waves of healing prayer, and 440 people came forward to report a physical healing by filling out a healing report card.
While Simon Holley, who leads Kings Arms Church Bedford and the Catalyst sphere of churches worldwide, was preaching, I was out the back of the big top, with a team working through all the cards. We eventually chose 7 people to call back. I met them back stage and had the privilege of hearing them each tell their stories. There were some gasps of astonishment and amazement as these 7 heard each other’s stories for the first time. Then these 7 came on stage with me at the end of the evening.
I have a photo of the 7 who gave “live” testimony of how they’d been healed about an hour previously.
For all 20 years of Newday when we’ve seen these live healings, I tend not to go public straight away with all the details. I prefer to research and evidence these healing reports and we’ll do the same again. Many times we’ve been able to get ‘before’ and ‘after’ medical documentation.
Like I said, we’re so grateful to God.