In the last year I’ve seen some inspirational healings, but with a small child’s deformed chest getting healed while his mother watched (with tears streaming down her face…and she’s a doctor), this recent trip to Guadalajara was unforgettable.

February of 2009 was my first visit to Guadalajara.  The purpose of that trip with Mark Cowpersmith was to learn about the gift of prophecy.  He asked me last year if I wanted to go back, and because of what happened the first time, I could not refuse.  Because of being a part of many healings in the last 12 months, I was eager to practice the gift of healing in Guadalajara for the first time….I had a good feeling about this.

 Tuesday night: 

We started ministering to a small church in Leon, a city 112 miles from Guadalajara.  After Mark delivered a message, he gave me the microphone to talk about some of the miracles I had been witnessing and then called those to the platform that needed healing.  A hulk of a man with a gigantic mustache named Artemio came forward.  Through the interpreter I learned that he had diabetes.  We began dismissing the diabetes in the name of Jesus Christ and noticed that he started profusely sweating.

Me:

What did you feel as we were praying?

Artemio:

A lot of heat.

Me:

That’s a good sign!  Anything physically different through prayer is a good sign.  Continue thanking God for your healing.

Another person to come forward was a young man named Freddy.  Freddy told us that he had severe arthritis and was on heavy medication because of it.  He also had a lot of pain in his neck.  Before we started praying, BB (one of the pastors’ wives that drove to Leon with us) received a prophetic “word of knowledge” that Freddy was struggling with unforgiveness.

BB (to Freddy):

Is there someone that you have not forgiven?

Freddy started breaking down…exploding into tears.

Freddy (shaking his head):

Yes…my father.

Freddy went into some detail about why he held a grudge against his father and then Mark prayed for Freddy’s heart to be opened for forgiveness (a prerequisite for healing).  Freddy was then able to forgive his father.  At that point we prayed for healing and he reported a significant improvement in his physical condition.  The following night, Freddy brought his father with him to the church service and asked me to meet him.  I prayed for the entire family and could tell by the look on the father’s face that God was doing something to heal that family of much more than physical ailments.

A young man named Josúe came forward for healing due to polyps on his throat.  While praying for him, he reported an unusual “peace.”

As silly as this may sound, we ended that first night by healing a light post!  A nearby soccer field had a few stadium-style lights that lit a field where several kids were playing soccer (or “futbol”) .  One of the lights wasn’t working and it significantly affected how much of the field was lit.  Mark suggested that we “lay hands” on the light post and “heal” it.  This sort of craziness excites me, so I was one of the first to join him.  The light came on (though not immediately) and we celebrated!  By the way, EVERY SINGLE answered prayer grows my faith…I don’t care how seemingly insignificant the issue may be.

Wednesday afternoon:

Mark challenged us the night before to take a risk for God.  Do or say something that is outside of your comfort zone.  He made it clear that it is the ONLY way you will see success in the supernatural.

We were in the city of San Miguel that afternoon and I wanted to find disabled people to heal, but I couldn’t find any.  Finally, I approached (with my translator) a group of six teenagers that were sitting on a bench.  I tried to get prayer requests from them, but nobody took me seriously.  I noticed that one girl, Ari, who was sitting in the middle of the others, was holding eye contact with me.

Me (to Ari):

Do you believe in God?

Ari:

Yes.

Me:

A perfect and holy God cannot have a relationship with sinful people, so he sent Jesus to die on a cross so our sins could be paid for.  Would you like to have your sins forgiven so that you can be right with God?

Yes.

I was surprised that she said yes, given the fact that her friends seemed VERY UNINTERESTED; they wouldn’t make ANY eye contact with me, and she was sitting exactly in the middle of them.  From that point, I led her in a prayer and emphasized that there were no magic words, just the sincerity of the heart, yet that is all that’s needed.

I was disappointed that I couldn’t find anyone to heal, yet the most important miracle occurred…a saved soul!  I always make this mistake of thinking that a physical miracle is weightier than a soul-miracle.  I’m encouraged that the scriptures make it clear: a sincere confession is all it takes for someone to go to heaven.

“…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Romans 10:9

Ari was the 40th person I personally led in that prayer in the last two years.  I mention that because having grown up in Christian churches, I HATED the idea of evangelism….really.  Somehow it always seemed forced and awkward.  I found, however, that if you just ask…people who want peace with God will always say yes.

That night, we met back at the church in Leon.  Mark preached and then called forward those who needed healing.  Many were healed that night.  In fact, so many came forward that Mark had to do a “group healing.”  There’s no telling how many were healed of emotional issues, but here’s a couple of folks that I got to pray for:

• Ruben, a young man, had severe pain in his knee that he reported was a “10″ in severity on a scale from 1 to 10.  After prayer, the pain COMPLETELY disappeared.  I teased him that he didn’t let me do a second prayer.

• Sandra, a woman with severe arthritis in her legs reported that she was a “10″ in severity on a scale from 1 to 10.  After prayer, the pain went to a “1″.  The arthritis in her hands went from a “3″ to “0″.

• An older man with a cain had severe pain in his knee.  After prayer, he went from a “10″ to a “5″ so I prayed again.  Then he went from a “5″ to a “2″.

What made this whole experience so special is that when someone would get healed or have a significant improvement, they would go grab someone else from their family that they knew needed a touch from God.  You couldn’t finish praying for someone before they had lined up someone else for you to pray for.  We celebrated each healing with them.  Sometimes there would be three or four people huddled around waiting for healing…which was perfect because when they saw someone getting healed, they had faith for their own healing.

Toward the end of that evening, Mark reported that his own back was healed.  This excited me very much because in our hotel room, I offered to pray for Mark’s back after he told me about having torn a muscle in his back just before Christmas when he was loading equipment onto a truck.  He told me that it has been hard to move and has hurt ever since.  Though we didn’t pray for Mark specifically during the healing part of the service that night, God was good to either answer my earlier prayer OR hit him with the healing that was blowing through that room.  He said ALL of the pain went away for the first time!

Thursday: We were back in Guadalajara and Mark conducted a couple of Bible studies.

Friday morning:

Friday morning we were back at our host church “Fuente de la Vida.”  Conrad, a dear friend of Mark’s, told me of a condition with his hip where it keeps slipping and causing a great deal of pain in his back.  He asked me to pray for him and I did.

Conrad (after prayer):

It feels like something that was damaged is being restored on one side of the hip.  On the other side of the hip, it feels like it’s being pulled into place!

We both figured that was pretty cool!

Conrad’s wife Joy asked me to pray for a condition she has with her eyes where very small pieces of tissue cause cloudiness with her vision.  It is called posterior vitrus detachment.  I prayed that her eyes would be healed in the name of Jesus.

UPDATE 2/6/11: Joy told me that her eyes are 60-70% healed!  I prayed again for the other 30-40% and I’m awaiting a new report, but this report REALLY encouraged me!

Saturday afternoon: Saturday afternoon, I had an opportunity to give my testimony and then impart the gift of healing to others (my first time doing that).

Someone asked me to pray for Guillermo, a man with severe back pain.  After praying, his pain went from a “10″ to a “5″.  He started feeling heat in his back and we continued praying.  His pain went from a “5″ to a “2″.

Guillermo:

My legs feel much better.  I feel good.  I also had a headache, but not anymore!

Sunday morning: 

Sunday was the grand finale.  After delivering the Sunday morning message, Mark started calling out “words of knowledge” over the congregation…bringing up people who he prophetically knew had specific conditions and we prayed for their healing.  It had to be another ”group healing” session because of the size of the crowd, but I got to witness a couple of awesome healings.

BB, the pastor’s wife, directed me to Ricardo.  Ricardo was struggling with major back pain.  He reported that the pain was a “10″ in severity.  After praying over his back, he started feeling heat and then he reported that the pain had immediately dropped to a “1″.

Then, someone brought me to a child by the name of Miguel.  I don’t have all of the details of the condition, but he has a spinal issue where his bones protrude through his chest.  He has had liver cancer all the way from when he was in his mother’s womb and it is a miracle that he is alive.  I don’t know how the cancer relates to his deformed chest.  Somehow,

after everything was explained, I noticed that there were six of us standing around Miguel.

Me:

I’m going to pray for an increase of faith.  We are going to remove all doubt from the six of us and then claim this healing.

I prayed that very thing and then, putting my hand on his chest, we began rebuking damage, sickness, and deformation in the name of Jesus.  Then, we all started calling forth healing in the name of Jesus.

Conrad (receiving a prophetic “word of knowledge”):

I’m getting that bones are moving in his chest.

Me (to the translator):

Wait!  Don’t translate that to Miguel yet!

Me (to Miguel):

Did you feel anything when we were praying?

Miguel:

Yes…I felt things moving in my chest.

We all got REALLY excited.  I grabbed the microphone and reported to the congregation everything that was happening.  I asked for everyone in the church to add their prayers to ours.

Me:

Miguel, tell us whenever you feel something.

A few minutes later…

Miguel:

I feel heat.

Twenty minutes later, Miguel’s mother, approached us with tears in her eyes.

Miguel’s mother (pointing to his chest):

His chest was the shape of a pyramid…now it’s much flatter!

I felt his chest and could feel the difference.

Miguel:

My chest hurts.

Miguel’s mother:

Because of everything moving around (the healing), his chest hurts.

I got the impression (from his mother, who is a doctor, by the way) that he does not normally feel pain in his chest.  I prayed for relief, but to be honest, everyone was so excited about the physical change with his chest that we gave very little thought to Miguel’s discomfort.  We were in awe of what God was doing.

Miguel’s mother has promised to write everything down relating to her son so that we can be kept aware of what is happening with him.

I can’t tell you the feeling of looking into the face of a child who desperately wants to be healed; it breaks your heart, and yet you find yourself leaning even more heavily on God.

It is a thrilling thing to watch God’s power!  I could get used to this.