It can be so overwhelming when you look at the sheer volume of people in need up here in the Territory that it can be difficult to know where to start or what to do. I can understand why people give up before they start. The thing is, when you do stop for the one, the one turns into twenty, then a hundred before you know it! But God is good and He loves nothing more than to pour out His love and compassion on these beautiful people.
Outside the Darwin Hospital is still proving to be a place where there is a constant need for ministry 24 hours a day. On the few occasions that no one has been outside, a few minutes of praying on the wall has seen several sick people come walking out - literally because "God told us to come outside for prayer". These people are so in tune with the Spirit world.
There are so many stories we could tell you from visits to the hospital. One that I (Cath) personally saw was a healing of this little one year old girl. She had been in hospital for 4 weeks with a nasty flu. When we met her, she was coughing, vomiting, screaming and had thick snot oozing from her nose. Elle who was with me, and I prayed together for this little girl. Tim called me off to pray for another lady and when I came back, Elle was playing and laughing with the little girl!! No more snot, no more vomiting, no more coughing. To top it off she was indicating that she wanted a bottle! She had a nasal tube in because she hadn't wanted a bottle for the last month! Yay God!!
Aside from the many amazing healings, God is using the hospital ministry to connect us with people and communities right across the Top End. Last week, Tim met a young guy out the front of the hospital called Steve. Steve is here as a full time carer and escort for his uncle who is in hospital with knee problems. After chatting with Steve, Tim was invited to go and pray with his uncle. His uncle is now able to stand up and move his knees a lot more freely. We are still waiting for a complete breakthrough, but his surgery in Melbourne has been cancelled because of his dramatic improvement!
Steve is from a remote community called Numbulwar which is on the mainland just south of Groote Eyelandt in Arnhem Land. Just before coming here to Darwin, Steve made a decision to change his life and follow God. There are a number of Christians at Numbulwar who follow the two-way thinking - that is, they can worship God and carry out their spiritual ceremonies together. We have been privileged to spend a lot of time with Steve teaching him about the Truth of the Gospel and praying for him. We also took Steve to the Mindle Markets to see the fireworks display on Territory Day - an experience he'll never forget! Out of this we have an open invitation to visit Steve and his family at Numbulwar any time we like.
Another great ministry spot has been Knuckeys Lagoon Community. Again, a connection was made with a family at the hospital so we were able to go into the community with some dinner and feed a stack of people. We then found out that the people who were running a church in the community have moved on and no one is ministering with with these people anymore. They are very keen for us to come in every Saturday night and worship with them. It is a lot of fun but very overwhelming at the same time. Dinner time is pretty much Chaos, with prayer for the sick happening all the time. The children there are beautiful tho and our boys are loving getting to know them!
Ultimately, we would love to run a kids ministry in the afternoon, followed by some dinner, worship and teaching. Please pray that God will provide the right people to come alongside us and help us with this! It's pretty tricky with our own little ones to do this well by ourselves. Pray also for favour with the management so that we can have access to the kitchen and toilets that are attached to the hall - that would make everything so much easier!
We were reminded this week of the power of intercession. Too many times we find ourselves going out into the battlefield without our armour. God is so incredibly gracious though and covers us with His blood wherever we go. But how much greater power could we be operating in if we would always stop and pray and worship and take on the battle in the Spirit realm before heading out? In Ephesians 6 Paul teaches that "we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places."
I am grateful for people like Heidi who remind us that it is possible to change the world. Everywhere we go people are lost and hurting. Imagine if we all stopped for the one? I am not there yet. I still pass by hurting people everyday. Why? I don't know. Fear. Too busy. Selfish. I forget how big God is. I forget who I am in Christ. I tell you what though, every time I do stop, I don't regret it. I see someone's mourning turn into dancing, their sorrow into joy! And if I'm having a grumpy day, it's a quick way to change that too!
Time for me to soak in the love and presence of my Father. More of Him, less of me.
Bless ya, Cath
