In House Testimonies

A Double Blessing

2012-01-25T23:25:00.001-05:00

Last May (2011), Steve and I traveled to Texas for my niece's wedding. While we were there, my nephew Dave (the bride's brother) and his wife Christina told us how they have been unable to conceive although they had been trying for quite some time. In fact, my niece-in-law was on fertility medication. They are Christians and a very wonderful Jesus-loving couple who lead by example. God is proud of them. So they were open when Steve and I asked if we could pray for them, and we did. During our prayer, Steve felt he heard "within a year." In November, Dave called me to tell me the good news. They had just found out that they were expecting!! Praise God!! He called me even before he called my brother (his dad)!!! Within a week of that, the news came that they are actually having TWINS!! A double portion for all their trouble and disappointment. We serve an awesome God, don't we?!

Mary Stupar

Extension to "2012: Get ready!"

2012-01-25T23:12:00.002-05:00

Hello again! I told you more testimonies were coming, right?! Actually, this is an extension of the testimony from the last post - David emailed Pastor Justin the following day - but it is totally worthy of its own post:

Yesterday (Tue), I drove from Pittsburgh back to Mystic, CT (9 hours) and my chest is even better today. My knees no longer pop, crack or hurt, no stiffness. I was having circulation issues in my feet and legs, they now feel brand new, the discolorations, and varicose veins are all disappearing. Normally if I sat at a 90 degree angle for very long my chest would stop me in my tracks, not now, my muscles are relaxed and lungs are breathing easily to full capacity.

Also my back was very screwed up. After driving all that time I would normally be hurting for days and unable to walk. I am loose and can touch my toes today. My wife is seeing a miracle, she knows how much I was hurting.

God is good all the time.
David

And with that, all I can do is reiterate David's praise: God is good all the time! Amen.

Kalin

2012: Get ready!

2012-01-24T22:04:00.005-05:00

Greetings Everyone!

I apologize for the lapse in blog updates... but, never fear! God is good, He is moving mightily amongst us and with that comes good news!! Hallelujah :D

What better way to start off 2012 than by pursuing God? January has been "Coram Deo" (literally the "face of God" - a.k.a. focusing on the Lord, His Word, and spending more time in His Presence) at HCF and it has been incredible! We had both morning and evening meetings all throughout January with some weighty saints of the Kingdom (Jan. 1 - Al Thomas, Jan. 8 - Will Hart, Jan. 15 - our very own Justin Thomas, and Jan. 22 - Todd White).

Each meeting and speaker highlighted a different aspect of Kingdom perspective and each time Holy Spirit showed up in a powerful way! I know many people were significantly touched and ministered to at these meetings and I can't wait to post the rest of the testimonies. However, just to whet your appetite, here is a testimony from an out of town visitor that came to the evening meeting where Todd White spoke:

Hi Everyone.

I was there at Sunday night with Todd. I loved the teaching, I tried to commit it to memory permanently as he spoke and absorb like a sponge. I got prayer for my body from family there and Todd among others... Wow, I feel great, almost as if car accident never happened. I drove to Pittsburgh after the service to my parents and forgot to take ibuprofin before going to sleep. When I awoke in the morning, I felt loose with no pain and my chest was so good I wanted to do pushups. The love of God is overwhelming all I could was cry, I was so undone!

Thank You All,
David

Old Mystic, CT

Praise the Lord!! Well, that's all for now folks. Until next time, I pray that you are encouraged and overwhelmed by God's goodness and love!

Kalin

Headaches and Arthritis Healed

2011-02-17T18:04:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago a few of us were out treasure hunting and spent some of the evening at Target. One of the team members had "green shirt" and "headaches" as some of the clues on their list. We ended up next to a married couple with their small son, and noticed that the husband had a green shirt on. We approached them and it turned out that the husband did indeed suffer from headaches. He was very appreciative and let us pray for him. We also felt that the wife might need prayer and she told us that she suffered from some arthritis, which was actually a clue on another team member's list. The team prayed for her also, and we also released some encouraging and prophetic words over her. They were both very thankful and encouraged by our prayers and it was a definite blessing for us to be able to bless them :) Our team was really encouraged by that encounter, but at that point in time there was no way to tell if either the headaches or arthritis had been healed.

Well, this morning the HCF office got a phone call. It was this same woman we had prayed for! She was calling to testify and share that since our team had prayed for her and her husband, the arthritis in her hands and feet has greatly improved (so not 100% healing, doing very well) and her husband has not had any headaches (except for some when he was sick with a cold). They were both greatly encouraged and praising God for His healing power in their lives.

It's so cool to hear the testimony of the fruit of prayer for healing. God is still working behind the scenes, even when we may not see the evidence right then and there!

Praise Jesus!!

Justin/Kalin

Healing of Eyesight

2011-02-15T15:01:00.001-05:00

About three months ago I had a dream where I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Watch for February the 12^th.”

I wrote it on my calendar, and thought of it often. I told my wife Sherry and other people, “Something is going to happen on February twelfth.” I had no clue what February twelfth would bring or why God had spoke that date to me. I didn’t know if something would happen in the world, the church or me. I just knew God had given me that word.

As I’ve gotten older my eyes have gotten weaker. I needed glasses for help in seeing long distance (slightly blurry) but not real bad. I could actually drive or do many things without needing glasses, but for cautions sake used them anyway.

But the main problem was seeing up close for reading. I first needed reading glasses about 15 years ago and it got progressively worse and I needed stronger and stronger reading glasses as the years passed. Eventually I got bifocals for distance and close up for reading. The close up problem irritated me to no end, because one of my great joys is reading and studying. In addition, when preaching I would have to put on and take off my glasses over and over to refer to a scripture or glance at my notes.

So February twelfth comes (Saturday) and it turns out seemingly like any other day. The next day (Sunday) I was scheduled to minister at Faith Assembly of God in Warfordsburg, PA, so I was preparing for that service most of the day. When Sherry came home later that day she said, “Well, did anything happen today? It’s the twelfth.”

I said, “No, but the day is not over until I wake up on the thirteenth.”

The next morning I awoke about 6:20, quietly got out of bed (not wanting to wake Sherry) and suddenly realized I had a dream about Heidi Baker. In the dream she was teaching me one on one about certain truths in the bible. When I awoke, I was excited and thrilled about what she said in the dream. I grabbed my bible and went into another room, turned on the light and started looking at certain scriptures she had pointed out to me. I was taking notes, etc. Afterward, I thought, I’ll go back to bed and try to catch a few extra moments of sleep before we both get up. As I was laying down, suddenly it hit me. I was reading my bible and taking notes WITHOUT MY GLASSES. That is impossible I thought! I jumped out of bed and opened my bible again. I could read it easily without glasses. I went to the spice cabinet and read the smallest print I could find. I was looking at everything I could find to read, magazines, newspapers, etc. I was healed of farsightedness. Ironically in the distance I still see slightly blurry, but up close I can see clear as a bell! Praise God! Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy. It was prophesied to me something would happen on the twelfth and it happened. Healing.

May the Lord receive all the glory.

Al Thomas

Divine Encounter

2011-02-07T17:02:00.000-05:00

This past Tuesday Steve H, Justin and I went treasure hunting. We started at the mall and were just hanging around a bit at the entrance, waiting to see if the Lord pointed anyone out to us. During our brief conversation, we discussed how it might be easier to approach people who had obvious issues: sporting a broken arm or a crutch, for instance. Well, as soon as we started walking I spotted a guy with his arm in a sling. It's funny what the Lord will give you when you ask him... :) So we awkwardly interrupted the guy and his friends, got the story of what had happened (some sort of nasty infection that needed to be drained...) and asked if we could pray for him. He was very open and it was really cool to minister healing, encouragement and blessing to him. We walked for a bit longer and were also able to encourage/bless a man and his two kids.

Later on we ended up at Target. We walked around for awhile and were ready to call it a night when we walked by an aisle where a woman in a wheelchair and her husband were shopping. We did the classic creepy hesitation before continuing on past the aisle. After a brief discussion we knew we had to go back, so Justin boldly started up a conversation about baseball (the husband, Dirk, was wearing a Red Sox jacket) and Steve and I awkwardly hung about until Justin got to asking the woman, Tami, why she was in a wheelchair. She told us she had had Lyme disease for about 12 years and the symptoms had forced her into the wheelchair. Once she said this we knew it was a God-encounter because of Maggie getting healed of Lyme disease at our church last year. Tami was amazed at the testimony and it turned out that she was a believer too, and both she and Dirk were very strong in their faith. Ultimately we had a great conversation talking about the goodness of God and we were able to really encourage them. We also got to pray with them and it definitely ministered to everyone present.

It was so cool to see what happened when we really stepped out (wheelchairs can be intimidating for some reason...) and how God can use us to bless others in the most seemingly awkward situations. It was just further proof that stepping out to find out what God has in store is totally worth the risk of looking and sounding like crazy people. Our encounter with Tami and Dirk was an amazing divine-appointment, a total set-up for them to experience the Lord's incredible love and to bless us with being able to demonstrate it.

That's what treasure hunting and outreach is all about, anyways. The symptoms may not have left Tami when we prayed, but I'm not going to underestimate what God did and is continuing to do in that situation, just because I may not be able to see it all right out on the surface. The Lord is exceedingly good and I am now even more encouraged to step out in potentially 'awkward' circumstances : )

Kalin

His Provision

2010-09-12T11:32:00.003-04:00

Free Air Conditioner Right Out of the Blue!

A couple of weeks ago our window unit in the living room, which is used to cool 90% of our living space, stopped working properly. We took it out, replaced it with a window fan and started shopping around. Not only were we not able to find a new one in our price range, but all the stores we went to were sold out and not restocking since it was late in the season. Being the end of the season, Emily and I resigned to fans, pulled blinds during the day, and open windows at night. The first week without it was OK, the temperatures weren't that bad; last week however, I believe we broke 100 degrees again. But, we did our best not to complain or grumble (Emily did a better job than me :) Our plan was to put up with the heat 'till next year and buy a new one then. Today, 9/6/10, my supervisor from work calls me out of the blue and says that her sister, whom she was visiting for the holiday, bought a window unit last year but hardly used it because soon after buying it they put in central air; and they wanted to get rid of it. My supervisor remembered me talking about what happened to ours and she asked if we would like it. I told her that we would be willing to pay for it, and to find out from her sister how much she wanted for it. My supervisor then said that she would ask her sister, but that she thought her sister didn't want the money, just someone to take it. Later tonight, my supervisor called me and asked if she could drop it off at our house on her way home from her sister's; and that her sister, in fact, did not want any money. What we got was a Kenmore window unit, just the right size to replace what we had. In fact it is 50BTU's more than what we had before, and it looks as good as new! God is good, and he cares about His children. The truth is, we never prayed about a new air conditioner, we were just a peace about getting one next year. I am reminded of the Scripture that says, "Men shall give into your bosom."

Praise the Lord,

Steve & Emily H.

Treasure Hunt - Testimony 2

2010-08-17T13:18:00.000-04:00

Last Tuesday night a group of about ten people from Harvest went out Treasure Hunting (for explanation of Treasure Hunting, see blog titled "Treasure Hunt - Testimony 1). For one of the women, it was her first time out and she had really struggled about going. As she was walking out of Walmart she saw a woman in a motorized cart. She felt to pray for her. She and two others followed her to her car and asked if they could pray for her. The woman was very excited because just that week she was considering suicide and had asked God to show her a sign that He cared. They were able to listen to her hurt and pain, pray with her and challenge her to keep praying that God would show Himself to her.

So my question is, "What would have happened if she had not gone on the Treasure Hunt?" Interestingly, more and more I believe that God just needs a willing body to carry forth His purposes.

Freda

Lyme Disease Healed

2010-08-12T10:46:00.000-04:00

My story of healing from Lyme Disease: On Sunday June 27 I came to church with less than a worshipful attitude, but worship began to break me and I ended up in a state of intense repentance. After worship time the pastor stood up to preach when his father in law stood and asked if he could say something. The pastor agreed and his father in law (James) began sharing a vision he had of God as a surgeon, amputating parts of us in order to save the whole person. It ended with him weeping on his knees. Shortly after this another woman in the church stood and shared a similar vision of amputation during the civil war. It spiraled from there. People began weeping and the pastor opened up the front of the church to anyone who felt a need (specifically mentioning healing as one). I knew I should go forward but felt very timid. God revealed that I had been essentially holding on to my disease. He really showed me my fear of letting it go. It dawned on me that I had never even prayed for healing. So, I went forward, weeping, and laid at the front of the church.

After a few moments laying on my stomach in front of the church, and silently praying for healing from the Lyme the same lady who had the word about amputation walked up to me and placed her hand on my back. She began praying for healing (I had not told her why I was weeping, and what I was praying for). Almost immediately my body began to shake uncontrollably. It was like every muscle in my body was tensing and releasing spasmodically over and over. She continued to pray for healing throughout my body, and astoundingly began telling me it was ok to let the disease go (as though she had read my mind). As I lay there shaking I felt the Lord telling me that the disease was as much a spiritual issue as it was a physical issue. He revealed to me that it was something that had followed my family for generations, and I distinctly remember thinking "it's a spirit of infirmity". No sooner had a thought this than the lady (Karen) began saying things like "we renounce this spirit of infirmity that has followed Maggie's family". At this point my level of belief had jumped through the roof. I had been fighting resistance, still vaguely feeling that maybe this was all just emotions... I was just imagining it... but her apparent mind reading began squelching those thoughts. And then... the final blow to my doubt came... as I lay with my arms above my head my right shoulder (which has been injured since highschool) began radiating pain. I began thinking "well, the Lord is going to heal my Lyme but I guess I still have to deal with this stupid shoulder". Almost immediately Karen then laid her hand on my right shoulder and began praying for healing in all the bones, joints and muscles. It was almost too much for me to handle. While I lay there my Pastor prayed over me and gave me a word of knowledge on my behalf, and James also came over to join in the prayer for healing. After about fifteen minutes of this the atmosphere changed. As though on cue my body slowly stopped shaking as Karen began praying for peace, strength and a deeper impression of the Holy Spirit in my life.

When everything was over I shared my testimony in front of the church in accordance with my belief that I am now Lyme and shoulder injury free. Since then I have had no real shoulder pain to speak of and absolutely no fever (which is the first time in almost a year that I have not run a fever). Not only have I not been running a fever, my body temperature is lower than I had realized, holding steady at 97.5 or so, when I used to think it must be naturally 99.0 because it was always in the 99's. Months later and I am still praising the Lord for my miracle.

Maggie

Deaf Ear Healed!

2010-08-02T18:08:00.001-04:00

In July, a bunch of us from Harvest went to Curitiba, Brazil with a little over 200 (mostly) American youth with an organization called Global Awakening. It was an amazing opportunity to minister to people and see miracles and healings. On one occasion, at a smaller church near the end of the trip, our team was doing time of ministry at the end of the service and we were generally praying for both physical and emotional healings. A man in his mid 40s came up to me and told the translator that he was mostly deaf in his left ear. He said he had about 12% hearing in that ear. I was kinda nervous because I had never prayed for a deaf ear before and didn't have too much faith for it. But I went ahead and prayed anyway and after a short while had the translator ask him if he felt anything. He said he felt nothing, so I prayed again. This time he said he had about 40% hearing. I thanked God and blessed what he was doing and prayed again. There was no change. We prayed again. He was up to 60%. The man also said he was feeling heat in his ear. Praise God! Again, I thanked God and blessed it and asked for more. No change again, but we prayed again. This time he was at 80%! I asked if he was satisfied or if he wanted to keep going. (He said keep going of course.) So I prayed again and it was up to 90%!! He also said that when we were praying he felt something go "pop" and open up in his ear that had been closed before! It was awesome.

Kalin

Worship Till Heaven Falls - Night 1

2010-08-02T07:17:00.000-04:00

This past Wednesday night, some of the young people decided to get together, play worship music, worship till heaven comes down and then see how the Holy Spirit leads. After worshiping for over an hour they decided to pray for one of the girls who was leaving to spend a year working as a nanny in Germany. They asked her if she needed anything and she responded that she has scoliosis and needed healing for that. As they prayed for her, she began to feel heat all in the area of where the curvature was in her spine. After prayer, her friends who had known her all her life and knew of the curve in her spine could not find the curve, her spine felt perfectly straight!

Treasure Hunt - Testimony 1

2010-08-02T07:08:00.000-04:00

My husband was preparing to go out Treasure Hunting with a few others from church. (Treasure Hunting is where we ask the Lord, before we go out, to give us clues to who He desires for us to minister to. Sometimes we will feel led to go to a certain store or maybe what a person is wearing or looks like. The ultimate goal is to love up on people, pray for healing, needs or concerns and lead them into an encounter with a living, breathing God! ) Anyway, back this testimony. After a quick dinner, we asked our children if they would ask for God for clues to who the team should minister to that night. Almost immediately, our daughter says, "Can I say something? Go to Walmart. When you walk in, go around the corner and there will be a person sitting there that is sad."
Later that night, the team went to Walmart ( because of what she said). My husband picked the middle entrance, went in, went around the corner to the right and into the Pharmacy. Right there on a bench, waiting for a prescription, was a women and she was obviously sad. Knowing that this was what our daughter had saw, my husband had the pleasure of sharing with this woman that God saw her and wanted to comfort and heal her. The woman was greatly encouraged and thankful. Yes!
One more thing, as I was putting our daughter to bed, she asked me, "Did Daddy find that woman?" I was amazed because he had just text me from Walmart to say he found this women who was sad, but our daughter had originally never said it was a woman!
This and many more experiences like this, have led me to know, the Holy Spirit is heard by our children and many times clearer than what we hear!
Freda Thomas