A Northwest Blessing

Amazing Love Healing Ministry traveled to Salt Spring Island in British Columbia in January of this year for a “Restoring The Soul” Healing Conference. Pastor Sharon led the team with members Debra Reed and Scott and Gerry Gardner who were all quite excited to visit the Northwest for God’s work!

After an initial delay in our flight leaving Tampa, we were headed to Vancouver and then to the ferry rides that would take us to Salt Spring Island. Re-routed flights, eight hours in the Chicago O’Hare Airport, and the obvious change in temperatures as we traveled were all part of the challenge and the adventure as we went. Great team-building time!

We were warmly greeted by the leadership of the Community Gospel Church and got settled in for our six days of ministry! Healing prayer appointments with individuals and couples kept the team busy on the first two days while planning for the healing conference itself continued all around us. Pastor Sharon spent productive time with the church elders and ministry leaders as they explored the journey they were on during this interim time between pastors. Discussions about the past and their hunger for a new vision were encouraged by Pastor Sharon’s illustrations about the cycle of a church. Her pastoral intervention for identifying with the leadership root issues that need healing and resolution gave them a sense of God’s larger purpose. These sessions and the prayer appointments stirred much hope in the members and a great anticipation of what was to come!

The Holy Spirit’s anointing was evident in the worship and teachings throughout the three day healing conference with almost fifty individuals in attendance! Scott began the weekend with two other men on the worship team, only to watch the team grow to six individuals by Sunday morning as healing occurred and a new hunger to worship built! First guitars and bass, then additional vocals, then the violin! The exclamation point came when the youth pastor ran up to the platform on Sunday morning after a spirited “Days of Elijah” had filled the sanctuary! He asked for it to be played again and jumped onto the drums as Scott led the congregation in this reprisal! The worship team was now complete!

There were many testimonies throughout the week, especially from the conference small groups that all four of us led! Many individuals reflected on and were changed by the teachings given by Pastor Sharon and Gerry, and Debra’s personal witness, as they sought to bring God’s truth and His healing. A church that was struggling during its time of transition was beginning to see a new vision, a new hope, and much love for each other as Christ’s love poured over them.

The team was blessed by the incredible hospitality of this church! Our rooms at the historic Salt Spring Inn were wonderfully quaint with gas fireplaces in each room and Rita, the inn’s cat, that slept all day in the lobby, just waiting to be stroked by all who passed by. Meals each night at parishioners’ homes, the ferry rides, and as much dark coffee as we craved were all highlights of this ministry trip. However, nothing compares to the generosity of God Himself who desires that all know Him as the Healer and the One who restores hope to all who seek Him. We were so aware of His presence and were humbled to be able to serve Him.

We were blessed by an extra day in the Northwest as the fog hindered our timely departure. However, not one of us complained! It felt good to soak in the aftermath of all that God had done. We truly knew that the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord had been on us as we brought Christ’s healing, freedom and hope, and as we proclaimed “the year of the Lord’s favor” (Is 61:2) for the members of the Community Gospel Church!