Miracles Still Happen

are two distinct worlds; the physical and the spiritual. We cannot

see God and His angels, or the devil and his demons, unless God

allows us to do so. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. We

cannot see the wind, but we can see its effects. A gentle breeze can

sway a tree; a hurricane can uproot it. So no matter how much people

deny God’s existence they cannot deny those things that they see on a

…what can be known about God is plain to them for, God himself made

Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his

eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are

perceived in the things that God has made. So those people have no

purpose of this book has been to share the reality of God with those

who read its pages. The stories are factual and show that miracles

did not die with the disciples and apostles. God, through the Holy

Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ, is as active today, as He was then,

with God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit,

their lives would be dramatically changed and they would experience

1984 my daughter Rachael and I went to Fiji for a holiday. The first

seven days were spent at Dick’s Place on Malolo Lai Lai Island. We

were delighted with the Fijian style accommodation. While unpacking,

a slim, tall Fijian woman, in her late twenties entered and asked if

we needed anything. During our stay she would be looking after us and

the bure (the hut we lived in). The red hibiscus was firmly anchored

behind her ear and contrasted beautifully with the white teeth and

don’t even remember how the subject of Jesus came up, but when it

did, she started to cry. As we talked, it turned out that she had

grown cold and wanted to know Jesus again. As we read the Bible, the

next day she brought three other women with her to hear the Word of

God. Again the Holy Spirit touched their hearts and all three

rededicated their lives to Jesus Christ. For the rest of our stay, we

the last night I decided to simply read as much of the Gospel of John

as possible. We didn’t get any further than chapter one, where John

talks about water baptism. I asked Kara if she had been baptised as

an adult. The answer was, “no”. I suggested that she should

go to the mainland and attend to the matter.

“But,

reaction was, “What me? I am not a minister; besides I’m a

doesn’t look at our gender, only our heart condition. Without further

argument (arguments with God are pointless, He always wins), I

hesitantly asked Kara if she would like me to baptise her. She was

delighted with the suggestion. Only later did she tell me that God

the ocean was just outside the front door, I figured that there would

be plenty of water for my first baptism. Wrong; the tide was out!

Much can be said for Kara’s love for Jesus, because water, or no

water, darkness or daylight, (it was 10 o’clock at night) she was

determined to be baptised. So we walked, for what seemed kilometres,

shore lights gradually faded in the distance and the dark waters of

the ocean appeared in front of us. I decided that knee deep was

better, than no water at all. Never having baptised anybody, I didn’t

have the faintest idea of what to say, so I simply said, “Kara,

do you want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ through the waters of

baptism?” Her reply came quickly and clearly. “Yes”. I

then said to her, “I baptise you in the name of the Father, the

Son and the Holy Spirit; according to the commands of the Lord Jesus

Christ.” Then I asked her to lie down making sure that the water

we waded back to shore I heard splashes in the water. Being in the

tropics my first thought was — sea snakes! I turned to Kara and

asked her if that was the case. “Oh yes, lots and lots, that’s

as well Kara told me after the baptism, because I certainly wouldn’t

have gone into the water if I had known about the sea snakes – which

by the way are much deadlier than land snakes. Neither the snakes,

nor the sharp coral could keep Kara from following Jesus’ commands

last seven days of our holiday in Fiji were to be spent on the

mainland at Crows Nest. Here we met Selai, who introduced us to Mary.

It didn’t take long for the women and myself to sit down and read the

Bible. The day before our departure Mary invited Rachael and myself

were my images of post card Fijian villages, where huts are made of

dried grasses and artistically plaited palm leaves. Here the walls

and roof were made of corrugated iron. The average size Australian

loungeroom, plus one bedroom was the size of this dwelling. A piece

of material, down the middle of the sleeping section divided the

double bunks and single bed from the parent’s double bed. The living

quarters contained a kerosene fridge, food cupboard and a lounge. A

small outhouse provided shower and toilet facilities. What the house

village we had been invited to, was not what we had expected, but

Rachael and I were very glad to have been given the opportunity to

meet a Fijian family in their home. As Billy said, “Unless you

come into our villages and enter our homes, you will never come to

the family on the uneven clay floor, we enjoyed the delicious food of

corned beef and beans. They in turn enjoyed the apples I had brought

them. From talking about every day issues the conversation turned to

Mary’s husband Billy, and his hand that was being eaten up by

leprosy. I shared with him how I used to be a cripple and how Jesus

had brought my dead leg back to life again. I assured him that even

though the leg, over a period of time, had shrunk almost to skin and

bone, God had totally restored it and He could do the same for

we talked about the love of God and His mighty ways, Billy broke down

and cried. When the sobbing eased, relief rather than embarrassment

showed on his face. Men have been conditioned not to cry, it is only

the Holy Spirit who can touch a man’s heart to the point where he can

see himself for what he really is. Sharing the simple gospel of Jesus

had once been a Christian, but worldly interests had cooled his

relationship with God. Before becoming a Christian he had leprosy in

his right hand, but praise God, he was healed of that condition when

he turned to Jesus. Unfortunately the leprosy returned when he became

wanted to give his life back to Jesus. The answer was, “yes”.

God then told me to put my hand on his diseased hand and pray for

healing. Unlike the disobedience I had shown, in the market place,

when God had told me to pray for a woman with a goiter, I did as I

was told immediately. In the market place I had been too shy

(ashamed, fearful??) to obey God’s voice three times, there was no

wrote a few weeks later and told me that her husband’s hand had been

completely restored, as had their marriage and his walk with God.

years later I still thank God for that healing in Billy’s hand, but I

am also still saddened by my disobedience in not praying for the

woman with the goiter. God wanted to heal her, but I wouldn’t allow

Him to use me as a vessel. I can only hope somebody more obedient

and I had barely passed through customs when we were joyfully

embraced by my other two daughters, Connie and Sonja, and Paul, my

missed you” were mingled with; “oh mum, the smash repair

place resprayed the car bonnet a slightly different colour”.

“Sorry, but half of

the plants died, we forgot to water them.”

“By the way there is

head was spinning at what I heard. I felt like getting on the next

the suitcases was exciting, both for my family and myself. Being back

home, in familiar surroundings felt great. The fleas must have

realised that the mistress of the house had returned for they were in

hiding. I even told the children that they must have imagined a ‘flea

plague’. Fleas or no fleas, I fell into bed that night, leaving half

horror, the gumboots weren’t made out of black rubber, but black

writhing bodies. This realisation hit me as I began to draw back the

curtains next morning. So there was a flea plague after all! Just as

a perfectionist where cleanliness is concerned, I wasn’t going to

share our home with millions of unwelcome, disease carrying insects.

A very quick trip to the supermarket and five cans of surface spray,

seemed to be the answer. First, all plants had to be carried out onto

the front and back balcony, so that the fumes wouldn’t kill them.

Next, with a lot of muscle power, the furniture was shifted to one

corner. The large lounge and diningroom, hallway and three bedrooms

were all thoroughly sprayed. The effort nearly killed me; whether the

next day there was a drop in numbers, but they had not been totally

destroyed. I decided it was time to ring up the local pest control

company. They promised to come the next day. That night, as I said my

was absolutely thrilled by what God had said. Naturally I prayed

immediately asking God to kill off every flea. However, not until I

picked up the phone the next morning and cancelled the pest control

appointment, did all the fleas drop dead. Not one could be found and

even many years later no flea ever bothered us again. Praise God for

days later God revealed to me why he had allowed me to go through all

that trauma. In my own strength I had not been able to get rid of the

fleas. I was to stop over-working myself, and instead I was to rely

on the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help me in all situations. With

all over the world have a favourite place they would like to visit.

Egypt and Israel have always held a fascination for me, so on the

spur of the moment I decided to visit these two countries, leaving on

book, video, or pamphlet can prepare the visitor for the sounds,

sights and smells of Egypt. People had warned me that I would find

the place dirty, men would molest me and I would have a terrible

is very much part of Jewish history. Joseph was sold into slavery and

ended up becoming second-in-charge to Pharaoh. Can you imagine my

excitement, when on the island of Philae the guide pointed to a large

stone saying that it contained the story of the seven years of famine

and plenty, as well as the story of a young Semite who ruled

second-in-charge to Pharaoh? The guide was quick to point out that

the young man could not have been the Joseph of the Old Testament,

because the name on the stone was an Egyptian one. What joy when

later in the day God reminded me that Joseph had been given an

marvelled at the massive statue of Rameses, at the Karnak temple

complex, at Luxor. Whether this was the same Rameses who had enslaved

the children of Israel, I don’t know. What I do know is that, “The

Israelites built the cities of Pithom and Rameses to serve as supply

a great man of God was born in Egypt. He led the Israelites out of

captivity. God performed many mighty miracles among His people on

their way to the promised land. Even so they continuously complained

and grieved God by their unbelief. Things haven’t changed that much

these days. God’s patience with His rebellious people absolutely

But now don’t be discouraged, any of you. Do the work, for I am with

When you came out of Egypt, I promised that I would always be with

Bible speaks of worldly living as representing Egypt. I can say a

hundred percent that God has never forsaken me since I turned my back

on the world. “You are not of this world.” God spoke these

words to me during the night, as well as the following day. Not until

I read John 17:16 did I realise how blessed I was. “They are not

Egyptian guide Mohammed, tried to live in two worlds. God showed me

this clearly as we toured a tomb in the Valley of the Queens. As the

tour group followed Mohammed through the passageway into the tomb,

God showed me that this man, although calling himself a Muslim,

believed in the gods of Ancient Egypt. Constant visits to the tombs

had allowed the spirits (demons) of these ‘gods’ to attach themselves

to his mind. He was shocked when I told him what God had shown me.

After all, devout Muslims only believe in Allah. To then be caught

we walked through the amazing temple complex of Karnak, God spoke to

me again about Mohammed. I was to pray the following for him. His

eyes were to be opened to what was around him; broken down monuments,

left by dead people. He was to turn from the dead monuments to the

was able to share with Mohammed what God had shown me, both before

and during the flight from Luxor to Cairo. The man listened eagerly

to my testimonies about Jesus. He, like everybody else I talked to

about Jesus, was fascinated by the amazing miracles that God

in Cairo I decided to visit the Anglican church, just around the

corner from the Hotel Marriott, where I was staying. The church

service had just finished and I introduced myself to the first couple

I spotted. All the people were Sudanese and that was how I met Lorna

and Emmanuel. This kind couple invited me to their home for dinner

the following evening. After a wonderful day of visiting the

pyramids, the sphinx and the Cairo museum, I was picked up by

couple was so thrilled to hear about the mighty works of God, that

they invited the neighbours as well. As the couple had not been

baptised by full immersion as adults, it was my turn to invite them

back to the Marriott. God must have had a reason for putting me in a

hotel with a luxurious bathroom, and a deep bath. Emmanuel and Lorna,

time for the bus was 5 a.m. A chilly wind hit me straight between the

eyes as I left the cosy hotel and boarded the bus. The sun had not

yet risen, so we travelled in darkness. The poor of Cairo were

already up and about carrying massive trays of freshly baked bread on

their heads. The thin rags would not have kept out the winter wind.

Two worlds were gliding past each other; the world of the tourist

bus left the narrow streets of Cairo and clawed its way up a steep

hill to the last pick-up point for passengers. While the luggage was

being loaded onto the bus, God directed my attention to a very large

tree growing beside the hotel. The tree was ugly. The branches

contained no leaves. The only beautiful thing about the tree was the

nineteen large white flowers. How do I know that there were nineteen

flowers? I had plenty of time to count them, considering how long it

white flowers stood out against the dark morning sky. God told me

that they represented His children and the ugly tree represented the

world. How true is the Word of God that tells us to be the spotless

guess the natural sequence of events is to follow the dark road

heading towards Israel. To the Australian citizen an armed escort is

what they see on television, or in an adventure film. Being part of

that convoy felt exciting. I wouldn’t have been so thrilled if

bullets had ripped the bus and passengers to threads. The Egyptian

government had decided these precautions were necessary after

Palestinians stopped a bus the previous year, shooting all the

trip from Egypt to Israel, although ten hours, was very pleasant. Not

all the time was spent travelling, there were delays when changing

sat at the front of the bus next to Karim, the owner of the company.

Before long I was sharing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with

this Muslim. He in return, by the time we were ready to cross the

Suez Canal, was calling me mother and feeding me from the lunch his

wife had packed him. The hours flew quickly as we chatted. Even at a

tiny town, when we stopped for a meal, I felt safe under the

our journey continued I was contented to just sit and absorb scenes

from an ancient land, where time had stood still. The sights along

the way were fascinating. Bedouin encampments in the distance

consisting of tents or rough wrought iron makeshift houses, camel

herds strolling leisurely in the distance, or shepherds herding

sheep, or goats. There was also the occasional oasis, a green patch

that stood out for its tall palm trees, in the middle of rocky

ground. I had expected to see only rolling hills of sand, this wasn’t

ancient sights in Egypt thrilled me. The religiousness in Israel,

especially Jerusalem, disgusted me. God must be so sad when He looks

down at His beloved city. Jesus is big business in Jerusalem. Stalls

and stores will sell anything from pebbles ‘Jesus stepped on’ to the

most useless rubbish you can imagine. When the guide said we would go

to the birth place of Jesus, I became excited! Instead, we entered a

church. I asked if this was the actual birth place of Christ. His

reply was, “Oh no!” If that wasn’t enough, the church was

divided into two sections, one for the Catholics and one for the

section we happened to be in was Catholic. Long lines of nuns

patiently waited to kiss the marble slab at the centre of which was a

silver star and a ruby goblet. The church of the Holy Sepulchre

wasn’t much better. Jesus hadn’t been buried here either. From the

church of the Ascension, to the church of Saint Peter, to the church

near the tomb of Lazarus, to the church of ????. Some people in

Australia go for a pub crawl, the tour I was on went for a church

crawl. After a while I became thoroughly sick of the gold and silver,

jewel covered religious ornaments and statues of the saints, Mary and

Joseph. Between the Catholic church and the Orthodox churches (Greek,

Russian etc.), the market was well and truly covered. Sadly I didn’t

come across one person who had a personal relationship with Jesus

visit to “Jesus’ Town” Capernaum, really did it. All that

marked the place where Jesus had once walked — you guessed it —

were Catholic buildings. Don’t ask me what they were because I don’t

remember. There was the ruin of a synagogue I would have liked to

have had a closer look at. Beside those ruins also were the

foundations of Peter’s mother-in-law’s house. Have a guess what

prevented me? You’ve guessed it, a fence, but more annoyingly the

building of a Catholic church, which had been built on a platform, on

a pylon, rising straight out of the middle of ruins. The only way to

get into the complex was to be booked in for mass first. At that news

I really became annoyed! What gave the Catholic Church the right to

monopolise ancient biblical sights! The next day I decided not to go

I had left the religiousness behind I felt terrific. My first project

was to climb the hill behind Tiberius. From the top I had a great

view of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordanian mountains. I hadn’t felt

God’s presence in any of the churches the tour group had visited, but

here on the hill I felt a tremendous peace as I reached out to God in

prayer. At least it was possible that Jesus could have climbed this

hill with His disciples. Only when it started to rain did I tear

the rain didn’t last too long I decided to walk through the shopping

centre. Two hours later I returned to the hotel laden with goodies –

on that afternoon I enjoyed a swim in the heated swimming pool. The

swim became even more enjoyable as I listened to the winter storms

raging outside, how relaxing. As relaxing as bobbing up and down in

the Dead Sea! The tour had stopped at the Dead Sea after viewing the

fortress of Masada. King Herod, had been the first to see the

possibilities of the plateau. The king wanted a summer retreat, so he

built a palace on three levels on the northern aspect of the plateau.

Sixty years after Herod’s death, the fortress became the final

resting place of 960 Zealots. This group of Jews preferred suicide,

rather than falling into the hands of the Roman army, which had laid

siege to the fortress. What made the visit to Masada even more

enjoyable, was the fact that there were no modern churches amongst

these ancient ruins. The builders in the time of Herod had shown

genius, as could be seen in the remains of the bath-house. I was

particularly interested in seeing distinct patterns in floor designs,

the tour had finished I was able to enjoy two days of wandering, by

myself, through the bazaar, in the old city of Jerusalem. The store

holders were friendly and I enjoyed sitting and chatting with them.

One store holder invited me to join him for a cup of coffee.

Considering I was a total stranger, he trusted me with his belongings

while he went to the nearest store to buy the coffee. I felt as if

the clock had been turned back thousands of years as I sat on a low

stool, amongst goods only found in the Middle East. My host asked me

about Australia, while I asked him about his Palestinian background

and life in Jerusalem. At no stage was I molested by either

my second last day in Jerusalem I thoroughly enjoyed wandering

through the “Tower of David” museum. There were models and

artifacts representing 3,000 years of Jewish history. The model

representing the siege of Jerusalem, by the Romans 70 AD, gave the

viewer a better understanding of life at that time. Seeing the Roman

influence in miniature, reminded me of the Roman monuments at

didn’t find Jesus in Israel although there were plenty of churches

commemorating biblical events. I had found Jesus twenty years ago,

when I had cried out to God saying, “God I’ve made a mess of my

life, help me to clean it up.” I’m glad that God doesn’t have a

complex about being used; waiting and hoping, that maybe, one day

wasn’t in the ruins of archaeological sights, or old churches, He had

actually travelled with me in my heart. That is the miracle of my

trip to Egypt and Israel. God showed me a land that has featured so

much in biblical history, “I called my Son out of Egypt”

and the land Israel, which God sent His Son to, so that through His

causes division. Those who truly seek God will find Him, but only

through the Lord Jesus Christ. Often people will say to me, “Oh

you have to have fellowship somewhere. I’m a Baptist.” (Or whatever

answer always is, “True, but I always associate myself with

Jesus first, for let’s face it, no denomination ever died on the

17th January, 1996, I boarded a plane bound for Papua New Guinea. I

was to start teaching at the Lae Technical College the following

Monday, the 22nd. After a two day stopover in Port Moresby, the trip

continued on to Lae. Common sense should have told me that a third

world country isn’t rich and that I need not have bought new

suitcases; they only stood out amongst the tattered ones of the

nationals who also left the plane at Nadzab Airport. Mareg, the

scenery flashed passed the speeding bus. The whole trip resembled an

obstacle course, as Mareg tried to avoid the huge potholes. What,

with the swerving and the speed, it was not possible to take photos,

were small clusters of grass huts sheltering under tall palm trees.

At intervals locals sat by the roadside selling their wares; kaukau,

sweet potatoes, bananas, coconuts and yellowish green fruits, the

size of a plum. Occasionally a pig could be seen looking for food in

the rubbish that was lying around. The dogs looked mangy and very

to the suburbs the grass huts were replaced by solid cement block

dwellings. As in Port Moresby, the doors and windows were covered

with heavy iron bars. All the signs pointed to heavy criminal

activity, but from the safety of the bus I didn’t worry about that.

Once in town the place looked like a war zone, very high wire fences

topped with razor wire, electric gates, blood hounds and security

guards – all for the purpose of keeping out the “rascals” –

new home was to be a two storey townhouse, in a complex of four. My

neighbours on one side were a national doctor and his wife and their

children. On the other side lived an African and his P.N.G wife. The

last unit was empty. As it turned out Simon the African, was my boss

day one, Anastasia, the doctor’s wife, and I hit it off. As all

nationals, that I worked with, or befriended, she was lovely and

couldn’t do enough for me. On my first visit to her home I was

dismayed to see how sick their child was. On the floor lay a very

thin child, who appeared to be about 11 to 12 months old; in fact it

was 17 months. The, eyes appeared over-large because of the bony

face. My heart grieved because it was only too obvious that the child

would not live past its 17 months. Although the father was a

prominent doctor and the mother a nurse there was nothing they had

been able to do. Even visits to Australian doctors in Port Moresby

the hole in the heart, or the complications in the respiratory

system. The following week I asked the parents to bring the child to

my home, so that we could pray for him. Little Marcus had been

baptised into the Catholic Church. I now asked the parents to

dedicate the child to Almighty God the Lord Jesus Christ, then I

because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we

did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the

happened! There was no improvement at all in his condition. A week

later as I was nursing the child, God spoke to me and told me to

rebuke the spirit of infirmity. As I prayed earnestly for a few

minutes, Marcus started to cough up mucus. Then he smiled and

relaxed. After that prayer, the heartbeat and breathing became

normal. The intake of food increased to the point where little rolls

of fat appeared covering the ribs. Six weeks later for the first

time, he started to crawl and two months later he was pulling himself

up and walking by holding onto the furniture. Everybody that knew the

will ask how can a tiny baby have a demon in it that nearly caused it

to die? The answer is simple. What the parents are involved in! After

seeing the miracle in her child and hearing the message about Jesus

Christ, Anastasia turned away from the church and instead asked God

to forgive her for her sins and made Jesus Christ the Lord of her

life. Shortly afterwards she followed Jesus through the waters of

baptism. As she started to read the Bible she realised that much of

devil doesn’t like it when you make a stand for Jesus, so one day at

7.30 in the morning, while on the way to work, Simon and I were held

up at gun point. Even now I can see the man standing in the middle of

the road, the sawn off shot-gun resting on his hip. The instant the

car stopped a man with a bush knife pulled open the door, commanding

me to get out. The same happened to Simon. The four men, two with

guns and two with bush knives, then jumped into the car and sped off.

The two of us were left standing on the road with nothing but our

clothes. As the policeman later commented, we had been ‘lucky’

when I was getting over the armed hold up, the townhouse was broken

into one night. My terrified screams brought the neighbours running.

The criminals fled before they could be caught. As I couldn’t bear to

stay in the townhouse once it had been broken into, the college moved

night my colleague and friend, Mary, together with her fiancé John,

came to visit me. During the course of the evening John told me how

he had been sick for many years, suffering from chest pains,

headaches, constipation and other intestinal problems. The doctors

couldn’t help and finally he had to give up his well paid job as an

accountant. Before the pair left, John asked me to pray for him. I

said a simple prayer asking God to let his intestines function

properly and rebuked the parasites feeding on him. The chest pains

and headaches were a result of the abdominal problems, so God caused

distance from the motel unit to their house was only a ten minute

walk, but by the time they had arrived, John needed to go to the

toilet. He hadn’t done that for a long time without the aid of

medication. The chest pains and headaches also disappeared. Praise

being healed and hearing the message about God’s salvation through

the Lord Jesus Christ, Mary left the Catholic Church and John left

the Lutheran Church. Reading the Bible on a daily basis, both could

see that what the two churches were teaching didn’t add up. Neither

had found peace of mind, joy or healing, in the church they had

attended, but they found it, and more, through a personal

today I had the privilege of baptising Mary and John. What a mighty

the criminals attempted to break into the motel unit on two

the couple had become Christians, they had ignored the poor and the

crippled on the street. Now, they decided to go to the hospital and

bring food to the sick children. One day I offered to take John’s

place. From then on Mary and I made regular visits every Friday

afternoon straight after work. First however, we had to rush to the

local market, before it closed, to buy the food. Finally, laden with

bananas, raw peanuts, sugar fruit, hard boiled eggs and whatever else

So Jesus said to those who believed in him, “If you obey my

16:17 Believers will be given the power to perform miracles: they

if they pick up snakes or drink any poison, they will not be harmed;

a disciple of Jesus Christ, I put Mark 16:17&18 into practice and

saw many mighty miracles as I prayed for the children. There were

many cases of malaria, both in tiny babies and older children. In one

instance we had just entered the ward when we heard a seven or eight

year old child sobbing loudly. He was terribly distressed. After Mary

had asked permission to pray, I sank to my knees beside his low bed.

I placed my hand on his little forehead, which was burning up. As I

prayed the crying stopped and the child fell asleep. Miraculously

were also many cases of tuberculosis. After weeks of prayer, the

children’s health improved dramatically and they were able to leave

the hospital. Mary and I were overjoyed to see empty beds the next

week, or hear parents tell us how God had performed a miracle in

their child. Such was the case of a nine month old baby I had prayed

for. The child’s head had almost been twice its size, yet the

swelling went down completely just after we left. In two other cases

children had been in a coma for ten and fourteen days. After prayer

day we came to a couple who were holding twins. One was healthy and

the other one was sick. The babies were only three weeks old. I said

a simple prayer for the sick child and left it at that. The next week

the couple were still there. I asked them how the child was and found

out that there had been no change. Only when the father accidentally

moved the blanket did I get a good look at the baby. The eyes were

staring wildly and the little face was twisted into ugly grimaces.

Instantly I knew that I was dealing with a spirit of infirmity. The

devil is ugly and tries to make God’s perfect creation ugly. I prayed

very firmly under my breath, commanding the demon to leave the child.

Without touching the child in any way it responded by crying. When I

had finished I asked Mary to ask the parents if they had any dealings

with evil. The answer was, “yes”, a witch doctor. So here

was the answer why one child was healthy and beautiful and the other

one sick and ugly. Praise God, although the demon went, it took a few

also performed a mighty miracle in a child whose body was

unbelievably swollen. The head looked like a balloon, on top of

another balloon, the neck. The stomach of the child was incredibly

swollen. The mother next week was very happy to see us, and couldn’t

people tell me that it is God’s will for them to be sick. The God I

serve does not take delight in seeing people suffer, only satan does.

Somebody once mentioned to me that Joni, who is a paraplegic, was a

blessing to people who had read her book. I must admit I was stumped

for a moment and asked the Holy Spirit to give me wisdom. I asked the

person, what would they rather be: me, healed from paralysis, or Joni

still flat on her back? I also asked what was more glorifying for

God, a healthy or a sick person? He couldn’t answer me on both

our months of going to the hospital I was very proud of Mary. First

she just translated the message of Jesus into Pidgin and watched as I

prayed, but gradually I encouraged her, a baby Christian, to also

pray. As she prayed, believing, she saw miracles and grew at a rapid

My friends, what good is it for one of you to say that you have faith

taught me that lesson, many years earlier, in Australia. It looked as

if I had broken my arm, judging by the swelling and pain. I prayed

for healing, but the pain still persisted. Two days later it had

gotten to the stage where I couldn’t even hold a knife and fork. God

picked up the knife and fork and persisted in eating my meal. The

go back to Papua New Guinea. God is not limited to healing the body,

went to the Hospitality & Tourism Department this morning. One of

the teachers commented that George had cheated in the exam, his mark

four months George had failed every test and assignment I had given

him. The marks being in the range of 8, 7, 12 out of a 100. It

amazed me how he had ever gotten into the course. A few weeks ago I

had said to him that he needed to cry out to God to help him. For not

only were his marks poor in my subject, but all the others as well.

then on his marks jumped to the 50s and 60s in my subject and now to

top it off he had managed to get 100% in another subject. God had

years before a similar thing had happened in Australia. A lady rang

me and asked would I tutor her son. When he had improved

dramatically, I was asked to tutor the daughter as well. Melanie was

in Year 9 and couldn’t cope with English. The homework tasks I set

were sometimes done very well, at other times the quality was very

how much the parents were paying me I became annoyed and told my

student that she needed to work harder, or I wouldn’t be teaching her

anymore. At that comment the child became very distressed and cried

saying that she did try very hard. I felt terrible. As I sat there

God put it on my heart to ask Him to help Melanie. Amazingly for the

next four weeks the child’s performance was brilliant. The mother

thought that I was a great teacher, but I had to set her straight on

the fact that God had unravelled her daughter’s mind and my teaching

five weeks later Melanie’s performance was worse than ever before. I

was shocked, what now?? I asked God what had gone wrong. The answer

was simple. I had asked on Melanie’s behalf – fine, but now Melanie

was to ask God herself. At the age of fifteen she was old enough to

make a decision. I told her what God had said. She asked Jesus into

her heart and for His help in her school work. She did well in her

School Certificate, and the subsequent T.A.F.E course. Finally she

ended up working for a solicitor. God’s miracles are not confined to

any particular place on earth, be it Australia or Papua New Guinea,

the Easter break I was delighted to receive an invitation from a

fellow colleague and friend to go with her to Chimbu for the

bride-price ceremony of her sister. Kama and all the other relatives

who were going had hired a 25 seater bus for the trip. The journey

started at 6.30 a.m and by 7 a.m the bus was already on the outskirts

first stop was at 40 Mile, one and a half hours later. If the bus

seemed overloaded with the thirty-five people who had piled into it

earlier; now, with the added bags of betel nut and coconuts, plus

other produce purchased from the roadside market; the little vehicle

was bursting at the seams. Just as well Kama had asked the driver to

let me have the front seat. The view was better and I could rest my

minutes outside Goroka we stopped for a meal. Half an hour later the

bus stopped again, this time in the middle of nowhere, between the

slopes of an embankment. Half the bus immediately scrambled out.

Puzzled I looked at Kama. She in return whispered, “The toilet

stop.” I had also gotten out of the bus and before I knew it

Agnus, Kama’s sister and her cousin Mai, grabbed me by the hand and

pulled me up the slippery clay slope. Once on top, half a dozen men

could be seen standing in a row with their backs to the people

watering the countryside. With the help of my friends I avoided

excrement already there and looked for a place where I could squat in

was a toilet with a view. As you looked at the surrounding mountains

and saw the hawks circling overhead, it was easy to take your mind

off the business at hand. Just as well I always carry tissues with

me, but even if I hadn’t, a roll of toilet paper was being handed

next stop was high in the mountains – a police car blocked the road.

On this, the second police search, the aim was not to look for

criminals, drugs or inspect the road worthiness of the vehicle, but

see if alcohol was being smuggled into the Highlands. While the

police checked our bags, we had a chance to stretch our legs and

admire the view. The scenery was magnificent and could best be

compared to the Swiss Alps in summer. Unlike Switzerland though,

where solid stone houses form little villages, here small thatched

huts and the surrounding vegetable gardens, clung like leeches to the

everybody climbed back into the bus, Kama said, “Two more

the bus finally stopped we had travelled for six and a half hours.

There were only two or three thatched huts beside the road and I

questioned Kama whether this was the whole village. She only laughed

and waved her hand over the whole hillside. Nestled amongst the

avocado trees, sugar cane stalks, tall pine trees and hibiscus

bushes, were another 40 to 50 huts. In the distance, a massive

explained that there was a track winding over the mountain, into the

next valley. The women preferred to grow their yams, taro and kaukau

in that valley because they felt that the vegetables tasted sweeter.

I couldn’t believe Kama. How could anybody climb up and over that

mountain and then dig a garden? Kama also pointed out that the women

usually carry a small child on their shoulders and hang a bilum on

their head, to carry the vegetables as well. I couldn’t help but feel

took it in turn to push and pull me up the muddy hillside. Finally

halfway up the hill we entered a clearing and were welcomed by

piercing war cries. About 25 to 35 natives sat on plastic mats and a

railing around the clearing. Without hesitation I walked up to the

nearest person shook their hand and greeted them in Pidgin.

Immediately three plastic chairs were brought out; one for the oldest

woman in the village, one for Kama and one for myself. I felt like

royalty sitting on that chair. The old lady, 80 years plus – just sat

and held my hand. I was the first white woman to have ever visited

family owned the buildings around the clearing. There was the large

hut, called the men’s or boy’s hut. The round house accommodated the

women and the children. The other two huts were the kitchen and

slightly behind it, the toilet. The boy’s hut was divided into one

large room and two smaller rooms. The large room contained a platform

on which all the men slept. The idea being, that if there was a raid

on the village, all the men would be in one place to fight off the

two rooms contained a single bed each. One room had been set aside

for the bridegroom, the other room for me. While resting that

afternoon, on a very comfortable bed, I couldn’t help but wonder at

the coming together of two cultures; a modern bed in a hut where the

walls, ceiling and floor were made of artistically woven grass. The

curtain, a piece of cotton, with a large green, white and purple

floral design, not only kept the cold out – to a degree – but also

an hour’s rest I once again mingled with the villagers. I couldn’t

get over how friendly everybody was. The women and children couldn’t

stop hugging me and stroking my blonde hair. I returned their

affection, much to their delight. As Kama was busy with the

preparation of her sister’s bride-price ceremony, her relatives took

first point of interest were two pigs, which had been slaughtered to

provide a meal for everybody. The carcasses were thrown onto a

roaring fire. After a little while they were pulled off again and

opened up to make sure that they were not sick, or full of parasites.

From there on my new found friends showed me the rest of the village,

which meant climbing a fair way up the hillside. Where ever we went

people would come out of their huts to see the ‘white meri’, white

my socialising I met Pastor Lucas from the Four Square Church. In the

course of conversation I shared with him the many miracles God had

allowed me to see, over a period of time. When the man left later

that night he asked me to speak at their church service the following

Pastor Lucas picked me up on Sunday morning I was ready and waiting,

dressed in the traditional clothes Kama’s mother had given me, a meri

blouse and long wrap around skirt. As we neared his village and the

area where the church service was to be held, Pastor Lucas apologised

for the fact that the congregation would be sitting on logs, in the

open air. Apparently the church had been too poor to afford a

I knew what had happened, I was telling the man that he didn’t have

to worry about money, for all that he needed to build a building was

right in front of him and free of charge. Pastor Lucas looked

do you want to build a western style church, where you will need a

lot of building materials, which are expensive, when you can build a

traditional P.N.G. building with the wood and grass right before your

very eyes?” I asked.

“You’re right,” he agreed. “Besides the

Pastor Lucas, the religious pictures were the next topic of

discussion. On a raised platform, which acted as the pulpit, there

was a large picture of a man supposedly representing Jesus. Gently

and politely I asked how the people could be sure that Jesus looked

like that. Then I pointed out that every supposed picture I had ever

seen of Jesus, had been different and looked like some pretty pin-up

boy. Pastor Lucas could see my point and admitted to having been

prompted by the Holy Spirit to get rid of the pictures. He assured me

that he would get rid of them soon. I asked him what was wrong with

For a moment he hesitated, but then went and tore down all the

singing of the natives was so enjoyable that I cannot find words to

express myself. To my way of thinking dark skinned people seem to

have much richer voices. Pastor Lucas’ friend, Jerry, the secretary

to the Chimbu governor, interpreted for me. After the service Pastor

Lucas asked people if there was anybody who wanted prayer. As the

pastor and I prayed for people, God touched their hearts, spirits and

bodies. In one case a woman who couldn’t walk, left her crutch lying

on the ground. Another woman who was partially blind in both eyes,

lunch which consisted of traditional food, such as kaukau, kumu

(local spinach), sweet potato, rice, stewed chicken and fresh fruit,

I was taken to a hut to pray for a woman who couldn’t have children.

As the couple sat opposite me, I shocked myself by saying, “There’s

nothing wrong with her, he’s got the problem.” The Holy Spirit

had revealed to me that there was nothing wrong with the woman, but

that the husband was infertile due to the illness he had suffered as

a child. Jerry interpreted what I had said and the man agreed that I

had spoken the truth. I went on to say that if God could make

Abraham’s sperm fertile in his old age, He could also bring to life

I was taken to another village to pray for two women who had been

sent home from hospital to die. One had throat cancer and the other

breast cancer. Jerry and Pastor Lucas, plus other people from their

village had accompanied us. Both women were housed in the same hut.

After I had greeted the women and their relatives, I requested that

everybody who was not a firm believer, should leave the hut. In the

end only Jerry, Pastor Lucas, the two patients and I were left. I

asked the Holy Spirit to tell me how to pray and to anoint my hands

with Jesus’ healing power. The mighty presence of God was felt in

that hut as I prayed. In each case I was given a different prayer,

performed a mighty miracle of healing in both women, but now certain

principles needed to be followed in the natural. The Bible tells us

So in my heart I believed that the women were healed, but their

wasted bodies indicated otherwise. So God instructed me to say the

following to the relatives and friends of the patients, who had once

was needed for the wasted bodies to repair. First of all the smoking

fire was to be put out and the cooking was to be done outside the

hut. Every morning, or afternoon the women were to be carried out

into the sun and fresh air. Although I only have a limited knowledge

of nutrition, God gave me some amazing ideas on healthy light meals.

The food items were all easily available in, or around the village.

After all, when Jesus raised the little girl from the dead, the first

Lucas interpreted in Pidgin what I had said. The husband from the

woman who had suffered from throat cancer then started a lively

discussion. Although I could only speak a few words of Pidgin, God

interpreted the conversation for me and I found myself saying, “Stop.

How dare you say that your wife cannot eat because her throat has

been eaten up by the cancer. God is a mighty God, who can and already

has repaired the damage done to your wife’s throat.” Everybody

stared at me in horror because they knew that I did not understand

the language and only God could have told me what was going on. My

my stay in the Highlands I was invited to go for four days to Madang.

Agnus had invited me to visit her mother and stepfather in the

settlement. Here again God combined the supernatural with the

in the settlement is different to that in the Highlands. Houses are

more solid. Michael, Agnus’ stepfather, had built himself a house

made of wooden planks, set on steel pipes and wooden beams. Steps led

up to the verandah and front door. The roof was made of corrugated

iron. The outdoor shower was a novelty: the type you see in an army

as in the Highlands, people were very kind to me. My first

opportunity to talk about Jesus came when Agnus told me about the

sore her stepfather had on his leg (on and off) for the last twenty

years. When Michael rolled up his trouser leg I was horrified, the

wound, the size of a man’s hand had eaten deep into the flesh. After

sharing the message of Jesus with Michael and his wife Marie, I

offered to pray for him. In my heart I knew that Michael didn’t

second day in Madang was very pleasant with sightseeing trips in and

around the town. The resort areas, situated on the waterfront were

especially attractive. Later that evening I found myself playing

nurse to Agnus’ ten year old stepbrother, Roy. The boy had a deep cut

in his foot. First I cleansed the wound with salty water, then I

wrapped a bandage around it. Finally I used the clean serviette I had

brought home that day from one of the resorts, to cushion the child’s

walk. Just as I had finished a visitor appeared at the open front

door. As I was kneeling my eyes were exactly level with the huge

tropical sores that had almost eaten away the woman’s leg, especially

the shin area. I called out to my hosts that there was somebody at

woman, a neighbour, had never set foot in the front door in twelve

years, yet here she was 7.30 at night. Nobody could work out why she

had come, but from the minute she sat down her leg became the focus

of our attention. A year ago she had fallen and the flesh had not

healed, instead the infection had spread. The day before she had come

home from a two day hospital stay, but they hadn’t even cleaned the

wound. I was disgusted at what I saw. To simply pray for healing and

leave the leg in that filthy, pussy state would have been pointless.

I asked Marie for boiled water which I poured into a baby bath. Next

I poured salt into the water. I then asked her to put her leg over

first time I poured the salty water into the wound, she screamed from

pain. Nonetheless, I sat there and thoroughly cleaned the wound from

all dirt, dead skin, pus and even small pieces of gravel. When I had

finished, my dilemma was, how to keep the wound clean, considering I

had just used the last bit of bandage on Roy’s foot. “What now

God?” Instantly the thoughts came to me to ask Marie to get me

a new shoot from the banana tree. The shoot was still tightly rolled

up, therefore sterile. I poured oil over the wound, then used half of

the banana leaf as a shield, which I tied on at the knee and ankle.

The banana leaf would not stick to the wound, yet it would keep it

clean during the night. I suggested that the wound be exposed to the

all that I prayed for healing. The next morning the neighbour came

with her husband to tell me that for the first time in a year she had

been able to sleep without pain and that she could walk much better.

She not only had told her husband about how I cleaned and prayed for

her leg, but the message about Jesus. When I told my two doctor

friends, back in Lae, about how I had treated the leg, under God’s

direction, they were amazed. Neither one would have thought of using

a banana leaf to keep the wound clean. God is indeed a miracle

working God, who delights in helping His children, if only they would

as I was standing in line, waiting at the airport, God spoke to me

about Michael. God had sent the neighbour to his house as proof that

he is a miracle working God and just as He had healed the woman’s

leg, He could do the same for Michael. When I relayed the message he

my return to Lae I shared the events of the Highlands and Madang with

Mary, John and the T.S.C.F (Tertiary Students Christians Fellowship)

group. (Two months after my arrival I was asked to be the spiritual

mother of the college.) Everybody was excited to hear about the

mighty move of God, for many people accepted Jesus Christ as their

Saviour and were baptised. I also told the people how I pointed the

new Christians in the direction of a church, which I knew was

teaching correct doctrine. In the case of the Highlands, I most

certainly felt the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in Pastor Lucas and

that church. I get annoyed when I hear people talk about “revival”,

which is to come. I’ve seen the mighty hand of God working in

It’s just a matter whether God the Holy Spirit is moving in the life

teaching Technical Communications during the day, I taught the

T.S.C.F group (and a constant stream of visitors), about prayer every

Wednesday night. On Sunday night, Jesus would help me give a Bible

message relevant to their life, e.g relationships, cutting the cords

with the past, Heavy Metal music and its influence etc. Because many

turned to Jesus, Thursday night became the night to teach baby

Christians the basics. Tuesday nights I led the prayer group. During

seven of us had an absolutely wonderful prayer meeting. God put it on

my heart to pray for the college first. Then Victor (President of the

T.S.C.F group) prayed for the student’s forum. Instead of me

continuing to pray for other matters, God caused me to pray for the

six people at the prayer meeting. As I started to pray, this is what

vessel, or container, that had a rather fat belly, but narrowed to a

neck. The top of the neck curved slightly outwards. The handle,

curved up and over the curved part of the neck, being attached to

both sides. As I saw the vessel the words from Jeremiah 15:20 came to

will make you like a solid bronze wall as far as they are concerned.

They will fight against you, but they will not defeat you. I will be

the vessel was made out of bronze. A hand was polishing a part of the

belly section and it was shining. The rest of the vessel was dull and

I saw glowing coals being put into the vessel. The meaning being that

God would purify us like pure gold from the inside. Then the verse

had a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers

we were in the middle of a prayer meeting that Bible verse indicated

to me that our prayers were being heard. What’s more, they were like

had spoken through my daughter Sonja, in 1985 (when she was 18)

through a Word of Knowledge, that it pleased Him when we pray for

the above had happened in 1985, now twelve years later in P.N.G, God

was once again letting me, and the others know how much it pleased

Him when we pray for others. In fact our prayers were incense to Him;

believe it was the continued prayer efforts that brought about a

breakthrough in the spiritual. New people came on a regular basis on

the Wednesday and Sunday night meetings. The Holy Spirit touched

hearts as they sat in their seats. I suppose I can relate this

experience to something God showed me while I was walking through the

village at Chimbu. Each hut had a beautiful garden around it and the

children and adults who were accompanying me had picked a bunch of

flowers. There was a dahlia which had been beautiful, but a worm had

half eaten it, thus making it ugly. So it was with the people who

came to the meetings, God had created them beautiful, but the devil

and every-day living had nibbled at God’s perfect creation. To me all

dark skinned people are beautiful, but after the Holy Spirit had

thank God for helping me with the sermons on Sunday night. There was

a particular move of the Holy Spirit after the topic of Heavy Metal

God for His mighty working power. Today, after class, six students

came after 3 o’clock and wanted to know why they shouldn’t be

involved in Heavy Metal music. As Heavy Metal music is of the devil

(and I explained to them why) they needed to make a choice between

Jesus Christ and the devil. At 4.30 p.m. a student asked to speak to

5.45 p.m Donna and Michelle came back and I had the privilege to lead

them to Jesus Christ. Even as I was leading those two through prayer

George arrived and also wanted to ask Jesus into his heart. Praise

started to arrive for the baby Christian class just after 3 o’clock

when the Technical Communications classes finished. I finally

finished at 5 p.m. Eight students in all had attended. The discussion

Two people needed the cords of martial arts cut. The rest are coming

baby Christians were growing at such a rapid rate that by the 1st of

June during a baptism in the river, I felt God telling me to give

Hacca the opportunity to baptise. The idea being to have her become a

disciple of Jesus Christ. For we only become disciples if we follow

entry for June 18th is bitter sweet. It indicates the closing chapter

of my stay in P.N.G as well as showing evidence of God’s mighty

I had a farewell afternoon tea for some of my friends. Anastasia came

with the children and it was a real blessing to see Marcus walking,

four or five weeks ago I had prayed for Grace. She was suffering

greatly from arthritis all down the left side of her body. At times

the pain was so great that she couldn’t even hold a pen. Praise God

above entry reminds me of an incident at the Principal’s house. My

Muslim friends had been nursing me at their home, when I was sick

with malaria. After criminals broke in I couldn’t bear to stay there

any longer and accepted the Principal’s offer to stay at his home,

till I was better. On the second night, I asked him how work had

that night, as I was too sick to sleep, God put it on my heart to

pray for the Principal. I was to ask God to fill the man’s hands with

His healing power and rebuke the arthritis, commanding it to leave.

The next evening I again asked the Principal how his day had been,

especially where his hands were concerned. The answer was, “good”

to both issues. I told him that I had prayed about his hands and God

had healed them. To that statement he just laughed, being a total

unbeliever. The response made me angry and although I was a guest in

his house I shocked myself and him, with my prayer before eating. (Of

course I had asked if I could say a prayer for my food.) As he

Lord my God I thank you from the bottom of my heart for healing

Richard’s hands, even if he doesn’t appreciate it, or believes in

my illness had made me unusually bold, I don’t know, but I just had

the urge to thank God. As the man sat stunned (with the food he had

cooked, almost becoming cold), I told him about some of the mighty

miracles God had performed. Four weeks later I asked him how his

that I replied, “God is a miracle working God isn’t He?” He

the end of May I gave four weeks notice to my employers. The constant

attacks on my life, plus the near fatal bout of malaria was just too

much. I know God sent me to that country and I loved being there. The

students, all adults, some even in their late forties and fifties

were a pleasure to teach. I made a lot of friends, both amongst the

nationals and the expatriates. Some found the weather too hot, but

working in an air-conditioned environment was pleasant and the swims

after work were very enjoyable. I would have loved to have stayed ten

years; most certainly I would have fulfilled my three year contract,

as it was I stayed only five and a half months. In that time I saw

more miracles than some people see in five and a half years or maybe

lesson of forgiveness is the greatest one God has ever taught me. In

my heart I said, “I can never forgive her.” Upon which God

“If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your

But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive

incident came about after my best friend had just abducted my oldest

daughter, with the help of her doctor friend in 1978. The doctor had

made advances towards me, which I rejected. My friend on the other

hand had been infatuated with him. Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t

interested. So, in order for him to get back at me for rejecting him,

he decided to tickle her ego and make her feel wanted by abducting my

a shock to pick up the phone and hear a man’s voice at the other end

saying, “You’ll never see your daughter again.” Next your

best friend gets on the phone saying the same thing. (Although the

police were called in, it was nearly three weeks before I saw my

do people always tell you what you don’t want to hear? Absolutely

furious, I told my friend that I could never forgive the person who

my better judgment I rang her and said, “I forgive you”

next few weeks were very stressful. If I saw my ex-best friend in the

distance, I would run into the opposite direction. If I saw her on

she rang and asked if she could visit me and bring her minister. I

decided to invite my minister as well. The minute I had opened the

door she wanted to hug me. I took three very quick steps backwards

minute they had seated themselves, I tore strips off her. After

letting all the hurt, anger and bitterness out, I looked at the

quivering, snivelling heap and I felt sorry for her, and apologised.

As I did so, all the hatred, anger, bitterness and animosity

minister commented on the fact that he now realised people need to

speak out their hurts. My friend and I became best friends again and

it was as if the incident had never happened. Only God can bring

when I pray with people, God will cause me to bring up the subject of

unforgiveness in their life. Unforgiveness is a blockage to

deliverance and healing. A perfect example was my friend Joy. The joy

had gone out of her life and when she walked into my place one day,

(I hadn’t seen her for about ten years), she looked more like a

corpse than a human being. Her body was riddled with bacteria. Her

intestines contained fungi which caused her stomach to swell. Besides

that she had problems going to the toilet. In one week she would

spend between $30 and $50 on medication, or health products – all to

holds a grudge against God. She also feels the world owes her

inviting Jesus into her heart and prayer, her health improved

tremendously. The change was visible almost immediately. Praise God

she was able to throw away her medication and health products. The

LORD says, “Come, everyone who is thirsty – here is water! Come,

you that have no money – buy grain and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk –

is free and so is the love of God and His blessings of healing, peace

you hold unforgiveness in your heart, you really need to ask yourself

if it’s worth the hassle. After all, the person who you are bitter

against doesn’t even know about it. Yet like cancer, unforgiveness

will eat you up. There are times when it is not humanly possible to

forgive somebody. In that case I suggest that the person having the

unforgiveness problem asks Jesus to help them forgive. At the same

a friend of mine, came close to dying because of unforgiveness. Being

ethnic, Joanne and her husband lived with his parents. The family and

cultural ties were so strong that Sam just wouldn’t leave his

parent’s house, even though his wife had begged him for nine years.

The cramped living conditions made life very difficult, but her pleas

to move out fell on deaf ears. Three years earlier Joanne, Sam and

his mother Margaret had become Christians. Life changed a little, for

September 1996, I went to visit my friends. To my surprise Joanne

acted strangely, almost as if she was drugged. The minute I sat on

the lounge, she positioned herself next to me, grabbed my hand and

begged me to pray for her. Briefly her family explained her strange

weeks before, Joanne had gone forward for prayer in her church. The

minister asked if she wanted the gift of tongues. She said yes. He

then told her that he had been given a tongue for her by God and she

Joanne repeated what the man had told her to say. Immediately she

felt an icy coldness through her body and severe pain shot down her

backbone. From that moment, she began to act strangely; obsessively

reading the Bible all during the day and at odd times during the

started to pray for her, but immediately she started to pray in

tongues. When I told her to stop, she looked at me with glazed eyes

and said, “Who are you?” (We had been good friends for four

decided to take her to my daughter’s place for prayer back-up. Once

we got there the situation worsened. Even though she had been filled

with God’s Holy Spirit for three years, she was insulting God,

screaming uncontrollably; said I had been created to serve her and

that the devil had written the Bible for her benefit. The screaming

reminded me of the incident of the demon possessed man from Gerasa

daughter and I agreed that prayer back up was necessary, so she rang

an elder from the C.O.C. church she was attending. He declined to

come. Then she rang the assistant pastor, who also declined, but

suggested that Joanne should make an appointment at some time in the

by 8 o’clock between Sonja and myself, we had managed to get a few

people together. The behaviour of two of the people was so

disrespectful to God, that I asked them to leave. By 11 p.m that

night the rest of us decided that we couldn’t go any further, so a

decision was made to meet at Joanne and Sam’s place the following

night at 7 p.m. and spend the day praying and fasting. I went home

with my friends that night, in case problems arose. They did!! By 4

the next night none of the people who had come the previous night

church had phoned earlier that day, stating that they could not go

In the end it was left to my daughter and myself to pray. By this

stage Joanne had been lying unconscious on the floor for fifteen

hours. My faith was sorely tested as I felt her pulse, which was very

faint. The choice was to call an ambulance and have her taken to

hospital, where she would have been locked up in a psychiatric ward

I commanded the demons to name themselves in Jesus’ name, they did

not respond. We prayed with all our might for three hours, but

nothing happened. As we sat back exhausted on the lounge, Margaret

suggested that we should put on a Christian praise tape. When a song

came on that said, “hand it over”, we knew that God wanted

us to hand Joanne, and the battle, over to Him. So we sat back and

relaxed. After a few minutes I jumped up, and pointing my finger at

Joanne I said, “You haven’t forgiven Margaret.” Instantly

there was a reaction in her rigid body and she opened her eyes. There

I then pointed my finger at her again and said, “You must

one stage she asked for a drink. We complied with her request and

gave her a glass with water. The minute she had the glass in her

mouth God warned me that the devil was going to kill Joanne by

getting her to bite off a piece of glass and swallow it. Praise God

the glass didn’t break, but it took three of us to get it out of her

decided to call Sam into the room. He had preferred to stay outside,

because of his lack of faith. I wanted Joanne to be confronted with

another object of her hatred. Finally one and half hours later I told

Joanne point blank that I was exhausted and if she didn’t make an

effort, telling those demons of hatred, bitterness, anger and

unforgiveness to go, I would just call an ambulance and have her

last she repeated the words after Sam, telling the demons to go. As

she had lain in her urine for twenty hours she needed a wash. It took

three of us to get her into the bath. Margaret in the meantime

prepared food for her. Finally my daughter and I left for home, by

11.30 p.m. that night. The patient was much better than she had been

when we had arrived, but I knew that the job had not been completed

next morning, while I was having a shower, God told me that the whole

family was to gather around Joanne and ask forgiveness for the way

they had treated her. For it was they who had brought on the hatred

and unforgiveness – which had turned from the fleshly, to the

told the family what God had shown me and as Joanne and I sat on the

lounge, each family member, starting with the husband, came forward,

fell on their knees and asked for forgiveness. As the family

asked for forgiveness, Joanne sincerely forgave them. At last the

power of the devil had been completely broken. Then the issue of what

had happened at the church and the satanic tongues had to be dealt

took Joanne through a prayer where she asked God to forgive her for

the blasphemy that had come out of her mouth – even though she had

been under demonic influence. The power of what had happened at

church was broken, especially the satanic tongue issue. The family

has since found another Holy Spirit filled church where they are

God for the mighty work He did in Joanne, for she was totally

delivered. Now eight months later she is still very happy and

healthy. The whole family has been reunited and Sam’s marriage is the

If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do

had to teach me to let go of unforgiveness, for my own sake. I can

all else fails, bear in mind that Jesus said, as He hung on the

cross, for six hours, “Father forgive them for they know not

what they do.” If a pin prick hurts, think how much pain Jesus

had to endure being nailed to the cross. The shame of hanging there

Jesus walked the earth He healed the cripple, the blind, the

epileptic, the deaf and the dumb. No disease or sickness was too big

or small for Jesus. The apostles followed in their Master’s

footsteps, and by the power of the Holy Spirit and the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ, many were healed and delivered from sickness and

disease. Over many years, due to unbelief by God’s people, miraculous

healings dwindled to the point, where they were no longer seen as

who are only religious and do not know Jesus personally feel that it

is God’s will for them to be sick. Yes, in some cases God allows

sickness in a person in order to draw them to Himself. Many people

only ever turn to Him when in need. Sadly to say that was the case

with me. The Bible also shows that God punished people through

when King Uzziah became strong, he grew arrogant, and that led to his

downfall. He defied the Lord his God by going into the Temple to burn

LORD struck Uzziah with a dreaded skin disease that stayed with him

best thing to do is to ask God if you have done anything wrong,

especially where unforgiveness is concerned and ask Him to forgive

8:1 Some time later Jesus travelled through towns and villages,

preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of God. The twelve

When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free

are also incidents in the Bible that show children being ill due to

15:22 A Canaanite woman who lived in that region came to him. “Son

of David!” she cried out. “Have mercy on me, sir! My

So Jesus answered her, “You are a woman of great faith! What you

9:20 They brought him to Jesus. As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it

into a fit, so that he fell on the ground and rolled around, foaming

“How long has he been like this?” Jesus asked the father.

healed the boy and told the father, “Everything is possible for

many years I have been healed and have seen many others healed. If I

am sick I claim Isaiah 53:5 praying, Oh LORD my God, Isaiah 53:5 says

suffered, made whole by the blows he received.’ I ask you now for the

healing or wholeness of …….. (whatever). I also command the

of the illness to go. Then I thank God for healing me according to

had been given a death sentence by the doctors. So serious was her

condition that she was medically retired by the Education Department.

The situation looked grim, especially as she was the mother of a

young child. Nothing to say of the agony her husband would suffer at

the loss of his wife. After prayer God miraculously healed her. All

praise and honour belong to Jesus Christ for His mighty miracle

knock on the back door wasn’t exactly welcome, for I was in the

middle of getting ready for work, and running late at that.

Nonetheless, I answered the door to find my landlord standing there,

is in hospital. She is dying.”

hasn’t been able to go to the toilet for twenty days. The doctors say

told the man that I would visit his wife that evening and closed the

door. As I walked towards the loungeroom, God said, “Rebuke the

I thought. So June is dying. I prayed as God had instructed and

night I waved a bunch of flowers at June. Always as subtle as a

sledgehammer, June told me she didn’t want the flowers, but my

prayers. I promised to pray for her on the night before the

operation. In the meantime I sought God’s help on how to pray. The

the spirits of the whip satan is sending out to break the bond that

Jesus has on her. Ask that God pour a burning mixture on that whip

and burn it, so that Jesus has total free reign in her. Ask that God

put His pace maker into her to control her heart, all her organs and

that all her bodily functions be co-ordinated fully. Pray that God

would give her the strength and will to fight through this. Ask God

to make her body – that part of the infection and decay – strong and

untouchable by further hurt from satan. Ask that God cover her with

His shield, His feathers, like a mother hen and that Jesus allow His

the operation I once again visited June. I impressed upon her that I

could do nothing for her, nor were my prayers of any use if she

didn’t call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Great Physician. I

took her through a simple prayer and she asked Jesus into her heart.

She also asked for forgiveness for her sins and the healing of her

following morning when the doctors operated, they found only one

large tumour, instead of the cancer, as shown by the X-rays. The

doctors could offer no explanation for what had happened. The next

step was to clean out the intestines. Once again I promised to pray

Jesus’ followers, 2000 years ago were commanded to ask for the

baptism of the Holy Spirit, how much more should that command apply

to us now. For that reason I took June through a prayer asking to be

filled with God’s Holy Spirit. The next day the operation ran

smoothly and a bag was placed on the outside of her abdomen to drain

the intestines. Miraculously within two weeks the bag was removed and

several weeks I was surprised to find the whole family lined up on

the driveway, waiting for me to come home. “Mrs. Mrs.”, the

landlord cried, “June is in hospital again.” Apparently she

had collapsed, because her bowels hadn’t been functioning properly. I

was unable to go to the hospital that afternoon, but promised to pray

are you June?”

“Great, great!” came the reply.

“Can you go to the

yes!”

had been the exact time I had prayed for her. My simple prayer being,

“Oh Lord my God please let June’s bowels function as perfectly

as on the day when you created her.” Praise God, June was

you ever seen someone whipped? The skin rash I was suffering from

looked like I had been whipped. The swellings were extremely itchy

and burnt as if a blow-torch was being held at my skin. Needless to

Bind the spirits causing the swelling and inflammation in Jesus’

name. Cover the rash with the blood of Jesus and say to satan that

the rash is cleansed and healed by the blood of Jesus. Ask God to

pour out Jesus’ precious blood over you. In Jesus’ name and the

authority of His holy and precious blood the rash shall then be

Keep on praying as I told you to and rebuke those spirits. Stand

before God and ask Him to pour His blood and healing power over you.

Ask God to cover every blemish, every bit of the rash and throw them

You must wipe the memory of that rash from your mind. Ask Me to

The importance of trusting God’s Word. His Word says that we have the

The constant emphasis on the mighty power of the blood of the Lord

… how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the

eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His

blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we

… “These are the people who have come safely through the terrible

persecution. The have washed their robes and made them white with the

the precious blood of Jesus the rash was defeated. Also since the

blood of Jesus washes our conscience and robes white; how much more

can it wash us clean from sickness and disease. Jesus most certainly

above Bible verses, plus Colossians 1:20 & 2:15 and Hebrews 2:14

the grandfather and mother of my student sat opposite me during the

parent interview, I informed them that the child’s progress was not

satisfactory. Their response shocked me. “Don’t you know he

suffers from haemophilia? That is why he is absent from school so

one of the rare occasions, when he was in class, I decided to pray

finally realised that the child hadn’t missed classes for some time.

I asked him how he felt. The boy told me that neither he, nor his

family could understand why he hadn’t needed a blood transfusion for

four weeks. Usually, at least one transfusion a week would have been

necessary. Also due to constant injections in the left arm, the

muscles had wasted away. He was totally amazed that I had prayed for

his healing and that God in fact had worked a miracle. Praise God,

when Jesus healed the blood condition, he also restored the muscles

had been suffering for some time from a skin rash. No amount of

medication had helped the situation, until God told me how to pray

that Jesus remove the dead layer of skin and take with it the

infection. Ask that Jesus would give him a new, more resistant layer

of skin. Pray that Guy may reach out and touch Jesus’ cloak and be

healed. Pray that the blood of Jesus cover every sore of that man.

Tell satan that Lazarus had many sores and persecutions, but he still

is truly wonderful, for the work done on this young man’s face.

Francisco, a year 11 student, came to Bible study one lunchtime. His

face horrified and disgusted me. Except for his eyes, his neck and

face were covered with big pussy pimples. He looked truly revolting.

During Bible study I couldn’t help but ask if he wanted prayer.

praying for the boy then and there, I asked God for a word of

knowledge. (1Corinthians 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the

the pins that satan has embedded in Francisco’s face, through which

all the poison is entering. Command that the pins be removed and that

the antiseptic of the Lord Jesus Christ fill the gaps. Ask that God

siphon all the blood vessels under the skin which have been poisoned.

Ask that God remove the impure blood from the cells and replace it

with the perfect blood of Jesus Christ. Ask that God wrap Himself

around the skin and protect it from all the environment and satanic

Within days there was a tremendous improvement in the boy’s skin.

I sat, or stood in one position for a while, it became very painful

to move my foot again. (Ezekiel 6:3) Ezekiel spoke to the mountains,

the hills, the gorges, and the valleys. He also spoke to the “very

dry bones” in the “valley of the bones” (Ezekiel

37:1-14). He commanded the bones to be covered with sinews, muscles

and skin, finally commanding the wind to breathe life into them. God

hold of your left foot and say in Jesus’ name, I take all the blood

vessels, tissues, ligaments, bones; everything that makes up that

foot and tell them to release that pain in Jesus’ name. Tell them

that you pour out the blood of Christ on that foot and that pain and

they can’t disobey, because they are dwelling within the temple of

God showed me a powerful truth in this Bible verse, Psalms 148:5&6

by his command they were fixed in their places forever, and they

bones, tissues etc., are created, therefore they cannot disobey a

command in Jesus’ name. As expected, my foot responded to the Word of

God and has never given me any trouble again. Also bear in mind that

used to suffer terribly from headaches – not anymore, praise God. The

the clamp on her head and ask God to unscrew that tension. Also ask

God that He would put a protective cap on her head to stop her from

getting further tension headaches. Also that Jesus would fill her

twelve years Marisha had been in and out of mental institutions. The

situation put tremendous strain on her husband and children. God gave

the spirits of depression, suicide and unwillingness to go on in

life. Ask God to fill her with the need to live. Ask God to allow her

to see the little she has done in her life and therefore make her

realise she’s lived too little of life. She’s only got one short life

and she shouldn’t lose it. Rebuke that which has a hold on her mind

showed me the following. Sometimes you have to state the number of

demons, in case you are not forceful enough during prayer. Saying the

number gives you more authority when you command the demons to go,

because it’s like you’re staring them in the face, commanding them

to go. An example is where a person is being prayed for in regards to

martial arts. Demons are always in a group which means the lead demon

is martial arts followed by anger, hatred, violence and murder.

a friend of my daughter’s, came to our home when he was 17. After a

day he came to me and asked if I could pray for his throat. Since he

was a little child he had suffered from swollen glands. At times they

would swell so much that he would have to be hospitalised and put on

a drip. At times his condition became so bad that he couldn’t swallow

his saliva. There was the constant fear that he would one day choke

don’t you just ask me to cut out the old diseased glands and give him

God! How easy!! Anthony, for many years now has been totally healed

abdominal operation had been simple enough. Complications set in when

the doctor accidentally cut the nerve to my right leg. I woke up from

more than a year I had to wear special shoes with a brace attached to

help me walk. Gradually the muscles wasted away and died. The leg

shrunk to 25 cm in circumference. On a daily basis I prayed to God to

heal my leg, finally after one year feeling returned and the muscles

started to develop again. Today my right leg is as normal as my left

leg. Only near the ankle is a small patch that has a feeling of pins

and needles. God told me this would be a reminder to me, of how he

hands were always hidden in his pockets. As he held the pen I

realised why; they were covered in warts. Warts grew upon warts, they

come and see me at lunchtime and I’ll tell you how to get rid of

those warts.” When he came, I offered to pray for him. His face

said it all; utter disbelief! I can’t remember what little prayer I

had said, but God had heard it, because three weeks later he came and

showed me his hands – not one wart was left. At first I thought he

was joking and maybe he had undergone a skin graft. However, he

assured me that a few days after I prayed for him the warts turned

same situation arose while teaching at another school. This time the

student even had a large wart growing on his eyelid; there were

others on his arms and legs as well. He was in a worse condition than

the child at the previous school. Once again I told the child that

Jesus could heal him from the warts. I prayed a simple prayer,

commanding the warts to die from the roots up. When Jesus commanded

the fig tree to die “all the way down to its roots”. I used

God He is faithful and continues to work miracles in people. We had

gone to a barbecue organised by my grandson’s football team. Together

with other parents my daughter and I took it in turn to supervise the

children. Sonja went downstream and I went upstream. Twenty minutes

the time I arrived people could be heard saying, “Oh no, she’s

broken her arm.” Somebody made a sling for the arm, for it and

I left the bottom of Macquarie Pass, Sonja tried not to cry and

begged me to pray against the excruciating pain, as well as praying

for God to heal the broken bones. Although the bones did not actually

come through the flesh, they were sticking out, as she had fallen

prayed as asked. After ten minutes of driving my daughter told me

that her shoulder, arm and hand had gone numb and that she felt no

we arrived at the hospital they laid her on a trolley. The doctor

examined the arm and Sonja heard him whisper to the nurse that he

to say while we had been waiting for the doctor to come and then for

The X-ray showed no fracture, chipped or broken bones. Also

miraculously the bones had gone back into place and the swelling went

down. The doctor upon examining the X-ray, having seen the arm,

could not believe his eyes. He prescribed a strong pain killer, but

as God had already given Sonja a sedative she didn’t need to take

even one tablet. Although there was no pain while the arm was held

still, the amount of pain or discomfort, when the arm was moved did

not warrant pain killers. Massive bruising came out on both the elbow

that evening some of the parents rang to see how things were. They

could not believe that there were no broken bones, but as I pointed

late September 1996, while visiting my daughter I met her friend Kim.

Due to an accident her arm had become paralysed. After four weeks of

everybody praying for her nothing had changed. Once back in Sydney,

while pottering around the flat, God spoke to me and told me to pray

next week while visiting my daughter’s place I happened to answer the

phone; it was Kim. To my surprise when I asked how her arm was, she

said it was perfectly normal again. Apparently the previous Thursday

she had been to the doctor in order to start electric shock

treatment. Just as a matter of course the doctor had asked if she

could move her arm even slightly. Incredibly, much to the doctor’s

and Kim’s amazement, she lifted the arm above her head. This had

prayer had been that the dead arm would come to life again. I also

prayed according to Ezekiel 37:4-8, where Ezekiel speaks to the

granddaughter Kristy had been born with an inturned eye. At the age

of four she was operated on and the muscle was tightened. Her

eyesight was so poor that the glasses she had to wear were the

thickness of a Coca Cola bottle. Over the years my daughter and I had

prayed to God to heal the eye that wasn’t functioning properly, as

few months before her tenth birthday she complained that the glasses

she was wearing were causing her vision to become blurry. Besides

that she was complaining about headaches. We all thought this was an

excuse not to wear glasses any more, as other children were teasing

her. To top it all off, the bad eye started to turn in, even if only

for a moment. So my daughter decided to book Kristy in to the

examination by the therapist showed that there was nothing wrong with

the eye. Even more amazing, when the eye sight was tested, it was

found that the vision had improved to such an extent that Kristy no

longer needed to wear glasses. The therapist’s verdict was backed up

had allowed the eye to turn inward, to force my daughter to take

Kristy to have her eyes checked, for the glasses she had been wearing

were not suitable anymore and were doing more harm than good.

had paid off, even if it had taken almost ten years. Praise God

homosexual man, classified as AIDS positive, was introduced to me. I

knew that the man was homosexual, but I didn’t know that he had a

death sentence hanging over him. As a matter of course I shared the

mighty miracles of Jesus with him. Later that night I prayed that God

following week when I spoke to him, he told me an amazing story. The

same night that I had prayed, he had also prayed for the first time,

since childhood. He had asked God to give him a second chance at

life. As he did so God spoke to him and said, “Marlies has

already prayed for you.” A few days later he decided to have

more tests done; they proved to be negative. I mentioned the fact

that God had been wonderful to give him a second chance at life. He

looked amazed and asked how I had known that he had asked God for a

two weeks later, God spoke to me about this man. I was to ask him to

give God the first chance to come into his life, considering he had

been given two chances. The news was listened to, but not acted upon.

Apparently the fear of man, and what other people would think of him,

if he became a Christian, was stronger than the gratitude for having

the few examples it is easy to see that no sickness is too big or too

small for Jesus and yet people die. The following two cases give an

girlfriend’s husband was dying from cancer. God gave me the following

that the molten blob be removed from his blood stream and that God

strain Evan’s blood through His sieve. Ask that he’d be filled with

the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and that Jesus would give him the

will to fight through this sickness. Ask that Jesus would give him

He doesn’t fully believe that God will heal him. Rebuke the feeling

that this problem is too big for God and the thought that it’s a

died; he put more faith in the doctors than God. Also if we are sick

rang to wish me a happy birthday; I wish she hadn’t. For almost 2

hours she argued why she should still listen to her meditation tape,

“Self Healing”, read “Positive Thinking” books

and generally put her faith in New Age ideas, instead of trusting

lunch while standing near the sink God said to me, “You see now

why I gave you the song, “I Surrender All” for her. I

hadn’t surrendered her New Age activities to Jesus Christ, yet she

have a fascination with the unknown, visiting fortune tellers, or

reading the horoscope. Others are fascinated with horror books or

movies, yet others become involved in séances and using the ouija

boards. Very few people accept that there are actually evil spirits,

much less that people are being controlled by them. Yet countless

times I have prayed for people and cast demons out in Jesus’ mighty

name. Evil forces on the T.V. screen are much easier to cope with

than evil forces in a person close to you, or the person down the

road. Non-Christians and some Christians have the mistaken belief

young woman in one of my classes, as a teenager had taken part in a

and I became friends after I helped her with some assignments, when

she was sick. On one of the occasions when she came to my home she

told me about some of the problems she was having, my answer was to

hand them over to God. She replied, “He is your God, he won’t

few nights later she was woken up to the sound of bongo drums and a

voice saying, “You’ll never find your God, you belong to me.”

Satan had obviously been eavesdropping on our conversation in my

she did ask Jesus into her heart. The evil spirit living inside her

did not appreciate the presence of the Holy Spirit, for soon

afterwards she would visit me with her left arm bandaged from the

wrist to the elbow. When I asked the reason for the bandages, she

simply replied, “Oh, I cut myself.” I understood this to

mean that she had hurt herself through a fall or some other accident.

While reading Mark 5:1-5, God revealed to me why Sandra’s arm was

Jesus and his disciples arrived on the other side of Lake Galilee,

As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, he was met by a man who came

and lived among the tombs. Nobody could keep him tied with chains any

many times his feet and his hands had been tied, but every time he

broke the chains and smashed the irons on his feet. He was too strong

Day and night he wandered among the tombs and through the hills,

I came to the words, “cutting himself with stones” God said

to me, “Sandra”. My immediate reaction was, “Oh no

a few attempts, I finally had the courage to confront her. The reply

I decided to ring my minister, so that he could come over and pray

we waited for his arrival, I asked Sandra to explain why she thought

she was possessed. Apparently at the age of fifteen she had

participated in a séance. Not believing that such things as evil

spirits exist, she had demanded for one to come into her life and to

reveal itself. Only then would she believe. Sadly the doubters always

want proof. Proof came in the form of a photo. While lying drunk on

the floor, somebody had taken a photo of her. Nestled in her blonde

hair, on her shoulder, was the face of a grotesque creature. Every

time Sandra was drunk the evil spirit would try to kill her – namely

the minister and an elder prayed for her, the spirit actually spoke

to Sandra; but refused to leave. Over the next weeks the whole church

prayed for her, but still the spirit kept trying to kill her. Finally

one day, her urgent voice pleaded with me over the phone, to come

my car was being repaired I asked my brother Klaus to drive me to her

place. Just as I was about to get into the car God told me to get the

what is the point of reading the Bible to a corpse?” I asked.

my brother, nor I, were prepared for the sight that met our eyes. My

friend stood in the kitchen, casually supporting herself on the

breakfast bar – normally white, now red with her blood. Her face,

neck and clothing were also covered in blood; there was even some on

the phone, curtains, wall and ceiling. For all that, her greeting was

unnaturally cheerful. The can of beer and broken bottle neck, said it

answering I placed my Bible on the freezer and told my brother we

needed to clean her up before we took her to the hospital. Because of

the tremendous blood loss, I decided to support her when we were

ready to leave. As my left hand held her right arm, I remembered to

take my Bible. At my request; my brother passed it to me. What

followed comes straight out of a horror movie. Her body became

twisted as if she was a rubber doll and a man’s voice spoke out of

her mouth saying: “Get away from me with that Bible; get away

from me with that Bible.” Sandra then proceeded to run through

the house dragging me behind her. A bull-terrier couldn’t have held

on tighter and all I could say was, “I rebuke you satan”,

over and over again. I didn’t even have the clearness of mind to add,

“in Jesus’ name”. In hindsight the scene must have looked

she came to her senses and we were able to leave for the hospital. As

satan didn’t want me to turn up, for, had she succeeded in committing

suicide, she would have sent herself to hell. God sets the time for

us to die, unless someone murders us and that also isn’t according to

His will. When it comes to dying a natural death, “He sets the

the drive to the hospital, Sandra’s constant worry was that I

shouldn’t pray for her while we were at the hospital. At that stage I

was happy to agree to anything. As we sat in the Casualty Department

of the district hospital, I couldn’t help but think of the whole

affair. In my mind I brought the matter before God, not even

realising that I was praying. “What is the blockage God? Why

hasn’t this spirit left her? The church has prayed, I have prayed,

what’s wrong?” At that moment, to the shock of my brother and

myself, a man’s voice spoke out of her mouth, hissing at me, “Stop

praying, stop praying, you’re burning me.” In shock, I stopped.

she was being attended to, I impressed upon my brother the need to

take the children out, once we got back home. I didn’t want them to

soon as Sandra entered my home, she ran out onto the balcony

screaming at the top of her voice, “I’m free, I’m free”. I

didn’t want the neighbours rushing out to see what was going on, so I

gently prised her fingers loose from the railing and led her into the

couldn’t help but ask, “How do you know you’re free?” “As

my arm was being stitched, I felt my chest tightening, restricting my

breathing. The top half of my body seemed to shrink and I found

myself gasping for air. Before the nurse could give me oxygen I

vomited green stuff all over the place. At that moment I knew the

spirit had left me. By the way, when you picked up the Bible at my

amazing that the spirit in Sandra should see the Bible in my hand

turn into a ball of fire and that is why it twisted her body and

spoke out of her mouth. To many people the Bible is just a book,

which is carelessly thrown onto the floor, or even used as a

footstool for filthy shoes at church. I know this is hard to

taught me an interesting lesson about respecting His Holy Word. My

habit was to read the Bible over breakfast. I was careful not to

spill coffee onto the pages, but other than that I saw no problems

reading the Bible during my meals. That is, until God convicted me

you speak to somebody with your mouth full and food dribbling down

months later, I visited a Christian Fellowship. One of the girls was

eating out of a tub of yoghurt, sitting on one half of the Bible,

while she was reading the other half. I shared with the group what

God had shown me. Immediately, I was classified a religious fanatic.

The next day however, one of the girls came and shared the following

night I was reading the Bible and God said to me:”

“Do

God revealed to me how His Holy Word, the Bible should be treated,

In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and

The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived

among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the

robe he wore was covered with blood. His name is ‘The Word of God’.

gaols are bursting at the seams, with people who have committed a

crime. Sadly there are many more people walking the streets

imprisoned by circumstances beyond their control, or of their making.

Jesus set Sandra free from suicide; He can also set people free from

alcoholism, rejection, homosexuality, lust, hatred, insanity, fear,

had been out on probation from Boga Road Gaol, when the police

arrested him for robbing a chemist. God, in His mysterious ways

allowed me to meet Paul and his girlfriend Julie, through an

acquaintance. The two offered to help me with the church youth group

I was running. Three months later, Paul told me why they had been so

obliging. He needed a character reference from a person with a good

job and good standing in society. According to him I seemed to fit

the bill. The longer however, that he had associated with me, the

more he began to realise that there was something different – the

words to me had been, “I want what you’ve got.” Joyfully I

told Paul and Julie that it was easy to get what I had; all you had

to do was ask Jesus into your life. The world we live in today is

very technical, complicated and confusing. There is nothing difficult

about admitting that we in ourselves are inadequate, have problems

and basically make a mess of our life. Only Jesus, if we allow Him,

prayer God literally changed Paul’s physical appearance. Before Paul

had asked Jesus into his heart his facial expression had been hard

and mean. He couldn’t bear for anybody to comment on his balding

head, or red hair. The red freckles didn’t vanish, but they now added

a soft touch to his face. The ugly tattoo of a Buddha, on his

stomach, unfortunately didn’t disappear, but the anger, violence and

hatred melted as quickly as snow in a furnace. In Paul’s case, the

cleansing furnace was God’s love. Before asking Jesus into his heart

Paul had often bragged how he had taken great delight in running over

cats, or dogs on the road, if they hadn’t been quick enough to get

out of the way. What a change to see him rolling around the floor,

playing with the children. He didn’t even mind having the few tufts

of hair pulled. The love Jesus had poured into his heart also helped

both Paul and Julie made a commitment to Jesus, they also decided to

make a more lasting commitment to each other. Within a few weeks they

months after Paul’s confession the matter finally came before the

court. I offered to go, as did the minister and half the church. Paul

was still sentenced, because God is just and we need to pay for our

crimes. Nonetheless, the sentence was only three years, compared to

as Jesus had changed Paul’s appearance, so He also changed his

attitude. He became compassionate towards other inmates and shared

with them how his life had changed. Programmes cannot change the

heart and character of a person, only Jesus can wash us clean from

our filthy life-styles and give us a new outlook on God and humanity.

extracts from letters, I received from Paul, while in gaol, show just

my dear friends and sister in the Lord. The Lord truly blessed me

when we became friends. My heart goes out to you and all Christian

friends. I look around me in these walls and I can see the hurt, the

anger, the waste of life. I can see the emptiness of these poor

souls. They hunger, but they do not know what they hunger for. Yet,

if I were to try and show them I would be despised. I pray that God

will give me a way. By His, and most of all Jesus’ strength, I can do

all things. The Holy Spirit comes, although it never leaves,

sometimes I feel so high, higher than any drug I’ve ever been on in

feel a love for these people when I listen to their laughter. Yet, I

know there is a great difference between us. Not that I am any better

– just that my sins are forgiven. The devil is all around me here and

remember that the Word of God is sharper than any two edged sword. I

have not got enough of the Word in me yet. But with the Holy Spirit

and Jesus I shall. I look at it this way: that a two-edged sword can

be broken if not handled right. I listen to the Lord at night, after

reading his Word. I pray for everyone and close my eyes. Then the

Lord takes me away in his hands broken and bruised, yet so soft and

is truly a wonderful God, our God, whose depths are beyond us all. I

saw the love of God in the court, in all my Christian friends. I will

stopped writing this letter for two hours while Joe read to me about

Job. I found the Word and insight beyond me. Yet it was in a way as

if a child could have understood it. I pray to fear him, to trust

him, no matter what the outcome. I want to be as gentle as a dove and

as brave as a lion. If I keep my eyes on Jesus, all things will come

to me. Praise God for the cell I’m in, with a window I cannot see out

would like to give my love to your Bible study. I suppose I do not

know a lot of them, but they are still my brothers and sisters in

Christ. So I pray they will grow and grow through Jesus and the Holy

Spirit. Tell the group that Jesus has made me feel so high sometimes,

that it makes LSD and all other drugs feel like Disprins. But at

other times I have fallen to the deck. It can only be me who leaves

this high. For Jesus will not leave me. I pray that the person who

this message is for will understand and trust in Jesus’ love. It is

hard sometimes as I have cried and broken down, something I would not

have done in my past, because of my hard heart back then. I have

found in here my heart was hard, but some of the hearts in here are

like steel. Yet the ones that are like this make the time in here

hope you will bear with me a bit. Last night or early morning, 3

o’clock, I felt that I should pray for someone, as well as others I

night, in my cell, Graham accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. I

have been witnessing in here and with the Spirit of Christ, I

received a great blessing as Graham told me today. I was witnessing

to another man called Fred and I feel in my spirit that he too will

accept the gift of life. Praise be to Jesus for letting me be a tool

long for Julie each day, but I know you give her my love. To all I

hold dear give my love as a brother, sometimes not a very good one.

Jesus will teach me many new and wonderful things. He has given me

association with Paul and Julie were to lead to 3 years of

visitations to five gaols: Long Bay, Goulburn, Silver Water, Bathurst

and Park Lea Maximum Security. Through Paul’s eyes the term gaol and

criminals took on a different meaning. I am not condoning the actions

of criminals, nor am I saying they should not pay for their crimes;

it’s just that now I no longer see them as statistics, but

learnt that inmates committed suicide due to despair and loneliness.

Paul pleaded with me to write to some of these inmates. In this way

we met J.R. When J.R. was transferred from Long Bay to Bathurst Gaol,

we promised to visit him during my holidays. Arrangements for

provided us first with two nights free motel accommodation, then two

nights accommodation at the boys’ college where he was house-master.

The generosity with which he greeted us was overwhelming. Jesus said,

assure you that anyone who gives you a drink of water because you

man gave to us, total strangers, a banquet. The table was laden with

many varieties of cheeses, vegetables, nuts and fresh bread. Just to

make sure that we wouldn’t go hungry Rod had ordered pizza and cheese

cake to be delivered as well. The children and I have never forgotten

this man’s generosity. Unfortunately, we haven’t forgotten the horror

old house we were to stay in was occupied by Rod, the Principal and

his family, as well as boys occupying a dormitory – the latter two,

now on holidays. The architecture indicated that the house would have

been built in the late 1800s. There was an old world charm, but also

guided tour of the house revealed some interesting facts, for there

was a well under one of the rooms where a dead body had been found.

It had never been established whether the death had been accidental,

suicide or murder. Rod’s reason for changing rooms in the house was

also interesting. While sick in bed one day, he had felt as if the

walls were closing in on him. Also the cupboard seemed to be coming

closer and closer, ready to squash him. There was obviously more to

visits to the gaol and the surrounding scenic spots, the days passed

pleasantly. J.R. was very happy to have us visit him. Soon three

other inmates were invited to the visitors’ area. To these four

inmates my children and I were the closest they came to having a

mother and sisters, especially in J.R’s case, since he had been

never asked the prisoners what their crimes were. Through the love of

Jesus I hoped that the vicious cycle of hatred, rejection and fear

would be broken. Jesus had turned my life around. I knew He could

second night at the college proved eventful. A friend of Rod’s had

arrived from Sydney to stay for a few days. In the course of

conversation, I shared with them the story about Sandra. The visitor

believe it, when I see it.” Little did he realise he would see

10 o’clock Rod invited me to see his room. Considering I had already

had a guided tour of the house the previous evening, including Rod’s

room, I decided there must be more to it than a simple invitation. I

Rod had closed the door, he slowly turned around and said, “I’m

I listened to you sharing the story of Sandra, I realised I have a

similar problem. I would like you to pray for me.” This

revelation did surprise me a little, but I took it all in my stride –

just as well we don’t know the future. With the words, “Rod I’ll

Malcolm’s surprise I asked him to take care of Rachael, while Sonja

and I prayed for Rod. As the house was built around a courtyard, it

was easy to cross from one room to another, as well as hear what was

going on. Little did Malcolm realise that his unbelief would be

sat in the chair by the desk, while Sonja and I decided to kneel in

prayer. To help my concentration, I closed my eyes; I try not to do

that anymore when I pray for somebody. For upon opening my eyes I saw

such horror as only seen in bizarre horror movies – only this was for

real. Yes, the body of Rod sat before us, but it wasn’t him. The eyes

were large round stones that glared at us. The face was white and

unbelievably evil, resembling granite. The evil which came from Rod

us became even more frightening. I didn’t know how to pray; so I just

called on Jesus and rebuked satan. As I commanded the spirit of

self-pity to leave him one single tear rolled down his cheek. Why

those words came out of my mouth, I don’t know, but at least there

I stopped praying from time to time, Rod reacted normally. At one

stage he told us that the evil spirit had told him to strangle both

of us, or throw things at us. There was something, however, which

prevented him from touching us. That “something” was the

John 4:4 But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the

hours wore on and both Rod and I became very weary. At one stage I

suggested that he should lie on the bed to get some rest. Although

the battle was spiritual it was affecting him physically. Every time

I tried to cast out the demon which was ruling him, his body would

change. At one stage his whole body became terribly twisted. As I

I thought in horror. My thoughts momentarily raced to a young woman

sitting in a wheelchair. Her brother had already died from some

disease, which had left his body twisted and his tongue speechless.

Now Lilly was fast going the way of her brother. “Lord Jesus are

you trying to tell me that Lilly is not sick due to a physical

condition, but dying due to a spiritual condition?” God told me

to tell the minister of her mother’s church to pray for the daughter,

for once the spirit of infirmity had been cast out; she would be

returning to Wollongong I spoke to the minister about what God had

shown me. Sadly he never prayed for Lilly and shortly afterwards she

died. Lilly’s younger brother, until after her death had been a

healthy young man. Yet a few months after his sister’s death he also

developed the same symptoms and eventually died the same horrible

death as his brother and sister a few years later. Apparently the

spirit of infirmity transferred from one person to the next at their

death. If only these people had been prayed for, Jesus would have

gladly set them free. Many times we suffer needlessly, if only we

I do digress! Back to Rod. By 12:45 that night, my strength was

failing and I could no longer pray. I guess Jesus was right when he

I prepared to leave his room he said in the sweetest, gentlest tone,

“Marlies, would you like me to show you the room where the well

is?” Immediately the Holy Spirit warned me with a very definite,

NO! Although Rod gave the invitation three times, the Holy Spirit

just as strongly told me to say no three times. God did not want me,

or my daughters murdered. The foul spirit that would not leave Rod

was a spirit of murder; it wanted to use Rod to kill us. Bearing that

fact in mind, Sonja and I decided not to go to sleep that night –

decided to move to the loungeroom. Malcolm and Rachael had

horror of the past hours was still with us, so prayer and praise

seemed like a good idea to help us stay awake. We froze in terror as

the door creaked and slowly opened and then closed again. All night

we heard footsteps, anticipating any moment that Rod would stand in

the doorway with a knife or gun. The hours passed slowly, kitchen

doors opened and closed, floor boards creaked, but no human form

the darkness disappeared and the dawn broke, we looked at the mist,

dancing like ghosts, outside the window. At least these figures we

could see. The ghosts who had partied all night in the house, we had

was hard to know how much Rod remembered about the previous night,

but he wasn’t as friendly as he had been when we first arrived. I

asked him why he had paced the floor boards so restlessly all night.

had taken Rachael and himself to the dormitory, where he had slept

with a baseball bat by his side. He was no longer in doubt that

had gotten into this sad state because he had played around in a

séance at the age of thirteen. As usual the children like so many

other people, believed that there were no evil spirits and that

séances don’t really work anyway. Well, the séance had worked and

the results were still with him ten years later when we met him. The

morning after the séance, Rod found himself lying on his back,

covered in rosary beads, crosses and Bibles. His friends were too

horrified to speak to him. Strangely enough they were covered in

bruises. Only months later was Rod able to piece some of the events

together. A spirit had taken control of him and he tried to kill his

friends. Séances are not to be meddled with, for they leave

will never forget Rod’s kindness; he wasn’t evil, rather that which

ruled him. I have prayed for Rod over many years. I know God will set

didn’t tell J.R. or the other inmates what happened at the college –

there was no point. This was our last day and I mentioned as much to

the officer at the reception centre. As we chatted the man asked if

we wanted a closer view of the inside of the prison. From the

visiting centre we passed through massive gates into the ‘neutral’

zone. I couldn’t help but compare the situation to the trenches and

“no-man’s land” in World War 1. Having crossed the neutral

zone we entered another set of massive gates. Judging by the layout,

reception committee was waiting for us. The inmates were openly

making crude remarks about my older daughter, who at that stage was

nearly eighteen. My maternal instinct boiled over, and softly I

whispered to the warden, “They are nothing but animals”.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t whispered softly enough for a prisoner heard

and shouted at the top of his voice, “Hey, she said we’re

nothing but a pack of animals.” Within seconds we were

surrounded. Bullies always feel the strongest in a group; even more

so when confronting a lone warder, a woman and two children. The

situation looked and felt extremely ugly. The thought crossed my mind

decided to confront the leader before he had a chance to rally his

group. I looked him straight in the eyes and said, “I felt sorry

the minute I made that comment, but I don’t appreciate my daughter

being insulted. The children and I go to gaols not judging who we

meet, we simply tell them about Jesus and treat them like human

boldness and speech surprised the man. He even looked a little

shaken. “Sorry lady, you don’t know what it’s like in here. We

climb the walls sometimes in frustration and helplessness. We didn’t

mean you and the children any harm.” The bomb had been defused –

don’t know who was more relieved: the children and I, or the warder.

Repairs from a previous riot had just been completed. With smiles all

convicts on hulks, moored on the Thames in the 1700s and 1800s would

have considered the cell we saw as absolutely luxurious. One inmate

had agreed to show us his cell. We climbed to the second storey and

were amazed to see the comforts of life, a television, stereo, books,

tablecloth and ornaments. On hindsight, I suppose he would have

doors of Bathurst Gaol closed behind us that Friday afternoon; but

not our continued association with prisoners. For many years Sonja

and I continued to write to prisoners around the state or interstate.

The following extracts from letters sent to me are an indication of

how necessary Jesus is in the life of a person, whether in or out of

bless you and keep you well. Thank you for your lovely letter last

week. You know it’s funny, but when you said it was sad that a person

as young as me is in prison instead of enjoying my freedom, I feel

that I am free for the first time in my life. Maybe not in a physical

sense, but in the spiritual. I believe that there is no benefit in

physical freedom without spiritual freedom and I have only found my

I do thank the Lord for my circumstances, (I just hope they don’t

last too long). Seriously speaking though, I was going from bad to

worse. I started by stealing, then I graduated to selling marijuana,

then moving on to having my own organisation of people selling drugs

for me. Finally I did the worst thing that any man can do to his

fellow man, I started to sell heroin. Thank God I was caught. I was

sentenced to three years prison and after serving eight months I

escaped with the intention of going to see my sister in Cairns and

then leave Australia, to go to Lebanon. Well, the escape was

successful and I was at large in Sydney for three months, trying to

of the way heading for Queensland I was travelling well in excess of

the speed limit, without being stopped by the police. When I got to

Townsville I increased speed slightly. You wouldn’t read of it, there

was a policeman stationed just out of Townsville, who should have

knocked off work ten minutes earlier, but he wanted to get one more

ticket before he went home. So guess who trundles past him doing a

lousy six kilometres over the speed limit! I saw him wave at me and

silly me not realising that he wanted me to pull over waved back at

him. So consequently he chased me. I panicked and took off and ended

up in hospital after an accident. Then it was off to gaol, where I

became a Christian. I believe God had a hand in my escape and

although I lost my physical freedom, as I said, I gained a greater

funny, but when you all came to see me, I realised that there was a

large part of my life that I had missed out on. I had sacrificed

love, compassion, friends, truth and God for lust, pain, hardship,

lies and a false god – money. Since becoming a Christian, I have come

was very, very happy to receive your letter, it was a great boost to

my morale. Letters in here are the closest thing to a person. I have

read your letter at least five times and as you already know, it is

easy to get to know people and understand them through the feelings

they bring out in their writings, especially with as much time to

ponder them as we have. Yes, the Lord Jesus has truly blessed me with

friends for my wife and myself. I am getting there, as they say,

‘slow and steady wins the race’. They must have been God’s words,

because they are words of patience, something I normally have been

very short of, but now seem to be able to find plenty with the help

November 1984 after being released from gaol for the second time I

went to church with my brother-in-law who was a Christian. I went

there expecting that nobody would have anything to do with me. At

first I wanted to leave, but something told me to stay. After going

there for some weeks I asked the Lord Jesus into my heart and a week

later I was baptised, it was so beautiful. I don’t know how to put it

into words. The Lord gave me many Christian friends to talk to and

ask for help in my daily walk with Him. We would go away on Christian

camps; that I loved. I started to love the things I was doing for the

the fellowship I met a girl called Helen who I liked very much. She

had a young son, who I grew to love. Because I didn’t want to lose

Helen, in case she didn’t feel the same way, I didn’t tell her how I

felt. I also knew an older woman called Cathy. She was very

beautiful. She wasn’t a Christian. I had met her at a club. I was

trying to walk in my faith with Jesus, hoping to interest Cathy, but

she didn’t want to know. I knew I really loved Helen but I felt I

couldn’t risk involving her in my life. I tried to walk away from

Cathy, but she would contact me and I would go back. I was so mixed

as a Christian I was haunted by memories of my past life and that

caused me much distress. During my first spell inside for armed

robbery I was brutally raped at knife point by an older man. It

happened over a three day period. Afterwards the nightmares, the

shame and the guilt drove me to repeated suicide attempts. I have

tried to have normal relationships with girls, but the rape

nightmares keep coming back. I started drinking heavily to try to

April 1985 when I had only been a Christian for six months, my

brother-in-law died. I had again lost someone very close to me. He