Hundreds respond at Norwich healing meeting
 By Keith Morris
Hundreds of people from dozens of churches attended a Healing Encounter meeting at the Open Venue in Norwich on Wednesday night (February 9) led by worship leader Dave Bell and evangelist and healer Roy Todd (pictured right).
Of the 600-strong audience, dozens felt they had received a healing touch from God, after prayer from Roy, and over 50 made a commitment to Christ.
Dave Bell and the 11-piece Grapevine Band (pictured above) led worship that resembled a rock concert with electric guitars, dry ice, flashing lights and a multi-media show.
Dave then told how he had survived a rare cancerous tumour of his right eye when a teenager, through the skill of doctors and the power of God. Even though he went through lots of chemotherapy and radiotherapy he has now fully recovered and 18 months ago amazed his doctors when he became a father after his wife Sarah gave birth to their son Jackson.
A healing touch for Chris
Chris Callaghan, families and children’s worker at Wroxham Road Methodist Church, was one of those who spoke of his healing on the stage at the end of the Healing Encounter event.
Chris was out running three years ago – and the next day was left in absolute agony with an injured knee. For over two years he was given physiotherapy which did not clear it up. Three months ago he was eventually given an MRI scan which showed a clear tear in the meniscus on his knee ligament. He has not been able to bend his knee right back for two and a half years and is now awaiting a keyhole surgery operation on it.
Chris said: “I was prayed for by my minister Rev Nigel Fox and a team of prayer ladies from my church the day before the event and I kind of knew that something had started. I knew that I had to come to the Healing Encounter event and that God was going to do something for me.
“When Roy asked for people to go to the front I got myself right with God really and then held my hands out in front of me in anticipation of God doing something.
“I did not feel anything twinge or snap back or anything but I just knew that deep down my leg was ok and the best way of testing it was to bend my leg. I could go right the way back for the first time in two and a half years. I went up on the stage to testify to it and the knee was painless and I could even jump up and down with it.”
Two days later, Chris said: “That night and the day after, the pain initially got worse! It ached a lot at first but the pain has gradually calmed down and it still feels stronger than it has done for a long while. I am sure God has blessed me but I know that I now need to do my bit, which is to strengthen the muscles around my 'repaired' knee. With that in mind, I took my son to school on Friday on my bike and it felt really good. "Have I been fully healed? I don't know yet. I know I have definitely had a healing touch from God: sometimes Jesus healed fully, sometimes he healed in stages, but it is Him who has done the healing as I have continually asked for prayer. I want to make sure I look to the heal er, rather than the healing; then I will be in good hands!”
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Irish evangelist Roy Todd preached on the Jesus manifesto from Luke, chapter 4 - preaching good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, release for the oppressed and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favour.
“I believe that people will talk about this night for years to come,” said Roy. “I believe that healings and miracles will take place in Norwich as the city has the favour of God on it.”
Hundreds of people went forward, when invited by Roy, for prayer for healing.
One of the event organisers, City Church pastor, Philip Thorne, said afterwards: “It was great. One of the exciting things is that there is a collaboration of churches really beginning to partner together in a way in which we have not seen before in the city - with a desire to see God break out in new and exciting ways, particularly in the miraculous.
“One of the exciting things that came out of tonight from Roy was that he believes something exciting and powerful is going to happen in the city. That many people are going to get saved and people are going to get healed.
“What was really great about tonight was not a one-off event but it is one of many things which we are going to be doing in the future to do with the supernatural power of God -because we all need to see a breakout of that.
“Lots of people got up and testified to healing. Lots of people talked about pain in their bodies that had gone. One man with Parkinson’s believed that God had touched him and he was healed. There were other people who had a pain in the head, or asthma, arthritis and a girl with a heart condition, who all testified to a touch from God.
“As Roy said, some healings are instant and others take time. It is not about whether we can prove that somebody has been healed but about whether that person has a testimony that the pain has gone - that’s the important thing. It might take a while for us to see the fruit of somebody’s healing,” said Philip.
“Why is it that some are healed and others are not? If we are honest there are many things we do not know or understand about God. If we could fully understand Him, He would not be God.
“One thing we know for certain is that Jesus Christ didn’t turn away anyone. He healed everyone who approached Him for a spiritual or physical miracle. His name is Jehovah Rapha, I AM the Lord that heals. We need to believe and trust Him for that healing continually, just as Jesus teaches us to go on asking, go on seeking and go on knocking, with the faith that we will receive, we will find and the door will be opened to us," he said.
City churches and ministries partnering together for the event included Norwich Family Life Church, Eternity, City Church, TLC, Witard Road Baptist, Wroxham Road Methodist, Transforming Norwich, Call to Prayer and Norwich Youth For Christ.
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