Getting the Word Out

by Francis MacNutt
Nov/Dec 2010

When I first began to pray to heal the sick in 1967, I was regarded as unusual. "Are you a faith healer?" was the incredulous question I was sometimes asked.

So much has changed for the better since those days. Although not all priests and ministers have learned to pray for healing the sick, there are now many who hold healing services or who visit hospitals and pray for the sick. The entire scene has changed, and we at Christian Healing Ministries are very grateful to be part of this wonderful, extraordinary wave of change. And so the good news is that many Christians — including lay people — now pray with expectant faith for healing.

What is still needed, however, is for all Christians, the successors of the 72 nameless disciples sent out by Jesus, "He made them welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing" (Luke 9:11B), to realize that this happy privilege of healing the sick belongs to them. As you know, this is the basic mission that Christian Healing Ministries proclaims and teaches.

Nevertheless, the ordinary accepted understanding of most Christians in our day is that the age of miracles is now past. This disbelief is reflected in the delightful book, Children's Letters to God. One letter states: "Dear God, how come you did all those miracles in the old days and don't do any now? — Seymour"¹

As Jesus saw it, healing was destroying the rule of evil upon the human race and was a sign that the kingdom of God was now "at hand." Our exciting mission at CHM is to become empowered by the Holy Spirit and to bring in the kingdom of God. Our ultimate goal is to make the kingdom of God a reality in our world.

To make this happen we believe that God is leading us to BUILD A NEW HEALING CENTER!

This mission is urgent and we believe that God has given us this mission! We are really excited as we now move forward to build our new healing center! Those of you who have visited Christian Healing Ministries recently and had to find parking two blocks away certainly realize our need for a larger facility. Even on not–so–busy days, our parking lot fills up quickly and the rooms for ministry are cramped. Our devoted CHM staff members work in crowded quarters because we have no more room to expand. Frequently, staff offices double as ministry rooms. For many years we have desired a place where we could adequately take care of all the people who come to receive prayer for healing or who want to be trained in in–depth healing prayer know more about in–depth healing prayer.

But the need goes beyond just having a larger space; we believe an international, interdenominational center is necessary. This new center will be a visible sign which proclaims that Christians believe that God still miraculously heals the sick.

What we hope to create is a holy place, a sanctuary, where everyone who is suffering can come and pray to receive God's healing power. We trust that it will is also be a destination where people will experience a special sense of God's love and experience healing just by being in God's presence. What we know, beyond a doubt, is that many wonderful healings already take place through prayer, even in our very ordinary surroundings.

Someone who has experienced great healing from CHM is one of our friends Barbara Holmes. I am presently editing a 40–page manuscript written by Barbara, who describes the extraordinary number of healings (forty or so) that she and her family have received during the past 20 years. Our strong belief is that the number of healings that Barbara has received should be a normal experience and not rare!

We share these things because we believe so strongly in healing prayer and because we also believe that if there were a special healing center, a visible sign of our expectant faith that God still heals today, people would be extraordinarily blessed.

Our hope is that you too will be stirred by the vision of this new center which will stand as a visible sign of our belief that Jesus still heals the sick. This is not an impossible dream. With your prayers and your support, it will become a reality!

My hope and prayer is that we will always be strong in affirming Jesus' desire to heal the wounded and suffering members of our human family! And that includes all of us.

Please join us!

¹The New Collection, compiled by Stuart Hample and Eric Marshall, Workman Publishing. New York, NY, 1991.

Francis MacNutt is a Founding Director and Executive Committee member of CHM.