Genre: Opinion/Argumentation

Dear Ishmael Please may I thank you for the children's celebration on Wednesday ( ? ) of Week 1 of Spring Harvest this year : the celebration at which you and others prayed for healing for those there . I was there and I was healed . I have n't told anyone about this yet , because for the past couple of weeks I 've been too scared to hope that it could really be true . But it is . I was standing at the back , because a botched operation on my knee when I was 13 had left me with a weak right leg and a small degree of disability . All that standing up and sitting down the previous couple of evenings had been a bit too much . I was also feeling fairly vulnerable , because I 'd just had a row with my chalet-mates . God uses some strange ways to prepare us for meeting Him . One person spoke about depression , and I wondered if that could be for me , but it did n't feel ' right ' - I 've suffered from depression , but am coping with it quite well right now . Then ( I think it was ) you said that someone had a pain , or a problem , with their right leg . And what I heard was , " Jesus wants to heal you . " Jesus actually WANTS to heal me . I do n't think anyone saw but I just stood at the back of the room and could n't stop the tears pouring out . I do n't have the words to describe what I felt , or how I fell now in remembering it , but I was completely overwhelmed . I walked out of the room , to go to the Big Top celebration , limping as I usually do – and then I realised that I did n't need to limp . I tried out walking like other people walk – and I was walking evenly , and without pain . I was so scared I almost went straight back to the chalet , to hide . I do n't know from what . After the celebration I walked through the site , not wanting to go ' home ' – just wanting to walk , to see if I could make it hurt again . I could n't . I work out at the gym a lot , on medical advice ( I certainly do n't torture myself for fun ! ) . Walking the treadmill has been agony – I 've simply had to work through the pain , because it 's something I am required to do by my doctor . Since getting back from Spring Harvest , I 've been to the gym almost every day , and have never once felt any of the pain I used to live with all the time . My right leg is weak and gets tired , but I can see even that starting to change now . THERE IS NO MORE PAIN ! I 'm still frightened to believe it , in case it turns out not to be true . But it is true , is n't it ? Which is why I want to thank you , in completely inadequate words . After 29 years , I can walk freely again . I am not a good person ( I have some nasty stuff in my past that Jeff , who is surely one of the kindest and most compassionate people I 've ever met , is helping me sort out ) , but Jesus has stepped right into where it hurt and He has healed me . I do n't understand it – I certainly do n't deserve it – but it 's happened . I think I 've caught a glimpse of what Paul means when he talks about praising God continually . I suppose I should tell people , but I do n't know how . I 'm afraid they wo n't believe me – my disability was not always particularly marked . But I know it 's true , and my gratitude to Jesus is without measure . I do n't know yet how to thank Him , but I shall find a way . Thank you as well . Thank you so much .