Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1920-03-25
MANY IOWA PEOPLE
HAVE BEEN HEALED
HUNDREDS FROM MIDDLE WEST
FLOCK TO COUNCIL BLUFFS
TO MEET GREAT HEALER

Invoking the living presence OF
Christ in the church to heal the
body, as well as the spirit of his
stricken petitioners, James Moore
Hickson, famous London church
man, Tuesday laid hands" in pro-
fessed healing upon 500 sick, MAIN
ed, halt and blind men. women and
children who gathered at st. Paul's
church in Council Bluffs, from all
parts of the middle west.
! Half as many more waited out
side the closed doors of the church
from eight o'clock in the morning.
for the second healing mission,
which began about noon. Autos
were parked>for blocks around the
church.
"If 1 did not believe Christ was
here in this church, / would not
dare lay hands on you. 1t is, God
himself, not I, who has this power
10 cure your body. God uses me
only as the channel through which
He effects His cures. AS rule,
the cure is gradual" Hicks6n ex-
planned in his brief foreword. God
is limited by what you can perceive.
This healing is not test of what
God can do, it is test Of you and
your faith
Only the pitiful plant OF help
less child, a woman's weeping and
now and then deep sob which rose
to a mans lips, broke the dead
stiffness in the edifice as each
stricken person bent eagerly for
ward TO catch the words the healer
uttered.
Nobody wants to see you we'll as
much as Christ does. No mother
can wish you free from suffering
more than He does. This healing
is not new. 1t Is Christ's work OF
old. 1t is the church's work: When
the day of judgment comes soon, the
question will be asked, why did
you not bring the suffering to .me?"
he exclaimed, in seeming rebuke to
the churches for not devoting more
attention to healing.
Then the healing mission began.
To the strains of soft organ
music. Forget your own troubles,
be unselfish," he exhorted gently.
"Pray for the one next to you and
God will help you in the measure
that. you pray for Others"
"I shall go to those in the invalid
chairs first, then to the little chill
dren. I shall not depart until ]
see you ALL" he said as he came for
ward and descended the stairs from
the altar.
He went first to stricken woman
whom he asked to remove her hat.
When she did so, he laid his hands
on her head, uttered prayer aud
ible only to herself and passed on to
the man next to her. Rectors of tn
Episcopal faith followed close be-
hind him, praying and making the
symbol OF the cross before the per-
son upon whom the healer had laid
hands.
Heal inwardly, even as these
bodies are outwardly Amounted by
this touch" Hickson prayed.
A boy of 10 tottered up the aisle
on crutches in the lead Of the halt
and MANNED. Parents carried in
fants in their arms, sons carried par
ents, blind were led forward by
crippled-each vibrant with fresh
hope.
AS the healer passed on, ushers of
the church led and carried the sup
plicants from the church, some bent
and weeping, some with glad smiles
ard shining eyes.
Feel better? I certainly do"
exclaimed Donald Haight Of Oakland
with a broken back.
"He seemed to know Just what
my trouble was for he put his hand
on my spine," said Ray Bonham OF
Crescent, Iowa, another wheelchair
patient.