Dear Friends,

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:1-3).

More than ever this year, we at the Jesus Kitchen felt as if this passage was true of our trip to the Gathering. Below is just one of the many stories I could share about our time there.  I hope will encourage you.

“I’m going to try something I haven’t done before!!”
With that excited statement, John Fox (who has not only given us permission to share his name, but has encouraged us to do so) took off running down the meadow, jumping over logs and telling everyone in sight what God had just done. John had become a friend of ours during our first few days at the Gathering. Suffering from seizures and other effects of losing part of his brain in an accident, he was nevertheless one of the most simple-hearted lovers of Jesus we had ever met. On this particular evening, he had been in the main meadow for a worship time among multiple Christian kitchens, and as one of our team members prayed for him, he realized that his knee—which had had a plastic cap held in place by pins—was suddenly able to bend in new ways. In awe, he said, “I can’t find the pins! And the kneecap is different!” He is going to be getting x-rays to confirm the fact that God replaced his plastic kneecap with a real one. The next morning, he came to our camp telling us that he had woken up without back pain for the first time in 26 years and couldn’t find the pins that had been in his back either. That same night in the meadow, three people who had legs of significantly different lengths watched as their shorter leg grew out to match the longer one. Many followers of Jesus got prophetic words about other ailments being suffered by people there—from sore backs to a broken toe to cerebral palsy—at least some of which we know were healed. Earlier in the week, a woman on our team who had suffered from fibromyalgia for the last two years and has been on huge doses of narcotic pain medication was healed and stopped taking her meds.

Upon our return, our pastor pointed out that so often we pray that what happens in church will be experienced on the street, but this time, we are praying that what happened at the Gathering will be experienced in the church! God is moving in amazing and powerful ways, and we expect to see more of this as we seek him with greater faith and expectation. We do not desire miracles for the sake of miracles, but rather that God’s glory would be made known and his powerful love experienced by those who do not know him.

A few brief prayer requests:
~We are going to be starting a study of the Gospel of Luke at House of Hope. Please pray for wisdom and insight as I study the book and prepare to teach from it.
~Please pray for continued growth and unity within the House of Hope team, that we would know what God has next for us and that he would give us his heart for the people in this neighborhood. Please also pray for me as I continue to learn how to lead well and “shepherd” the people involved at the church.
~Finally, please pray for my times alone with God. I am sensing a great need to go deeper with him, and I do not want to miss out on what he has for me. I particularly need your prayers in balancing my time between the things that need to be done and the time I need to spend simply seeking God.

Thank you so much for your partnership in this work. We could not do it without you!

Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong!

Molly S. Waggoner
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