Restoring the healing ministry in COVID times

In these Covid times, restoring the healing ministry is more important than ever. The Canadian Order of St Luke the Physician (OSL) offers training for Canadians in healing the sick. OSL believes that healing comes through both medicine and prayer. 

We were first introduced to OSL when Ed lost his voice in December 1980 for eighteen months.  Through a rare viral throat infection, he had developed spasmodic dysphonia, causing intermittent over-closing of the vocal cords. To avoid permanently losing his voice, a specialist recommended that Ed leave the local church where he was serving as an Anglican priest.  Janice was pregnant with our first child when Ed lost his voice.  You can imagine our shock when we discovered out that we had no long-term disability benefits.  Miraculously, God met our needs over the next twelve months as we learned for the first time to bring the full tithe into God’s storehouse.

Janice’s father, the late Rev David Cline, was serving as Warden/Director for OSL Region 12, covering BC and Yukon. You can imagine how motivated we were to hear about the healing ministry.  During this painful season, Ed read over sixty OSL books about divine healing. The Lord said to Ed in prayer “I have heard you.  I am healing you. Hold on to my love.” Eventually, due to throat surgery at Vancouver General Hospital and a twenty-four-hour prayer vigil, Ed’s voice was restored on May 25, 1982.  

God then led us to St Matthew’s Abbotsford, a booming church in renewal that deeply valued the OSL healing ministry. Along with Archdeacon Jack Major, Ed became an OSL Chaplain to a vibrant local OSL Chapter.  St Matthews which held renewal missions twice a year, brought in many speakers who taught and encouraged us to pray for healing.  

After moving to St. Simon’s North Vancouver, we similarly hosted renewal missions for twenty-five years.  Healing became central to every service that we held at St. Simon’s so that prayer teams were always available to pray for those needing healing.  

Over the last number of years, we have reconnected with Rev Keith Bird with OSL Canada.  He regularly interviews people on Zoom about keys for healing.  We recently did a digital recording for him on healing your marriage. Daily forgiveness of one’s spouse brings miraculous healing.  Dr. Gary Chapman’s wonderful book The Five Languages of Apology shows how heart-felt apologies can transform one’s marriage and family.  Sometimes it is not enough to just say that we are sorry.  We need to admit that we are wrong, make restitution, practically change, and even ask for forgiveness.

Rev Keith is active at St Luke’s Anglican parish in Calgary which has recently published a FREE eBook (PDF file). Download by clicking here. The book includes more than 100 pages of testimonies and inspiring articles on healing.  Readers of the book are asked to share the download link at http://www.healingconference.info/ to encourage others.  This digital book offers coverage of the in-person 2019 healing conference, including details of the workshops and access to recorded keynote talks. We pray that this eBook can be an encouragement to you in these difficult COVID times.  Jesus Christ our Great Physician is the same yesterday, today and forever.