Mediterranean Trip October 2018  

Our first taste of cruising around Italy, Malta and Greece. A lovely experience and welcome last taste of summer weather before the sudden onset of cold weather that greeted us back in the UK!  

There were some special opportunities that opened up on the ship to talk with various folk and give prophetic encouragement or just talk about Jesus.  A wonderful healing too.

I had connection with two passengers in particular – Jean and Carol, neither of them believers.  Jean is American, Carol Canadian. I shared a prophetic word with Jean about seeing her collecting books (the ones I saw were cookery books but it could be any books) and how Father God loved that she loved to do that.   She told me that it wasn’t cookery books but she does work in a library and collects books for the library!  I could sense she was a little bristly about things but I had opportunity to share another word about physical healing needed in her family right now and that if she would ask God, He would bring healing where it was needed in her family. She seemed to know what this meant though did not share it with me.  She thanked me and we parted.

Carol was a lovely chatty Canadian lady.  We talked about all kinds of things, politics, different cultures, visiting Canada! At one point we were talking about the Muslim culture and Carol asked me if I knew any Muslim people myself.  It opened up an opportunity to talk about towns near me where I love to go and pray for Muslim folk, encouraging them with God words and praying for their healing.  I gave some brief testimony about this and she was genuinely interested.  

We got onto topics like Creation and suffering . I didn’t even try to pretend i knew when God created the world or in what time span - but just said one thing I have found is true – God is really, really good and He is not the one behind the disasters and pain on the earth. He is the one who comes to mend and heal the brokenness. Through Jesus His son in His death and resurrection. And now through us, if we will let Him.  It was very natural and easy to talk about how amazing Jesus is.  Bring that back to Carol’s mind and heart again and again, Holy Spirit, and place those around her who can take her further on in her faith journey toward you. 

I had opportunity to pray for a Pool attendant called “Sam” after giving him a word of knowledge to do with his family and who Jesus wants to be for him in his circumstances.  He talked with me and actually became quite emotional as I prayed for him. He received a lot of encouragement from the brief encounter and when I saw him the next day  gave me a big, beaming smile and said he was doing well after I had prayed for him.  I don’t think he is a believer yet – though he told me that back in India he had lots of Catholic friends and I think had been at catholic school.  

There was also opportunity to release words of knowledge and encouragement to some other crew members on board ship.  One was a delightful Phillipino girl “Mabel” who said “You cannot know how true those words are for me right now and how much I needed to hear them”.  She was such a darling and I couldn’t help but give her a big hug right there in the restaurant!

 My favourite encounter was actually on land – in Athens.  I had just been browsing around some street stalls and was on my way back to meet Duncan in a coffee shop.  I passed a sort of antiques shop where the owner was outside, watching the world go by. He asked if I had done all my shopping and we had a general chat during which he told me how he had lived and worked in London at one time and how fond he was of England – even the cold and damp!! 

One of his arms was in a sling and when I asked him about it he explained he had been knocked off his motorbike by a car and had already had six weeks of the sling to help the tissue reconnect.  I asked if he had any pain and he pointed to an especially painful area of his shoulder – (about 6/10 pain that particular day).  I explained how I pray for people and Jesus takes their pain away and he gladly accepted my offer to pray for him.  I prayed briefly and asked if he was feeling anything where my hand was….”Yes! It feels really warm!”  I didn’t even get to ask him to try his arm out – he just did it himself, saying over and over “It’s amazing…it’s amazing! (Actually with his great accent it was more like “It’s amezzing”!)

He reached his arm right up and back, behind his neck - something he hadn’t been able to do since the accident. He was in tears as I explained how Jesus had done that just because He loves him and wants to do life with him. “Ah, Somebody has sent you” he said, glancing up at the sky. “I’m going to take this sling off “ he declared – and when I spotted him later he was still standing outside his shop but without his sling on!   Sweeet!   His name is Nikolas.  Perhaps if you are reading this you would pray for this dear Greek gentleman.  I told him to go and tell his friends what God had done and that He is good.  “Oh yes I will!!”  Yay God!  

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