By Lauren Nelson
For the second year in a row, a team from YWAM Harpenden ministered to hundreds at the prominent Mind Body Spirit festival — a showcase for “innovation in the world of natural healing and personal growth.” It is the largest, longest-running event of its kind. The YWAM team offered “creation prayer” at their booth, a form of prayer where they listen to the Holy Spirit for specific words about God’s original design for a person.
“We really learned about God’s authority and power in a realm that sometimes we’re not very aware of ourselves,” said Hayley Bullen, who organized the booth. “Over six days, we prayed for about 400 to 500 people at the stand, gave away over 100 Gospels of John, referred about 200 people to the Alpha course, saw numerous physical healings, and watched as seven people made a decision to follow Jesus.”
It was easy to point people to Jesus, said team member Seth Dunham, because so many people at the festival were open about where they were on their spiritual journey.
“One of my favorite times was talking with a Reiki healer. She was telling me about how she talked to angels, and I asked her if she would like to go straight to the source and talk to God. She said OK, so we sat there and listened, and she got to hear God for herself,” he said.
Forever team member Dondi Carter recalls an encounter she had with a woman named Dena*: “I got a really clear picture in my mind of her surrounded by boxes. She was crying out for help, and didn’t know where to go. It turns out her entire house is filled with boxes right now as she’s divorced. I really felt like God was just saying that He loved her. She said she wanted that ability to just talk to God like we were doing. She said, ‘Wow, I wish I had that!’ We told her, ‘Guess what? You can have it!’ We prayed with her and she accepted Christ! As she was leaving, she said, ‘For 8 or 9 years I have been searching for something, trying all these different things. Who would have thought that the answer was so simple as Jesus?’”
Bullen said the incredible response was a result of lots of prayer and reflection on what God wanted for this year’s festival.
“Spiritually, a lot of prayer went in to this time. We didn’t want to assume that God was going to do the same thing He did last year. We didn’t want to barge ahead with what we knew how to do,” Bullen said.
One of the key changes this year was follow-up for those who were interested in learning more about Jesus and Christianity.
“This year we partnered with Alpha [Course], who allowed us to put their Website on our contact cards,” Bullen said. “We also knew we needed Bibles, or a portion of the Bible to give away. We ended up giving away over 100 Gospels of John, not just to anyone, but to people who really wanted them.
Despite the many healings and words of knowledge that the team received throughout the festival, the most powerful thing was seeing God’s love for the festival goers.
“I got to see how much God loves people, and how He chases after them,” Dunham said. “No matter how many times I prayed for people, and got all these incredible words, in the end, I just felt God saying over and over how He loved people, and wanted a relationship with them. So many great things happened, but in the end, it was simply, ‘I love you.’