Waiapu Church Gazette. Wednesday, August 1st, 1923. Spiritual Healing Mission.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XIV, Issue 1, 1 August 1923, Page 290

Waiapu Church Gazette. Wednesday, August Ist, 1923. Spiritual Healing Mission.

WONDERFUL RESULTS.

REMARKABLE STATEMENT BY BISHOP OF BATHURST. N

The following impressive statement regarding . Mr Hickson's spiritual healings mission at Bathurst, N.S.W., was written for the. Sydney "Daily Telegraph" by the Bishop of Bathurst (Dr. Long) : — These notes are written from the point of view of one who is convinced that the power of God was working m the mission, and are written for those who accept the Christian faith that prayer is heard and answered, and that all things are possible with God. My own acceptance of the claims for the revival of healing ministry m the Church has slowly passed m the past few years through the stages of resistance, doubt, and inquiry to frank and open recognition. I have felt the full force of every objection that has been raised long before such were raised m our midst. Ultimately it was the cautious investigation over a period of years of the work and phenomena of .Christian healing m all parts of the world that compelled me to revise and. then recast my preconceptions arid misconceptions. . But it is necessary for one to work right through the whole period of preparation, m order 1 to comprehend a healing mission. It. is- essentially • one of those experiences that must be approached from the inside m order to be understood and assessed. THE CALL TO PRAYER. The first fact that impressed one : was the manner m which the people idse to the call for prayer. I have had ample experience of mis-

siona of various kinds, and of the long period of preliminary organising that is demanded. In -this case nothing of the kind was required. As soon as people understood, what was asked of them, they flocked to prayer. Week by week our ■services of prayer m the Bathurst Cathedral grew until the people, crowded out the Cathedral m every part. There were no ' l attractions. ' ' The service was of the simplest form. There were no "great addresses," no "stirring music." The people just wanted to get upon their knees and pray. A great deal of the -praying was done m the silence of a great throng of a thousand people. . It was almost incredible that- so many people could keep such breathless silence. . The services of the mission have often been described. They -are unaffectedly simple, and devoid of all that is spectacular. The missioner, Mr Hickson, has a great gift- of quiet, simple speech readily understood by the plain folk. I was impressed by his steady poise, and his- amazing capacity for work. He is quiet, confident, and controlled. He moves from task to task, without haste, yet with bewildering rapidity. The least sign of emotionalism he crushes instantly. He will not have sensation or the working up of emotion. AN AMAZING UPLIFT.What of the results of the mission 1 It is readily understandable . ' that sympathetic people should;' fear a great and crushing disappointment to fall upon many who have had no immediate manifestation of. healing. The fear was natural, but experience m every part of the world has proved that it is groundless. This -was once again demonstrated m our experience. The .sick receive an amazing spiritual uplift. . One demonstration of this was given, when a large party of them spontaneously broke into tl\e singing of the Doxology upon their departure from Bathurst, Those who had not yet . received evidence, of -. physical healing sang it as joyfully and fervently, as the others. Everyone remarked upon the buoyancy and. cheer of the patients after their participation m the .mission. Apart from spiritual blessings, there was the wonderful joy to them of feeling the wide ■ sympathy of every-one-for. their sufferings. . For years these had been locked away m loneliness and secret depression ; now they were brought- nut into the radiance, and love of their fellow men. It was an unforgettable . experience. The spectacle of the mass of suffering in_ most terrible ,• forms was. heartrending. Notliing but a strong restraint of compassionate love could carry one on through the ministering

+<r, *h»m without an emotional breakdown. •. . •.".-■ SOME OF THE CASES/ What of physical healings '? Numbers of our patients came from long distances, and the pressure of numbers was so great that they had to be got away by the first trains, m order to make room for others. We were all much too busy to attempt to gather "results," even, if we had desired to dosoj but even m those crowded moments scores of patients came to tell and reveal their healings. . ' '. > I cite now^fmt a few such cases, and I -write words of tiruth and soberness. After one has been through such great - experiences one cites cases with much reluctance. We have seen the answers of God given "to prayer m manifest and unmistakable ways, and these become a holy experience which one shrinks from appearing to. parade or display. The tears of joy streaming down the faces _ of. -= mothers as they clasp recovered children m their arms gives one memories sacred and unforgettable. We are sure of Him m Whom we have, believed. We are sure of the things we have seen and heard, and that security sufficeth us. Those who have prayed, and those who have received healings, have a divine experience m. common. God and the spirit world have come very near to them. But I have been asked to write of these things, and, perhaps, it should be done. I have looked into the eyes that were badly crossed of .a lad, and so weak m sight, that, he could scarcely see by the aid of thick lenses. I have seen that, bo-y. two hours later with eyes perfectly straight, and discarding glasses. As someone asks him can he really see now, he breaks out joyfully, "Oh, there's mummy!" as he sees his mother coming to him across the Cathedral lawn. In two other cases I know of children's eyes becoming- straight and normal. , . I have seen a child that' has . not walked for. eight years walk quite steadily along the Cathedral path to its -father and mother.. The. last person upon whom we laid hands on Wednesday morning was blind m the left eye, and as she passed through the vestry the sight returned m full. On Tuesday morning the first man upon whom we. laid hands looked •" to be at the door of death. He was so weak the night before that it was impossible to take him to the private house to which he had been assigned. . For years he has been bed-ridden. Two hours -later he was dressed and walking about, and doing physical exercises- to show his recovered powers, lie -walked to the Cathedral inthe afternoon to return thanks.

Here is a woman of thirty years who has never walked m her life, walking from the car to the railway platform, and stepping up strongly into the carriage. Here is another woman of some thirty years, who, on, the evidence of rector and relatives, has never S2)oken m her life. To her has come the full gift of language. It is incredible, perhaps, but it is true. A doubting friend rushes up and says, ' ' Can you really speak?" and is transfixed with wonder upon receiving the ama:ring answer, "No, not much." . Two who were almost blind were quietly reading the newspapers on the following day. RESULTS • SUMMARISED. A preliminary analysis of just a portion of the cases that have been reported and investigated is as follows : — Two totally blind persons have recovered sufficient sight to see their way about. Fifteen who were almost blind have recovered- normal eyesight, m the majority of cases, and the remainder are greatly improved. Two dumb people speak well. Three others have received power to articulate. Four others with serious impediments m speech are practically normal. Of twenty-six investigated cases of paralysis, partial paralysis, infantile paralysis, rheumatoid arthritis, and neuritis, eighteen are apparently quite well, and the others are vastly improved. Many suffering from St. Vitus' dance, epilepsy, and mental disorders are reported as being free from their former distresses. These instances are but a few of the many who passed rapidly away to distant homes, hundreds of miles away. It will take many months to gather together anything approaching a complete record. We have already abundant evidence that the greater number of healings are taking place gradually, and the effects of the mission on the physical, side will be a progressive .one, over a long period. In two cases patients reported to me before the mission that medical men had said to them that the profession could do nothing for them, and their only hope lay m Christian healing. Both were cripples, and both were walking about firmly and well before the second day of the- mission had passed; One old man had been coming for .. weeks to our preparation services. His left hand was always filled with pain. He had no control m it whatever. Medical men had .told him he could never hope to use the hand again. : As. l stepped out of the Cathedral the first day, he gripped me with. that hand, and it would be hard , to say how many hundreds m Bathurst he has not shaken hands with since. -•

Instances could be multiplied manifold, and it would.be false to the spirit of the mission if we did not close with the testimony that far beyond; all physical healings is the wonderful quickening of spiritual perception, and the revival of a ■ living faith m God and Jesus .Christ which arises m and through, the Healing Mission. ;. "THE LAME HAVE WALKED AND THE BLIND HAVE SEEN." Columns of cures are published m the Sydney papers. In an Empire Day speech at the North Sydney Girls' High School, Professor David said:— "We live m an age of mystery. We have seen wonderful results amongst us lately of Almighty God working through human agency. The lame have walked, and the blind have seen." The Rev. W. Cleugh Black, Baptist minister at Crow's Nest, gives this testimony of a woman, Nurse' Hefsworth, who lives next door to him. She was suffering from clancoma m the eyes. Four specialists had treated her, and she had undergone one operation. The sight of one eye was lost completely eight years ago, and the sight of the other had been practically destroyed. The specialists had advised that within a short period she would be totally blind. After Nurse Hemsworth had been to the Cathedral on Monday, Mr Black was called to see her. He was so : struck with her improvement that he rang up a well-known consulting specialist, who came and applied scientific tests to the woman 's eyes. To his amazement he discovered that she was able to see with the eye that had been totally blind. Next morning she found she had splendid sight with the other, eye, and that, whereas the day before she could only see dimly a few yards, she was now ..able to distinguish the Blue Mountains on the "horizon and the landscape m between. Each day since her sight has been' getting clearer. The consulting specialist, declared Mr Black, says that medical science has never known of the restoration of sight after elancoma has done its deadly work, and he expressed the opinion that ' this case should convince the medical profession that behind the healing mission a supernatural power is at work.