Lucas' Reflections: 2015

Wow, what an eye-opener! Last weekend, 2nd–4th January, I attended the Sydney Kickstart training seminar at Potts Point (next to Kings Cross). It was run by Danish evangelist Torben Søndergaard, a down-to-earth man who “kick-starts” believers, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to heal the sick, share the gospel, cast out demons and baptise in water and the Holy Spirit—just like Jesus commanded us to do and what we read in Acts.

“And [Jesus] said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’” Mark 16:15-18

This was a weekend filled with the power of God. Even before the first meeting started on Friday night, a lady was being delivered from demons by a man from my church. There were many healings and other deliverances, of both seminar attendees and those out on the street. We heard many testimonies from before and during the seminar, which helped build our faith.

There were about eighty of us there. The weekend was broken up into teaching in the morning, then practical in the afternoon, where we hit the streets of Sydney in small teams.

Baptisms and onlookers at Bondi Beach.

The first night was about healing. We practised on each other. Those that needed healing stood in the aisle and the rest of us laid hands upon them, praying and commanding healing. The lady I prayed for had an RSI-like injury from using her phone. I prayed once and she said it was a little better. I prayed again and she said it was completely healed.

About ten were healed and shared in front of everyone what had happened. A man, perhaps in his sixties, shared that he broke his nose as a child and wasn’t able to breathe through it properly until today. I came away with greater faith, touched that God would be kind enough to use “ordinary” me in such a way, and thinking how “simple” it is to lay hands and pray for the sick.

The next day we had more teaching on repentance, baptism in water and baptism in the Holy Spirit. Torben shared that when someone comes to Christ, all three of these are essential and should happen as soon as possible. We were instructed to look for “people of peace” (Luke 10:6), which I found really helpful to keep in mind when looking for people to pray for.

Some amazing things happened out on the street. We walked around the city finding people to pray for, before all meeting up together at Town Hall. We then continued, making our way back to Potts Point.

I remember seeing my dad’s cousin praying for a clearly demon possessed man. The man was crazed and yelling about a metre away from a busker on the Woolworths corner, opposite Town Hall. I was shocked when I returned back to our room (my dad, his cousin and I were staying together) to see him come out of the shower in his right mind! He attended the remaining meetings and got baptised the next day at Bondi Beach.

Another team ministered to a Nepalese man. He was instantly healed and wanted to know more. He repented and was baptised in the El-Alamein Fountain (Kings Cross area). The next day he was baptised in the Holy Spirit at Bondi.

As for our team, we got to pray for a few people around the city. The closest sick person we found was someone who had a bandaged arm, but they had just only given blood. On our way back Potts Point, we stopped for ice-cream and milkshakes at the same fountain above. We saw a man on crutches, but he rejected prayer.

As we stood around in the park looking at an ibis standing on one leg, a man appeared beside me to talk about the bird. Our team chatted with him before he asked something like, “You’re Christians, aren’t you?” He was homeless man and was concerned about being allowed back into the Vinnies hostel he had been staying at.

Another lady and I got to pray for him and he became emotional. We spent probably 45 minutes with him and helped sort his accommodation. He was grateful we were able to help him and pray for him. It turned out another team ministered to him earlier. He hoped a third team would come by as he felt very touched and blessed by God.

At the meeting that night, we saw more deliverances. The next day we learned more about sharing the gospel, repentance, baptism in water and the Holy Spirit. Something I learned was that water baptism isn’t merely a symbol. Something profound happens spiritually when one is water baptised—it is a setting free of sin and spiritual strongholds from the past.

We travelled to Bondi Beach for the water baptisms. There were about twenty five people baptised and many people were set free, delivered from demons and filled with the Holy Spirit all in one go. What occurred was witnessed by probably thousands of on lookers. Those that weren’t baptising or being baptised got to share to some of those around.

I remember hearing one person say something along the lines, “We had baptisms here the other day, but they weren’t like this!”

The Bondi Rescue film crew also showed up. They hung around for most of the baptism, filming it and interviewing people. Torben got to speak to them both while in the water and afterwards. I could hear them wanting to make the connection between life guards saving people and the work we were doing to save people’s souls for Christ. Apparently the footage will be aired in February. Hopefully it will be favourable!

For me, the weekend was one that built my faith. Seeing God’s power first hand, as well as working through me, and hearing the many testimonies, was of immense benefit. I particularly liked the idea of dividing into small teams with an experienced leader, who took the weight of failure, doubt and fear off the less experienced like myself—we knew they were there to support and back us up in a kind of master/apprentice arrangement.

Now, I’ll share something miraculous that happened to me. At one of the night meetings, a radiologist saw that my shoulders were not even (one lower than the other). He checked my legs and one was shorter than the other by about two centimetres. I had noticed my shoulders in photos and always thought I just was standing crooked. I had never thought to check them in the mirror, let alone check the length of my legs.

Below is a video of my leg growing out. It was quite astonishing. I was also touched that God cared about something I didn’t even notice. I still have a shoulder lower than the other, but he said to keep praying for it.

I’ll just share something else interesting: my brother is currently in India ministering. On this same weekend, he preached at a few meetings and saw about a hundred people healed, including backs, knees, necks, hearts, eyes, ears, a paralysed arm, head aches, stomachs and kidney stones. One lady with poor eye sight nearly got knocked off her feet when she opened her eyes. Again, this is faith building stuff.

I hope I do not lose what I have learned and experienced. I pray that I’ll be able to continue in this with other like-minded disciples of Jesus. I intend to watch Torben’s twenty-part online video training series.

Further information about Torben Søndergaard's ministry, The Last Reformation: