Healing over the telephone

Simon Hoffe gave his testimony on Sunday 17th July 2016.

Simon reached out to Kevin Peterson for healing for his mother after Kevin’s preach on Sunday 10th July. Simon’s mother – Margie Hoffe, who lives in Johannesburg – underwent spinal fusion surgery in October 2015 in order to relieve back pain which had got serious in June 2015 (after cleaning up and moving boxes and junk at home), and had become unbearable by October.

Initially the surgery appeared to have been a success. However, things then deteriorated, to the point in July 2016 where she felt she was experiencing more pain than ever before. A relentless shooting excruciating pain. When the pain started up again so soon after the surgery there were further consultations with medical specialists, various scans, and attempts to provide some relief with spinal blocks. The spinal blocks, and cocktails of pills, appeared to have little effect.

The diagnosis from the follow up consultations was that her bones were weaker than originally estimated, and that one of the bolts which was part of the original fusion surgery was pulling loose. The worst part was a helplessness expressed by the medical professionals that there was simply nothing they could do apart from offer more meds. Surgery was out of the question until at least one year had passed after the original operation.

During this time Margie continued to soldier through life. The mornings being the worst, before going to work as receptionist for a half-day, coming home and resting as much as possible. Her husband, John, has been extremely supportive. Recently retired, he has found himself busy with domestic tasks such as grocery shopping and preparing supper!

Phone calls home were distressing, as there was no masking the raw pain which Simon’s mother was facing and battling through every day.

Now Margie is a believer and has seen miracles worked in her life before. She had been for prayer on countless occasions, and she was seeking a miracle.

Such was the state of things on Sunday, 10 July when Simon and his family heard Kevin’s message of healing at Immanuel. Now Simon and his family live in Durban and fellowship at Immanuel, while his parents live in Johannesburg. Simon spoke with Kevin after the service to ask simply, what could be done, and how might it be done, to help his mother in Johannesburg.

Kevin was in no doubt of the omnipotence of our Lord and immediately offered to phone Margie and pray with her over the telephone. So numbers were exchanged, and Simon called his mom to tell her to expect a call from Kevin sometime soon.

Kevin was not able to make the call until Tuesday, 12 July. Phoning first around midday and speaking with Margie’s husband John, before calling again in the evening at 6pm and then speaking with Margie.

Margie and Kevin prayed together over the telephone for an hour. Kevin directed her to lay hands on herself and to pray through spiritual warfare on this pain which was not of God, and had no authority and no place in her body. Margie has described the pain as getting worse before it yielded and was then cast out from her foot!

She experienced immediate relief, and the following morning woke feeling like a new person. The improvement was dramatic as mornings had been the worst part of the day! Margie went about her routine, going to work, and going for physio. Her boss and her physiotherapist were both astonished at the improvement!

Both Margie and Simon shared testimony of these events at their respective churches in Johannesburg and Durban on 17 July 2016. Margie and John fellowship at St Lukes Anglican church in Orchards. Simon and his family fellowship at Immanuel in Somerset Park.

At the time of writing – 30 August 2016 – it has been 7 weeks since Margie received her miraculous healing. Truth be told, the healing has moved from being an event to being a process. Margie has experienced some relapse and it has been necessary to get a spinal block administered. She has visited Durban (on occasion of her granddaughter’s birthday) and met with Kevin in person at Immanuel and received a “re-charge” for which she was very grateful, and which provided more improvement. She did say that Kevin’s gentle voice and patience on the telephone was somehow mismatched with his tough “bouncer” appearance which surprised her!

Margie sees the healing of 12 July as a major turning point in her recovery. She still has some muscle degeneration which needs extensive physio, and if she over-exerts, then things get sore. The pain has not returned at the same intensity as it was, though some days are not exactly clear sailing. She continues to praise God and has renewed faith that she is on a good road to full healing and restoration.