Read some powerful stories of encounter, healing, and hope from our United 19 summer gathering.
‘His whole body tingled’
‘My son was in Boulder Gang for 10-11s. One evening he came out overcome with emotion. It took a while to work out what was wrong. It turned out he wanted to go back, as he had responded to a call for anyone wanting to feel closer to God. He had a churning in his stomach and his whole body tingled. He didn’t know what was happening other than he never wanted it to stop! Me & his grandma took him into after-hours Presence where he laid on the beanbags at the back and we prayed for him, and the same thing happened. We explained it was the Holy Spirit and that God was showing him how much he loved him.’ Claire
‘The prayer we had from the ministry team was life-changing’
‘When I came to United, my husband and I had recently separated. However, he came along for a few days and the teaching and the prayer ministry we had was life changing. He is now wanting to attend joint counselling to try and put our marriage back together after telling me that our marriage was over. The kids’ work was outstanding. Both of my children (5 and 10) had been through a traumatic few months. They both prayed for us as a family while we were at United and the change in them from withdrawn children to ones full of Jesus and hope was amazing to see.’
‘I felt the Spirit’s presence over me and the whole site’
‘My 6-year-old daughter made a promise to Jesus – that he would be her best friend and she would love and follow him for her whole life. She is full of joy and sings Ground Breakers songs all day long, wants to read her Bible, wants to pray all through the day and my heart overflows with joy and gratitude. I felt the Spirit’s presence over me and the whole site and came away with my soul restored, my priorities back in place, an unhurried life beating under my full life and feeling God close by my side. We feel that our family of two is a family of three with God right in the centre.’
‘At that moment I knew I was free’
‘Before United I felt trapped in a situation of bullying and negative emotions. On the second day in Thirst for 14-18s we were praying for people who wanted to see freedom. I started to cry. Then God filled me with joy. At that moment I knew I was free. I felt like the weight was lifted off my shoulders. The next day we were talking about unforgiveness in a Thirst seminar, and I burst into tears. I talked to a friend about it. We were praying for addictions and bullying and then I just started to cry as I felt like God was wiping the emotions off me. Now I am back home I have felt so much freedom.’
Speaking God’s special language
‘My 7-year-old attended Ground Breakers. On the second day they asked if the children wanted to be filled with the Spirit and she asked for the gift of tongues. That evening she told me it hadn’t happened, so we talked a bit about tongues and what it was like, and we prayed that God would give her this gift. Her prayer was answered. Later in the week she casually told me she had been able to speak God’s special language! It reminded me how children are so good as expecting God to answer their prayers, when we so often doubt.’ Katrina
‘The more I gave out, the more I received’
‘I was serving on team for both weeks and had some amazing Holy Spirit moments. Healing physically and emotionally. I started stepping out to pray for people and God gave me words and pictures for several people who felt blessed by me sharing them. The more I gave out, the more I received. It was tiring but God provides rest and strength.’
‘People were standing on benches praising the Lord’
‘One evening I decided to go to the food court because everyone from my church was going to bed. Two people were sitting at one of the tables, one playing guitar. I asked if I could sit with them and as he was playing a few songs that I knew, I joined in. We started singing songs and slowly people joined us. It grew and grew, adding more and more tables as the songs shifted into worship. As I looked around, I noticed people were standing on benches praising the Lord. We sang until midnight, giving thanks to the Lord and raising our voices to him in worship. God brings people together in strange and wonderful ways. Thank you for reinvigorating my faith and love of the Lord.’ Thomas
‘I cannot believe how much God did’
‘I wasn’t planning to go to United but, two weeks before, God made it clear he wanted me there. As I was thinking about it, I bumped into a lady at church who had space in her tent. A couple of days later, we got a council tax refund through the post that covered the cost of my ticket! I’ve struggled with anxiety for years so it’s the first time I’ve gone to anything big by myself. I loved my time there and came home having conquered a lot of fears of being around people alone. Some clear and deep unrooting of panic-related baggage happened and God confirmed a calling on my life. I cannot believe how much God did!’ Grace