‘Would you like me to pray for you?’
BY DEAN SIMPSON
Major Darren Kingston is passionate about prayer – and he is adamant that the general public generally wants to be prayed for.
He should know. He’s prayed with thousands of people during his officership, mostly people on the streets.
“You might not believe it, but when you ask someone – anyone – if they’d like some prayer, most will say yes,” Darren says.
Proof, he says, is his experience praying for people in shopping centres, at community events and anywhere the spirit leads him.
“I’ve seen people converted, people healed, people restored in relationships, and people just thankful that someone wants to pray for them,” Darren says.
“People do like The Salvation Army. They know we do good things in the community and most people know we are a Christian organisation – so they trust us.”
Darren is a Team Member at Macquarie Fields Salvos and loves nothing better than getting involved in the community.
Ingleburn Alive
He was at it again over the weekend, participating in the Prayer Tent ministry at the annual Ingleburn Alive festival in Sydney’s south-west.
It was the second successive year that members of Macquarie Fields Salvos have set up the Prayer Tent, which also offers free bottles of water, sunscreen and a chat.
Thousands of people flock to the Ingleburn Alive ‘street party’ festival each year for live music, carnival rides, food and market stalls.
“We had a great day,” Darren says. “Last year was the first time we had the Prayer Tent, and it went so well that we decided to apply again ... and the organisers said yes.
“We prayed for a grieving lady, a lady with mental health, prayed for people’s families, men with anxiety, a guy seeking direction, a Muslim man seeking joy, four teenagers and a child needing prayer for their exams.
“We also saw Jesus heal bladders, bloating, arthritis, knees, a broken arm, a foot complaint and an ulcer. Praise God!”
Fairfield ‘on fire’
About 20km up the road is Fairfield Salvos, and they have also adopted the Prayer Tent ministry under the leadership of Auxiliary-Lieutenants Katharine and Russell Brown. Darren often joins the Fairfield Prayer Tent during outreaches.
The Browns and their team were also in action over the weekend at the popular Fairfield Markets at Fairfield Showground.
Russell was equally enthused about their experience of praying for people. “Isn’t Jesus awesome!” he says. “We prayed for healing of leg for a man from a Buddhist background, prayed for a lady selling crystals and she encountered Jesus’ love, have spoken words of encouragement over a mother and her kids and she wants to come to an ‘encounter night’ at the corps.”
Darren said he would love to expand the Prayer Tent ministry to include other community events.
“It’s such a simple ministry to set up but it can have a lifelong impact on the people we pray for,” he says. “Wouldn’t it be great if every corps out there had a prayer tent that they set up at markets or community events on a regular basis?
“We’d really see an impact for the Kingdom then!”
Do you like to pray? Then please join The Salvation Army’s Year of Prayer campaign #salvosprayingtogether.
To find out all you need to know about our Year of Prayer, just click on the following links or copy and paste them into your browser: My Salvos - https://my.salvos.org.au/a-year-of-prayer/
Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/tsayearofprayer?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Or contact Aux-Lieutenant Rosy Keane at rosy.keane@salvationarmy.org.au
