A Miracle in 1983

by Peter Twitchell

What I experienced back in 1983 is a Miracle. There is no other way I can explain it. Early in 1983 mysteriously the palms of my hands and the soles of my feet became numb. I was 33 years old. I made a number of doctor visits for a period of three months looking for answers for my ailment. After a number of tests, my healthcare provider informed me that he had made a referral to the neurology clinic at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage for me to go and get my MRI which is magnetic resonance imaging to check my brain for a possible tumor.

My doctor told me, “I have made reservations for you to go into Anchorage Monday morning to check in to the ANMC hospital for an MRI.”

That Sunday before my flight I decided to take a walk down Third Avenue up by the Pentecostal Church over toward the Armory and back home. I walked without any feeling in my hands and feet as I approached the Pentecostal Holiness Church. I heard the congregation singing the gospel song How Great Thou Art.

This is the song I sang numerous times growing up and then for the Moravian Church choir where I sang.

I listened to the choir sing a song and decided to walk into Pastor Paul Jenkins’ Pentecostal Holiness Church to listen to some gospel songs. This was comforting before going to the hospital in Anchorage.

I walked up the steps and opened the door and heard Pastor Jenkins say these words: “Anyone needing Prayer for healing, come up front now. We will pray for you for healing for any kind of sickness. God is listening and he will hear our prayer, believe and he will heal you of your affliction. When we pray God knows each and every one of us and He knows our sickness and by His stripes and the blood He shed on Calvary we are healed. Praise Almighty God.”

There was a thought – the Spirit of the Lord God Almighty spoke to me and said, “Go to the front, get prayed over and believe that you will be healed, go now.”

As I walked up to Pastor Paul Jenkins he told his congregation, “Prayer warriors, anyone who wants to pray come up right now, believe in God‘s healing power. He can heal all sickness, we can’t heal others by ourselves but Almighty God can heal each one of us.”

Pastor Paul Jenkins looked at me and said, “Peter, you have to pray too for healing when we start praying for you. God will hear us and He will heal you, Praise His Almighty name!”

In my mind I began praying for healing. When everybody started praying out loud I almost lost the train on my thought with so many voices praying over me. Paul Jenkins had provided a small bottle of olive oil for each prayer warrior to dip on the tips of their finger. The prayer warriors put their hands on me – on my back, my arms, the back of my head, my chest, my hands.

Immediately I started feeling the warmth I thought was the Holy Spirit on the top of my head. The warm feeling was coming down over my face, my neck, my chest, my arms, my hands, my abdomen, my legs, and my feet. It was a comforting kind of warmth and I felt at peace.

When Pastor Paul Jenkins invited others to come up to be prayed over I walked out the door and went straight home. I went to bed and that night I slept very hard. I didn’t awaken. When I woke up the next morning, Monday morning, I was to go to Anchorage to check in at the hospital. I felt different.

The numbness in my hands and my feet was not there. I was back to normal, I could feel again. I said a silent prayer of thanks to Creator God Almighty God for his love and healing, for taking my affliction from me instead of going to the airport.

I went to the hospital to my healthcare provider and told him “I’ve been healed, I was prayed over at church last night and I felt the warmth come over my body and when I woke up this morning my hands and feet were back to normal, the numbness was gone.”

The doctor said, “I have a ticket for you to go to the hospital to make sure everything is OK. I said, “I am OK now, I have been healed by creator God and I choose not to go have my MRI. I feel good about myself Thank God!”

That miracle in the Pentecostal Holiness Church where Pastor Paul Jenkins and his congregation and prayer warriors prayed over me I will never forget. I’m thankful for God every day that I was healed in mind, body, and spirit! Quyana Jesus Christ of Nazareth for your everlasting Love for us, your children. I praise you now and forever, my Lord God.