Becky Ingold has been employed at Petra since November, 2001. Becky graduated from Millersville University with a bachelor’s degree…
Healing Testimony
For over a year I have been dealing with a lower back injury, a herniated L-5 disc. I went up front to the altar on a Sunday morning in March and received healing for my back, but was still experiencing pain and discomfort in certain positions and a limited range of motion. Then a couple of weeks ago at small group, I mentioned the fact that I had had this experience with healing but was still feeling tightness and discomfort in the area. My small group was willing to come around me, lay hands on me, and pray, and the remainder of my discomfort and tightness were taken away! It still feels a little strange to be able to put my socks on without pain, but I’m getting used to it and smiling a lot. I’m thankful to serve a God who loves us so much!
Andrew Byler
A Testimony of God’s Grace, Mercy, and Faithfulness
When our daughter, Kayla, was about six months old, my wife started to sense there was something wrong with her, so she made an appointment with the doctor. The doctor said they thought she was blind. Our hearts sank and our thoughts went crazy. Well, after many tests and doctor visits we determined she wasn’t blind, but she was diagnosed with agenesis of the corpus callosum. In laymen’s terms, this means she’s missing the center part of her brain. As a result, she could not walk or talk.
One day at work, I was praying and asking God to heal her, and his response was “Heal her of what?” I thought “What do you mean ‘Heal her of what?’ Look at her—she can’t walk and she can’t talk. I want to hear her say ‘Daddy.’ I want to go for walks with her and talk about her day after school. I want to hear her say ‘I love you.’” God’s response to this was that her soul and her spirit are whole, and her body is only temporary. Well, that wasn’t the answer I was hoping to hear. I was really hoping he would say “Go home, the child is fine.” But he didn’t. That day I went home and looked up healing in the dictionary. One of the definitions was to be made spiritually whole. Even though we didn’t get what I asked for, we did have a peace about the whole thing. The Lord gave me the verse Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” Our daughter was known by God before she was even born. Her condition was no surprise to him. Hearing this from God has given us a great peace about our daughter’s condition.
As time went on, she started to use a wheel chair; and we truly believe that at that time her wheel chair was part of her ministry. (Yes, we do believe she has a ministry.) She is who she is. She is just the way God made her to be—not that He can’t change things. This past fall, my wife and I went through Cleansing Stream. On the last day of our three-day fast, Kayla’s teachers sent home a note that our daughter walked from her classroom down to the office and back—for the first time—by herself. Remember my prayer about going for a walk with my daughter? Now I can’t wait to hear what she has to say to me. It just may be “I love you.”
Praying with expectancy,
Jeff Steele
“Miracles Still Happen” - A Testimony
I believe God is asking me to share two miracles that he has blessed me with.
The first one was in the spring of 2007, when I went for a mammogram and they reported a “finding.” I asked a few people close to me to pray about it. The doctors sent me for an ultrasound and more mammography. Between April 16 and May 2 of that year God removed whatever it was they saw. When I went in for the ultrasound, the doctors were very perplexed because they could not find what they had seen! I believe God answered our prayers and removed it.
When I went back to the hospital for my next mammogram on March 14, 2008, they saw a different spot and did more mammography immediately. I had the distinct impression that something was being “put” on me that was not supposed to be there. They told me that I needed to have a biopsy to check for cancer.
Once again, I had a couple of people praying for me, and instead of getting a biopsy right away, I waited. This was over the time when my dad was bedridden and then passed away, so I had enough stress in my life.
When I had my next doctor’s appointment in November of this year, the doctor told me that I had to go get the biopsy done, but since it was so long since the last mammogram, I needed to do that first. I asked him if I needed to get the biopsy done if they did not find anything through the mammogram. He replied that what they found in me does not just go away.
Well, I was smiling inside because I knew God was up to something. So I went for another mammogram on November 12, and I got my results about two weeks later. I am once again clear with nothing there!
I cannot wait to talk to the doctor about it. It will be interesting to see what he has to say!
Praise the Lord!!! He is just as awesome as he ever was!
-Cynthia Blank
“Alarm Clock”
It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. -Hebrews 11:6
While in college, I spent the night at a friend’s apartment, and she asked me what time I needed to be up for classes the next morning. I told her what time she should set the buzzer on her alarm clock, and she responded by saying, “I don’t have an alarm clock. God wakes me up.” I was a little taken aback, but the conversation struck me in such a way that I thought back to it now and then as the years went by.
Many years later, I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to give up using my alarm clock just as my friend had done. I was challenged to have faith that the One who holds the universe in His hands could surely have the power to wake me up at the right time. I obeyed, but not wholeheartedly. Before going to bed, I would ask God to wake me up at a certain time. However, if there was something important the next morning, I would set an alarm clock. A few times, I had an early morning meeting, so I brought my cell phone to bed with me so that someone could get a hold of me if I had overslept. In each of those instances, however, I woke up before the alarm, and I was never late for those six o’clock meetings.
My faith increased. I knew that God was taking this seriously, and He was holding His end of the bargain. So I continued to pray before going to sleep that He would wake me up when I needed to wake up.
I have allowed God to be my alarm clock for over a year. I have never missed an event, nor have I woken our son too late to get ready for school. One time, I even asked God to wake me up between 5:30 and 5:45, and when I looked at the clock that morning, it was 5:37.
When I stopped to analyze my act of faith, I realized that it takes more faith to believe that an alarm clock, a conglomeration of metal and plastic made by a bunch of strangers half a world away, is more faithful than the LORD, my closest friend, who is with me always. - Maria
“Treasure Hunt” Testimonies – Part 1
What’s a treasure hunt? According to Kara Graver, it’s an outreach where participants ask God to give them specific words of knowledge (a treasure map) which will reveal information about the people they will encounter. Petra has had three treasure hunts so far: one on November 22, one on December 6, and one on January 10. If you are inspired by the testimonies below, you are invited to participate in a treasure hunt yourself! They are scheduled for the second Saturday evening of each month. Watch the e-bulletin for details.
Each time I go out I’m more amazed at how the Lord orchestrates the evening and opens up opportunities to share and pray with individuals he has so obviously highlighted. We couldn’t take credit for these interactions even if we tried!
To give you an example from the group I was a part of (we had four groups with their own testimonies), we had the clues yellow shirt, older Asian woman, and ice cubes. Of course we didn’t realize that we had walked right up to our treasure until after we had gotten a fruit smoothie. When we recognized that the Asian lady who just waited on us was the one the Holy Spirit was highlighting, we approached her and her husband and began to explain that “We are on a treasure hunt, and we think you might be the treasure.” We showed her the map and began to explain. Boy, you would have thought she had won the lottery, she was so excited! We prayed for her and answered some questions.
From there we already noticed our next treasures – three ladies working at a jewelry store, all of whom were wearing a red dress. When you’re sitting at Petra getting words of knowledge like “red dress” prior to going to the mall you’re thinking, “Is this me or what?” Because who in the world would wear a red dress to the mall? But there they were. Other clues we had were pearl, long curly hair, glasses, and a few others. Looking at the list we tried to figure out which one was our treasure since they all seemed to be highlighted in some way. One of the ladies, who was leaving her shift, came over to ask us what we were doing. When we explained our mission, she outright asked us to please pray for her. So we prayed for her and blessed her and her family. When we were done, she dragged us back into the store to pray for one of her co-workers who was wearing a red dress, glasses, and was standing by some jewelry, including pearls. This woman was overwhelmed by our prayers and was grateful to receive prayer related to her marriage. (We had also received “marriage problem” as a clue.)
On another occasion we were passing a woman who was wearing a yellow sweater and felt prompted to ask if her name was Mary, since “Mary” was on our map. We were downright surprised and encouraged when it was!!! We also had the clues long curly hair, brown boots, children, and child sitting in stroller with child standing. This prompted us to look for children. We went to the photography place and there we got the shock of the evening. We discovered a young woman facing away from us with long curly brown hair that went to the back of her knees. She had on, of course, brown boots, and sitting next to her two children, one in a stroller with an older toddler standing next to the stroller. We freaked out as we realized that this was the exact scene that the Lord was highlighting. We prayed for the entire family and spent some time getting to know them a bit. Let’s just say our faith level increased a few degrees after that encounter! - Kara Graver
“Treasure Hunt” Testimonies – Part 2
I want to go on record as testifying to the unique and creative ways that the Holy Spirit uses yielded vessels. Meeting at Petra on Saturday, December 6, a group of us joined in prayer to listen to what names, locations, descriptions, issues, and the “unusual” might be on God’s heart for the people to pray for on our treasure hunt. We headed to Park City Mall and broke into groups.
Sharing with each other some details that might be connected, three of us went looking for “Seiko watches” and “near watch” clues. We stopped at a kiosk in the Bon Ton corridor across from a display of Seiko watches. We engaged the salesperson in conversation. Asher was from Israel, and we had words of encouragement and blessing which he gratefully received.
As we looked for other clues on our map we encountered a small group of teenagers. Someone from our group asked if that was a Bible they were carrying. They said “yes.” They had just come from a Bible study. They were young members of a Coptic church and spoke Amharic. We talked about faith and closed by asking them if we could pray for them. They asked for prayer for themselves and for their church, which we did with blessing.
The group also prayed for a man from the nation of Georgia and for two Indian men who worked at a kiosk that sold perfume.
Following more treasure map clues, we found a “stairs and escalator” location outside Kohl’s. From the top of the stairs I could see a “pink stroller” (another clue from my list). I walked down the stairs and approached the active little girl. Her name was Heavenly and her mom’s name was Skyler. Sklyer was expecting a baby boy very soon, so she asked for prayer for the baby and the delivery. The little girl ran into my arms, as she was very friendly. The guys in the group stood at a distance and provided a prayer covering over the situation.
Next we wandered into a stuffed animal store. I was looking for a “polar bear” clue. I asked about polar bears. They said they had discontinued selling polar bears recently, but the conversation quickly opened up and included three sales persons. I had the opportunity to talk and share with these folks and to pray with them regarding the desire of their hearts to travel to Japan, and for others to go to Ireland, Scotland, and Italy.
As we were leaving the mall we again saw a fellow who we had seen cleaning the restrooms. He had been pleasant and appeared to be of Hispanic background. One of the other groups had prayed for him in Spanish. He was beaming when we saw him and we added, without knowledge of the other group’s prayer, our own blessing in Spanish. “Dios te bendiga.” It was an evening of blessing and prayer for the nations! In less than two hours, from just our group, more than a dozen people received prayer and blessing. Thank you, Jesus!
Cleansing Stream
“I began Cleansing Stream because Geri Fisher thought that it would be good for me. What I didn’t realize is what a life changing decision this would turn out to be. The classes were challenging at times, but I could feel God working every step of the way. I learned to walk in the Spirit and to commit my life to the Lord...I’ve learned the importance of our words both in giving and receiving. How they are like seeds, some good and some bad all taking root in our lives. God showed me how my fear of rejection was keeping me from the full life that God has for me. I learned that the shame on my face was blinding me. The presence of God was both powerful and majestic at the retreat. At times I wanted to run from the pain that God showed me and how it held me captive, controlling my life. I was able to receive a healing in my heart and soul that is only possible through Jesus Christ and His mercy.” - Kathy H.
The Story of Ralph
To keep it short and sweet, Ralph is 59 years old of very humble means who faithfully walks up and down route 30 and route 41 looking for aluminum cans to help supplement his income. He lives in Gap near the Chester County line. Soon after meeting Ralph, Petra and our small group began a sermon series and study entitled “Better Together.” Our small group bible study discussed possibilities for what we would like to do as our project to reach out to the community, and the topic of Ralph came up. Ideas were exchanged and we prayed for blessings to be poured out on Ralph and that God would raise up other people that would have a heart to help support Ralph.
Our goal was to replace Ralph’s old, rundown and moldy house trailer including plates and silverware, everything. The Community stepped up in a big way, Heritage Homes donated the “new” used trailer, Patriot Homes delivered and installed it, while Lamar Stoltzfus coordinated much of the on-site efforts. We were also able to insulate, provide heat and electric for Ralph’s shed so that he can work in there during the cold winter months instead of in his home. He is also able to sleep in his new bed instead of his couch; a new dresser, end table, and stuffed chair were also provided. The finishing touch was giving Ralph his very own train set which has been a dream of his since he was a child. All of this was accomplished by Christmas, amazing.
I believe that you get what you give and it’s pretty evident that quite a few people in our community have received much more than they have ever expected this past holiday season. This is the first of many miracles that I am expecting to be released in our community in 2008.
A Woman’s Heart, Courage, and Strength
I want to tell you a little bit about myself. I am God’s daughter. I am glad to be God’s daughter. When you first meet me, I will greet you with a smile. I am shy at first until you get to know me and I feel I am able to trust you.
I am sensitive, caring, and eager to keep growing in the Lord. I have a lot of courage and strength, and I am becoming a strong woman, even though I don’t feel strong sometimes. I have many friends and sisters in the Lord, and I am glad to be a part of their Christian family.
I returned to Petra (my home church) in October of 2006. Then, in 2007, life became very hard for me. I had returned to Petra to seek out the Lord in a new way and to live my life differently – being fully committed to the Lord. I also returned to Petra to save my marriage. I went so far as to move to New Holland so I could be closer to my husband and have a new beginning with the Lord and my family. Unfortunately, in 2007, I was forced to go through a very much unwanted divorce. A few months after the divorce was finalized, he remarried.
With the unwanted divorce and the remarriage of my former husband, my heart was shattered and a part of my life was taken away. I just wanted to give up, and didn’t want to go on without him; but with my determination to follow the Lord, to follow my heart and continue with my beliefs, I knew I would make it. My friends were not going to let me give up either. The Lord, my friends, and my determination are what kept me going. Not only did my husband divorce me, my own family was not supportive of me following the Lord, following my heart, my decisions, and my beliefs. I am not close to my family like I once was, and some of them don’t even talk to me anymore.
The people who are not in my life anymore are missing out on a beautiful woman of God, a caring, loving, and strong woman. I still love them and forgive them. I have also asked for forgiveness and have forgiven myself.
I have really grown in the Lord in the past two years. The Lord has blessed me with a new Christian family and many new friends who stand by me. He has blessed me with the light of life. He has blessed me with continued love, and has let me know that I am a woman worth loving. He has blessed me with continued strength and protection. He has also blessed me with renewed hope, and I know God will never leave me or forsake me. He has also taught me to commit things in my life which are too much to do alone. I was also blessed with the gift of poetry soon after my divorce. I believe God has chosen to give me this gift to help me with my pain and loss. I write about what is genuinely in my heart and what I am feeling. I have been writing for a little while now. It has been a good outlet, and it has also given me a positive outlook on life.
I could go on, but in closing, I want to let everyone know that I praise the Lord for what he has done. I am very proud of how far I have come, with all my tests, trials, and struggles I have had to go through. Even though I still have my struggles to this day, I hope that I can be a true testimony of what God can do with your life if you let him. It is you who has to have the determination to follow what is truly in your heart.
- Tracey S.
Have something to add?
If you have a remarkable story, comment, note, or any other thought you would like to share about our events, community, or people involved with Petra Christian Fellowship, we would love to hear from you! Just fill out this form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.