Long-time friend of City Harvest Church (CHC), Mike Connell, Senior Pastor of Bay City Church in New Zealand is known for moving in the prophetic, deliverance and inner healing ministry. Many who know him speak of his strong love and sensitivity for God and His people.
CHC invites Connell yearly to minister in their weekend services. In May 2009, Connell devoted two weeks of his time teaching in the School of Theology, preaching in the four weekend services and on top of that, conducted a Counseling and Inner Healing Workshop together with his wife, Joy.
During the workshop Connell taught many invaluable principles on both the spiritual and emotional aspects of counseling. One of the points emphasized was the need to identify root issues to the cause of emotional problems, as well as how to effectively use the tools of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit and prayer on top of our human wisdom to minister to people. As Connell shared many of his personal counseling experiences and lessons learned in more than 25 years of ministry, he taught the participants how to connect with people, the importance of listening and understanding why God allows people to go through problems, among many others. He also emphasized that God’s people are called to bring God’s healing and hope to the hurt and broken.
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| PHOTOS: Maggie Chang | |
Said Susanna Wong, a 27 year-old real estate consultant and participant of the workshop, “I was greatly impacted by the fact that people are spirit, thinking and emotional beings and we must take these into account when counseling them. I feel more empowered to minister to people with what I’ve learned.”
During the weekend services, Connell moved powerfully in the spiritual gifts and demonstrated the love and power of God. In the midst of the service, he called upon 18 year old Desiree Peh, who was helping to minister at the altar call area, to lay hands and pray for people. Many fell under the power of God. Through this, Connell demonstrated how the power of God was able to move through anyone, no matter how young or inexperienced, as long as there is willingness and faith in Him.
