Ministry to Vietnam Veterans

Vietnam Vet: A Hero's WelcomeI am no longer nursing due to changing circumstances but in the last 4 years of my nursing I would ask God before each shift, “Who do you want me to pray for today?”. I had some amazing experiences of seeing a number of people receive creative healing miracles.

One morning I arrived at work in Coronary Care to find that I was assigned to an angry and very sick man who was a Vietnam Veteran. I was only meant to nurse him until he was transferred from our small private hospital to a major public hospital for emergency life saving surgery and repair of an operation which had resulted in some ongoing bleeding. This morning, my ears were pricked up as soon as I discovered my assignment. I had recently done further prayer ministry training and heard that when the Australian and American army were fighting in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, there was a group of Buddhist monks who repeatedly cursed these armed forces with three curses. They were:

  1. They would always be angry.
  2. They would never find peace / rest.
  3. They would always have a wandering spirit.

In Australia, Vietnam Veterans came home to a public that generally despised them and a government that never honoured them. Though they had risked their lives for this country, the country tended to shun them.

Thus, that morning I decided to try out a new theory I had. There was nothing to lose but a lot to gain if it worked.

As I was receiving handover on this patient as I was solely caring for him, the night shift nurse was very pleased to hand him over to someone else. He was apparently angry, and his wife was even worse. They were fed up with everything and everyone and were looking for someone to legally sue over his treatment. Not a good start to my day. The staff had specifically assigned him to me as I only worked once per fortnight on the ward so it would give the other staff a break from his attitude, plus I had a reputation for handling the difficult patients in an amazing manner.

Before I entered his room, I took authority over his room. He was in a single room and technically it was his room. I decided that since I was the nurse, and had been given the authority from the hospital that shift to care for him and treat him, I therefore had authority and permission for that room in the spiritual realm. I prayed a quick prayer of authority and released peace into the atmosphere. I claimed that since I was a child of the most High God, that I carried Kingdom presence and that that would change the atmosphere in the room.

I walked in to check the intravenous fluids and drugs with the night nurse. The patient and wife did not look happy but were pleased that a new nurse was coming in as they hadn’t liked the night nurse, or any nurse for that matter. We checked everything and I said goodbye to the nurse. I introduced myself to the patient and his wife and asked them what they expected for that morning. I realised that he would be transferred as soon as possible to the major hospital, so after checking his observations, I decided to give him a quick wash in bed as he was too sick to move out of bed, and to make him as comfortable as possible. At this point, his wife decided that she could trust me and left to go to the toilet and freshen up.

I took the opportunity to thank this Vietnam Veteran for what he did for our country, for me and my children and for our future. I must admit, I laid it on thick. I realised that Vietnam Vets had never been honoured for their service and came home to an atmosphere of being despised. Thus, I honoured him and his service. I also thanked and blessed him in the area of finding peace and rest, for being able to settle in one place and to be able to truly experience love. I didn’t stop talking, releasing healing under my breath and blessing this man and his wife.

Up until this point, the man had not uttered a word and had seemed unresponsive to everything I had said. I was beginning to doubt the effectiveness of what I was doing. Then the wife returned. She had left the room a very tense, angry woman. She entered the room, and stood for a few moments then sank down into a chair and began to cry. I became a little concerned. I went to her and quietly put my arm around her shoulder and asked her what was happening for her. I fully expected a tirade of abuse. Instead, she shocked me by saying that all her anger had just left her. She felt peace for the first time in years. She felt that everything was going to be alright. I was gobsmacked.

For the next few moments, I listened to her and then blessed her and thanked her. I told her what I had said to her husband. At that stage, I had to leave the room to prepare a drug for her husband. When I returned, I noticed a significant change in the atmosphere. Gone was the tension, the discomfit, the anger. I now could feel the peace and assurance. Checking the patient’s vital signs, I noticed a significant difference and ‘righting’ and reverse of a pattern of his status becoming worse with significant internal bleeding. His pain had stopped. Colour was beginning to return to his skin. I needed to keep checking his observations to check that I hadn’t made a mistake.

The Doctors soon entered the room to check him before he was transferred to the other hospital. They noticed a difference in him, the atmosphere in the room, and his condition. They could identify the exact time his condition and changed, but couldn’t attribute it to any medial measure.

This patient no longer needing transferring to that major hospital. He stabilised and was able to the treated at our smaller hospital.

I handed over to the afternoon nurse and was musing over the effect of blessing this man and his wife and changing the atmosphere of the room on my drive home. I had just arrived home from the drive of 15 minutes when I received a phone call from the afternoon nurse. She was a Christian and she wanted to know what I had done in the room that morning as every nurse on the afternoon shift had been talking about the difference in this man and his wife and they could only attribute it to me nursing him that morning. All the nurses wanted to know what I had done in the room, what my secret was. I ended up having a coffee with that nurse the following week and explaining it.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

The purpose of these exercises is to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and recognise God’s voice and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy!

Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3)

1. Children / Families Activation: Mark out some squares on an area on the ground/floor with chalk or tape, similar to hopscotch. Throw a dice and jump/hop that number of squares towards the finishing square. Place a challenge in several of the squares eg “Ask God for an encouraging word for the next person”. “Ask God for a colour for the last person who had a turn.” “Ask God which vehicle the person who next throws a ‘one’ would be like and why.” Be creative. When people land in those squares, they then get to ask God for that thing for that specific person.

2. Group Activation: For this activation, you will need to have done some preparation before your meeting. Make up a ‘pass the parcel’ with a small item between each layer. Go to a shop or a craft cupboard and find a number of small cheap items eg balloon, chewing gum, craft pearls, bottle of food colouring, matches, USB cable, spice, chocolate bar, yo-yo, tape measure, air freshner, pen etc. Anything will do. Wrap the first item in a layer of paper, then put another item on the next layer and cover with a layer of paper. Keep going until you have a number of layers of paper. I generally do 4 parcels of 6 or 7 layers for a group of 20 people. Get the group to sit in a circle and pass the parcel(s) with music going. When the music stops, whoever is holding the parcel(s) opens that layer and views the item. They then have 30 seconds to ask God whom to give that item to within the group and what prophetic word to say about it. You will be amazed at what people hear from God and say. Then start the music again and pass the parcel until the music stops. When you do multiple parcels with the one group, it helps increase the number of prophetic words given whilst reducing the time taken. I also say that some people may get several items given to them and others may not receive anything. That is o’kay. You are hearing from God about who to give it to, not trying to please everyone and make it ‘fair’.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God what sort of flower and what colour flower you should buy today and who to give it to. Ask God to then show or tell you something about His heart for that person. Then give it to that person.

4. Intermediate Activation: Spend time with God asking Him to give you a prophetic word for Donald Trump who is currently running for American President. Write it out without using any christianese or church language. Remember prophetic words are encouraging, strengthening and comforting. Google his email address & send it to him. Perhaps get another trusted and mature person to check it first. Currently I believe his email to be: [email protected]

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you a public spokesperson on an issue of justice that seems unbiblical. Ask God to reveal something to you of that person’s upbringing and background that may have negatively influenced them in this area. Spend some time listening to God and praying for this person and asking God what He would like your response to be to that person, the issue of justice and how to show them God’s love and how to intercede for them.