Hairdressers, nail salons and supermarkets are just some of the places that the people of Edinburgh are encountering God in powerful ways. Here are five short stories of what God is doing through one church plant in Scotland.
Kate and Ben Newman moved from Leeds with their two boys to plant Edinburgh Vineyard in September 2017. Their vision is to see people from all walks of life encountering Jesus – which in practise looks like them partnering with God in their everyday lives. We are encouraged to hear the incredible stories of people giving their yes to Jesus, being healed and getting plugged into community.
1) Haircuts and Salvation
This is Kate’s story. “I needed to get my haircut and so I googled one of the many hairdressers in Edinburgh. The website came up and there was a drop-down menu of all the stylists, so I asked the Holy Spirit who he wanted me to book with. The name ‘Maxine’ jumped out at me. So I made an appointment with her and headed down to the salon that same day. As I sat in the chair I started to chat with Maxine and told her about our church planting story. Maxine replied, ‘No way, I’m looking for a church! Me and my friend have been chatting about this for ages. We’re both 22 and we want something with meaning’. I told her where we met, she went off and came back to say that they were coming on Sunday. Maxine and her friend both came to church that Sunday, and started meeting up with me to chat about Jesus. Maxine gave her yes to Jesus one Sunday, and it was our total honour to baptise her last week.”
2) Healing from an allergy
A lady from Edinburgh Vineyard went to the same salon to get her hair dyed. After it had been done, a girl called Charlie came over to the sink to wash off the hair dye. Charlie started to put on latex gloves, and the lady asked her why. Charlie explained that she was allergic to the hair dye, which is why she’d had to use the gloves. With her head over the sink, the lady asked, ‘Can I pray for that allergy to go, just so God can show you how much he loves you?’. Charlie agreed, and she prayed for healing. Six weeks later, the lady went back into the salon. Charlie greeted her with, ‘Look, no gloves!’ – Charlie’s hair dye allergy had been healed, and she hadn’t worn gloves since the day she’d been prayed for. Maxine has started to pastor Charlie.
3) Worship and salvation at a birthday party
James planned a weekend away with some friends for his 21st birthday. On the Sunday he decided to ‘do church’ – so he asked one of his friends to come over with his guitar and lead a time of sung worship. James then told his friends about Jesus, and three people give their life to Jesus there and then!
4) The prompting of the Holy Spirit
“I was walking into town and as I passed a nail bar I felt The Holy Spirit say, ‘Go and get your nails done’. I’ve never had my nails done before so I didn’t really know what that meant! I went into the nail bar and asked the Holy Spirit why I was there. My attention was immediately drawn to the lady behind the desk, and I felt the Holy Spirit say, ‘You’re here for her’. I asked to have an appointment with that lady, called Liz, the next week. A week passed, and I arrived at the nail salon and sat down with Liz. We started chatting and I asked what her story was, and also shared mine. Liz told me that she had lupus. In the night she had said to God, ‘If you are there would you help me?’, and then she said, ‘And then you walk in the next morning!’. Liz told me that her hair was falling out and that she didn’t sleep because she itches all night, and so with my hands in the fancy nail dryers I asked her if I could pray. Liz said yes. I took authority and commanded the lupus to go in the name of Jesus and also invited her to church on Sunday, but Liz said, ‘No thanks’. I said that was totally fine, it was a pleasure to meet her and I left her an Edinburgh Vineyard card.
I didn’t think anything would happen, but the next morning I got a message from her saying that she couldn’t stop thinking about our conversation. Liz said she had slept through the night and she hadn’t itched once. She also asked to come to one of our meetings. To cut a long story short, Liz is a total delight. We met up to chat about Jesus, she did Alpha and she gave her yes to Jesus. God has not finished with her story – of that I am convinced!”
5) Healing in a supermarket
One of the Edinburgh Vineyard girls was paying for her shopping in a supermarket. The cashier at the till was called Brian, and he said he had a sore leg and was looking forward to going home to have a hot bath! The girl from Edinburgh Vineyard prayed for Brian’s leg to be healed there and then. A few weeks later, this same girl was back in the supermarket and Brian came over to her. He told her his leg was totally better that night the girl had prayed.
Living a Naturally Supernatural Life
It’s so encouraging to hear these stories from local churches where people are pushing into living naturally supernatural lives and extending the Kingdom in their communities. If you’d love to find out more about how you can push into this every day, why not sign up to our free module on the training platform where you can hear wisdom from John Wimber, Mark Marx, Robby Dawkins, and Jay Pathak. Sign up below!
