Here are a series of stories where God has shown up in a tangible way. We pray it blesses and encourages your faith.
HE IS REAL!
Phil M
- Testimony of Healing
As a young lad, I suffered greatly with severe pain in both my legs. It worsened with the cold and every winter was extremely difficult. I would wake in the night crying and my father would come and massage my legs to give me some relief. A hot bath was extremely helpful, but the moment I got out and stood to my feet the pain immediately returned. My mother took me to the doctor who advised that I had rheumatism, and being a nurse, did not believe the doctor, thinking it was an old persons ailment. However, the diagnosis was correct and for many years I suffered this complaint with no relief, until while at University, a doctor prescribed Valium for me, as I could not stand the pain being so severe.
I clearly remember the night of my wedding, I was extremely tired and in great pain. During the 70’s, this was a period of the Charismatic renewal and regular interdenominational meetings were held every month at the Wellington Teachers College auditorium. International guest speakers came with powerful anointings and teachings. We had Apostolic evangelists, teachers, prophets, and the Body of Christ was greatly encouraged by these men of God.
On one particular Saturday night a brother by the name of Harry Greenwood was ministering. He was a jovial happy faced Irishman with a healing ministry and operated very distinctly in Word of Knowledge. He was a great singer and songwriter, and author of the song “I keep falling in love with Him, Over and over again.” On this particular night I remember him calling out a woman’s name at the far back of the auditorium with a word of knowledge of her specific type of cancer and the woman immediately stood up and received her healing with great joy.
I remember the night as I went in great pain and almost having to pick my legs up to get up the front stairs to the building, which was packed to the doors with believers from every denomination including a regular contingent of ‘Charismatic Catholics’.
After sitting in my seat for some time, suddenly a warm electric-type current circulated up and down both my legs. Being conscious of this unusual feeling and the warmth that came with it, I momentarily switched out of the meeting and wondered what it was, but noting that the pain was gone and replaced by the warmth in my legs.
Harry Greenwood was a man of great faith and I believe he had the ‘gift of faith’ among other gifts for as he spoke, the atmosphere was charged with excitement and great faith. After a few seconds of distraction by this strange occurrence on my legs, I ‘switched back’ into the meeting to hear him say these words: “Now while I’ve been speaking, some of you have been healed in your seats. If you think you are one of them, then I want you to stand to your feet.” I thought to myself, “I think I’m one of them!”, so I stood to me feet. I went home rejoicing knowing that I was indeed healed after years of suffering with this crippling pain.
The week that followed was more than interesting. On the Monday, The pain came back and the voice of the enemy said ,”See you’re not healed! It doesn’t work”. I became aggressive and replied out loud the scriptures that He was “a liar, and the father of lies”, that “By the stripes laid on Jesus”, in “His name” and, through the “precious blood of Jesus”, I was and am healed. I commanded the devil to go – And he did! Immediately!
Then again, on the Wednesday of the same week, the pain came back. I did exactly as I did on the Monday and the pain immediately left me. Come Friday, the enemy was up to his old tricks and tried to tell me the same lies… that I was not healed, it was all fake, and I would always suffer. With great authority (which God has given every believer) I stood my ground and commanded this lying devil to leave and never come back! And he didn’t!!
I am now in my mid 70’s and I have never since been attacked with this problem and know that God has given me the complete victory. Hallelujah!
The most interesting thing I discovered as a young believer, was not only was I healed and had power to proclaim and maintain my healing, but that the enemy listens to us!! We have “…power over all the power of the enemy…” (Luke 10:19). I discovered that we must be aggressive, not passive, consistent, and declare out loud the Word of God as our Sword to cut down the enemy.
Glory to God! What a mighty Saviour, what a wonderful healer!. Amen! and amen!
LUKE 10:19 – “Behold I give you the authority trample on serpents, and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
Paul S
- Testimony of God connecting at a heart level
It all started a few years back, when I thought I had tried really hard to connect with God at a heart level, like I had heard of so many others who had. But alas, that hadn’t been my experience.
I had been faithful and doing the right things by leading men’s studies and courses, but somewhere along the line, I had bought into the lie that this type of connection I was seeking to have with God was not for everyone, and in this case, not for me. A bit like the gift of tongues is how I rationalised it. And on one level, I’m sure there is an element of truth to it. So I didn’t allow myself to get upset about it.
On 15 July 2025, Dale (a good mate) asked me to do a new study with him based on John Eldredge’s new book “Experience Jesus. Really.” I had listened to most of this study through John’s Pause App, so I had a good idea what it was about. I was hesitant, because I didn’t want to enter into something again that I had given a good crack at and allow it to not only let me down, but also Dale. So I told him I’d pray on it.
Thursday 24 July, I responded to Dale saying ok, I would do this study with him. That night, I was awoken with two songs running through my head. Both of which I don’t recall hearing recently. But it was the repeated lyrics that played, not the entire songs.
The first one – “It’s a soul kinda feeling” by the Dynamic Hypnotics (blast from the past). Which made me stop and wonder if this was God telling me that to connect with him, I need to go the soul place in me. I’ve heard that our soul is also defined as our mind, will and emotions. So I let that sit for a while, then the lyrics “Don’t give up – you know that I am on your side. Don’t give up.” by Phil Colins (Genesis). Not sure if the next part of the line about you better run for your life was God or me. 😊
But I was stunned that God appeared to be answering a deep yearning of mine in this way. Telling me to go to the soul part of me and not to give up. At that moment, I have to tell you that it was immensely encouraging for me, especially given me cancer journey…
As this was in the middle of the night, I prayed that God would help me to remember these two songs in the morning. Wouldn’t you know it, I could only remember the first one. But I remembered the second was from Phil Collins. So, I searched his tunes and landed on “I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord”. It kinda fit, but I knew I hadn’t nailed it.
A quick back-story – During this cancer journey, Cheryl (my wife), being the amazing and caring counsellor she is, regularly checked in on me when I first received my diagnosis. Even I was pleasantly surprised at how well I appeared to be handling this news weeks in. She kept on checking in and I had the same answer – it is well with my soul.
I then felt the need to help explain how I can come to this conclusion – not only to Cheryl, but I think I needed to hear me say it and then actually write it down.
I said I use logic to inform my feelings. Meaning that if I can’t see a rational reason to get all worked up emotionally, I don’t allow my self to get worked up into that state, because it does no good at all, in fact it only makes things worse (mentally and physically).
I wrote out three positive things that logically pointed to a good outcome, three concrete levels of support around us and also how God’s truth is what we can continue to stand on. I was quite proud of this piece of work. It helped settle Cheryl down and I we refer to it regularly. However all was not as it appeared (teaser). That’s the little back story.
Then four days after that first dream, this second song came back to me again, along with the first (It’s a soul kinda feeling). God was reaching out to me again in exactly the same way. To little ol me in such a personal way. I moved from awe and astonishment that God would give me back the second song, then it went to the fact that the creator of the universe came and connected directly with me to a deep seated need I had almost pushed away. I lie there in bed, with tears of gratitude that one of my greatest yearnings was to know him more intimately than simply head knowledge. Here He was encouraging me to not give up because He is on my side and to get more in touch with the soul part of me.
I just had to sit up in bed and write this down this time. It was 11:21pm.
I thought, I’m going back to commune with Him again. What I then felt I heard from within was “Now I can meet with you”. It was the most amazing picture of falling into God’s arms in complete surrender.
I have interviewed many men at Shed Happens and its such as consistent recurring theme that God meets man when we hit rock bottom and rarely not before. Its like He has to take us to a place of complete surrender before we can get out of our own way.
As I’m lying there trying to take in how I found myself surrendering to Him in a very new way, its now 3:35am, and I get another song come in about trusting Him… “If you tell me you’ll lead me wherever I go, That’s all I need to know, That’s all I need to know.” Just before that, the lyrics are, “Don’t always know what you’re doing, can’t always see how you’re moving, but if you tell me you’ll lead me wherever I go, That’s all I need to know, That’s all I need to know.”
Again, I had this amazing picture of what surrender for me looks like.
The words, “You’ll Lead me”, sat deeper than the others with me. I then was given two pictures of what being led by God might look like. One in chains, where He leads with a rope, the other is Him saying follow Me. Both are leading, but I see my posture in each is very different. My head said I’m following Him. But I felt like God said, I’m in chains.
My chains we made up of agreements I had made about how I didn’t think I would ever be able to connect with God like this, that my calling is very different to that of many others, that I would never recover the memory of my childhood and of course the pride and arrogance of the statement that I needed to use logic to inform my feelings. While it helps on one level, it also puts up barriers and holds me back from experiencing Jesus in how He wants to connect with me. Plus I think I have made an internal agreement that the medical treatment will cure me (not Jesus), because medically I was told that. But now I’m going deeper and praying as I get the treatment that the Holy Spirit would direct and guide the radiation to kill all the cells that are from the enemy and protect and restore all the good cells that God created to the way He created them.
My physical symptoms are bucking the trend of treatment side effects. I’m supposed to be getting worse (according to them), but I’m sleeping so well, it is ridiculous and my throat doesn’t give me anywhere as much discomfort since I have been praying like this.
Plus the prayers and support of others has been so amazing. I’m only taking two Panadol now and then because I’m told to, not because I need to. Today is the halfway point of my treatment.
How can I not fall deeper in love with my saviour???
2. Testimony of He is with me in this
I was 5 months into a new job and nearing the end of my probation. The company wasn’t performing as expected and my boss sent me an email before Easter of 2020 to tell me that on the following Tuesday He had arranged a meeting with HR to be “performance managed”. I didn’t see it coming and there was no evidence pointing to me being at fault. So I prayed “Lord, if You’re in this, show me. I don’t have a fleece like Gideon to put out. The only things outside are my garbage bins. If You’re in this, knock over my garbage bins.” Keeping this story short, in the early hours of the morning, three youths went up our street knocking over the bins as they went. Our bins have never been knocked over in the 10 years previous and they haven’t been knocked over since. So what are the odds of something so random happening within hours of asking over a 15 year period? Coincidence or God-incidence? This proved to me God was in my circumstances, which turned out well and when I questioned why He let things happen like this, it was to allow me to have a faith anchor for future needs and to allow me to share this story. God is not only in my circumstances, He is also in yours. I pray your spiritual eyes would be open to see this. How amazing is our God. Thank You Jesus.
Michael G
Testimony of a God touch
When we were in church last Sunday, I was really connecting with the music on a spiritual level, and I remembered from somewhere that the reasons you throw your hands up at church during worship is to surrender to Jesus, not a thing for show but rather a personal agreement to surrender all.
What I struggle with is that I’m not a ‘do things for show’ type of fellow, as if it isn’t real I don’t do it. Anyway, I decided I would throw my hands up for me as a surrender for myself to Jesus… Internally I’m feeling pressured and stupid at this point and decided not to do it unless he fills the church up and all seats were packed…. hahaha, then the worst thing could have possibly happened… in a single song, the place started to fill up, and by the end of the song, there were pretty much no more seats left. Haha.
So, as to my agreement, I threw my hands up and darn it was hard to do. I remember feeling overwhelmed in a good way, and tears of joy were leaking from my eyes, haha.
It’s hard to write this all.
Brennan S
1. Testimony of Answered Prayer
As a 7 or 8 year old living in Tasmania I had my first encounter with God answering my prayer. We had chickens in our backyard and I was hitting a golf ball around that went too far hitting a chicken in the head, killing it. My mother went off at me, sent me to my room and told me my father would deal with me when he got home. I was in for a hiding and begged God to bring the chicken back to life. I literally got down on my knees and prayed with all my might for God to heal this dead chicken. After begging God, I got up off my knees and looked out of my window expecting this chicken to get up and walk around. And it did the moment I looked out my window. Was the chicken dead? Was it just stunned? Was it a coincidence? I won’t know for sure but what I do know is, it gave me a faith in God that would come in handy throughout my Christian life. That moment helped me expect God to answer.
2. Testimony of God’s Will for me
Less than two years into my marriage things were not going well. My wife and I had separated twice already but had got back together, however all was not going well.
I was a sales manager and used an agent to deal with my grocery accounts. The receptionist at this firm was around my age, attractive and clearly interested in me.
One day, a rainy day, she rang me to see if I would pick her up and drive her home. I so wanted to but said I couldn’t, probably making something up as an excuse as to why I couldn’t. That night I lay on my bed crying out to God, asking Him what I should do and why my marriage was so bad. I begged Him for an answer and asked Him to speak to me from His word. I randomly opened up the bible and the very first words I saw and read were, “Do not deal treacherously with the bride of your youth.” The last sentence of Malachi 2:15.
I didn’t even know Malachi existed and to read that was like having a punch to the guts. I was shocked it spoke so directly to my situation. There was no ambiguity here. The God of the universe told a 23 year old nobody to love his wife. You think I did? To the very best of my ability I have and 34 years later I still am.
3. Testimony of Answered Prayer for others
Christmas 2006 I organised for my family to spend a week at Hamilton Island. Of course this was organised many many months earlier, maybe a year earlier. A few weeks out Kirsty says, “Typical, I will have my period that week.” She wasn’t happy. So you know, Kirsty’s period was very regular at that time.
I prayed about this, asking God to delay her period until we got home, as I wanted my wife to have a good holiday with the kids. Playing, swimming, having a good time and I didn’t tell her I was praying about this.
From memory we were arriving at Hamilton Island on the Sunday and getting back home on the Saturday. On the Wednesday, over lunch, Kirsty whispered to me, “I haven’t got them yet.” It was then I told her I had been praying she wouldn’t until we got home. I don’t remember exactly what she said but it was along the lines of, “There’s no way I will be that late.” Kirsty enjoyed her holiday, period free. We flew home after our week away, drove into the garage at home and as Kirsty was getting out of the car she got her period.
4. Testimony of Trusting God
As my business grew, God had provided the buildings for the business to grow into. We ended up with two sheds, side by side, bought years apart from one another in an industrial estate that is very difficult to buy in. The business continued to grow and with it the need for another shed. Behind the two existing sheds are 4 smaller lots, all with older tin sheds on them and so I let God know that I expected Him to provide me one of those 4.
I was so confident in God I didn’t ask Him for it, I just told Him, “You’ve grown my business way bigger than I expected or even wanted, so I trust you’ll give me one of these 4 sheds. I’m not asking you, I just know you will.”
Almost immediately my real estate guy rang me to say that a shed was for sale, but it wasn’t one of the four, rather it was next door to the last one of the four. This of course wouldn’t work as I couldn’t then join up the backs of the sheds to connect them in any way. I told my real estate guy that if he could convince the neighbour, one of the four, I would buy both. That neighbour did want to sell! But alas the deal he tried to get done, which was a bigger shed for himself elsewhere, fell through and so I ended up with nothing.
I told God that His test of my faith was a nice try but I still expected Him to give me one of those four sheds. Not too long after this, my real estate guy rang me again and I swear this is true. I answered the phone, “I’ll take it!” Jack Hawkes is the guy’s name and his response was, “No no, I have to explain this to you.”
Without getting into to the full conversation it wasn’t one of the four sheds behind but it was the neighbour, at the other end of the four this time. However unbeknownst to me and Jack was that the easement running behind my existing sheds then did a 90 degree bend after my neighbours property. This meant that the “fifth” lot, that wasn’t on my radar or Jack’s radar, was bigger than the others and actually ran down the side of one of my sheds by about 10 meters. This meant it could be connected to the back of my existing shed. I bought it, knocked down what was there and developed it, connecting it to the back of my existing shed by way of a concrete ramp. I knew God would provide but He still managed to do it differently to how I expected!
David Reece
From my perspective, the God moment came with a pounding heart during Scott Bowdens presentation on the ‘Rapture’. I am also of the belief that this event (the taking) will occur pre-tribulation. A series of learned Baptist Ministers have cemented that in me so I was in tune with him. It was the “quickening” in my spirit that I couldn’t get over. I share his sense of urgency. I am mindful of my everyday. Expectant, but understanding that it will be sudden🙏🙏🙏
Joe M
The Power of Testimony
In my personal group of four, I had the opportunity to share my testimony about an early encounter I had as a new believer. I told them about meeting someone who had experienced a profound encounter with Jesus – someone who had been declared dead and came back from the morgue with a prophetic voice.
As I shared this story, I watched one person in our group become deeply moved. He opened up about the apostolic calling he felt on his life, explaining how he longed for something powerful that would fully awaken him to that calling and enable him to do more for God. In that moment, I realized this was exactly why God had me share that particular testimony – our stories are often precisely what another person needs to hear. I felt led to pray for him right then and there.
As I prayed, I was reminded that God is no respecter of persons – what He’s able to do for one, He’s able to do for another. I blessed him with the prayer that he would have his own powerful encounter with God, and that the Lord would confirm the calling on his life in such a clear way that he would never have regrets about how he spent his time on earth.
This became one of those faith anchor moments – a time when I could see God orchestrating the conversation, using my story to speak directly to someone else’s heart, and moving through prayer to encourage a fellow believer in their divine calling.
The Anchor: God uses our testimonies as tools of encouragement, and He delights in confirming His calling on our lives when we seek Him with sincere hearts.
Nico T
Every morning I wake up and experience God’s creation in everything I see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Yet I often forget this truth. It took going through storms in life to realise why I need them. Do I like it? No. But facing storms draws me closer to God.
Horrible things have happened in my life, divorce, death in the family, even two near-death experiences. I truly had to walk through the valley of the shadow of death to learn to embrace every storm. Because through the storms, God showed me my limits in strength, courage, health, and emotions. Every time I feel pain, I hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. After every battle, I can taste and smell victory. I find comfort in knowing that God touches hearts and souls, not only mine, but also those walking through storms alongside me.
Ultimately, Jesus came to suffer and gave His life so we could live life to the full, not only here on earth, but eternally. Every time God steps in to help us through something, He is teaching us to lean on Him and is drawing us closer through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit was sent to glorify Christ, to testify about Him, and to carry His name since He was crucified for our sins. Now I look forward to everlasting life at the feet of my Creator keeping in mind, in my weakness, God shows His strength.
Jayden T
My faith anchors are being led to pray and following in my dad’s footsteps. Once I was in a terrible situation and my first reaction was to seek God ‘s help in prayer to protect my family. God protected us.
David N
When we put on an event like Man Camp there will be both problems and Blessings. So when there is opposition or when the equipment does not work or we lose our notes or we are under attack from the evil one, we can have confidence in God to see us through.
It is through Faith that we can have confidence in God, all the time even in bad trying times, in time of testing we can have confidence in God to see us through these times. Confidence is the essence of faith.
King David had confidence in God. David sinned really badly, David repented and still had to go through a tough time. David was confident that God was meeting his every need. His confidence is so strong that God would helped him in many areas. God seems to richly delight that a man has so much confidence in Him.
I find it very encouraging to see the difference in the life of men from when they arrive at Man Camp and when they leave to see the light of The Lord in their faces and going home in a better place than when they arrived. Better still to see the maturity in the life of men who have been coming to Man Camp for many years.
Scott D
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:12 ESV
This year I sensed God was closing my SU chaplaincy ministry at Lawnton State School for a range of life reasons. I now look back 9 month into a season of trusting God for my daily bread and I have experienced God’s miraculous provision for me and my family.
The verse quoted above really spoke to me earlier this year. Now I have experienced this verse in my daily existence as I;
- Rejoice in what Christ has achieved for me at the cross. This is my starting point in my attitude and outlook.
- Patiently go through this tribulation of seeking further fulltime employment.
- Constantly stay prayerful in all seasons of life. Even those that really stretch our faith and capacity.
In conclusion God has been faithful to provide for my daily bread in 2025. I’m trusting him to show me where I can best serve him with the passion and gifts he has given me to serve and build up followers of Christ.
Man Camp 