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watford healing on the streets
Watford Healing on the Streets (Whots) is about loving our community by offering prayer to people we meet!
We believe that God desperately loves people, and beyond that, he wants to meet us where we are, with all our hurts, pains, past experiences and problems. Sometimes, when we encounter God he heals us of this stuff.
WHOTS is about acting on this reality of our amazing God and taking the time to pray for people in our community. Teams go out into Watford town centre every week, to chat with people, offer prayer and to build relationships...
what's whots?
WHOTS stands for Watford Healing on the Streets. It's an initiative run by churches across Watford which sees a group of Christians simply offering prayer for anyone and everyone in Watford town centre.
Every second and fourth Saturday, a group meet together on Watford High Street to pray for healing with passers-by as they go about their Saturday shopping.
How it works
The group prays, then goes to Watford High Street and sets up a large flag to attract attention. From there, they hand flyers to those walking past and ask if they want prayer for healing. Those who do get prayed for.
Every second and fourth Saturday of the month, the group meets at 11am outside of Urban Retreat: 19-21 The Parade High St, Watford, WD17 1LQ. They then hit the streets at 11.30am.
Why it's so good
Miraculous healing demonstrates the healing power of God in an amazingly clear way to those who do not yet know Him. It's also a brilliant opportunity to bring God's love and peace to our community in Watford.
the principle
The principle is simple. As Christians we believe God is amazing and alive today.
We believe he wants to meet with people, to change their lives and enter relationship with them. We also know that sometimes, when God meets with us, he heals us from all sorts of things affecting our lives!
whots it for?
Whots is a way of introducing our amazing God to the people of Watford by offering prayer and conversation to those who want it!
None of it is cringey, no-one is pressured into being prayed for and people are free to just chat and not necessarily receive prayer if they don't want to.
the teams
All the teams that go onto the streets to pray are known and accountable to local churches.
The council and police have agreed to give the churches space to pray for people and all volunteers involved have gone through some specific training and are familiar with praying for others.
get involved
If you’re used to praying for people then hook up with our prayer team to join in or feel free to come and watch.
when & where?
The team go out on the streets between 11.30am & 12.30pm outside Burger King on Watford High Street every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month.
what goes on!
The team ask shoppers if they’d like prayer, they take a seat and are prayed for. It’s really that simple.
pre whots prayer...
Time: 11am Place: Urban Retreat - Presence, 19-21 The Parade High St, Watford, WD17 1LQ
find out more...
Get in touch with WHOTS by emailing us or calling 01923 333338.
whots on facebook...
Find out the latest Whots info and join in discussions at the Whots Facebook group!
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whots stories...
Below you can read the stories that emerge from the WHOTS teams that pray for people every 2nd and 4th Saturday. Some of the stories will sound miraculous, some will be more mundane, but there here to give you an idea of the sort of thing God is doing through the initiative!
"I was born prematurely and spent a long time as a young child in and out of hospital as a result of this, the main health problem that came out of it was heart disease. I underwent operations as a younger child and after a few years of this everyone was satisfied that I was “well!” Obviously I was happy, no more hospitals and doctors and I was able to live life like a normal child!
This lasted for a few years before it all started to go wrong! I was quite stressed out whilst studying for my GCSEs and was generally finding life quite stressful but just thought it was normal, until I collapsed with chest pains! I was rushed to hospital and told that the problems of my childhood were reoccurring! This meant constant hospital visits and generally feeling unwell – not what any teenager wants really!
Once the exam season was over things improved, but it was still there at the back of all of our minds that this could happen again!
I then got involved with the work of WHOTS here in Watford, and began praying for healing for other people. It then occurred to me that I wasn’t praying for me to be healed which seemed crazy! I asked some friends at my cell group to pray for me and then again asked some friends at the WHOTS training conference: “Living a Kingdom Life.” If I’m honest I felt relaxed and loved but other than that not much different! I had a routine checkup with the consultants at the hospital the following week so went along dutifully. Imagine everyone’s surprise when everything seemed normal! They kept looking but couldn’t even see where they had performed previous operations! I very excitedly began to tell the doctors about the praying and everyone was amazed!
I am so glad I decided to get prayer, didn’t cost me anything and worked out really well!"
6th june 2009:
Two people gave their lives to Christ! Praise the Lord. They came desperate to meet God, and after spending some time with the team made their first steps on the incredible journey of faith.
Another man reported that the pain in his shoulder disappeared just while talking to a member of the WHOTS team.
Jean has arthritis in her right shoulder; she was in constant pain and could hardly move it. After prayer the pain disappeared!
Some of the team spent an hour praying for Julian who has a problem with alcohol. He felt blessed and had a change of mood afterwards.
30th may 2009:
Anna: has had MS for 30 years, and been in a wheelchair for the last 6 years. A member of the team prayed with her, and her leg started ‘twitching’, to which she exclaimed, ‘it doesn’t usually do that’! Well, we don’t know what God was doing with her leg, but we know that he’s desperate to show his love to her. We’re hoping she’ll come back for more prayer, and tell us how she is getting on. We’ll let you know if she does.
Alan: was very stressed when he came for prayer, and he told us he felt very peaceful afterwards.