Personal News from Francis and Judith

by Francis & Judith MacNutt
Summer 2001

We have shared in some marvelous conferences recently. In particular, our friends Art and Dottie Thomson hosted a conference for CHM in San Diego at Good Samaritan Episcopal Church for about 450 people. Barbara Shlemon–Ryan and Rev. Don Williams were the other speakers, and Rev. Mike Evans was the MC. Barbara, who has been doing this for 40 years, thought it was the most powerful conference she has ever attended.

In April, we were in Richmond, Virginia, to give two conferences. One was a small, invitational meeting for psychotherapists and clergy who were ministering to clients affected by Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder) and victims of Satanic Ritual Abuse. There are many victims of SRA in this country. It is a very serious and life–threatening spiritual problem, and yet there are very few clergy equipped to deal with it. We were on the phone recently with an SRA survivor who can't find a priest or minister who knows how to pray for her in her area, a major city that is one of the country's centers of this kind of activity. This woman personally knows 40 other survivors. Every time we are tempted to list the many ways God has blessed us in the healing ministry, we again are made aware of how much more need is out there.

Also in Richmond, we led three meetings speaking and praying for the healing of the city, which was of course the capitol of the Confederacy in the Civil War. Again, we were privileged to be part of a pioneering effort in learning how to pray for the larger healing of our country. We spoke in three different churches (a Presbyterian church, an Afro–American church, and an independent nondenominational church), and we are learning how Jesus wants to bring about the larger healing of the churches in our society.

We also would like to share that Dr. Ken McAll died just one day short of his 91st birthday. Ken was a wonderful, kindly English psychiatrist and former missionary who was a pioneer in opening up the ministry of generational healing.

As for news of a more personal nature, people have heard that I (Francis) have been sick and were worried about me. Actually, I am still healthy but I had an inguinal hernia (part of the aging process that I wrote about two years ago), which required major surgery and a two–week stay at home. But that's over now. Our daughter, Rachel, finished a wonderfully successful freshman year at Randolph–Macon Woman's College in Virginia, and David has graduated from high school and plans to attend Wesleyan University in Connecticut in the fall. He just reached 18 and stands at 6'3".

On the level of events important to me (and to few others), I (Francis) saw my first California Gnatcatcher (there are only 2,500) and Tri–colored Blackbird in San Diego with Art Thomson as my guide, and here in Florida I saw my first Connecticut Warbler, the first seen here by anybody in several years.

So, praise God, He has been blessing us in many ways — in great, huge ways, like these conferences, but also in tiny ways (like the 4–inch gnatcatcher)!

May God bless you in abundance!

Francis MacNutt is a Founding Director and Executive Committee member of CHM. Judith MacNutt is author, teacher, conference speaker and co–founder of CHM.