A test of faith

Hinkson had a condition which sometimes occur in men in their 50s and 60s. "Some little things grow on the large intestines and instead of the blood flowing straight through the vessels, it goes into these little cavities and those cavities sometimes leak," he explained as best he could. When he found out about his condition last year, he never imagined it would take such a dramatic turn.

The hot and cold feeling he experienced while at church was the rupturing of the large intestines. After a few X-rays, doctors informed Hinkson they would have to operate to remove the damaged portion of his intestines and then rejoin them. But it seemed every time they scheduled the operation, something came up and caused a postponement.

Hinkson believes this was God's work since it was prophesied at his churches that no knife would cut him. "In January, doctors scheduled me for an operation and said they could not do it because all the intestines were full of blood so they put the operation back until April. "When I went back in April, they needed something for surgery which they didn't have so they sent me back home, then I went back on the 15th [of April] to check in to have the operation on the 19th.

"All the X-rays between January 28 and April showed that the large intestines would have to be cut and rejoined. When I went back on the 15th to have an X-ray done before the operation, the doctor came in with the X-ray in his hands looking puzzled. I thought something had gone radically wrong but then he told me he could find nothing so he couldn't operate.

"He was so surprised. He went back for the old X-ray and held it up next to the new one. He showed me the white spot where the weakening of the intestines was and compared it to the most recent X-ray which was clear.

He took me off the surgical list on June 15 and set me free. All this time, the church was in prayer for me," said Hinkson. He found out afterwards that his operation would have been more complicated than he thought.

In addition to removing a part of the large intestines, doctors were also going to remove the colon as well. And, if everything had gone according to plan during surgery, he would've been okay but if it didn't, he would've had to walk around with a bag attached to his intestines (to collect faeces) for the rest of his life. The entire ordeal was a test of faith for Hinkson who admitted there were times doubt crept in.

However, he credited the faith of the members of his churches for giving him the strength to get through it. Now, Hinkson tells just about everyone he meets about his miraculous healing. "I've been giving my testimony everywhere I go.

I said to the church God works miracles through the doctor's knife as well but they believed that no knife should touch me. We had a day of prayer from 6 a.m.

specifically for my healing. All in Washington, Grenada and St Vincent, people were praying for me and calling me so I believe that God works. People gain faith [when I tell them about my healing] because if it happened to me, they believe it can happen to them," he said.

It seems his churches are fertile grounds for miracles. "I'm the second person in the church at Bathsheba who experienced such healing. My assistant pastor, Pastor Joseph Barrow, had prostate cancer.

He was so bad, they called all of us down to see him for the last. Three years gone and he's still alive because the church prayed for him too. If you see him now, he runs, he walks and you wouldn't believe he had prostate cancer.

" Hinkson believes God has given him a second chance at life and he vows to not only trust God more now, but to also do as much as he can with the time he has been given. "I know what it feels like to be dead. In that hour I passed out, I saw all my family and friends.

I can tell anyone that prayer works; the people at my churches really believe in prayer. It does work but for it to work, you've got to believe." Hinkson had a condition which sometimes occur in men in their 50s and 60s.