Sitting at the Feet of Andy & Audrey, an article by Adri Roos

Published: August 14th, 2008

Is 24-7 Prayer a 'youth movement'? I found myself questioning this concept when I recently met up with a lovely couple in their eighties who are just as energetic and on fire for the Lord as a couple of young people on the streets of Ibiza. I went to visit Andy and Audrey Arbuthnot at their home in Worcester. When I arrived, I was kindly invited to sit at the feet of people who have truly run the race well. While Dotty the dog was snuggling up in the corner, I listened to stories filled with the miraculous power of Jesus.

Andy and Audrey are friends of 24-7 Prayer and got involved by reading 'Red Moon Rising'. "It was simply the stories portraying the work of the Holy Spirit in this generation that triggered us to get in contact with 24-7", said Audrey. "It's truly the move of the Holy Spirit, drawing in a younger and unchurched generation", Andy continued, "I believe the future of the church lies in Alpha and 24-7 Prayer, and I'm not surprised the two joined hands to work together."

Andy and Audrey were part of the London Healing Mission for 12 years.  During their time there, they prayed with numerous people; from satanists, to those who suffered with depression and multiple personalities. But before we dove into those stories, I asked them if they both grew up as Christians. "We grew up in church," replied Andy.  "As a child, Audrey wasn't allowed to read secular books on Sundays", continued Andy, "and after we got married I was ordained and had to do the planning for the children's service at church." Before his first Sunday, Andy spent time praying. "I said, 'Lord, what should I do', and I heard a loud clear voice saying 'Reveal me to them'."

And that is exactly what Andy and Audrey did for 12 years as part of the Healing Mission. "Those were the best 12 years of our lives.", said Audrey as Andy nodded in agreement. "People kept coming to us, both those who wanted to help and those who needed help", explained Andy. "We did a lot of deliverance, but that was never the focus of our work. We tried to follow those 4 words God spoke to me on that Sunday: 'Reveal me to them'. Out of that flowed the ministry of praying for the sick, seeing people delivered and freed to follow Jesus."

Listening to them telling various stories, I could see the love they share for Jesus and each other. "I think I have caught your cold", Audrey said to Andy. "Bad luck", he replied slyly.  After a few moments of silence, he cracked a smile and said, "If it's mine it won’t last long." They both laughed together. Andy went on to describe how important it was for the two of them to work together and how God often spoke half of his word to each one of them. Audrey continued to tell the story of how they helped a lady who struggled with various spirits troubling her:

"I woke up one morning with this nursery rhyme in my head:

'The owl and the pussycat went to sea
In the beautiful pea-green boat'

I couldn’t get it out of my head so I shared this with Andy."

Andy continued:

"As soon as Audrey said the nursery rhyme I knew the answer. The nursery rhyme ends with 'they danced by the light of the moon' and I knew that the spirits entered the woman by a satanic ritual honouring the moon goddess. I think God worked in this way so all the glory could go to Him and neither me or Audrey could claim we did it."

I was curious about the practicalities of their tactics of spiritual warfare against the enemy.  I asked them how they prayed and they replied, "We used the three most powerful weapons in everything we did; the name of Jesus, the cross of Jesus and the blood of Jesus." They also mentioned that they used the sacrament of communion before they prayed with anybody.  And that is still part of Andy and Audrey's life. Everyday they start by having communion together and praying together. Audrey continued by telling me how these three weapons are powerful because God is all-powerful and above any other power and principality in this world:

"We had a guy that came to us for help. He was a satanic priest from Sydney, in his middle thirties and had tattoos all over his body. He was very strong in the natural and we decided to get a group of 4 people to pray with him. It proved to be a bit of a difficult battle as we all ended up being thrown into a pile in the corner of the room."

"Getting up, we managed to get him seated on a chair when I decided to bind him to the chair with the blood of Jesus. First I tied his hands to his knees, them his feet, shoulders and the rest of his body to the chair. He couldn't move and was shaking his head while we were then praying for him. Afterwards I've asked him why he kept shaking his head while we prayed for him, to which he replied: ‘it was the only part of my body you didn't tie up.' "

 
"This guy later ended up being involved and helping with the services we held in London", Andy explained. "One Thursday evening as I was speaking at one of the services I saw him staring at me throughout the evening", said Andy, "Afterwards I asked him, 'Why did you stare at me all evening?' " The rather large man replied, "I wasn't staring at you, but looking at the angel who was standing by your shoulder."

What struck me about Andy and Audrey is how they kept things simple and always carried the person of Jesus at the centre of what they did. I asked them if they had any advice for us youngsters and Andy pointed to the first and greatest commandment: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37) "Anyone would be silly not to follow it, the best instruction you can give is by example," said Andy.  Shortly after that we closed our eyes and prayed together.  In retrospect, I think that if we were to brand ourselves strictly as a "youth movement", we would be missing out on the riches of a generation that offers us amazing witnesses like Andy and Audrey.

If you want to get in contact with Andy and Audrey, please contact Adri Roos.

Adri Roos originally hails from Paarl, South Africa, spent a few years serving 24-7 Prayer in the UK and now lives in and loves the walled red light district of BoysTown, Mexico.  Adri loves friends, food, live music and writing. Having travelled widely, she often finds herself at home in the forgotten places.

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