GEORGE HENRY, STAR Writer

Bishop Dr Owen Reid, of the Pentecostal Church of God at Wait-A-Bit, in Trelawny, was crippled before he gave his life to God. He got saved at 14, and since then has not looked back.

" I was crippled and God miraculously healed me. I made a promise to God, while I was crippled, that if He healed me I would serve Him. I had to wear plaster polish on both legs from my ankles to my hips," noted Reid.

He explained that while growing up he experienced severe pains in his legs that prevented him from attending school for lengthy periods of time. Because he was unable to attend school, Reid said he was assigned the responsibility of taking care of his younger siblings.

Bishop Reid noted that one day while he was at home, a number of his friends visited him and asked him if he would like to go with them to a crusade at Newport in Manchester and he agreed.

come to the altar

He was taken to the crusade where he listened to the preacher's message. Reid said after the preacher finished his sermon, he asked those who needed saving to go to the altar.

"I went forward, but was barely able to move. When I got to the altar I could not kneel, so I slid down on my side and laid there. He prayed for those who came for salvation, and then they went back to their seats, but I was still there on my side and he came over and said 'young man, what is it?', and I said, 'Sir I am crippled, I can't walk'," noted Bishop Reid.

The bishop said the preacher asked him if he believed God could heal him and he said yes. It was at that point that the preacher prayed a special prayer for young Reid.

Reid, who has been bishop in the Pentecostal Church of God since 2004, explained that even after the special prayer, when he got back home the pain got worse.

However, Reid noted that his faith in God's healing did not wane, because he said that even after that, he kept saying to himself that he was healed in the name of Jesus.

One day, while sitting and watching his youngest sister, who was in her stroller on the steps of their verandah, Reid said he saw the stroller rolling down five flights of steps. He explained that prior to that, nothing could have made him get up from where he was at that time.

healed

However, when he saw that his sister was in danger, he said he forgot about his condition, jumped up and ran towards the stroller and held on to it before it fell to the ground. It was then that Bishop Reid said he was miraculously touched and healed by the Lord.

After following God for some years, Reid said he attended theological college at the Caribbean Pentecostal College at Mizpah, in Walderston, Manchester, where he spent three years studying theology and graduated in 1979.

Upon graduating, Bishop Reid said he went straight into the ministry, worked for some time before pursuing his first degree, then his masters, and last year he acquired his doctorate in theology.

Bishop Reid is the father of Andrea, Ryan and Kerry-Ann, and the husband of Jasneth Reid for over 27 years.

As for persons who are crippled and have been praying for their healing from God, Bishop Reid would like them to know that the God he serves is real. He said God is aware of their condition, where they are, what they are indulged in, where they are coming from and the direction to take them.

"Whatever it is, whether you are sick spiritually, physically or whatever aspect, God is your healer, and there is no condition that is beyond His intervention," said Bishop Reid.