Front Line Stories from Ronan Walker

Front Line Stories

by George Bingham-Davis

Accounts as a Prison-Chaplain

Ronan has been the spark for many people’s encounters with Jesus. During his time as a prison chaplain, Ronan met a hardened criminal, convicted for a violent crime, with a reputation for being involved in many illegal activities in and around the prison. During one of Ronan’s Bible study sessions, this repeat offender - who had snuck in without the knowledge of the prison staff - had a profound incident whilst Ronan was reading a scripture. Much to his surprise - and that of the others gathered - this seasoned criminal started weeping. From then on, the man was enraptured with the teachings of Jesus, coming to every Bible study, always hungry to learn more, and even bringing others along with him. He was utterly transformed, and one evening even led a peaceful march around one of the wings, chanting ‘You need church. Come on, you need Jesus. Jesus loves you, Jesus died for you.’

Tales from Hallamshire Hospital

During his time working in the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Ronan would pray for healing from Jesus for anyone he encountered. One day, as he was moving some filing between offices, he happened upon a woman who had injured her back while moving boxes. Ronan offered to pray for her, and immediately her back was completely healed. The story spread, and before long, Ronan’s office was flooded with new people. One woman came to Ronan in a panic, suffering from a terrible migraine. She asked to be healed, and when Ronan prayed for her, her pain disappeared completely. Even those who were not physically healed often had some kind of profound experience. One of those Ronan prayed for, a blind man, came to Ronan a few months later, telling him that, even though he could not see with his own eyes, God had seen him, and come to him in a big way, changing his life and his world for the better. In the taster edition, we shared an article about local evangelist Ronan Walker as he prepared to move away from his home city. Here are a few stories of the lives he touched during his time in Sheffield.

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion looks out onto the world, yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good and yours are the hands with which he is to bless now."