Francis Chan has admitted that he did not believe in healing and miracles until recently.
Chan was speaking at the virtual International Association of Healing Ministries conference, saying: "What I do know is for many years I didn't believe in healing, I didn't believe in miracles, it was pretty much what I was taught in seminary."
He added, "Humbly, I have to say, I used to ridicule people who spoke in tongues or prophesied or believed they could heal, even though when I personally read the Scriptures, I saw this available."
He continued, "It took me years, to be honest, with what I saw in Scripture and start pursuing these gifts of the Spirit and I'm still somewhat on that journey.
"That's why when you first asked me to speak for this healing conference, I go, 'You've got the wrong guy.' I've been praying for gifts of healing for years and it was only like a few months ago that I saw healing for the first time."
Just earlier in 2020, Chan testified that he and other Christian leaders healed various people in a rural Myanmar village. Among the healed were a little boy and girl who were deaf.
Chan testified following that miraculous healing event: "Every person I touched was healed. OK, this is craziness to me. I have never experienced this in 52 years."
He added, "I'm talking like a little boy and a little girl who were deaf. We laid hands, she starts crying and smiling.
"These are not Christians who have even heard about Jesus, and she's freaking out. We lay hands on her little brother, we lay hands on him, and he starts hearing for the first time."
Francis Chan is a well-known Christian author, and was previously senior pastor of California megachurch, Cornerstone Community Church. He stepped back from that role in in 2010 after saying the extensive size of the church had made him feel like a "celebrity pastor" and he felt it was time for a different path for him.
The International Healing Conference took place from 20-23 May. It was initially scheduled to take place in Porto, Portugal, but with coronavirus restrictions in place across Europe and the West, the event was reorganised as a virtual conference.
