We Are On the Move Again

/1 Comment/in /by

Monday – a quieter day with a few hours of “office” work (the trouble with laptop computers and wireless connections) so I was able to keep up on some current emails although did not manage any of the substantial backlog that exists. Also managed to record some thoughts and feelings about the trip and ministry so far although it is definitely early into the trip here. A walk with my administrator to just get outside and away from things and people and to see this subdivision of Minsk that we have been staying in for two days and then lunch and a time of prophetic ministry over the pastor’s daughter … then headed to Pastor Vladimir’s for a time of fellowship and prayer. He lives and pastors in Minsk and I had met him for a minute at yesterday moning’s service. Again prayer and prophetic ministry over his wife and over him and his business and church.

Evening service in the city of Berezino ministering for and staying with (for the night) a Pastor Dima. This church had been planted by our previous host before he handed it off to this pastor 5 years ago … a young man with three young children.

Late night: It has been an interesting day praying for healings … the lady , who since last August, has been unable to walk and the doctors cannot find out what the problem is. Then, after supper we drive very fast (145 Km an hour) to Berezino arriving late for the service. Good worship, small group (maybe 30) and mostly older people. Again, after teaching and then prophesying over 4 people the service ended and the line-up began. We prayed for a little girl with cerebral palsy, a deaf teenager, a young schizophrenic, a severe diabetic, and several others … Wow! Everywhere we are going on this trip we are praying for healings… and there was one opportunity to work with someone that needs deliverance that we passed up due to the time schedules they have us on.

Here in Berezino I preached without a microphone as the police monitor this church’s “airwaves”. This way they heard only my interpreter who would be speaking Russian and they would not raid us should they be listening. The pastor was accepted very well here until he registered ‘too many’ Americans during the course of a year (all visitors must register in the city they are visiting as I will be doing this afternoon) and so they became concerned. They monitored his actions including a trip to bless kids in an orphanage and then clamped down on his visitors and on him. They interrogated him for four hours (like the KGB) and, in the end, he was forbidden to preach for a period of three months and now has to obtain a permit to preach (6 months in length) or simply stop. He is being very careful at the moment as he does not want to cause any more ripples as he could be expelled to his home nation.

Fellowship over a fish supper (frequent meal here – fish caught locally on the many lakes and rivers) and plain rice followed by a fruit tea. Good way to end the day and head for bed. The smell of wood burning was very prevalent throughout our time here as almost all houses are heated by wood. The city has just had natural gas reach it but it has yet to create the system to distribute it and, as the pastor lives down a road outside the main part of the city it may be decades before the natural gas is available on his “street” … the mud path that passes as a street – I actually feared that the van we were in would not make it to the house due to the mud and the very large holes (craters) in the road.

It has been a long day… but, I believe a good one.

Palm Sunday in Belarus

/0 Comments/in /by

Sunday was Palm Sunday – the day Jesus road into Jerusalem in preparation to die for our sins on Good Friday and be raised from the dead that first Easter Sunday. It may not be “first” anymore but this whole next ten days are foundational to the Christian faith – especially His resurrection from the dead. This is THE message of the early Church. I had the privilege of ministering at both a morning and then an evening service in two different locations (churches). It was a good way to come to know the people of this nation and to sense the role it will be playing in the next move of the Holy Spirit.

Our first service was in a rented facility that the church uses all week so it has set itself up fairly permanently in the facility – lighting, sound system, and backdrop for the camera. The Church is Church of God of Prophecy in Minsk. The pastor is Henadzi Kernazhytski and it is a great work he is doing with university and college students from a number of campuses in this capital city of 2 million. It was a great service with tremendous worship (pictured above is the worship team for the morning service).

I gave my testimony and it was well received and God really touched the hearts of the people. I prophesied over several people scattered throughout the congregation including one young man from Sweden. Could God be opening doors to another nation? I don’t know – but I do trust Him and will follow Him wherever He will take me. Also prophesied over a young lady who only recently joined the local church and the pastor commented it was a good word and a needed word for her. God is so good. A word over the local church which also turned into a word over the pastor followed. Of course, we went at least an hour overtime.

The evening service was help at Light of Truth Pentecostal Church in Minsk. A totally different situation. The oldest and thus first Pentecostal church ever built 1977 and the one from which many others have been planted. Much older congregation with a lot of traditional ways and thinking … as was opbvious simply from watching and being part of their evening service. I had never met the leaders of this church before (Pastor Zhibrika) so we chatted briefly before the service. Worship was good and God ministered. Young people led the worship part. Then an offering and I preached. It was a simply sermon but one that I hope touched lives. It was hard to judge by the faces of the people. Very stoic. Then, I asked if it was alright to prophesy and, with permission, called the young people up … over 40 lined up and we prayed and prophesied over every one of them (with no team). Then it seemed the line was still growing but the age of the people was getting older… as others were taking advantage of the opportunity to be prayed for. We eventually closed the 5:00 p.m. service at 11:00 p.m. Then we had supper in the church basement and headed home.

We did prophesy over four young people – in the long line of young people that kept growing – two apostles, a prophet and a five-fold evangelist. They will need a lot of teaching, discipling and mentoring as their situation does not appear to understand anything about the ministry of apostle and prophet. We held a brief time together between the end of the service and the late night supper to offer them our help.

Due to some emails that had been received in my Eastern European office I then held a meeting until 2:00 a.m. with my administrator and sorted through feelings, issues, actions and reactions so that on Monday morning we could simply do some “office work” and accomplish some emails…before heading to have lunch with a man here in Minsk where we will also pray for his wife who has been in bed for years with spinal injuries. Some of the young people want us to work with a lady who is, from the sound of it, seriously demon possessed. However, those situations often absorb a lot of time and it is time that we don’t have a lot of. We will see how the Lord leads.

We head 100 Km down the road today into another town to preach and minister and stay the night….

First Impressions

/0 Comments/in /by

Nothing like diving right in. After a major hassle in the airport security system, custom officials and consular officers I made it through to those on the other side of the wall who had been waiting for almost 2 hours for me. It was the worse time I have ever had working at entering a country. But God had warned me that this was not going to be an easy two weeks and that I should be prepared to persevere and see it through.

During the 22 hours of flying and airports I had several times, I must admit, when I felt a little panic fluttering around in the pit of my stomach. However, I run my life as best I can according to the Word and remembered that I have the “peace of God that passes all understanding”. Every time the panic feeling would enter my heart and spirit I would meditate on the words Jesus spoke and feel the flood simply restored. Afterall, He is the Prince Of Peace.

I was met at the Minsk airport – after a very rough last third of the trip – by the local pastor I will be ministering for tomorrow morning (Henadzi Kernazhytski) … and my interpreter and administrator Miroslav as well as the youth leader who invited me this nation in the first place. After a trip into the city and a great lunch we then made some travel arrangements regarding return trains for Miroslav and my flights returning on a Monday. I noticed on my way through the city doing the things that needed to be done that it is a very clean city and well kept – there is some pride in who they are and what people think. Good pride in their city and it shows. Also there is a lot of construction going on – great new buildings – very modern and advanced. I have not seen such modern construction in many of the other former Soviet Union nations where I have ministered.

We then headed to the pastor’s home where we will be staying tonight and tomorrow night and I am currently sitting in his office (where I will be sleeping) typing this blog. They have sorted out the internet for us in the locations where we will be living and so I should manage a blog entry a day if time permits.

We have had a four way and then a three way meeting (one university student had a class to go to) here for several hours regarding the coming two weeks and where we will be ministering, for whom, how long are the services, what is happening between the services (meetings, deliverances…) and so on. Very boring stuff but absolutely essential if the ministry is to flow smoothly. This was the leadership team’s first opportunity to meet as a whole and face-to-face to make sure we were all on the same page (and reading the same book) and sort out the details. We accomplished a lot – ending in prayer for every event during the next 15 or 16 days.

Emails are caught up – I did today’s… still 325+ behind… but I am only one person and doing the best I can. God and people first and ministry to the people with (not just for) God… Time to have some supper as it is 8:30 here and tonight they put the clocks forward an hour so it is 9:30 here (body time 1:30 in the afternoon) and I have not slept since Friday morning at 6:00 so I am finding my brain fading now in the conversations we are holding. Time to call it a night.

Tomorrow will be a busy day meeting lots of people from many nations. There will be some YWAM (Youth With A Mission) youth in the service, a former British pastor and his wife now working with kids here in Belarus (BelaRussia) will also be in the service, not to mention a number of other visitors. I won’t really get a good look at the local church as there will be a considerable number of visitors there. I have yet to meet the pastor we will be ministering with in the evening…

Please remember to pray as we have many obstacles to overcome and we want maximum impact for these wonderful people here in this nation. There is a sense of spiritual breakthrough in the air and they have been praying for just that! I am, of course, open to do whatever the Lord asks us to do.

Up, Up and Away

/0 Comments/in /by

I am on my way once again. Arrived at the airport in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada at 8:30a on Friday and will arrive at my destination – Minsk, Belarus Saturday at 1:30p local time. Then something to eat (cannot eat airline food due to health problems and their coffee is terrible – not Tim Horton’s) and a shower and shave and off to a number of planning meetings dealing with the next two weeks.

Sunday in the same city I will preach a number of times (and prophesy) and then, if memory serves me correctly, head 2.5 hours to another city to begin my two weeks – first with youth and then with leaders ministering somewhere a number of times on Easter Sunday between the two weeks.

Sitting in Toronto International Airport with several hours of quiet ahead of me – God is good! Writing now and then another long walk. The last one was, I am sure, a mile from national terminal to international terminal here in Toronto and I’m not complaining after sitting in an airline seat for many hours in the air. The next walk will be to find a Diet Coke (cold one) and to just walk and not sit. Right now enjoying an extra large Tim’s (that’s the best coffee in the world if you are not a Canadian).
In an airport this size the WiFi for emails is not working and I am unwilling to struggle to find out why.

Sad that they can’t treat the road warriors to a simple and inexpensive thing such as WiFi connections that actually work – and how about some plugs to recharge the bateries in our laptoipns after hours in the air running off of batteries. I mean, just try to find a plug for your laptop – at least one that works. I am sitting near one here in the floor – useless as are the others scattered around as can be seen on the face of other road warriors who tried the same thing that I tried when I first sat down.

So, this will need to be posted after my arrival in Belarus and thus will be “old news” by then. But, the Blackberry works so I can do emails the harder way with two rather over-sized thumbs and a spell check.

The flight to Toronto was uneventful. Reading a good book called The Gospel According to Starbucks by Leonard Sweet who teaches at Drew Theological School in Madison, New Jersey. An excellent book about experiencing God. Starbucks (I am a Tim Horton’s fan and can’t stand Starbucks coffee) offers a ‘coffee experience’ and not just a coffee (I always wondered why it cost $5.00 for $0.20 worth of bad coffee). He is pulling out the parallel with the church which should be offering an “experience” with God and not just the Gospel (some worship and a teaching). People today are looking for an encounter and the Church needs to rethink what it does on a Sunday…. adding Experience, Participation, Images that throb with meaning, and Connection – E.P.I.C. So far – a good read. I have enjoyed other books by the same author.

Looking forward to my time in Belarus although I left enough work not done at the office that I always feel at the start of these trips that I should have just stayed home. There is an old saying “home is where the heart is” which is still true. I have a new one to add to that – “home if where the office is.” I closed the door at 6:00a this morning after turning the main computer off. The desk work will have to wait again – I am on the road again as the Lord’s prophetic Words have stated I would be and going to the nations to work on what He has called me to accomplish at this stage in my life.

Much is so new in this trans-local ministry that if I think about it too long I get nervous wondering what I am forgetting and what I should be doing differently, if anything. However, God seems to allow this trial-and-error approach as I get my feet wet in this new ministry after ministering as a pastor for many, many years.

Your prayers, as always, are greatly appreciated. If you go to www.ralphhoweministries.com and click on “Prayer Partners” you will see an up-to-date list of needs regarding this ministry. As often as possible I will post a blog as soon as we sort out the way to connect to the internet in Belarus. Blessings!

Spiritual Truths?

/1 Comment/in /by

As an apostle my calling includes laying proper doctrinal foundations in the Church – teaching the basics that Christians are to believe and that form the basic beliefs of the Christian faith.

My task as an apostle is to let the Church know the things that Christians believe – things that are true and that form the foundation for life and freedom as God sees it.

My job as a believer is to “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) and this means knowing what the basic believes (doctrines) of the Christian faith are (what makes us unique and different than “religion”) and to get out there in the world and fight to defend these doctrines and spread them from person-to-person and nation-to-nation.

The Christian faith is different than any other “religion” on the planet. What we believe is absolutely different than what any other religious structure believes. In fact – we are not a “religion” and all other belief structures are “religion.” Religion is man’s attempt to reach God and to please God. The Christian faith is God reaching down to man and making a way (to be in relationship with Him) where there was no way. Religion says “do this” – Christianity says: “It’s done!” Totally opposite and opposed to one another.

We do get them all mixed up together however. This is because often the Christian faith is presented as religion. And, because believers often do not know and have not taken the time to know what we, as Christians, believe. Not only does every born again believer need to find out for themselves what the basic doctrines are that form the foundation of “THE faith” but they must also make a decision to believe them, live accordingly and tell others about the faith. Anything less is not acceptable.

The survey:
Recently a survey was done in the United States asking if people agreed with a particular statement.
Below I have listed the percentage of people in different age groups who say thay agree with the statement: The Bible, the Quran and the Book of Mormon offer the same spiritual truths
Ages 18-25 … 56% agreed that they all offer the same spiritual truths
Ages 26-44 … 43% agreed
Ages 45 to 63 … 45% agreed
Ages 64 and up … 33% agreed

We are losing our younger generations … the oldies, such as myself, who grew up going to Church and had a Bible (even if we did not read it) and worked from some “Christian consciousness” still know deep in our hearts that the Bible is God’s truth and that it reveals His absolutes and standards by which we are to live and operate. However, with each passing generation, this belief is not as firm or held by as many people … reaching today’s generation where over half obviously think that religion is religion and that Christianity and its holy book is fairly much the same as any other religion. We have not passed on the truth – the message of the Gospel and God’s heart – to the next generation and then the next and then the next. This is really seen in some statistic I will share in tomorrow’s blog …

What went wrong? And what will set it right again? You tell me (Right below is a box for your thoughts and opinions)….

The End of One Trip – Start of Another

/1 Comment/in /by

The Apostolic Roundtable has ended and I have spent the day in Celina and Van Wert, Ohio. We drove back to Celina, Ohio from Elkhart, Indiana yesterday afternoon after the sessions ended. We managed some great conversation on the way home and even some quiet time as the four of us were tired and each of us, I am sure, had much to think about and mull over. It has been an eventful three days of building relationships, prayer, worship, teaching (and learning) and simply being in the presence of God with other apostles.

We had an opportunity to settle back in to where we had stayed the first night and spend some time with our wonderful host (George) and hostess (Linda). Great seniors (I’m a senior as well) and the conversation with them remained centered on Jesus and only Jesus. We cried together, we laughed together, we celebrated the goodness of God together.

Then supper on the other side of the lake. I had eaten with these kind folks last July. The food and fellowship were as good this time as last. Great to see them again and they certainly have a tremendous gift of hospitality. We prayed and prophesied over the lady of the house. Powerful and a real blessing for her as we heard more details of the accuracy of the words today from one of the leader’s wives. We returned to where we were staying and again sat and talked about prophecy, apostles, and what Jesus is doing until well into the night. It was a long day but also a great day in the Kingdom.

Today we visited with several of the leaders in the office complex of the local church we had worshipped with on Sunday morning. We, of course, asked questions and talked about the things of the Lord. As well, we managed to accumulate some great material (printed manuals, electronic files, book titles…) before heading out to a country club for lunch in the town of Van Wert. There we met Dan Custis, president of ABM Corporation and discussed the possibilities of using his products in Eastern Europe to begin micro-businesses to enable local people to set up a business, sell the product, make a living, and release money into Kingdom ministry. After over ten years of development his company is now working in Peru as well as on the African continent developing micro-businesses and they are gaining recognition for their work which is successfully increasing the yield of crops and releasing people from poverty and bondage.

We then went to his company headquarters to see the production facilities, receive some material on his organization, met his staff (including a trained micro-biologist). Great afternoon and we are planning to develop some contacts for this product in Eastern Europe as well as in Canada to see if we can release finances for the ministry of apostles and prophets in the Church today.
Then we picked up the lead apostle’s wife and headed from Celina to Dayton (the main airport) and had a long coffee as we waited to board the flight. Flew in to Minneapolis, parted company as the other team member flew to Saskatoon and I was on my way to Regina. I am currently sitting drinking Diet Coke and eating peanuts as we are 30 minutes away from boarding.

A day tomorrow filled with appointments and messages, laundry and packing, as well as teaching in the evening … and then Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. (36 hours from time of writing) I board a flight to Toronto and on to Frankfurt, Germany (breakfast at McDonalds) and then to Minsk, Belarus. I arrive before supper on Saturday and begin teaching right away … Your prayers would be greatly appreciated for this next trip – a mission outreach and my first trip to this nation. It is promising to be a powerful time but also a tiring one due to the pace we will be keeping. Thanks.

Alexander Gavrikov

/0 Comments/in /by

Good day Ralph. I am Alexander Gavrikov from Kurganinsk Krasnodar district (North Caucasus) greeting you. My team and I have been very inspired by your ministry in Yessentuki. Once again I want to thank the Lord for your ministry and obedience to Him.

I would like to give a little of my testimony about what was happening and what is going on in my life.

This year in February two of my friends invited me to come with them to Ukraine to be at a prophetic conference. My spiritual condition was not good, it was even bad. Your and Bob’s ministry has just shaken me, because the spirit of Jezebel has destroyed my ministry and church which I have cultivated. They suggested me to move to another city to be an assistant of pastor, and in a course of time I become a pastor there. But there also was a spirit of Jezebel in this church. It is difficult to reproduce the whole horror I have faced. I have been suppressed, disappointed, broken. The whole conference seemed to have been organized and held only for me and for the sake of me. It seemed as if you have lived during all these years nearby me; but the most interesting is that you have described in details my condition and those people whom I had faced before, just without calling their names. This message has brought me hope and the way out afterwards.

Read more

Belarus – Next Mission Trip

/1 Comment/in /by

I arrive home from the apostolic roundtable on Wednesday night and leave again on Friday – this time for the nation of Belarus. This is my first visit to this nation and it will be interesting to see what it is God will be doing during my visit there. I have wanted to visit this nation for over a decade and now the Lord has given to me the desire of my heart. I will be there by Saturday afternoon late and begin ministering Saturday night. I will return on the 12th of April arriving home mid-morning on the 13th. Inbetween – many, many meetings and opportunities to share God’s Word prophetically both in teachings to the assembled saints as well as in prophetic words over churches, leaders, and people.

We will have a few of our team members meet us in Minsk and help us to minister for the first week when we will be ministering to youth. Then several others will join with us for the second week when we will be ministering to leaders. In the first week there will be two people teaching – Miroslav and myself. In the second week there will be three teaching – Miroslav, Elena and myself. I am training Miroslav as an apostle and starting this year – this trip – he will begin to teach much more often as well as prophesy regularly and thus do a lot less interpreting. This way his giftings will grow more quickly and his calling will be released sooner. This is always the goal of an apostle when he is fathering someone … to release his sons to accomplish great things for God. And, there is enough work being offered to us that we should shortly be forming two teams to cover all the places inviting us to come and minister. Miroslav would be the trusted leader of the second team.

We have been developing the Russian side of our web presence over the past few months – quietly working on adding material, resources, free downloads. Last week, with the help of a computer person from Kirovograd, we now have several ways for people in Russian speaking nations (as well as nations speaking other languages) to donate money on line in their own currencies. These donations, – when and as they begin – although small due to the economy and unemployment, will allow those receiving ministry and training to actually give what they can towards what we do. We believe this move is of God and will not only help those receiving the ministry but also financially help the ministry as well.

As we continue to develop our overseas ministries we are going to have to expand the number of teams we have (as mentioned above) as well as either the number of trips I take per year or lengthen each trip I take to accomodate all the ministry opportunities that are opening up to this young ministry. God is truly fulfilling prophetic words we received over two years ago and opening many doors of opportunity for us to minister. And, we will certainly walk through as many of them as we can – only limited by financial ability and physical strength. The people are hungry in the former Soviet Union and are welcoming the ministry of an apostle. And I have the time because currently here in North America there are few doors opening for this ministry – but the prophetic words have told me that doors here in Canada and in the United States would be opening. I am believing that this will come to pass shortly as it would certainly help to finance these frequent trips to Eastern Europe.

Your prayers for this trip would be greatly appreciated as well as for all the changes we are making – major and minor changes – to allow this ministry to function more effectively for the Kingdom and the King.

The Teaching Ministry at the Apostolic Roundtable

/2 Comments/in /by

God’s Word is always amazing. As someone who teaches it numerous times a week and preaches every weekend when in my native country – and three times a day every day when on the mission field – I value God’s Word highly and base my life upon the Word. I read the Word twice daily and look to know more than life principles and new revelations on old truths – I read the Word to come to know the Author better. I read the Word, study the Word, memorize the Word, meditate on the Word, believe the Word and share it every opportunity I have to do so. I is amazing.

However, every once in a while I get to sit and listen to someone else teach the Word. This trip to Ohio and Indiana are a prime example of this. This morning I sat in the front row of a church in Celina, Ohio and listened to a seasoned, international trans-local apostle share God’s Word with the people assembled. Tomorrow we will be listening to his son share from God’s Word here at the apostolic roundtable which we drove to after lunch today following the service in the morning. Tonight a meal together to share fellowship and come to know one another. Tomorrow we will share a meal of a different kind together as Jason King brings us a Word of the Lord for this mixed group of older and seasoned apostles and young just-getting-started apostles. This is good as “man does not live on physical bread alone but on every Word thhat proceeds from the mouth of God.”

It is a joy to sit and listen – to learn and absorb – to allow the Word to inform my mind and transform my heart. To hear God speak directly from His Word through a teaching – supernatural. It is not just another teaching; it is more than a good teaching; it is God speaking to me from His heart showing me things He wants me to know and do. Awesome and powerful.

When you come to a time of teaching – when someone has prepared their heart and their material to present what is on God’s heart for the people right there and then – one must come prepared. One’s heart must be right to receive the Word so that it can bear fruit. One must make sure their heart is open and not cluttered with the cares of the world and other things that would prevent the seed of the Word from growing deep roots and bringing forth much fruit. A person must understand their responsibility and their role in this spiritual and supernatural transaction. You just cannot come to a time of teaching and impartation with a casual, take-it-or-leave-it attitude. You must come with heart and mind prepared, open, and ready to receive and respond.

So, as a result of what I strongly believe about preparation – tonight I took some quiet time to simply move away from those in attendance, go for a short walk, spend some time thinking through the last few days (which have been, admittedly, a bit of a blur), and simply being still in God’s presence, having time of solitude and silence, and letting the Spirit of God have His way in my life as He prepares me to receive tomorrow from his servants who will minister to us in times of worship, teaching and the prophetic.

To do less would be to be unprepared and foolish! I fear for the Church and individual believers who attend the teaching of the Word and have not taken adequate time to prepare their heart and soul for the transaction from God’s heart to their heart.

Pictured above – a teaching sesion at a current apostolic roundtable

An Encounter, An Insight and An Encouragement

/1 Comment/in /by

An encounter: On the way to Ohio yesterday I was standing in the airport in Minneapolis waiting for a connecting flight and began talking with a young man who offered to move his bag so I could sit down. As I wanted to stand after many hours in a cramped plane I thanked him but said I would prefer to stand. The conversation began…

I found out he was on his way home to see his folks, his dad is a retired Baptist preacher, he is a student and a jock and has a full scholarship to a university in Hawaii. His fiance (he has not told his dad yet) is also pregant (again his dad does not know). The wedding in is upstate New York in ten days (it might be good to tell dad). His fiance has a full scholarship to another university on mainland USA. One of them is not going to be able to receive the benfit of the full scholarship being offered or they are going to be newly weds with a baby and living apart. I let him know when he told us what his dad does (still preaching – just not full time) that he was sharing with two pastors. Just as we were getting into the “is there a discrepence between being a believer (he even knew the date he was born again) and sleeping with someone before marriage – the flight was boarding immediately and the conversation ended. Irt was a good encounter and we were able to encouragement him and give him a little guidance … and we are now praying for him.

An insight: there was no shyness or embarassment about telling two men old enough to be his dad that he was sleeping with his girlfriend (now fiance) and was about to be a father. It did not fizz him in the least. He did not, obviously, recognize it as a sin or something that might be better to be kept private between family members. No shame. No godly sorrow. No indication that he thought it wrong in the least. This is most certainly a generation without absolute standards and a real belief in the Word of God and the God of the Word even when born again.

An Encouragement: We arrived after another plane ride and a 90 minute car ride at the home in which we are staying. We sat with our hosts – an elderly couple – and chatted until after 1:00 a.m. She mentioned that the pastor’s wife had her typing out a prophetic word that I had given to her in July last year when I was last here. Apparently it was a word that seriously ministered to her and gave her hope and encouragement as well as new life in her walk with God. I remember that it was a long word and a powerful word but really don’t remember a great deal more. However, it was good to hear some feedback about the accuracy of the Word and the timeliness of it as well.

This morning at the church service the pastor’s wife came right up to me immediately and shared personally how much the Word had meant and what it had accomplished in her life and how it was still very active and alive and still coming to fullness as she cooperated with what was spoken. We were both in tears as we, once again, recognized the goodness of God towards His children. It was good to hear such encouagement as it has been a very long and difficult two or three weeks with growing opposition to this ministry overseas and the continual spreading of rumors and half-truths. God knew what I needed.

So, an encounter, an insight and an encouragment – thanks Lord for always knowing what I need and when I need it and for allowing me to touch lives with your love and for always meeting my needs.