It is Monday night and I have spent the evening with six others apostles. We met in downtown Kiev and found ourselves a quiet corner in a coffee shop (like Second Cup in Canada) and talked for several hours over bowls of ice cream and hot teas and coffees. The discussion was powerful – topics ranging all over the map but always involving Jesus, the Bible and theology. We were quite excitable and, at times, fairly loud as we discussed current trends in the Church, the true gospel of Jesus Christ, heresies, pet doctrines, the needs of the Church and the role of apostles in the world in which we now discover ourselves – church world and world world.

Then after a few hours we felt we needed to leave or buy another round and so we left and walked out into the cool night air. Two of the young men who live in Kiev (3 did and 4 don’t) ran ahead and found a grocery store and using some money I supplied bought some treats and some Diet Coke and met us at one of the other men’s apartment. Here we spent the next few hours eating, fellowshipping, and continuing our discussion, answering questions and dealing with major concerns about things like biblical understanding of certain passages, deliverance, and other truly great questions that young people have about ministry and the Church. We tried to end at 9:30p but ran a few minutes over.
Then a one-on-one conversation with one of the men (getting married in two weeks who came for 17 hours on a train to write an exam and visit with us)… a few questions about walking in an intimate relationship with the Lord. Then the others left and we settled in for a short night – it is 10:10p and we need to get up at 2:00a.

A long, hot shower – hot water that did not run out (a joy) as we have been showering with limited hot water for several weeks because of the size of water heaters in many apartments in Ukraine. No problem like that here. Then an opportunity to talk with my team members who traveled in by bus with me this morning from Kirovograd, and now one is sleeping and the other showering and I am writing. Then they will sleep and I am going to read my Bible and enjoy my first serious time with the Lord of any length in the past two weeks. Ministry trips are like that – they take a real toll on your private and personal time with the Lord that you are use to having at home when things are flowing in a regular format.

One – there is little private time or personal (private) space to have time with the Lord. Two – because of the pace of ministry and the demands of ministry (some unscheduled and unplanned) you don’t get to have much personal time. So, all-in-all ministry can be dangerous to your spiritual health. Therefore, when an opportunity grants itself – others are sleeping and I am not tired (yet) – I take advantage of the opportunity and catch up a bit.

2:00a and we head to the airport and begin the rest of the journey home having already done 5 hours by bus to get this far.

An update on Iliya if you have been praying (just came in 30 minutes ago) – due to the medical reports not being ready the court hearing was postponed until the end of May. Continue to pray, please. Thanks!

It is sad but the School for Apostles and Prophets has come to an end. Great week! Much accomplished for the Lord and His Kingdom. Powerful week for Jesus! And we have met with the youth of this local church and had a great three hours with them – growing in our relationship with the leaders and the youth themselves. Then a wonderful meal in a local restaurant and then a debriefing meeting looking at what we can change and how we can improve the School during the next one.

Tomorrow we minister in the local church we have rented all week for our School. A morning service – no idea yet what the Lord is leading me to share but it will be good as He is good! And then a fellowship lunch with the leaders of the Church – a great couple who are also a budding apostle-prophet team. And hopefully this will be followed by a time to rest and be alone (personal space and time is always in short supply on these trips as we work long hours and live with many people in one small apartment). Following this the day ends with a three hour leaders meeting at the same local church before packing to leave early the next morning. Poor roads, a rough road and a long ride to get to the capital city of Kiev where we have a 12 hour wait until we head to the airport.

During this time we will meet with three young apostles whom I am discipling and who have been with us all week in Kirovograd but all live in Kiev and relate to one another weekly. A time to eat, laugh, pray, and just hang out together (6 apostles together form a few hours of fellowship and eating together – wow!). And I am the spiritual father for five of them. God has really blessed me.

Then 2:00a Tuesday morning – 5:00p on Monday evening central Canada time – we head to the airport. A flight to Frankfurt, Germany, a wait for a few hours for the next flight, a 10 hour flight to Toronto, Ontario, a few hours to wait, and then a 3.5 hour flight home. Home by 2:30a Wednesday morning “body time” or 5:30p on Tuesday evening – 24 hours of straight travel.
Your prayers for this travel time, for protection, for the work that I need to be doing during the flights (2 teachings need to be written and some research for a paper that is soon due so it can be translated and sent for publication in the nation of Belarus). Thanks.

We have collected up pictures from everyone’s camera and even managed to take a few of everyone together at this first ever School of Apostles and Prophets sponsored by this ministry. We will post these pictures in a week on the main web site under the “Apostolic Trips” (formerly called ‘Mission Trips’) section. Please remember to have a look.

Financially – the students paid their way to the School and paid both registration fees as well as food and lodging costs. We kept everything at a minimum so that we did not price the School out of reach for many of the people in these nations. Remember, the economy in these nations – and earning power – is totally different than in North America. Even at that we had to subsidize the costs of the School to cover all expenses. As well, our travel costs were not covered and, of course, there is no salary or love offering for teaching these past two weeks.

So, there was not enough income to cover al lexpenses and this ministry helped to cover the difference. The ministry has had to cover the costs of travel for the trip ($1,900.00) as well. This is covered by me working and placing the money earned into the ministry account as I teach seminars and preach in various churches. We are thankful for the health I have that enables me to do this and for the opportunities to minister being offered to me in North America. They are literally supporting the work I am doing here in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.

Thanks for the opportunities to minister.

It has been a good day. Material has been covered and taught well – 4 powerful, information-packed sessions. But, more than that, there was a serious anointing on the morning and 2 afternoon sessions. No one slept – everyone was right in tune with what was being taught and what the Holy Spirit was doing. It was seriously powerful – seriously powerful. Life changing!

Topics were good – including needing to know the basic doctrines (sin-salvation-baptism in the Holy Spirit – gifts and callings) that apostles must lay in the lives of believers. We spoke of prophetic evangelism and the need to move in the power of God when born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit (prophets and five-fold evangelists). Each person (everyone in the School is either an apostle and prophet or apostles and prophets in training) learned a lot about their individual calling, gifts, and the way they think and function. Powerful time of self-discovery!

The day drew to a close with a meeting between my team and the pastors from a number of churches in Kazakhstan … a nation where we ministered a year ago this November. It was a good meeting with much discussed regarding the possibility of an upcoming visit. We talked about the progress in their churches since our last visit, the move of the Holy Spirit, the rising up of apostles and prophets as well as the next steps that need to be taken in the churches we influenced and in the lives of the men and women we were speaking to.

Then after returning to where we are staying some work on emails and planning with the team for tomorrow’s teachings… a few things to print so I could work on them early in the morning before everyone is up, and some work on enews items for Ralph Howe Ministries. Then some work on calendars and scheduling to look at the last remaining available months of 2010 (we are already booked to the end of October) and into 2011 … because we have two events already scheduled in 2011 and we have three or four other places asking for two to three weeks of ministry each. Not sure where they will all fit.

It is imperative that as I schedule I remember that I need preparation time; I need time to rest just a bit and regain physical, mental and spiritual strength before returning overseas; I need time to minister in North America; I need time to write the several books I am writing because prophetic words stated I was to write books; I need time off; I need time to study for my own personal growth and for future teaching opportunities … so many things need to be considered when booking events that cost a lot financially, spiritually, emotionally, mentally and take up a lot of time (preparation, travel and minisry). And, on top of all this there must be time to do fund raising, to do administrative tasks, write e-newsletters, on-line materials and work with those in 6 nations that I am mentoring weekly in person, by email and through Skype.

Much to be considered, a workable pace to figure out, a way to maintain a personal life in spite of ministry demands and needs. Ah! So much to learn and it is not as easy as it was when I was younger.

Tomorrow – Friday … we have 4 more sessions in the School where we will be talking about 1> Relating to authority, 2> What you can do and not do when in training, 3> The issues of the ministry of the apostles and prophets, and 4> What a prophetic word contains … On Saturday morning for our last session I will be closing the School with a teaching on the apostolic church model as compared to the current pastoral model of the church. Then we are done the School.

Saturday afternoon we have added a three hour session with the youth of this local church. Hopefully the evening is off. Then Sunday a three hour service, a meeting with the church pastors (an apostle and prophet), a large meeting with the leadership of the church and then time to sum things up and review with the team members before packing as we leave early on Monday morning for a 6 hour bus ride into Kiev to begin the long trip home to Canada.

Again, your prayers are greatly coveted.

Day two of the School for Apostles and Prophets – and my team members have been teaching all day. So, I have been able to sit in the front row and work on revising and improving tonight’s teaching (Tuesday) on intimidation and how this has a profound effect upon the anointing and power that apostles and prophets are called to walk in. Then I was able to review my teachings (3 of them) on offences – how they come, what they do to you, how to avoid them, and what to do when infected with these evil reports (gossip) and come back into spiritual healing. So, I am ready for the next stretch – tonight through to Wednesday supper. At that time another team member will do the evening service.

I am then on full time on Thursday (4 sessions) and one session on Saturday morning. Friday has not been determined. However, the next two days are teachings I do frequently so they will not need as much work as I have to put in to the ones I have been teaching in the past few days. However, this does not mean I get to relax, regretfully.

Now that we apparently can see the flow of teachings and teachers through to Saturday noon when we end the School – I can focus on meeting with some Ukrainian pastors to plan a trip in the late fall. As well, planning meetings with a number of pastors from Kazakhstan who are here to plan a return visit to their nation (3 locations – 3 weeks), and then one other meeting to plan another trip to Russia. Along with these important meetings there will be several other very important meetings.

We held one today during the 90 minute lunch when we met with the pastors whose church we are renting to run our School. They have been severely wounded and almost destroyed by the same man who is opposing us at the moment. Except, unlike us who have been in this war for only 12 months, they have been in the turmoil for 5 years – long before I knew them, long before. We meet with them tonight again after the evening session to discuss where our relationship is to go from here and how we can be proactive in the situations we are both facing with the same person. Then, later in the week, we will be meeting with pastors from Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan to talk about all that they have heard (gossip) about the situation that has absorbed so much of our time (with no visible benefits) over the past year.

They have listened to what the Bible calls “evil reports” and now see us differently. They did not act with integrity and refuse to listen to the gossip or evil report. And, they did not phone us and check out our side of the story or the “other facts” in the situation. So, now they see us through different lenses or different coloured glasses and will never see us the same and in the correct light ever again. Offenses damage relationships but the damage can be limited if dealt with biblically but cannot be completely reversed. It will be a difficult meeting with a great deal of tension on all sides and my team will be walking in wanting to be true “ambassadors of reconciliation.” And some of the others being gossiped about and again about whom many rumours have been spread will be with us to tell their story as well. It will be a good meeting and, if you feel led to pray, please do – pray that the truth will set these pastors free from their offences.

We will know if we are successful – there will be a difference in the spiritual atmosphere or spiritual countenance of those who have been listening to the slanderer, busybody, gossiper, and whisperer spread his poison. When they first arrived there was a hardness of heart that was very evident to those of us functioning in the gift of discerning of spirits. In the spiritual realm there was a “grey deadness” all around them that is a sure indication that they have spiritual cancer (an offence) and that it is slowly killing them. They are spiritually dying and most likely don’t even know it. But, in time, they will lose their spiritual life and eventually their ministry. We are hoping for a breakthrough in these meetings for their sake as well as the sake of this ministry we have in Eastern Europe.

There is always more to do than what is scheduled – and meetings and events pop up on a daily basis as needs arise. It fills the days to the full giving us a normal 18 hour working day and we will end our time here without everything covered because there is always more things to accomplish than time to do them.

If these meetings go well – then we will have three further trips to plan – another one to Russia (we already have one scheduled for August) and one to Kazakhstan – resulting in two more meetings to attend this week. As well another trip to Ukraine as quickly as possible.

As well, I am in need of time to write an article for a publication in Belarus (the deadline is fast approaching) which, when published, will open some new doors for our ministry there in that nation. More prayer is needed here as well.

I was just asked if I would meet with the youth of this local church on Saturday afternoon after the School ends. Of course, I said a definite yes. So, as I said – we simply respond to whatever pops up and heads our way.

It is midnight here – time to get some sleep.

It is 2:05a on Tuesday morning. We have had a full day of ministry – a 5 hour service with an hour between the two halfs (2 teachings and prophetic ministry) … then a debriefing meeting and supper with our hosts for the last few days and on to the train. The train ride was from 7:20p to 12:45a giving us more time to talk and then time to work on scheduling for September to December and several spots in 2011 as the other three team members slept for a bit.

It was a full day but a good day. On an earlier visit – the one to Belarus – one of our team members had met and talked to a young man on a train. They remembered that he lived in the city we were ministering in and so phoned him yesterday and invited him to attend the Sunday service where I would be ministering. Sure enough he came. I switched some of my teaching around to include the Gospel as well as brief bits of my testimony and before he had to leave at 1:00 he asked the local pastor to pray with him (I was busy prophesying). He received Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. God is good!

Great church, wonderful growth spiritually since our last visit in February. Leaders are growing in their leadership skills …. just exciting to see and be a part of all that God is doing in this great local church. We are honored to be invited to be a part of the ministry there. They have invited me to return and I will do later this fall. I picked some potential dates while the others had a short sleep.

Later today (Monday) we start our first day of the School for Apostles and Prophets. We have a good number registered in spite of being blacklisted by one Union with its leadership living in and working from Canada. Sad! But, it is their loss and we are happy with the fact that we have apostles and prophets in training from 4 nations (5 if you count us from Canada) for our first swing at this new project. We have much work to do each day … not just to teach and minister but we want to remain flexible and flow with the questions and any areas that arise that we should be teaching on but had not planned to. Both of us who are doing the teaching have all of our computerized material with us and so we can quickly switch gears or even directions if the questions and concerns being expressed suggest we should. So, a bit tense and needing to be more alert and flexible but I’m not too old yet to give it a try and see if it flys.

Your prayers for the School would be greatly appreciated – we go from 9:00 to 9:00 Monday to Friday and till 1:00 on Saturday. Of course we have other meetings inbetween – even one major one to deal with the issues and rumors poeople are hearing from the group that opposes us and apparently has declared war on me personally. Many pastors in attendance simply want to know what is happening and what the concern and issues are – and know they will get an honest and straight answer from us because they are not getting it from those who are opposing the work we are doing.

So, keep praying please …

Pictured above – the first location we ministered in when arriving in the country – we are still moving equipment and materials in from the taxi.