23 May 2012
Dear friends and
partners,
Psalm 34:1-3
I will extol the Lord at all times;
His praise will always be on my lips.
My soul will boast in the Lord;
Let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
Let us exalt His name together.
This was in my
journal this morning and was so appropriate for where things are at.!
God’s timing is
just amazing. In the last update
Jim’s work was coming to an end but the Lord had spoken about Step Up &
Step In – the mini conference we had earlier this month, which because of the
Lords timing in less work for Jim enabled him to concentrate on preparation for
the conference. The conference was
such a blessing and everything the Lord had been teaching us over the years was
released in the peace, rest and freedom then reigned over it. There is a more detailed description of
the event on the blogsite (gloryreleaseministries.blogspot.com) along with
photos, so have a look there if you can because it is such a testimony to the
Lord and the way he was moving throughout. But thank you to all who stood with us in whatever way
through this time, your prayers & help were certainly felt and answered!
At the conference
the Lord said to me “Run” and it seems we have come into a “running season” at
the moment. From Step Up &
Step In we then travelled down to Danniverke as some friends asked if we would
come and spend time with them and minister into their situation. It was a special time but also a bit of
a retreat for us away from the busyness of home after what had just taken
place. The Lord opened up
other opportunities for us to minister with various people while we were there,
but the thing that blew us away on the way down was we picked up a hitchhiker
in Taupo who was heading for Danniverke. He was a Christian who had been praying that the Lord
would bring him other Christians who believed in the gospel of grace and so we
ended up that first night sleeping on their lounge floor praying and teaching
them what the Lord had taught us.
It was such a special time but also a confirmation to us of what God had
been speaking that as we go, he will provide for our needs.
From there we
came home for a few days and then headed up to Whangarei. This place has been on our heart for a
while as we had met various people and so were waiting for the opportunity to
go and the Lord provided that through a conference that was happening in the
church we wanted to visit. So we
went and we had the most wonderful time.
We stayed with some people we had met and had some amazing times
together in the Lord. The speaker
of the conference was Eric Johnson who is just amazing to meet and listen. If you have not heard of him, watch out
for some of his teaching. He is
the son of Bill Johnson and now is the senior Leader of Bethel Church in
Reading. Anyway his teaching
really spoke to us and we were greatly encouraged. The Lord opened up opportunity for us to pray and impart to
others as well and we were greatly blessed when we visited another church on
the Sunday morning and once again the Lord opened up opportunity to pray and
speak into and encourage the leaders & others there. We were so thankful for our time there
but also to see what is happening in the spirit in the North of Auckland. God is on the move powerfully and Jim
and I would like in the future to head up that way for a month or two and go
where the spirit leads. Major
stuff is happening in the
Maori and God connected us with a Maori Women pastor while we were there and we
know he has something for us both in that relationship, so we look forward to
what he will do in the future. We
have a heart & call from the Lord to be a part of & see the
reconciliation between the Maori and the Pakeha and so for us it was a very
exciting time.
As we got home
only two days ago the Lord spoke to us once again about Africa and showed us we needed to step out in faith into this and
believe for the finances to come in as we stepped out. So we stepped out and let people know we
were going to Africa on facebook but then we had a friend turn up a couple of
hours later with a cheque for $6000 in her hand that the Lord had spoken to her
that morning, unaware of what he was saying to us or knowing what we had put on
the internet, to give to us to go to Africa! WOW, it blew our
minds for the rest of the day!
Last year when the Lord was speaking about Africa he said through a
prophetic word from someone to have our bags packed ready to go so we feel the
quickness of this happening and at this stage it is looking like us leaving
round the middle of June. So as you can imagine we are still
totally blown away by the testimony of the Lord, but know his certainty of confirmation to go even not knowing
exactly where we are to go, but have had many words of late from others and
confirmation of John 3:8 which says “The
wind blows wherever it pleases.
You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it
is going. So it is with everyone
born of the Spirit”. But we have a starting point and that is South Africa, Johannesburg so that is
where we are starting, staying with Missionaries Rod & Lynley Talbot from
New Zealand World Outreach, believing he will open up the steps as we go. Zimbabwe,
Malawi and Mozambique all being possible other places on our heart to visit
so if you have contacts in these places
then we would love to hear from you.
Through all of
this Kate has been amazing and God has opened up a home with someone from Eastside
church in town who has been looking for a boarder and Kate has been enjoying it
there on the times we have been away of late and is keen to go there for longer
as much as they are keen to have her.
She is nearly 17 and so the Lord seems to be opening the way for us to
be released more and more where it is fitting with everyone.
So in all of this
letter there is much to give thanks to the Lord for and much to pray into with
the coming days ahead. So we would
ask that you continue to stand with us in prayer in all areas over the next
month or possibly two, as we step out in Africa.
·
For Kate – that she would feel so loved it would
blow her socks off!
·
For health in all of us and every practical detail
that needs to come together
·
For continued financial provision for every part of
the trip and before hand
·
For the leading of the spirit that would lead us to
pastors and leaders, to the people God wants us to minister to, to those in
authority
·
For signs, wonders, healings and miracles wherever
we go that would lead to salvation and relationship with the Lord
·
For the peace that passes all understanding that
would guard our hearts and mind in Him
If you would like
to sow financially into this trip to Africa and what the Lord is going to do
there then please do this by internet banking to GRM Charitable Trust a/c
060369 0123246-00 making sure you put your reference details so we can send you
a receipt at the end of the financial year as this is a charitable trust for
donation purposes. Or you can send
it to our home address.
With all our love
and thanks, Jim, Sarah and Kate :)
