Author Archives: Mike

Baptized in Jesus’ Name!

November 12, 2014 By in Blog, Events Tags: , , , 5 Comments

Sunday night, I had the incredible pleasure and great privilege of baptizing Timo in Jesus’ name for the remission of sins…. what a thrill!

4 Great Days

Timo_baptized_1

In Timo’s own words Sunday night…. “These will be four great days!” He was referring to the fact that:

  1. Friday was Atlantic District Kids Convention.
  2. Saturday, Kids Convention (cont’d) with Evangelist David Morehead. Timo told us that he’d been filled with the Holy Ghost.
  3. Sunday, was the day he got baptized, and
  4. Monday, was the day he was celebrating his upcoming birthday with friends.

It’s possible that Timo received the Holy Ghost earlier (he’s very sensitive when praying in the altar), but we never pushed the issue too much with him: we wanted it to come from him… we wanted him to be convinced enough about it to tell us… We thank God for his incredible gift!

Excited

There were a couple of things that were very neat to see / hear: Timo_baptized_2

  • Timo was jumping up & down in the changing room beforehand… “I’m going to get baptized, I’m going to get baptized!!” he repeated several times.
  • Afterwards, while still in the changing room, he said “I feel so light!” 
  • A little while later (still at home afterward), he said… “I’m so glad, because now my name is written in the book of the Lamb!”

How neat to hear statements like that which make me so grateful for Liz’s influence and the influence of Sunday School Teachers who put that kind of understanding in the heart of an almost-9-year-old!

That makes Three!

IMG_5363

As of Sunday night, November 9th, all three of our kids have been baptized in Jesus’ name for the remission of their sins and filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues as God gives the utterance. (the promise of Acts 2.38, exampled in Acts 2.4)

All three have been baptized since I became a licensed minister and so I have had the incredible honour of baptizing them all myself. I’m somewhat in awe when I stop to think about that.

#IAmGlobal Connection

When Timo told us Saturday that he’d gotten the Holy Ghost, I didn’t put it together immediately, but Sunday night before service, I remembered that there was a connection between that day and the #IAmGlobal offering taken at General Conference.

IamGlobal

Liz & I pledged an amount in the #IAmGlobal offering… an amount that was a stretch for us. We determined that, rather than rent our house while we went on AIM, we would sell it. This would not only allow us to leave completely debt free, but would allow us to make a sacrificial offering as well. It wasn’t an easy decision: not only would it require more preparation prior to our departure, but it also removed one of the safety nets for our eventual return home post-AIM.

Timo_baptized_3So what’s the connection with Timo’s Great 4 Days?
I think the best way to make that clear is to quote you from my journal entry of October 2nd, where I describe our experience of the Global Missions service and the #IAmGlobal offering:

“During his sermon, Bro. Mangun said that the supernatural would follow the sacrificial, so he urged people to not leave… to wait for the giving to be completed, then we would pray and there would be healings & such.

In my head I was thinking:
“I don’t need a healing, but God, give us our city (thinking of Châtellerault).” 
“I don’t need a healing, but Timo needs the Holy Ghost.”
“I don’t need a healing, but we need to leave fully funded.”

After we came back to our seats, someone that I did not know came up to me and prayed:
“It’s not that it ‘will happen’, that it is ‘going to happen’… it ‘has happened’. God has seen your desire, your tears and it has happened; He has brought it to pass, He has heard your prayer.”

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What else can I say? We trusted him with something that, eternally speaking, is of little consequence (our house & our finances) and within barely a month, he established the eternal in Timo’s life!  Stepping out in faith is never easy (or it wouldn’t be a step of FAITH) but there’s nothing like the way that God answers!

God is great!
God is real!
I can trust Him!
Praise the Lord!

A Hallelujah Moment!

November 8, 2014 By in People, Process Tags: , , 8 Comments

Well… it’s been quite a week!

Homefires

On Wednesday, a for sale sign went up on our front lawn.  After 17 years in the same neighbourhood, the same grocery store, the same traffic patterns & neighbours we are headed for change and put our house up for sale.

If you were to look at things from an economic point of view, it’s not a good time to put a house on the market, but we trust that as we do our utmost to get everything in place, God will do what is necessary to handle those things that we cannot control. We trust him!

It’s a great house (with tons of landscaping – shrubs & perennials!  I got rid of the menagerie of animals though!  🙂 ….you can take a look at the listing and photos of the house here.

Excitement

Email_Pref-Consul

Now though, we get to the best part of my week. I’d been somewhat apprehensive about the whole process of obtaining a Long Stay Visa for residency in France; not because it’s tough to get, but simply because everything had to be done by email & phone and they’re located in Montreal… the question of time constraints, getting an appointment, possibly having to make the 800 km trip more than once, etc. was a tiring prospect to me.

In an attempt to get the ball rolling, I emailed both the French Consulate in Montreal and the Regional Prefecture in France. Then they emailed back.

(I must admit, it was more than a bit exciting to receive an email from both the Consulate of France and the Prefecture within only a short time of one another!)

BUT…

Even more exciting than receiving the emails was that, after laying out our scenario – Liz is a European citizen and the kids as well – they indicated to me that in fact I don’t need a visa!!

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Hallelujah!

As the non-European spouse of a European citizen, I am able to bypass the visa process and go right to resident’s status by a very simple process. I simply arrive in France and make an appointment at the local Immigration office, present the necessary paperwork and it goes fairly quickly after that.

Email_Pref-Consul2

Folks… THAT is a MIRACLE!

…yet another indication that we are in the will of the Lord and that He has made provision for our every need.

Praise the Lord!

This weekend

IMG_5242After hosting the Atlantic District Kids Convention last night and today, we are excited to be heading to Fredericton tonight to hear from Bro. Lee Stoneking. He had a significant influence on my early time in Pentecost and so whenever I get a chance to sit under his ministry, I don’t pass it up.

I was at the altar praying one day and he asked me point blank if I’d ever been baptized in Jesus’ name for the remission of my sins.  When I responded that I hadn’t, he asked me, just as “point blank”… “Well, why not?”

When I responded that I feared that it would also be an admission that everything I’d done for God up to that point was wrong and without value, he immediately responded that that wasn’t so. I had simply been obedient to what I had been taught up to that point and now that he was showing me something new-to-me, how would I respond?

IMG_5244I’m so grateful for that conversation at the altar. It was both direct and balanced enough that I went home, looked up the 80+ verses that have a derivative of the word “baptize” in them and saw that with the exception of Matthew 28:19, every time we see people being baptized in the Book of Acts – it was either “In the name of Jesus” or “into Christ” etc.  …Either the apostles were accomplishing Mt. 28.19 when they baptized in Jesus’ name or they were completely disobedient to it; and if they were disobedient, then the foundation of our faith is severely eroded. There was no doubt in my mind that I needed to be baptized in Jesus’ name.   …and I was, on Dec. 14th, 1997.

Thank you Bro. Stoneking for being used by God as the tipping point!
Thank you for following our preparations and covering them in prayer. It makes all the difference!

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Old Memories & Daily Challenges

November 5, 2014 By in Blog, Churches Tags: , , , , 2 Comments

As I mentioned Saturday, this past weekend was our 7th in a row to be on the road…. and it was a special one!

Fredericton NB

In a couple of ways it just felt so right to be at Capital Community Church (CCC) this past weekend.

Wood-Howell

The guests for their weekend Missions Conference were ourselves and Bro. & Sis. Bruce Howell (Gen. Director of Global Missions UPCI), but because of flight delays, the Howells weren’t able to get in until late Saturday night, missing the first service. In his stead, CCC Lead Pastor Raymond Woodward spoke.

The reason it felt so great was this: when I first came into Pentecost in the mid 1990’s, Bro. Woodward was in the Saint John church and music was led by Jack & Kathy Leaman… so everything just felt so familiar!

Sunday

The services were great on Sunday!  In the morning, Bro. Howell preached on the protection that can be found in the walls of salvation… and in the evening, on the fact that Christians should always be Ready to Rejoice!  One of the neat surprises though was that the choir went from singing in English to French (without warning)… How cool to hear that!  It caught me by surprise, so I didn’t catch all of it, but here’s what I did get.

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Budget Progress…

FullSizeRenderCCC members gave liberally this weekend and their generous offering put us up to 65% of our required budget.

But over and above that offering, they also showed some love to our kids in a special way as well. Saturday night the kids went forward and church members put a total of $329 in their hands… so just under $110 for each of the kids.

Can’t thank you enough CCC for all the support you have shown us!

Crunch Time

To finish off today’s post I’m going to be a bit transparent. I’d ask for and extra covering of your prayers over the coming weeks.  There is so much that needs to happen and only so many hours in a day. Feelings of being overwhelmed are never far off as there is a keen awareness of the pressure to:

  • sell the house & correct a few things in preparation for that
  • prepare to transition my church and District responsibilities, including the publication of the monthly district magazine.
  • continue sorting / packing / purging
  • maintain responsibilities in our local church where I’m employed full time
  • prepare paperwork & immigration formalities
  • complete fundraising our budget

…all while we continue to travel each weekend for the remainder of November
(We intentionally have no services/travel booked for December).

Do we know that we are in the will of God? …yes
Do we know that he’ll take care of the details? …yes

But in the meantime it’s still a great deal to juggle in the day to day… we need his strength more than ever, not just to get it all done, but to maintain our joy in the process.

the Bottom Line

God is getting ready to do some incredible things and we’re so privileged to be part of it. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Thanks for following us and for praying so faithfully!

5 Benefits of Deputation

November 1, 2014 By in Churches, Events Tags: , , 3 Comments

RoadWelsfordThis weekend is our 7th in a row to be out on the open road… and there are a few more to go! We’re racking up kilometers on our 2007 Ford Freestyle and changing the oil more frequently, but there are a number of benefits that outweigh any cost.

Benefits?! …to deputation?!

Up until 2012, I’m not sure I’d heard anyone talk overly positively about deputation. At the worst it was somewhat of a “necessary evil” and, at best, “something to be put up with ’til you get to the land of your calling.” But today I’m going to give you 5 benefits that I’ve experienced.

1. Fellowship

noonanAlthough pastors frequently see each other at conferences, the contact is often “in passing.” Less frequent are the opportunities to sit across the table from each other, as families, often in the home.

Also, not having grown up in this fellowship, I had never been in many of our churches, nor did I personally know many of the saints as is the case when you spend the majority of your life in a given group.

Deputation throughout the Atlantic District, and elsewhere, has given us opportunities to connect with fellow ministers and their families… and we’re LOVING it!

2. Perspective

Part of getting to know the churches is discovering that things or methods that I might have taken for granted in my church may be entirely different elsewhere, attributable to:

  • urban vs. rural cultures/priorities
  • the age, size or stage of growth of the church
  • the number of pastors in the history of the church
  • the calling or priorities of particular pastors
  • etc.

I realize the extent to which I’ve been blessed and, as the old Scott Wesley Brown song goes… “We are blessed to be a blessing.”

3. Family Time

 This may seem counter-intuitive… Family time?  While we do spend much time with others, we have to GET to where the others are, so we’re spending a fair bit of time together in the car, in the hotel rooms and sometimes stopping for “mini-adventures” along the way. Like when our annual Gagetown apple-picking outing happened on the way back from Upper Kent & Ste-Anne-de-Madawaska.

4. Memory Lane Moments

photoAs a kid, I often went on drives with my grandfather. A plastic-wrapped roll of peppermints was on the dash of the 1978 Chevy Suburban and we’d find a country road to follow. Sometimes he’d be headed rabbit or partridge hunting and sometimes it’d just be for the drive… but he always had his eyes open for bottles or cans that could be traded in at the local bottle exchange (that’s how he paid for my first 5-speed bike).

Heading down some of these country roads (in particular the top one on the right, with it’s patchy, uneven pavement – between Stanley & Juniper), affords me time to sift through some of those memories, and smile at the simplicity of great moments spent together.

5. Support & Supporter Raising

Of course the main purpose of deputation remains the fundraising aspect. Obviously it’s beneficial, indeed necessary to do this, but even in churches that are unable to give financially at a given time… we have the opportunity to raise supporters (see Wednesday’s post).

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This Weekend

CCC-RWtweetWe’re thrilled to take part in Missions Conference at Capital Community Church in Fredericton, NB with Rev. Raymond Woodward and Rev. Jack Leaman. These men were leaders in the Saint John church when we came into Pentecost in the mid 1990’s and both have been important influences in our life and growth. We’re honoured to be with them and with Rev. Bruce Howell, General Director of Global Missions for the UPCI.

Prayer Focus

Our house will be going up for sale Monday. We decided to sell in order to:

a) …have one less major asset to manage during our time overseas.
b) …be able to give a portion in the #IAmGlobal offering.

The market is not great but we believe that we heard from God concerning the sale and we trust him completely. Why not pray for two buyers that bid against one another, upping the price rather than it being bartered down!

Thanks for reading me again today.
Let what you read inform your prayers.
Fredericton… We’ll see you tonight!

Raising Children with a Global Vision

October 29, 2014 By in Blog, Events Tags: , , 2 Comments

Steve Shadrach makes the following #wowQuote in his book “The God Ask,” and I have wholeheartedly embraced… because it’s bang on!

“In some churches, you will raise support
and in others you will raise supporters.”

Since reading it, I have quoted it numerous times… Here’s the essence – for me:

 A pastor may, for any number of reasons, express to you that their church is unable to offer financial support at this time (size, stage of growth, economic climate, etc.), and it’s often just as difficult for them to say “no” as it is for you to hear. My response…

“No problem, here’s how you can help…” 

Kids_IamGlobal_2 NicI then talk about my kids who will experience much change as they become global and suggest getting a Sunday School class or seniors in the church to adopt them as a Prayer Project. We will provide their photo, birth dates and other pertinent information and they only have to do two things:

  1. Pray for them regularly by name and referencing France.
  2. Write them a note card for birthdays or a holiday, reminding them that
    • They are not forgotten
    • They are being prayed for
    • God wants to, and will, use them in France also.

A win-win

Not only does it mean the world to us to have our kids encouraged, but it will also benefit those taking part as well.

For Kids: It’ll embed in them a connection to world missions in general and Western France in particular. This connection is then part of their early memories, paving the way for greater missions involvement later on.
For Seniors: It allows them to contribute in a meaningful way, even if a limited income hinders them from giving financially the way they’d like or if mobility issues prevent them from getting out regularly.

Over time, these kids or seniors are becoming supporters even if they can’t offer financial support at this time. To get back to Steve Shadrach’s quote… this is how we raise supporters.

Raising Children with a Global Outlook

…that reminds me. I wanted to tell you about he fourth workshop we attended at General Conference: “Raising Children with a Global Outlook.” It’s facilitators were Angie Clark (author of numerous resources on developing kids’s prayer), Linda Poitras (WEC staff, author & retired missionary) and Cylinda Nickel (MK Ministries).

The goal… help children develop a sensitivity to God and to the work of missions in a global environment. Here are some steps that will help accomplish that.:Kids_IamGlobal_2 Sophie

  1. Your passions is important. Kids will mirror you so let them see passion for missions and the work of God in you.
  2. Results will come when you know what the goal is… be patient and be intentional about planning.
  3. Nurture their gifts. Mentoring is training an individual to mimick/imitate the behaviour attitudes of another whereas nurturing focuses on their interest in involvement.
  4. If you don’t like the results you’re seeing initially…. change yourself. Don’t seek to change them first off.

Esther 4:14

“For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

This passage of scripture, Shared by Sis. Poitras, is relevant for a couple of reasons…

  1. It underscores the value of each child. Who knows what the Lord has planned for them?  Getting them connected to missions could lead to a child making a difference across the world or in their city.
  2. The numeral reference (4:14) is also a target age-bracket for secular marketers: from computer games to clothing and more.  If they can get a child “hooked” on their product at a young age there’s a good chance that they’ll have them for ages!  How much more in the Kingdom and Work of God!

Tips & Resources

Tips for growing a child with a global vision:

  • Kids_IamGlobal_2 TimoWhen you find them looking out their window… ask them how they can impact the place where they are living, right now.
  • Adopt another missionary family… in particular with a child their age. Pray for and connect with them regularly
  • Get them to hold a globe in their hands and pray for different places in the world.

Resources:

Now…. go grow some global kids… !
Thanks for stopping by today… Let what you read inform your prayers.

 

 

#IAmGlobal

October 25, 2014 By in Events Tags: , , , 5 Comments

For today’s post I’m reaching back to the Global Missions Service at this year’s UPCI General Conference… thinking not only about the incredible things that God did that night, but the “trickle-down” effects of that service as well.

UPCIGC_GMService

$4.3 Million Dollars

That’s what was raised in the span of roughly 2 hours, by 6-7,000 people in one room and more that were watching via streaming video. It didn’t happen by itself however…

The service began as many do: Anointed singing, some preliminaries and Liz & I were invited to participate in the parade of nations. What an honour! Then someone introduced the #IamGlobal offering that was about to be taken. Missionary kids began heaving inflatable globes through the audience and Liz caught a couple, with the help of missionary to Ireland, Cindy McFarland (pictured above). People or churches offering $5,000 or more would receive a small “I am Global” crystal globe. Some went up to do that but more went once the number dropped below $1,000.

Then something changed. Pastor @AnthonyMangun (Alexandria, LA) got up to preach. #WowQuote of the evening was this:

“We’re very quick to use the term apostolic on our facebook & twitter profiles, but before we use that term next, we need to also look at our bank accounts.”

… his implication: does our giving reflect the same pattern of sacrificial giving as seen in the life of the apostles?

IamGlobalSomething happened. Conviction swept in and many people gave offerings larger than $5,000…without the promise of a trinket. One person was selling a business for $150,000.00 and that money has already been received by Global Missions.

Therein we see the power of the word of God: to convict the hearts of Christians and bring about sacrificial giving for the purpose of global missions. What caused that miracle offering:  the teaching of God’s word received by soft hearts.

More than an offering

I love the name of the offering… “I am Global”,  because every time we say it we:

  1. Reaffirm our connection to that miracle offering and
  2. we reiterate the need to look for a harvest beyond ourselves.

Our Kids are Global

Kids_IamGlobal_1Liz brought back a globe for each of the Kids. They weren’t in that service, but we want them to be connected to that same spirit… to see themselves as Global.

Of course, they’ll see themselves as Global by virtue of the fact that they’ll be living in France for a time, but more than that, we remind them that they’re not just going to France to “watch mom & dad do their missionary thing,” rather, God wants to use them as well: whether through helping with music in the church or showing the love of God to new friends outside the church.

Prayer

  • Pray that God prepares our kids; that they truly grow to see themselves as Global. That he use them to Advance His Kingdom.
  • Later this evening we’ll be ministering in the first French service being organized by Pastor Mike Noel of Life Church, in Campbellton, NB. Pray for revival among the French community of northern New Brunswick.

Thank you for your prayers… they make you part of #Revival_inFrance!

“Jesus’ Legacy of Prayer”

October 22, 2014 By in Blog, Events Tags: Leave a comment

… in the words of the formidable Vesta Layne Mangun, claiming to be apostolic and having a weak or absent prayer life is like “Picnicking on the border of Hell”. I debated as to whether or not to make that the title of this post… but then thought again.

Let me give you the third run-down in the mini-series of posts dedicated to workshops we attended at General Conference.

Jesus’ Legacy of Prayer

This was the title of Sis. Mangun’s workshop on… you guessed it, prayer.  Let me just start out by saying this in my own defense. “Have you ever tried to take notes during a Vesta Mangun message?” …it’s not easy.

  1. VLM

    Photo from #BOTT14

    First and foremost, the tendency is to sit there, somewhat in awe of the conviction and passion with which she communicates her subject, her anecdotes and her extensive real-life experience.

  2. Secondly… her style is more a string of very relevant “zingers” (*think T.F. Tenney*) mixed in with relevant experience and references to scripture.
  3. Thirdly… it’s like trying to keep track of the bullets coming out of a rapid-fire weapon. It all comes “fast & furious”.

That being said… Let me give you some of the…

Highlights

We must follow Christ’s example of prayer:
“Be ye followers of me (Paul), even as I also am of Christ.” 1 Cor. 11.1

  1. Jesus prayed when he was alone in the garden, when on the mountain top and when in the wilderness. There is always room for prayer!
  2. We see Jesus praying 9 times in Matthew, 8 times in Mark, 13 times in Luke and 5 times in John.
  3. Jesus prayed about everything at all times.
  4. Jesus doesn’t start with the small things and “build up” to the big ones. Jesus starts with the impossible and revival followed… so Think big! Pray big!
  5. Any strength or ability that we have becomes nothing of eternal value without prayer. (#WowQuote)
  6. Jesus’ prayer life had priority over his social life.  Mt. 14.23
    (it also had priority over his physical rest, but I didn’t catch the reference in Luke)

Six Zingers

  1. “You’re a sitting duck without prayer.”
  2. “We can’t be apostolic with a weak or absent prayer life.”
  3. “We’re not praying about the things that we spend a lot of time talking about.”
  4. “Knock (in prayer) as you would knock to get into the ark if you were drowning outside.”
  5. “Prayer can be considered the school of hard knocks… sometimes you have to knock hard… but it’s school and we’re learning (about prayer).”
  6. “No other preparation can be effective if there’s been no preparation of prayer.”

Supplemental Reading on Prayer

If you want to read more about prayer… look through the following books of the Bible:

  • Esther
  • Nehemiah
  • Ezra
  • Daniel
  • Samuel

That’s all for today…

Thanks for following what we’re doing!  Over the next couple of posts, look for one on Saturday concerning our kids “Going Global” and then another that I’m working on which will deal with the benefits of deputation… (yep, you heard right… benefits).

Now I definitely feel like I should go pray!

 

Timeline of The Call

October 18, 2014 By in Blog, Process Tags: , , , 2 Comments

Here is a look at the timeline detailing how God connected us to French-speaking Europe and eventually western France in particular… over time.
“He who began a good work is faithful to complete it!”
Philippians 1.6

 

Timeline (web)

 

 

What do you think?

Can you see the hand of the Lord at work, leading, guiding and preparing things in advance… leading us, over time, into the center of His will for our family?

If so, we are still in need of financial partners whose gifts will enable us to advance the Kingdom of Christ in the city of Châtellerault. Would you consider partnering with us?  Click here for a Partner Form and instructions on how to go about supporting our family.

Thank you for your prayers… by them, you too are par of #Revival_inFrance!

The Dynamics of Soulwinning

October 15, 2014 By in Blog, Events Tags: , , Leave a comment

This is the second workshop from General Conference that I’m going to highlight. I’m not presenting them in the order that we attended them necessarily… pretty much just a random order. My eyes landed on the notes for this one… and it’s a good one!

Rev. Eli Lopez

UPCIGC14 welcome

The first thing you need to know about this particular session is that it was pretty much  standing room only!  We met someone we knew outside the room and when we asked them if they were just arriving or leaving, they answered that they were just arriving and wanted to enter, but that people were lining the walls. We walked in anyway and a family with a couple of small children got them to move so that Liz & I could have a seat. YES… First victory!  (although, you’ll note that I was unable to get a decent photo of the speaker… we were further back than my iPhone could handle)

The second thing that you need to know is who the facilitator was… Bro. Eli Lopez, Director of Ministries and Senior Associate Pastor at Stockton California’s Christian Life Center. He’s got an impressive C.V. and has a great deal of responsibility in this incredible church for such a young man. Definitely Kudos!

Now for some of the highlights:

3 Battles of a Soulwinner

  1. Complacency: It takes effort to overcome complacency, for it is much easier to do what we’ve always done rather than trying something new.  …to stay with those we know rather than get to know someone new.  Yet the gospel is not just for us:  “Jesus is the propitiation for our sins… and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”  1 John 2.2
  2. Selfishness: Things will really begin to change and growth will be visible when we get to the point of thinking about others more than we think about ourselves.  It’s not about our comfort, but about their eternal life…
  3. Weariness: Remember… “We will reap, if we faint not!”  Galatians 6.9

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3 Things to overcome those Battles

  1. The Power of Purpose: Truly understanding our purpose will help us overcome complacency, selfishness and weariness… “The motivation that took Jesus to the cross will take us to the lost.”  Jesus didn’t consider the harvest a future event, but rather a present and a pressing need!
  2. The Power of Prayer: Matthew 9.35 relates a prayer request that Jesus made to his disciples: “Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest sends our workers into the harvest.”  If Jesus’ identity, as the Lord of the Harvest, was wrapped up in the harvest, then shouldn’t we, as his followers be likewise?  As they began to pray about the harvest, they began to take on responsibility for it… after that, Jesus sent them out into the same harvest that they’d been praying for!  Who better to go but them that have taken on responsibility in prayer?
  3. The Power of the Personal: Statistics vary in different parts of the country, but there’s no disputing that a significant factor in people coming to church remains that of personal contact. We can be active (going toward them) or passive (waiting for them to come to us)… intuitively we all know which one is better.  We are commanded to “GO and make disciples…” Give them a compelling reason why they should want to come to church!

“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you…
and ye shall be witnesses unto me…”
Acts 1.8

Thank you Bro. Lopez!  Really a great seminar!

Upcoming Posts…

  • Saturday – An info-graph showing the growth our relationship with, and the call to, western France.
  • Next Wednesday – Highlights from General Conference Workshop #3

Prayer

  1. Pray that God helps us, through his power, to grow as soulwinners while in France.
  2. We’ve begun the process of applying for our visa from France… (Passport renewal done this week) and we’ll have to visit the French Consulate in Montreal in the coming weeks. Pray that each step in the process goes smoothly and that we find favour among men & women.

 

Here’s to #Revival_inFrance

A little crown

October 11, 2014 By in Blog, Places Tags: , , 2 Comments

Villages_ChatEnvirons_sq_sm

Take a look at the image to the right… What do you see?

Most people would see or notice 3 things:

  • A bunch of words… and with the exception of “La” and “Le”, most of them are illegible.
  • The dominant colours are three shades of blue and green.
  • The font resembles a casual handwritten script.

If you said any or all of these, you’d be entirely correct. That’s really about all that one could say with any degree of certainty for the text size is too small to derive any meaning from what’s written.

From a Distance

In fact, what you are looking at is a word cloud which shows the names of 94 towns and villages that lie within a short drive of the city of Châtellerault. La is associated with La Roche-Posay and Le is part of the name Le Rigny. These will be place names that we will be seeing on a regular basis… on road signs, maps, etc.

I realize that it is small and difficult to read, so as you get to the bottom of this post, you will see a larger version of the same image, and will perhaps be able to pick out the names of places that you might be familiar with.

Why do I place emphasis on what could appear to be a random collection of place names? …Simple, it’s a question of…

The Crown

If you recall, on Wednesday I referred you back to a post that I wrote last year about a vision the Lord had given me concerning Châtellerault: there would be a crown around the city and that crown would actually be a number of Home Bible Studies, Preaching Points and one day Daughter Works that would surround the city.  Well dear reader, it’s entirely possible, indeed probable, that some of the places named in this photo could be ripe for revival. Certainly every one of these towns and villages house individuals and families that are looking for something to fill a void in their life. They just don’t realize that only Jesus can fill the deepest void.

Today, would you pray over these 94 towns and villages. You may not be able to read each place name, but the LORD knows them intimately. Would you pray a circle around the city of Châtellerault… that God would pour out the light of Jesus, preparing people now for the revival that is already on its way.

In Jesus’ name!

Thank you readers, for partnering with us in prayer!
By doing so, you are part of #Revival_inFrance !

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