It was great to see lots of our brethren on the prayer group last night even though it was Thanksgiving evening! — Joining forces as soldiers of Christ to offer up praises and thanksgiving to the only One who is worthy!
The last few months have been very “all over the place,” literally…! Our travels and changing plans have led to many blessed conversations, prayers, and baptisms. Here are some highlights:
1) Janine & Jenna: We met this mother and adult daughter as they were walking out of the diner we were eating at in Queensland, Australia. Both ended up coming to our hotel the next day to be water-baptized (in the ocean!). Both of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and Janine has been joining us for Thursday night prayer group ever since. Wonderful!
2) Sedrick & Hanna: We met this couple in the lobby of the Airbnb complex we were staying at in Melbourne, Australia. Both ended up coming up the the pool deck with us (straight away after preaching to them!). They were both water baptized and Hannah received the Holy Spirit anointing, speaking in tongues. (Sedrick was already Spirit-filled, but he appreciated our encouragement to go and pray in tongues daily.) Don and Sedrick have been chatting via text and phone calls ever since the trip. It’s such a blessing to be able to stay in touch with some of the people that God has connected us with over the years.
3) Maurice & Brittany: We met this couple with their sweet little daughter outside one of our favorite local health food cafes. Maurice was walking by with a Bible in his hand and Don called out to him. We invited them over to our place and they came that afternoon. Both ended up receiving the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues so beautifully (they were already water-baptized). Maurice does vlogs to try to draw people to Jesus, and he discusses contemporary issues that are affecting church fellowships, etc.
4) Julitza: She’s the mother of Elisabeth’s sewing friend. We got chatting in the parking lot after one of the girls’ get-togethers. I offered to pray over Julitza and she either received the Holy Spirit for the first time, or she started to pray in tongues again after receiving many many years ago (and not fully realizing it). It was a very emotional time for her, and I’ve been continuing to encourage her whenever I get the opportunity. She’s such a sweet lady with a passionate love for Jesus (who saved and healed her from a very traumatic, dark upbringing).
5) Julie: Elisabeth and I ran into her (at the bank she works at) a long time after our family prayed over her and counseled her (at our house one afternoon — her story is posted many months back on this Blog page). When it dawned on her who we were, Julie ran around from behind the teller's desk to give us big hugs. Amazingly, she shared that she had texted Don earlier that week, but she never received a reply. When I got home and shared what had happened, Don realized he had missed Julie’s text, so he was able to get back to her. Had Elisabeth and I never gone to the bank that afternoon, we never would have known that Julie had tried to reach out to Don! Interestingly, earlier in the day, Don had offered to go to the bank for me, but he would have gone to a different branch (that was nearer to the store he was going to). But, I felt moved to make the effort to go on my own with Elisabeth — thank you, Lord!
