I have a few stories that I need to catch up on:

1) Remember the lady from the YMCA and the Jesus event, from our Dec 19th blog post? Well, I got to know her a bit better as we chatted after Y classes and also caught up for a play date with our daughters at the playground. I discovered that her husband was not yet filled with the Holy Spirit and that he, in fact, had quite a strong aversion to speaking in tongues. So, I offered that we should go on a double date together one night so that he could meet me and my husband, and so we could share our experiences with helping people to be born again. I declared to her that one of the biggest reasons God had brought us all together was so that they could return (to their home state later this year) united in their spiritual walk, both born again of water and of the Holy Spirit.

Well, praise God, we did go on that double date, and the husband was very attentive to everything we shared from the Word. Being an engineer/scientist, he had lots of great questions, too. Despite his hesitation in the flesh, he was willing to give God the opportunity to prove that what we were preaching is Truth, so at the end of the evening, we all went to the local outdoor courtyard to pray. As we laid hands on him, praying, he was filled with the Holy Spirit very quickly, speaking in tongues so clearly and fluently. He was shaking and very moved by the Lord. Afterward, he shared that he felt power like he never had before, and he told us he was seeing visions and glorious things as he prayed in the Holy Spirit (in tongues) for the very first time.

We had some more prayer together before we parted (as we try to do with every newly born again believer), to help him get even more comfortable with praying in tongues. His wife also prayed in the Holy Spirit with us both times, and it was such a joy to see them finally spiritually united. The husband even apologized to his wife with sincere repentance for overtly mocking tongues for many years (which had been a serious discouragement to her to pray regularly and freely in the Holy Spirit). It was such a testament to one of the biggest goals and works of the Holy Spirit — to convict people of sin and bring them to repentance, forgiveness, overcoming, and victory!

2) I received the following text the other day. We so very much love to hear how God is mightily using those that God has connected us with in the past — those He has sent us to preach to, pray over, bring a message to, encourage, etc. It’s so wonderful to see them go on to “lay hold” and carry on the work that Jesus started with the apostles in the Book of Acts. My dear sister in the Lord back in GA recently wrote:

“Hi Sis! I hope you are having a good day. Zorina and I just prayed for this lady to receive the Holy Spirit, and she DID. Hallelujah!!! She said she would be interested in joining the prayer group… She was the wife of a co-worker of Zorina’s. Zorina texted me this morning and asked if I could come over and pray with them for healing. We were able to preach to her, and the Holy Spirit moved. Thank you Lord! This made my day!!!”

3) A few weeks ago, Don heard some dogs barking out the front of our place, so he went outside to see what was going on. He ended up chatting with the owner of a gorgeous golden retriever. The owner was a super nice guy and our whole family ended up coming outside to meet him and his sweetheart (yet a little rambunctious) of a dog.

We all got along so well, so we ended up connecting again (here at the house) for coffee a week or so later, this time with his lovely wife. We chatted lots about our common interests, but God clearly directed the conversation toward Him and His Word. We had faith that this is what would happen when we invited them over!

Both the husband and wife are very passionate about the things of the Lord, each having had their own unique experiences growing up. But, as we do with everyone, we drew their attention to Acts 19:2, asking if they had been filled with the Holy Spirit since they believed. We chatted lots about the Bible and shared testimonies, but in the end we encouraged them to leave it up to the Lord to “give increase” to everything we shared with them.

It was great that they were both open to praying, to see what God would do. The husband received the Holy Spirit very quickly, speaking in tongues for the first time ever — and with the most clarity and ease that I’ve ever heard anyone speak! The wife struggled a little, mainly because of her inhibitions of praying openly around a group of people, so I offered for us to go somewhere more private and comfortable to seek the Lord together, just us two gals. It was then that she also began to speak in tongues fluently and confidently. We were both very relieved and so very joyful!

Praise God that our family has learned not to give up quickly, rather to fight through obstacles as they arise with patience, faith, love, and a peaceable confidence that the authority of Jesus Christ will bring about victory! It’s a spiritual battle for the souls of men and women on this earth, and we (and you, our born again brethren!) have been called to be soldiers in God’s army. What privilege; what power!

We keep praying for the Lord to continue sending workers to our home who are hungering for a closer relationship with Him, and God keeps answering miraculously! The construction on the pool is now about half complete (soon our baptismal tank will be ready, including a hot tub for winter time baptisms!) and, so far, Don has had lots of opportunity to share the Word with a variety of people. Each time, it is so clearly obvious that God orchestrated the conversations — a number of times, the workers themselves have commented to Don or amongst themselves, “See what God did - He made me/you come to work here today in order to hear this message!”

We have learned over our decades of Christian ministry that the Holy Spirit is constantly at work around people and within their lives, doing all kinds of things to try to bring them to a point of sincere humility and repentance and dependance on the Father through the blood of Jesus Christ; to a point where they will finally be born again and zealous to follow after the ways of their Savior. Even those that are already Spirit-filled often need to be awakened, fed, reminded and/or chastened. You see, the Holy Spirit is not the “doer,” He is the “helper,” and God often uses our family to bring a message to born again (yet spiritually weak) believers, too.

All of this work for the Lord is simply our reasonable service, and it’s just a portion of the multitude of ways God is working upon men, women, and even children, to help them toward eternal life with Him (for those who will obey God’s call). So, we simply wake up each day, looking to God to preceed us in all things, and trying our best to be obedient to whatever God does in our lives (individually, and as a family).

We had some travel points to use up which coincided with feeling led of the Holy Spirit to travel south for a few days, for a mini “Winging It!” trip. It was a perfect opportunity to reflect upon our growth in the Lord this last year, to focus our spiritual goals for 2023, and to see how God might use our time down there to touch others’ lives. And He did…!

While visiting a coffee shop bakery late one afternoon, a lady in the line up commented on my boots. This led to us asking if she was a local or just visiting like us, which soon led to her mentioning the word “Christian” in her conversation. Instantly, we realized things had been set up by the Lord, so we asked her where she goes to church. We ended up spending a long while chatting with her and showing her our latest “Winging It!” video. We could see that she wanted to pray, but she had a strong aversion to speaking in tongues given some past negative experiences. We left things with her, encouraging her to share the afternoon’s events with her husband (who, we discovered at that point, is actually filled with the Holy Spirit!).

We drove away, praying for the lady and her husband, that God would give increase to what we had just shared. Then, just as we were finishing up the prayer, the lady phoned us, inviting us over to their home to chat some more. We ended up staying until quite late into the night! We were also able to encourage her husband to pray daily in the Holy Spirit — to “turn up the dial” and keep it there. He knew exactly what we were talking about as he felt like he had gotten a bit out of line with God’s Word (as he put it), so He most definitely could see God’s miraculous hand upon us all coming together.

Then, after leaving the very same coffee shop bakery the next day (this time on a run/bike ride), we called into a clothing store on the way back to the hotel. I actually needed to use their bathroom, so while I did so, Don got chatting with the store manager. Somehow, he got chatting about our Christian ministry and discovered that the manager is filled with the Holy Spirit (but hasn’t spoken in tongues much at all over the years — discouraged by her parents’ religious traditions, which she was obviously brought up in).

Being the store manager, we asked her if she could spare about 7 minutes so we could inspire her with others’ testimonies from our latest video. She was very touched and, subseqeuntly, was keen to have us pray over her. So we went to her office, laid hands on her, and prayed. She was in tears as she prayed in tongues along with us, after which she shared that it was God’s miraculous timing give some things that had happened between her and her husband the night before.

We also stopped in to say goodbye to her after we checked out of the hotel the next day, on our way back home. We never really know how much of an impact we have had on people’s lives, as the Lord’s vessels for His Kingdom’s work upon this earth. All we can do, for the most part, is pray that God continues to build upon the work He has called us to do for a time — often for just a very brief period of time! Nevertheless, these moments can be the catalyst for miraculous change, overcoming, and growth in the lives we are sent to touch on His behalf.

Finally, on our drive home, Don felt led to stop by the offices of our favorite brand of coffee. We don’t drink a lot of coffee, and a while ago we found one that’s organic and very “clean.” For some time, Don has been wanting to call in to check them out, and this trip “happened” to provide a perfect opportunity for this to occur. Interestingly (God’s hand!), the manager that Don had spoken with last time was off on vacation, so we got to meet the General Manager instead. What was initially meant to be a brief “hello” and quick tour of the facilities turned into much more…

While chatting to him, he mentioned the words, “God willing…” So a little later, we asked if he was a Bible-believing man. This turned into a wonderful conversation. We took a break to give him a chance to complete some office tasks, telling him to text us when he was done. He did, and when we returned we sat for a long time, discussing the Word, encouraging him, and having prayer together. His mother and his wife’s mother are both filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, so he is familiar with this to some degree. We purposed to catch up again very soon, this time with his wife and kids, so we can hopefully baptize and pray for them all.

I simply love the way God works — the Holy Spirit constantly moves on us to go here or there, to do this or that, and during these natural circumstances of our lives, God’s work gets accomplished! — By the Holy Spirit, through Jesus, unto the Father, within God’s Kingdom.

We’re finally getting the pool added, yay! Lord willing, this will open the way for more baptisms! In the meantime, we seem to be ministering mostly to people who have already been water baptized unto Jesus Christ, and even to people who already have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit (yet don’t pray in the Holy Spirit - in tongues - very often).

This was the case yesterday when Don got chatting with the tradesman that came to demolish the side stucco fence, to make way for the bobcat operator who is due to start next week. Don started chatting with him about his home country (Haiti) where he’s actually a qualified lawyer. Don sensed a God consciousness about him which led to Don sharing our latest “Winging It!” video with him.

Don ended up praying over the man, to get him comfortable with praying in tongues any time (we don’t pray openly in public, of course), and Don encouraged him to start drawing nigh to the Lord and His Word more than ever. Sometimes we only get a short amount of time like this with people, but we don’t let it discourage us from doing whatever work (for the Lord) we can in the situation, to make the most of any available opportunity.

Don in particular gets lots of opportunity to share the Word here while he’s out and about. So many people are receptive to his funny comments and caring gestures, which opens the door to Him sharing with Word with them somehow, some way. Every situation is different.

The Y, however, has been an interesting one. It’s one of the places where Don has felt led not to do anything deliberate and just to wait for God to put undoubtedy obvious situations in his path, for him to respond to in obedience. The Lord has done a number of things already (some of which we have blogged about already), but this week was particularly interesting…

Don was focused on his workout when two men loudly and continuously chatted right next to him, mentioning things like church and Bible study, and some hurt from other church-goers. It got to the point where Don just had to open his mouth in response to what God was obviously putting before him. Even though Don carefully and kindly came from the angle of “the healing and overcoming power of the Holy Spirit,” the discussion didn’t go very well.

However, while Don patiently endured the two men’s passionate objections, a third (younger) man was listening in who joined the chat at the very end. Even though the first two men soon left, the third one wanted to know more. Don invited him to call upon us to set up a time to pray, but the man persisted and wanted to pray right there at the gym! So, Don and Ethan found a quiet spot in one of the empty rooms and they laid hands on him. The guy began speaking in tongues and was quite taken aback to discover that what Don had been talking about is actually real!

Please pray for him as he has some struggles that he needs to commit to overcoming by now using the power of the Holy Spirit that he experienced for the first time the other day. And, this is what it comes down to for us all i.e. the Holy Spirit is the Helper, not the “doer,“ so it always depends on us and our daily choices. It’s when we choose correctly that the Holy Spirit then supports us through our walk in the Lord.

I lost an earring while hanging out with our family at the civic park, so the next day I decided to drive over there after my exercise class, to see if I could find it. When I arrived, Don was already there trying to find it for me! He texted (as I drove by looking for a car parking spot on the extremely busy avenue) to tell me not to bother trying to park and to carry on with my day, if I wanted to. So, I decided to take Elisabeth to the playground instead seeing that we were already out and not that far away from the park. We stayed for a while, and as I was about to tell Elisabeth that we should head home, I heard another mother talking to someone on her cell phone. She seemed a little distressed, and I sensed that something was wrong with her vehicle, perhaps that she had locked her keys in the car.

I asked her outright if that was the case, and she said yes. I texted Don to see if he could pop by to try to help out, and he was very glad to oblige. It turned into a long afternoon of trying various options between us and the mother’s own contacts, but we got a chance to share with her some of the Word together with a few personal testimonies. She had never even heard of speaking in tongues before despite having gone to church for many years! It was interesting to discover that she hadn’t at all planned to come to this particular playground this day, and that she normally only ever takes her kids to another park. I shared with her that I, too, am normally never at this playground on a Tuesday afternoon and that I only happened to be there because of having attempted to look for my lost earring.

The beautiful thing was that in the end, the mother discovered that her car insurance would cover the cost of a locksmith service, which she proceeded to book, and Don got to have a great chat about the Lord with the serviceman while he worked on the mother’s vehicle. I wasn’t there at the time, but apparently he was very keen to take a card and look into things further. So, praise the Lord, yet again seemingly negative incidences led to the furtherance of the Kingdom’s work upon this earth, in more ways than one!

One morning at the Y, Don got chatting with a couple. They were resting near where he placed his water bottle for a moment. Don asked the lady about her accent and that began a long conversation about life, health, children, and parenting, etc. As Don shared his thoughts on the various subjects, the couple were wide-eyed with enthusiasm. In the end, they excitedly expressed that they’d never met someone who shared the same ideals and goals, and that they could both do with a mentor in their lives to help them over a few hurdles.

Don was happy to learn that both the husband and wife were Spiritfilled, praying in tongues, so he invited them over to our place, to meet the rest of us and to chat more. They came last Friday afternoon and we spent the whole evening with them, excitedly talking about the Lord and His Word, sharing stories, and praying. Elisabeth did a great job of taking care of their lovely 4-year-old boy the entire evening, to give us space to get to know one another and to offer the parents lots of encouragement and inspiring testimonies.

We’re keeping in touch with them, and it was wonderful to see them join our Thursday night global prayer group tonight. They are a beautiful little family that have a strong heart for the Lord, and it is such a pleasure to be used by God to touch their lives in a positive way.

Some highlights from this month so far…

1) Don spied a gal wearing a “Jesus” t-shirt in one of Elisabeth’s YMCA classes. So, after my workout, I waited outside for Elisabeth to exit her class, hoping to “run into” the gal with the t-shirt. I did, and after I commented on her shirt, we got chatting about church. I discovered that she is filled with the Holy Spirit but hasn’t prayed in tongues in a very long while. We chatted a little more, sharing some encouragement and scriptures, and then we offered to pray over her (to help her to get her walk with the Lord “fired up” again), which we did. Then, as Don and I were walking back through the building…

2) Don noticed a lady with an open Bible in front of her, sitting at one of the high-top tables. By the time Don told me and I registered what he shared with me, we had already walked past her quite a ways. I was tempted not to bother, but I thought, “No, I’m not going to let my flesh get in the way!” So, I pulled out a card from my carry pouch and headed back to talk with her. By the time I got there, I saw that she was on the phone, so I placed the card on top of her Bible and smiled at her. She smiled back in appreciation, and that was all that happened that day. But… (see #5 below for the second part of the story).

3) We decided to go to a big Jesus event that was being held in the area, to see what work we could do for the Lord among the crowds. It was our first time doing this, we had no specific plan, and we had no idea what to expect. So, we waited until the evening free entry session and simply hung out around the outside of the stadium where all of the food trucks, restrooms, and heat lamps were - somewhere where it was slightly quieter and more opportunistic for conversations (versus inside the stadium where everyone was engrossed in the event). We wandered around as we felt led by the Lord, and the first young married couple we got chatting to ended up getting filled with the Holy Spirit!

We approached them to ask about the ice cream they were eating and then proceeded to ask them about the event. This led to chatting about the church they attend in their city which then turned into deeper scriptural discussion. Soon, we asked them if they wanted us to pray over them to receive the Holy Spirit anointing. They were keen, so we walked over to a quiet(er) spot and prayed, and they both received, speaking in tongues for the very first time in their lives. They both seemed visibly changed, especially the wife. It was beautiful to see.

We spent some more time encouraging them and sharing some more scriptures, emphasizing that now they are born of both water (they had already been water baptized) and of the Holy Spirit, they are fully empowered, anointed by God, to go forth and do as we do in terms of helping others to be born again. We also encouraged them to pray in tongues every day, both as a married couple and individually. Then…

4) We continued to wander around the perimeter of the event, seeking to be led of the Holy Spirit. We felt moved to hang out by the outdoor heaters, so we stood warming our hands, considering who the Lord might guide us to speak to.

Don got chatting with a couple of young men standing next to us. He asked them some questions related to what they had been discussing. One of the young men (Aaron) explained he’d been led of the Lord to come down from up north to stay in the area for two and half months (not just for the duration of the event). We discovered he was already water baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, and he was keen to hear what we had to share with him. Aaron’s friend left early on in the conversation to go join the worship that was happening in the arena area, so the rest of us went to chat behind one of the marquees.

Aaron was very passionate about the Lord, so we ended up spending quite a few hours together, sharing experiences and discussing scripture. We spent so long chatting that we all started to get quite hungry, especially Elisabeth, so I took her over to the wood fired pizza food tent. As we were waiting for our order….

5) Elisabeth noticed a lady standing behind us that was familiar - it was the very same lady I gave the card to in #2 above! Elisabeth recognized her from one of her classes at the YMCA. We walked over to chat with her and she was just as surprised to see us as we were to run into her - especially given that there were thousands of people at the event! We all agreed that it must be God’s miraculous intervention, and I quickly realized why after asking her a couple of questions about the event and her walk with the Lord.

It turned out that she was Spiritfilled but had been discouraged from speaking in tongues by a certain group of people in the past. It made her question whether or not it was truly of God. She said she preferred to sing in tongues (which is mentioned in the Book of Corinthians) versus speaking in tongues, so I offered that we could pray over her, to help her to get comfortable with praying in the Holy Spirit, and to overcome the doubts and fears that had been “planted” in her mind and heart.

She was volunteering at the event and didn’t have a lot of time to spare, so we quickly joined the others behind the marquee, so we could all lay hands on her and pray. She prayed along with us all in the Holy Spirit really clearly and fluently, praise God! We offered as much encouragement and support as we could before she had to leave, but we purposed to stay in touch and get together again very soon. I’m still amazed at God’s miraculous hand and such perfect timing!

We’ve had lots going on, giving us a variety of opportunities to be around people to share a message from the Word. Here’s a samping of what’s happened lately:

1) Two nights ago, we were at a local outdoor orchestral event. Ethan heard a lady talking about the Lord right behind him, so he politely interrupted the conversation to offer the lady one of our ministry website cards. They got chatting further, and the lady mentioned that she had just been in Starbucks talking with a man that was sitting reading his Bible. She told Ethan that she had deliberately waited to speak with the man, wanting to share a word about Jesus with him. Then, minutes later she returned to the event where Ethan purposefully spoke with her…! She said she could definitely see God’s hand upon things, and she was eager to look at our website, especially our videos on the “Winging It!” page. I love how God works, and His perfect timing!

2) A couple of nights before that, we were walking downtown again and our daughter spied a gorgeous tiny teacup poodle in the crowd of people. We all couldn’t resist, so we approached the owner to ask her if we could pet her puppy. We ended up chatting with her and her friend about the Lord after they asked where we were from (they noticed our accents) and how we had met. At first, I thought the friend seemed more interested than the lady I was speaking with, but it was actually the dog owner that ended up proclaiming, “Oh, I would love that to happen to me…!” (meaning, being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit). We both immediately replied, “It can!” So, Don and Elisabeth and I went off around the corner to a quiet place to pray over her. She had recently started to go back to a church (non-denominational) and study her bible, especially after losing her husband as well as a good friend of hers, and she could clearly see God’s hand upon us meeting her that evening. She ended up receiving the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, praise God!

3) We were invited to our realtor’s end-of-year client appreciation party, and it was there that we got chatting with Kevin again - the other realtor on his team that Don prayed with and water baptized many months ago. It was wonderful to connect with him again and discover that he has been praying in tongues every day since then! He said his life forever changed back then and things just don’t feel right for him unless he’s praying in the Holy Spirit every day, connecting with God using the language of the Holy Spirit. That was so encouraging for us to hear!

4) We needed a new mattress and, after looking in a few retail stores, Don felt moved to browse Facebook marketplace. It was there that he saw an ad for a local clearance center. When Don went there the first time, he discovered that the owner/manager is Spiritfilled and uses his store as a vehicle for his Christian ministry. Don shared some encouraging words with him and mentioned he’d be back again soon to decide on a mattress.

Both Don and I purposed to go to the store together many times over the course of a few weeks, but we never seemed to get there. Then, suddenly, we found some time and Don texted the owner/manager to set up an appointment. We were hoping to meet with him that Wednesday, but he told Don that he was currently at a conference and that he wouldn’t be able to make it until the Thursday. So, we set an appointment for the afternoon, expecting to see the same guy at the store, but it turned out to be his son-in-law (Jeremy) instead. Jeremy is a manager, too, and he had come to meet with us on his own. Instantly, Don and I both thought that maybe there was a reason… and there was…!

After checking out some mattresses, we asked Jeremy if he was filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, just like his father-in-law. He said yes, so we said a few encouraging words and then asked if he prayed in tongues often. This led to a wonderful, long conversation. We shared with him many scriptures and personal stories, and we watched our most recent “Winging It!” video together. We ended up laying hands on Jeremy and praying over him many things that came to us from the Holy Spirit, and we prayed in tongues together, too. Jeremy was in tears, and he felt wonderfully inspired and empowered to go and do the things that God had been laying upon his heart to do for quite some time.

It was especially encouraging for us when Jeremy shared two of his own stories:

a) Just that last night, his two year old woke up with serious breathing problems. They rushed him to the emergency room, and as Jeremy sat waiting with his son (who turned out to have croup), Jeremy prayed in the Holy Spirit - the first time in a while. Jeremy shared with us that he thought at the time, “Why don’t I do this more often? Why do I wait until difficult times to pray in tongues?”

b) Jeremy shared that the moment Don had texted his father-in-law at the conference on the Wednesday, his father-in-law was right in the middle of a conversation with some of his church-going friends and business associates. They were all comparing what goes on today with the period of the first churches (in the Book of Acts). They were questioning, “Why don’t things look like that today?” and “Why aren’t there people doing the work of God today like the disciples back then?” It was at that very time that Don “happened” (God’s hand!) to text the father-in-law who immediately showed his friends his phone and proclaimed, “I know someone who is… This guy…!”

When Don and I heard these two stories, we were so inspired and encouraged to keep doing what we’re doing. We just never know what God has His hands upon behind the scenes in order to prepare situations for us to minister into. Thank you, mighty Lord, for the privilege of doing your work upon this earth!

I thought I had learned the lesson “don’t judge a book by its cover” many years ago, but it appears that I had more to learn…

I was running to the library with my daughter alongside me, riding her bike. As we traveled through the civic park, we both spied an older man wearing an a-frame sign. He was walking around the community, hoping for people to notice the salvation messages printed on his boards. Given that I wasn’t wearing my glasses, I couldn’t read the words and I took my daughter’s word for it that the man was a Jehovah’s Witness from a previous group we had previously come across and that he wouldn’t be open to hearing about our experiences. Despite this, I did feel moved to stop and speak to the man, but I didn’t (based on my assumptions).

Then, one evening a few days later, we spontaneously decided to go for an evening stroll from the house, down to the same area. As we neared the same park, Don spied the same man with the same a-frame sign. I hadn’t shared with Don what had happened a few days earlier, and Don simply immediately got speaking with the man as soon as he read the signage.

It turned into a very long, very blessed, Holy Spirit-led conversation as Don shared with the man many scriptures to prove that salvation involves way more than someone simply giving their heart to Jesus. Toward the end of the discussion, we discovered that the man and his wife are actually both Spiritfilled (and can obviously pray in tongues). This led to even more encouragement for them to increase their prayer life, making the most of what God has given them — to pray daily in the Holy Spirit, individually and together as husband and wife, and then watch how their relationship with each other and, more importantly, with the Lord grows and strengthens. (It seemed that praying in tongues wasn’t something that the man was accustomed to be purposefully doing on a regular basis, despite God’s encouragement in His Word to do so.)

Rarely are people like this humble enough to ask, “So, what else exactly should I be telling people…?” But this is what the man asked, and it was very beautiful to see his tears of tenderness toward God and His Word as he eagerly inquired about various scriptures. Before we parted ways, we all prayed in the Holy Spirit (tongues) right there on the street as we huddled together. The man teared up again at that point, seemingly relieved to be freely praying in tongues and touched by God’s words of encouragement for him that night.

Needless to say, I eagerly shared my story (from the other day’s events) with everyone after we left, and I learned a valuable lesson not to assume that someone won’t be open to hearing Truth!

This is a new one…. Ministry at the barber shop!

Don was in line for getting his hair trimmed on Remembrance Day, but he had to wait an extra long time due to the wonderful “free cuts for veterans” that the barber shop was offering. He hadn’t planned on popping out for a trim on this day; it was a spontaneous decision, so Don wondered if the Lord had something in store for him to do while he waited. He did!

Don got chatting with the older man next to him, who was there with his elderly father. It started because Don noticed “Acts 2” printed on the back of some papers the man was holding. Don asked him about it, and the man (whose nickname is “B”) eagerly told him that it was from a course he was taking at his church - a THREE YEAR course at the end of which the students are deemed “qualified to preach the gospel” (IF they are allowed to graduate!). Wow…! Of course, Don proceeded to tell him about the born again experience, especially the power and authority that the Holy Spirit anointing equips someone with - immediately upon being born of water and of the Holy Spirit (speaking in tongues as the first manifesting sign). At this point, the receiver is empowered to “go” and “do” and “speak” in the name of Jesus Christ, and God will enable them as they step out in faith and utilize what He has put within them through the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Upon hearing this, B was very excited. By this time, though, Don was up for his hair cut, so Don said they could continue their conversation a bit later. But, B was eager, and he came over to speak with Don some more, right there by Don’s chair in the middle of the shop! (When things like this happen, we often wonder who else got “indirectly” preached to that day…) B was asking Don, “So, are you a pastor? Do you have a church? What is your information that I can look up? Etc., etc.” It was refreshing for Don to see such humility and passion.

Don gave B our card and B shared that he had been praying for the Holy Spirit anointing for many many years. B shared with Don the many prayers he prays every day, and told Don he wanted to get together again - that he believed that meeting Don was an answer to his prayers! So, Don invited B over for prayer with us all that afternoon. Needless to say, B did receive the Holy Spirit as we all laid hands on him and prayed. We talked some more and then prayed again, to help B get even more comfortable with praying in the Holy Spirit. When we asked him how he felt, he said he felt such a peace, and his back wasn’t hurting him anymore (he had severely injured it in the military, and he has metal pins in his lower spine). Praise God!

We encouraged B to share his experience with his wife and to lay hands on her to pray for her, too. Of course, we always reassure people that we can help them whenever they are preaching to and praying for others, but we are mindful to inspire them that, being born again of water and of the same Holy Spirit, they now have the same authority to go and do as we do — that we are all empowered together… by the Holy Spirit… through Jesus Christ… unto the Father… in the Kingdom of God!

So, that was our Remembrance Day adventure. Then yesterday, we attended a very popular farm festival — a perfect outreach opportunity! We were able to share our card and website with a number of people, and it was very touching when Ethan got to chat with a lady that is heavily involved in ministry work that promotes sexual purity in young people, especially young woman. Ethan commended her for her efforts, but he also encouraged her to emphasize the need for the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit — the power that strengthens a believer so they can then “mortify the deeds of the body,” (Romans 8:13). The lady agreed and was inspired to look into it when she next has opportunity. These are all seeds planted that we pray over afterward i.e. that God will give increase to the work that He put us to, for the furtherance of His Kingdom.

There are so many varied situations whereby we get the opportunity to share God’s Word with people - all kinds of people with all kinds of past religious experiences….

A couple of young salespeople knocked on our door selling solar panels for homes. We invited them in for a chat about their offer, which soon transitioned to talking about our ministry work when they asked what we do. We were quick to tell them that it’s a work of love i.e. it’s not what we do for income. We also discovered that the young man was filled with the Holy Spirit many years ago, but had turned away from the Lord when his brother died. The young gal was intrigued when we shared our personal experiences, and we encouraged them both to go and look into the Word of God directly and not to rely on what they’ve been told (or what they’ve experienced) in typical church groups.

We then got to pray with a couple over the phone one afternoon when Don phoned us all back here at the house. Don had gotten talking with a young married couple in a store parking lot after Don noticed the church-related t-shirt that the husband was wearing. Don discovered that the husband was already Spiritfilled, but the wife was not yet anointed. They are from down south and were up our way for a meeting with the editor on their new church movie! Anyway, Don offered to lay hands on the wife and pray over her to receive the Holy Spirit, which he did; and we all joined in, praying over speaker phone. The lady was a little hesitant at first, lacking confidence that she would actually receive the Holy Spirit, so I was able to counsel her from the Word, woman to woman, which I think helped greatly. She did receive, speaking in tongues, and it seems (from what I could tell over the phone) that she and her husband were both very relieved and very happy!

Interestingly, while Don was preaching to the couple, one of the store cart guys overheard the conversation and prayer, and he asked Don if what he was hearing was speaking in tongues. The guy was very excited as he seemed familiar with the experience, so Don was able to quickly share our ministry website with him, too!

Please also pray for Gabriella. We prayed with her over the phone yesterday. How it came about was that Don was at another store and saw a Jesus sticker on a parked vehicle. He was about to go over and put one of our cards on the windshield when he saw the owner (Gabriella) walk to her vehicle and hop inside. She was chatting on the phone and Don overheard her say “Jesus” to whomever she was speaking with. So, needless to say, Don got into a coversation with her and offered her a ChristiansRule.com card. Gabriella ended up phoning us later and Don spent a long time chatting with her, with the call ending in us offering to pray with her over the phone. It was helpful prayer, but she still needs to break through some obstacles, so we’re hoping to be able to connect with her in person to pray again. She’s had some mixed, confusing experiences with different churches and church-going people, so we’re praying for the Lord to give increase to what Don shared with Gabriella on the call.

Oh, and I also received a message from a sister in the Lord in Belize that her youngest son received the Holy Spirit anointing. She said he was praying with her and Knelson in the Holy Spirit (speaking in tongues) during our last prayer group session. Praise God, how exciting for their family!

We have learned to expect the unexpected whenever we are out and about. The harvest is everywhere around us!….

We learned about a new “late night” bakery cafe that just opened up, and we felt moved to check it out. While there, Don saw a guy wearing a Christian-related t-shirt, so he approached him to start a conversation. The rest of us joined in soon afterward and found out that he is actually Spiritfilled but has been discouraged from speaking in tongues, yet his wife’s parents are both Spirit filled and actively pray in the Holy Spirit (tongues).

We spent a long while with them both, encouraging them from the Word, and we also prayed over them. At the very end of the conversation, he shared that he was preparing a message for his congregation for the very next day and was due to finish it that night. The message was on “faith,'“ so we emphasized that it was no surprise that God was connecting us with him so that he could refine his talk according to the truth of the gospel that began in the Book of Acts!

Then, on the weekend we were out at a few stores, trying to find a few things to finish off the house renovations. At a lighting store, Don came across another young-ish man wearing a God-related t-shirt. He was also with his wife. We all chatted to them for quite a while right in the middle of the store. They received things really well and were keen to go away and compare what we had said with the Word of God. We encouraged them that that was the most perfect thing to do - for them to read for themselves and discover scriptures that had probably never been pointed out to them before in their man-made church experiences. We always encourage people to go direct to God in prayer and to study His Word with an open mind and heart, and to not rely on what has been told to them by others.

Finally, we were on our way home yet spontaneousluy called into one more furniture store, just to take a quick look. It ended up in a wonderful blessing. While we were there browsing, the store manager (from Argentina) commented about our family and Don replied that it was because of the power of the Holy Spirit within us. This turned into Don and the man (in his late-ish twenties) sitting at one of the tables and chatting for a very long time.

The man’s heart was so zealous and humble toward God that he wanted us to pray with him right then and there, but we couldn’t because of other customers who came into the store (and he was the only staff member on duty to serve them). So, we offered to come back when the store closed, which we did. Although he had a Catholic background, he had recently felt moved to get properly water baptized (by full immersion unto Jesus Christ), and now here we were, coming to Him with a message from God of how to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

We had some prayer initially in the store, and then he had to close up properly, so we invited him back to our place for dinner and some more prayer and scriptural teaching. It’s so wonderful to have a place to minister to people for as long as they need, any time during the week or weekend, and to have a space to invite people to join us in person for our weekly prayer groups. Thank you, Lord!

We just spent a wonderful five days with a dear sister-in-the-Lord from Belize, Central America. We flew her up here to spend some time counseling her, with lots of prayer and reading the Word, helping to build her faith and relationship with God.

We were also able to spend lots of time out and about together. One of the highlights was when we got to pray over Michael as we were walking to a restaurant for dinner. He is from New Hampshire and he shared with us many instances where he has experienced God’s miraculous hand, including saving him from what would have been a fatal car accident. He said that as the semi trailer ahead of him started to roll on its side, he saw some of God’s angels appear and hold it up so that it didn’t tip over. If it had, Michael would surely have been crushed. Wow, praise God!

What a privilege it is to be used to do God’s work in all kinds of situations, from ministering to our brethren in need of help and encouragement, to sharing the Word with strangers we “happen'“ to meet on the streets. THIS is true church life, just like the Book of Acts!

We’ve finally been able to find a suitable place to establish our church ministry work here in Florida! It’s a great place for prayer group, baptisms (once we get the pool installed - for now we’ll use the bathtub), counseling brethren, venturing out into the streets to share the Word of God, and generally growing toward the Kingdom of God together.

So much work for the Lord has already happened as a part of our moving and settling in here…

1) We shared our stories with the closing agent and ended up praying with her straight after the signings. We had met to go over the paperwork in a hotel lobby, so when we were done, we asked the hotel staff if we could use their conference room to pray. It was just the six of us praying in the huge empty room! The closing agent received the Holy Spirit that day and then ended up coming by the house once we were moved in, so we got to have some more prayer in the Holy Spirit (i.e. in tongues) at that point. She said that since we’d prayed together the first time, she’d been struggling to relax and allow the voice of the Holy Spirit to flow, so the second time of prayer was really helpful for her - she felt she achieved a breakthrough and was very excited to go and pray in tongues every day.

2) I mentioned using our soon-to-be pool for future water baptisms to the cleaning gal that the seller had hired. She was very intrigued, especially since she had recently been baptized, just a few weeks ago. I also mentioned Acts 19:2 and the Holy Spirit anointing to her, which she said she had yet to receive. I gave her our website and she later texted to say she really wanted to have us pray with her. We did so when she came back to finish stage #2 of the cleaning. She was very humble and eager to please God, so she was filled with the Holy Spirit virtually straight away, fluently praying in tongues. She also willingly received all of the follow-up counsel we gave her in terms of living out the ways of Jesus and being a strong Christian example, which was wonderful!

3) After bringing over all of our initial belongings from the hotel, we had to travel to Tampa to retrieve all of our stored goods - two lockers worth! On our way there, the truck rental place had to redirect us to an alternative depot seeing that the truck we’d booked never showed up from the previous customer. Before even driving away to head to the other location, we said to each other, “Maybe there’s a reason…!” And, there was very much a reason!

As we pulled into the other depot, we saw a storm chaser truck parked out front. The driver was still in the vehicle, so Don and our daughter went over to chat to him. When Elisabeth returned to our vehicle, she mentioned the Bible she’d spied sitting on the dash of the storm chaser’s vehicle. So, when Don went back to give him a card and take a photo with him, Don asked him about the Bible. This led to a great conversation and after a short while, we all ended up laying hands on the guy outside his truck, right there in the parking lot. We prayed over him and he received the Holy Spirit. We also prayed a second time, to help him get even more comfortable with praying in tongues, and to pray for God’s hand upon his future.

4) We needed to replace the window shades, so we booked consultations with two shade companies on two separate days. Each time, we got chatting with the salesperson, and they both ended up receiving the infilling of the Holy Spirit during their visits to the house. The first rep had a strong heart toward the Lord, and after he received (praying in tongues as proof), he tearfully shared with us a very significant prayer he’d prayed to God within the last two weeks, in addition to a number of other recent situations he had put to the Lord. So, he could most definitely see God’s hand upon us all coming together, praise God!

The second rep had a mix of a Baptist and Mormon background. At first, he was relatively skeptical and cautious, but as the conversation progressed he felt humbled by the Word of God and wanted us to pray over him. After someone receives the Holy Spirit, we always try to pray with them a second time before they leave, to get them even more comfortable with praying in tongues, so we did so with this rep as well. We also encouraged him to get properly water baptized which we pray he will follow through and do in obedience to the scriptures.