Visa update
Great news! Our FBI background checks have arrived! Since receiving those, we have been working on finding a doctor to perform the required physicals for the visa. This has been harder than we thought, as some of the items (one item in particular), are not covered in ordinary physicals and doctors are hesitant to sign off on them. We have a couple of leads for physicians that specialize in these types of physicals, so we are pursuing those options. God has this in His hands, and He will provide the way for us to obtain all that we need to complete the visa requirements!
What's been happening in our lives
We celebrated 10 years of marriage in August! It is amazing that we started our journey 10 years ago in a town north of San Francisco. After 2 years of marriage, Father God sent us to San Diego to work with some friends as they were building their ministry in that area. We spent 5 years in San Diego before we were directed by Father God to head to Texas, which was a fulfillment of a prophetic word Todd had received in 2006. Our Texas adventure connected us with some amazing men and women of God, some of whom we are still in close contact with today. The Texas journey was shorter than we had anticipated, as after 2 years there, Father spoke to us about working with one of these connections in South Africa, which is the current leg of our journey.
As you can see, we have experienced a lot of movement in our 10 years together. We know that God has called us to do some very specific things, so why all the movement? If our eyes are on the Promise Land then the journey can seem to take forever. The Israelites could have entered the land of Canaan shortly after leaving Egypt, but God knew their hearts and realized that if they saw war they would immediately want to return to Egypt (Exodus 13:17). Instead, He took them to Mount Sinai and had them spend time in the wilderness around there and beyond. The Isaelites would see war eventually, so why prolong the inevitable? It was the time at Mount Sinai and journey through the wilderness that the Israelites were supposed to move past merely seeing God's acts and learn to understand His ways so that they could successfully defeat the armies standing in the way of their obtaining God's promise (Hebrews 3:10-11). It was through the battle with the Amalekites that they were to obtain the revelation that the Lord is their banner (Exodus 19:8-16). It was through signs such as water coming out of the rock that they were to get the revelation of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ (Exodus 19:1-5; Numbers 20:1-13; 1Corinthians 10:3-4). All of this happened along the journey to the Promise Land. While we have moved a lot in our 10 years together, as we look back over our journey, we can see where God was revealing more of His character and nature to us every step of the way. We are still learning, but we know that when we understand who He is, the enemy armies standing in the way of our grabbing hold of God's promises to us won't stand a chance!
A word about recent events in the United States
The United States of America has seen a lot of turmoil in recent years, which has escalated in recent months, and seemingly more so in the last month. We don't want to talk about the events themselves as much as what these events have revealed in the Body of Christ. We, the Church, are extremely divided. We love our own lives and opinions more than we love each other and the people we are supposed to be reaching. We will defend our opinions with such resolve and even follow the example of the world by hurling insults at one another. Neither former President Obama, current President Trump, nor any other presidents died on a cross to free us from the bondage we were in. No donkey or elephant died on a cross for us. If we want to get passionate about something, then let's get passionate about a Savior who died on a cross to free us from the bondage of sin and the ways of the world system. Let's get passionate about a Savior who was raised from the dead into new life so that we who died with Him could become new creations in Him. Let's get busy representing the heart of Father God to a lost and dying people instead of representing ourselves and leaving those same people to die in the bondage of their sin. Jesus paid too high of a price for us to represent anything else but His character, nature, and desire to those around us.
Hurricanes
There have been several prophetic words coming out regarding the onslaught of hurricanes. At least a few have said these hurricanes are God's judgement on the affected areas. This does not represent the heart of God at all. Even if we were to argue these hurricanes were God's judgement on those areas, we can see throughout the Bible that God would send prophets ahead of time into areas to provide the opportunity for repentance so the impending judgement would not come. It is also interesting that these prophetic words have come out after the hurricanes happened, and not before.
Other prophetic words have come out speaking directly to the opportunity that Christians have to step up as God's ambassadors on this earth. We are in agreement with these words. As His ambassadors, we can speak to these storms as Jesus did, and they will obey us if we believe (Mark 4:35-41). We had the privilege of joining our friends Anthony and Daisy Tijerina, and Scott and Laurie Levesque in Orlando, Florida for 2 weeks in October 2016. We were there to train participants how to minister to people on the streets. This all happened to occur during the time that Hurricane Matthew was scheduled to hit Florida. A new course was immediately added to the training, how to attack a hurricane! The trainers and the participants all gathered in a hotel room the first evening of the training where we all joined in one accord to pray against the hurricane. We went to bed that night, and the next day, other than some slightly higher than normal winds, did not experience the effects of Hurricane Matthew. We checked the weather report, and it said that Hurricane Matthew had experienced an unexpected wobble which kept it running parallel to the Florida coastline rather than making landfall. We define "an unexpected wobble" as a term science uses when it cannot explain something that happened as a result of prayer. This is what can happen when the children of God rise up and act as ambassadors of His Kingdom! Hurricanes Irma, Jose, and those yet to be name do not stand a chance if we command His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10).
Prayer points
- For those affected by the hurricanes in Texas and the Caribbean Islands, earthquake in Mexico, and fires in California.
- That Hurricanes Irma, Jose, and those yet to be named would drop any necessary rain, but that there would be no lives lost, injuries, destruction of property, etc.
- We find a doctor soon who will be willing and able to perform the exams required for our visas.
- For favor with the South African consulate, and that we would receive approval for a 3 year visa.
- Rain for the Western Cape of South Africa. They have received some rain recently, but not near enough to deliver them from the extreme drought they have been in.
- That we would fulfill everything that God has for us to do during our time in the United States.
- Whatever God lays on your hearts!
Did you know?
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