There is a long history of searching for the presence of God in the wrong places. Long ago three wise men travelled from the East to seek out the promised Messiah. After clearing customs and declaring that they were importing Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh they checked into the Palace only to find that despite all the trappings of wealth and power God was not present. They had to check out again, travel further, to Bethlehem, where finally they found the presence of God manifested in a baby, in the stable of a country inn. It is still the same today, Jesus loves to show up in surprising places.
A few weeks ago I travelled from the South to join three wise women in Gabon. Once again we saw that Jesus loves to manifest himself in surprising places. This was my second visit to Gabon as I had done a conference there in 2013. It is awesome to see what God has been doing since that time. An outpouring of the presence of God has begun in Libreville. The outpouring is mainly in small churches in poor circumstances, and yet the power and presence of God is being powerfully experienced by both young and old. Last year the conference was marked with many wonderful manifestations of the presence of God. Many people encountered the love of God in tangible ways, many of them for the first time. One woman testified that in one of the evening meetings she had a vision of waves sweeping through the church, it was so real to her that she literally held onto the gates at the entrance afraid she would be swept away. Another woman testified that during the meetings she saw lightning bolts coming out of my hands when I prayed for people. Many people laughed uncontrollably as they were filled with God’s love and joy. Some fell to the floor overcome by God’s presence and power so tangibly that they could not stand. Others were so full of the Holy Spirit they acted and looked like drunks. In addition to that many came and testified having been healed of various afflictions and diseases, including a man who walked with a built up shoe because one leg was two inches shorter than the other due to the fact he had been shot in the hip 20 years previously. When we prayed for him the leg grew in front of our eyes until it was the same length as the other. It was a wonderful time and so it was with great expectation that I returned this year with a team of amazing women from God Adventure, Carol Cambell who is the South African contact for the International Healing rooms Association, Esmé Schmitt our awesome Children’s Pastor and Cécile Murray who is serving God as a missionary in her home country of France.
The time began with a “Gathering of the Coals” which is our Pastors and Leaders conference which was attended by around 50 pastors from different churches around Libreville. The The presence of God in the room was electric! God came with his presence and power and swept through the room leaving men and woman strewn like the casualties of a joy bomb scattered across the floor.
One interesting manifestation that we also saw was that some of the women pastors had an experience that mirrored childbirth. In that time something was birthed in Gabon.
The week was filled with signs, healings, wonders and God enounters, in fact they are too many to fully recount here, but I need to mention that extraordinary encouters that children experienced this year. Many of the children were literally overcome with the presence of God and became completely drunk in the Spirit. On the first Sunday in the country I could sense that I needed a breakthrough in the Spirit. Our intercessors at home where praying but God chose to deploy a different intercessor as well. A girl of three, the daughter of the Pastor, was found weeping in her bed room by one of the children’s workers. When she was asked why she was crying Precious replied, I just feel like crying so the worker said to her to carry on and left her. A little while later the little girl came out of the room full of joy, with a big smile shouting “Hallelujah! Amen! Hallelujah” The meeting that night was the beginning of a great breakthrough. As they say children don’t have a junior Holy Spirit.
There is a lot more to come. We continue to receive testimonies from Gabon of a powerful outpouring of revival happening. Watch this space.
