I was listening to Bill Johnson in the car today as he spoke about his passion to see a generation step into the anointing which in previous times was the experience of only a few of God’s favoured servants. As he did so it struck me that we are already beginning to see a great deal of what he and many others are contending for. In the last two years I have met 7 people who have prayed for resurrections from the dead and one of the things which has struck me about some of them was just how ordinary and normal many of them were. Three men in particular stand out in my memory, they were poor pastors in Mozambique. They were men of humble origins, with poor education by western standards and yet they had learnt how to trust God to raise the dead! Were they richer than Bill Gates?

One of the men who I met was David Hogan, an awe-inspiring, terrifying “force of nature.” Whilst we were in Mozambique he was present at the baptism of a young american girl who had just given her life to Jesus. The girl, who I believe came from Daytona Beach in California, was a little afraid to get into the murky brown waters of the African river in front of her. She was afraid of the crocodiles, snakes etc that she knew were potentially waiting for a little, light breakfast. However, she agreed to do so when Pastor David stepped forward and promised to personally protect her if any crocs rang the dinner bell. That may not sound reassuring, but then you haven’t met David Hogan. If I was a betting man, my money in such an engagement would definitely be on David Hogan! He is like a cross between a special forces drill instructor, Crocodile Dundee and mother Teresa. I know that sounds impossible, but it is true. One moment he is recounting inspiring tales of extraordinary feats of glory whilst telling “You’re not bad people you’re just chicken!”, then the next he is in tears as he speaks to you about Jesus, or about the indigenous people of South America amongst whom he works. The mixture of courage, direct talking, testimony and compassion is difficult to get a handle on initially. Well in the case of the girl from Daytona beach, she had no sooner agreed to be baptized when a cobra appeared out of the bush. Pastor David and one of his companions immediately reacted by stamping on it, then Hogan whipped out a large knife and decapitated it. Then they baptized the girl. I am sure she will never forget the day she got baptized! However when you talk to David Hogan he begins to tell you of his heroes. He has successfully prayed for people to be raised from the dead but the thing that is truly extraordinary is that hundreds of others in his ministry have too, we don’t know their names or their stories but they are doing awesome wonders for God. The same is true for people like Roland and Heidi Baker in Mozambique. There have been over 100 resurrections in Iris Ministries now and most of them are done by people who will never find their way onto the pages of Charisma magazine. This is the face of this new move of God. Where once leaders were seen as the greatest men or women of their generation, increasingly leaders will be discerned by those who make their generation great.

A little closer to home my heroine for the week is a young woman in our church who teaches in a local school. She has determined to bring the kingdom into her class room to the children she teaches so that they can experience God’s love and care for them at school. Recently she shared a beautiful testimony with us that I just wanted to share with you. I do so for the very simple reason that I believe this is what the kingdom of God looks like, ordinary people releasing God’s love everywhere they go. I will let her tell you her story in her own words.

King in My Classroom

I love Fridays! I love teaching Life Orientation to 11-year-old girls who are desperate to know the truth about who they are and what their role is in the world around them! I love it when God goes before you, plans Friday’s Life Orientation lesson, keeps it as a surprise (and we love surprises) and then shows up shifts atmospheres and changes lives!

I plan meticulously, but had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with my girls (28 11-turning-12 year olds) in last Friday’s Life Orientation lesson. Just before the lesson started, I felt lead to talk about the power of the tongue following an incident earlier in the week where a girl in my class had said something nasty and untrue about one of the others.

I started talking about the power of a match to set an entire forest ablaze. I shared about how this time last year my class and I were praying about the fires sweeping across Australia. We spoke about how the tongue, as small and as insignificant as it might look, is the most powerful muscle in the body – how it has the power to build up and to destroy in seconds… We spoke about how girls often light fires with their tongues, how these fires scorch and hurt the hearts of others and how these hurts are often left to fester as no-one can see them, so no-one can ‘love them better’…

During the past two weeks, we’ve been talking about being miners, about how God calls each of us to mine the gold in others, to draw out the treasure that is in other people – friends and strangers. Some of the girls have shared amazing testimonies of calling the treasure out of other people. SO… we then spoke about how the simplest way to put out a fire that has been started, by you or by somebody else is to cover the fire in the truth. Find the treasure… call it out… truth over lies… the fire, started by the body’s match, the tongue, must die.

I get so excited when you begin to see God’s plan unfold right before your eyes… As I spoke, I felt the atmosphere change, 28 girls were eating from the palm of my hand because the Holy Spirit was at work and because the King had a divine appointment with each of them. As I was sharing, God gave me a word for one of the girls. Because I didn’t want to single her out above anyone else, I waited a moment and He gave me a word for another. God then said, “Now, do the whole class.” My first thought was, “What if I start, get half way and then don’t have anything for anyone else, Lord?” God insisted, “Do the whole class.” My next thought was, “But Lord I’m not sure if I’ll have anything for ‘that one’ (a child who is so often involved in lighting fires that hurt).” God persisted, “Do the whole class… and don’t leave her until last. Don’t leave those who are always last until last.” It was AMAZING, the Spirit was in complete control as I shared what was on God’s heart for 28 girls that are so on mine. He was so gracious. He gave me a word for every child there. Some received their word with broad and knowing smiles, for others, silent tears told me that they heard the truth. One girl’s first reaction, “Don’t say anything nice about me…” and in God went and quietened her heart to receive.

My little ‘fire-starter’ is, I believe, well on her way to starting fires of a different kind. I said her name out loud in faith that God would show me the truth. This little girl who lives in difficult circumstances has the ability to whip up all of those around her and get a group of girls involved in drama of some sort – this generally happens through lies and manipulation. God’s truth: You are a leader and I am going to use you to motivate groups of people to work together towards a common goal for My glory. God is SO good! I suddenly saw how she is being kept in bondage through the lies of the enemy in the very area that God wants to use her in!

During all this time there were no knocks on my door and no other interruptions until a girl who is Jehovah’s Witness flung the door open, beaming, to tell us that she’d got 100% in her music test. She’d been out of the classroom all this time. The girls were quick to tell her that I wanted to tell her something. I encouraged them to build a foundation, to explain what we’d been talking about first… They needing little prompting and summarized the lesson quickly as this girl soaked it up like a sponge. Once they were done, someone commented, “…and now Miss G**** has got something awesome to tell you, watch…” And why should I have doubted that God wouldn’t just love on her too… an amazing word that she lapped up and was so appreciative of, “Wow, wow, wow!” is all she kept saying.

By this stage of the lesson, and no, I didn’t leave ‘that one’ until last, I was holding onto a desk to prevent myself from melting into a heap on the floor as the Presence was so thick… Suddenly one of the girls says, “Well now that you’ve drawn the treasure out of us, we just want to draw the treasure out of you…” and they all started speaking truth over my life, which blessed me to the point of tears…

Once everyone had left for break, I collapsed at my desk with a thankful heart when a little voice ‘brought me back’. The little ‘fire-starter’ wanted to talk. The first thing she wanted to know was whether or not I trusted her (she has always been mistrusted because of theft issues) the moment I said, “Yes”, out it all came… She needed to know whether everything I’d said was true. She wanted to know if I loved her. She wanted to know if I really cared. As I was sharing how proud I was of her, she got up and left. I was quicker than she thought I would be and I soon had her plonked beside me with the doors wide open to share the love of Jesus. I watched as her countenance changed before my eyes, as her eyes softened and as she tucked herself into me for the first hug she’s initiated this year. Once tucked beneath me, she burst into tears, clung to me even tighter and eventually just collapsed into His peace.

Teaching is not my job, it’s my ministry… I am in full-time ministry, I just happen to be in the same classroom everyday. What happens in my classroom might not always look like ministry, in fact, it doesn’t always feel like ministry, but there are many moments that absolutely blow me away… Last Friday, was one of those days!

She also shared this beautiful story;

Something Fun

In sharing about how God sings over us because of His great love for us I encouraged my girls to lie quietly in bed this morning when they woke up and ask God to open their ears to the songs He is singing over them so we could share His love songs for us in class.

Many had forgotten, but one testimony that blew me away was a girl who shared that as she prayed and asked God for His song, there was suddenly the sound of rushing wind through her room… She jumped up and flung open her curtains… Outside it was completely still… She can’t wait for tomorrow’s song…

World Revival is here! Feel it, feed it, LIVE IT!

Until next time,

Cheers, Nigel.