A taste of God's glory

This morning we could rest and spend time with Julius, Roszel and Jonkris so the ladies went to get their nails done and the guys got their hair cut - yes, even I had a trim (number 378 was a bit long). After giving the barber a bigger tip than the actual haircuts that cost around 50 cents each, we made our way to Robinson's mall where we enjoyed lunch and went shopping together. In the afternoon I stayed in the hotel to prepare for the evening Breakthrough meeting and decided to make a quick video clip about being a revival generation.

In the evening we went to another location for the Breakthrough meeting (Jesus is Lord Church). Young people and youth leaders with some of their pastors attended. After a powerful time of worship, I shared a message on the glory of God and showed from Exodus 33 and 2 Corinthians 3 how the believer has access to the glory of God and is called to live his or her life in it! Just as the Lord commanded the Israelites to remove all their ornaments, I spoke about our need to remove every outward form of worship that is just form without being from the heart. The message was clear and there was an invitation to enter God's glory by faith. In response, many came forward for prayer and even before our team began to minister to these precious people, the Holy Spirit was already ministering deeply to them. Some wept, some fell, some cried, some shook and some quietly received as they responded to God's touch. It is so awesome when God takes hold of the meeting and we simply move with Him!

Tomorrow is the first day of our two day pastors and leaders conference. Each day will be from 9:00 - 16:00 with a lunch break between seesions. I am very excited to see what God is planning to do. Hallelujah! 

Kingdom Life Butuan

I got up early this morning and used the time before breakfast to prepare for the Pastors' and Leaders' Conference that will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Breakfast would have been without my daily mangoes if it had not been for Andreas and Katrin who still had a couple. Whew! That saved the day!

After our customary pick up at Bo's Coffee (no arm wrestling this morning), we made our way to Kingdom Life Butuan's new place for their morning service. It was a great joy to see their new place that is much cleaner and bigger and has space for growth. They have 2 floors with several rooms for the main worship hall, kids' room and space for children's activities. It is a great venue but since they have only recently moved in they still need to make it completely their home. After worship in song, Frances was invited to speak and she shared a powerful message on our righteousness in Christ and how the believer's default position is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17). It is one of our foundational Kingdom Life messages and so important for the Body of Christ to receive revelation of this amazing truth. It was great to spend time with the church and to see old and new faces. The church is growing and we are so pleased with what God is doing with KLB. Pastors Julius and Roszel, Aaron and the volunteer leaders are doing a brilliant job in creating a loving environment for many young children and youth to feel accepted and helping them to grow in Christ.

After lunch, we made our way back to KLB to be part of their afternoon children's church meeting. Once again we had great fun with the kids and I spoke to them about the reality of God and how we can experience Him in our lives. Using the story of the Emperor's new clothes, I demonstrated how although we cannot see God, we can be certain that He exists. In response the team prayed for the children to be filled with the Spirit and blessed them. It was another special time.

We then went for our traditional Halo-Halo a coconut-based icecream with jelly, cornflakes and slithers of fresh coconut - lami (yummy), followed by a short stop at the Butuan Market where we looked for the best mangoes for tomorrow's breakfast.

This evening KLB organised a special event to welcome us to Butuan. These guys are amazing! For a month they have been preparing this event that included traditional dances with self-made costumes and props! It was simply beautiful to watch them perform with such joy and enthusiasm. We felt very honoured indeed and are very impressed with the talent in KLB.

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Romans 14:17

The Kingdom of God is near!

It was an early start this morning. Pick up was at 8:00 so we had to be up and ready. After our traditional coffee at Bo's Coffee and another defeat: Andreas clearly lost to Jonkris this time at arm wrestling,  we made our way to the location of our Revival Generation youth conference. We started again on filipino time and after a time of worship, I shared a message on the Kingdom of God and how Jesus preached the good news of the Kingdom and demonstrated the reality of God's Kingdom with His life and with signs, wonders and miracles. The group was very mixed and seemed predominantly very young kids so I adapted the message for a younger age group and we had a lot of fun. After lunch, KLB's youth pastor, Aaron got us all to do some fun actions to overcome the post-lunch-tiredness, after which Andreas shared his powerful testimony. I then continued speaking about the reality of the Kingdom and the need to be born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. I then invited the young people to come forward to be prayed for to be filled with the Holy Spirit and almost all the kids came forward. Frances, Katrin, Andreas and I then began to minister to the group  and were supported by the KLB team.

As we began to pray for these precious young people, God began to pour out His Spirit and many began to be deeply moved by the Father's love and presence. Some fell over under God's power, some wept, and some simply received quietly. We continued ministering to the kids over an extended time as God's presence thickened. Many times I was overwhelmed by the Father's compassion flowing through me and filling the hearts of the people. It was very precious indeed. We then invited people to come forward who needed healing as we sensed God's power present to heal. As we prayed we all sensed the power and authority of God being released as we prayed and commanded healing into people's bodies. As we gathered around one girl in particular, the lump on her neck began to shrink while we layed hands on her in the name of Jesus. She was visibly touched as she realised that God was healing her and loved her. It was a very powerful afternoon indeed and after we had finished praying for many, we had a time for people to share testimonies of what God had done for them today. The young people are very shy but a few brave kids came forward and testified to experiencing God like they have never experienced Him before and others testified about God healing them during the ministry time. Hallelujah!

It was a wonderful conference and everyone was filled with joy. Here is a picture of some of the KLB team and the KLF team together:

"From that time on Jesus began to preach, 'Repent for the Kingdom of God is near." Matthew 4:17

"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness among the people." Matthew 4:23

Touching generations

After a good night's rest we could have a leisurely morning and had breakfast together, prayed together and met up with Julius, Roszel and Jonkris for coffee and shopping. Andreas was challenged for an arm wrestle and I think Andreas was pretending to lose against Jonkris.

After a tasty lunch we made our way to the orphanage where the KLB team ministers every week. It was a joy to minister to these precious children as we sang songs together, played games together and Frances shared a message on "How God sees us", using a mirror to compare how we see ourselves and how God sees us. Every child was given a small miroor and it was very sweet to watch them combing their hair and smiling at themselves. There was great joy and it is evident why these little ones are so close to the Father's heart!

We then made our way back to the hotel where we relaxed and Richard and Andreas took Jonkris for a swim; well more like a shark attack and saving Jonkris from the hairy kuya Andi sharky thing.

Filled with anticipation we then went to the location of the Youth Revival Conference that was to start at 18:00 filipino time. We started at 18:30. Julius introduced the team and after a great time of worship led by the very talented and anointed KLB worship team, I was invited to speak to the group of over 150 kids. The Lord had given me Isaiah 6:1-7 so I spoke on God's holiness and how every true encounter with God is an encounter with His holiness that leads to repentance. I gave examples from past revivals and my own personal life to encourage the young people to repent of forming their own image of God instead of allowing His Spirit to reveal God's image to them. It was a very convicting word but I knew the Holy Spirit was leading it. In response many gave their lives to the Lord and many came forward, weeping in God's presence as the Lord convicted hearts and drew these young people into His redeeming love. We stayed in God's presence for quite a while until I sensed the Holy Spirit was finished. We then had a special time of fellowship and everyone got a small pack dinner.

I was greatly moved today by God's amazing love for the children in the orphanage and the kids this evening. It is an indescribable moment when you are standing between puddles of tears after the ministry time celebrating God's love and goodness! Tomorrow will be day 2 of the youth revival generation conference and I believe we will see even greater things!

"When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." John 16:8

We have arrived!

We have arrived! Having travelled to Manila via Hong Kong yesterday, we stayed overnight in Manila and flew to Butuan this afternoon. We had about 5 hours to check out Hong Kong between flights and took an adventurous culinary journey to the city centre to try out a local restaurant where the food is served in little round baskets on a trolley conveniently maneuvered between the guests' tables. Fortunately a couple of ladies at our table could speak a little English so we could find out what we had selected from the trolley (the trolley lady just shoved a basket or two in my direction without explanation). After being very pleasantly surprised by the delicious tasting food which included pork ribs, shrimp dim sum, chicken feet and a chinese risotto -type dish, we left rather chuffed with ourselves for having been daring and being greatly rewarded for our boldness. There is a principle to be observed here: without risk there is no glory!

Having fought to stay stay awake for the day, we were happy to finally arrive in our hotel in Manila where a cool shower and soft bed awaited our rather tired bodies. This morning we had a tasty breakfast at the hotel after which we made our way to the airport to travel to Butuan. The flights were all without much delay so we arrived in Butuan as expected. As we came out of the arrival terminal, we were heartily greeted by Berwyn, Julius, Roszel and their children as well as Aaron and other members of Kingdom Life Butuan with a banner and gifts - baskets filled with....guess what? Yes! Mangoes!!!! It was wonderful to see everyone again and for Katrin to meet the clan for the first time in Butuan and for them to meet Andreas' wife that he always talked about during his previous visits.

After dropping off our luggage and checking into the hotel, we made our way straight to the street children's ministry where we joined the KLB team in ministering to over 40 kids on the pavement. It was very special to spend time with some familiar faces and to share God's love with them. After the food that the KLB team had prepared for them was distributed, we made our way to a lovely philippine-style welcome dinner.

It is wonderful to be here again and we are excited to see what God will do as we risk for His glory and step out with boldness into the unknown by faith. Hallelujah!

Prepared and sent!

This year Richard, Frances, Andreas and Katrin will be travelling to Butuan City in the Philippines. The team leaves on Tuesday and will be heading to Manila via Hong Kong and then flying to Butuan City on the southern most island of Mindanao.

The purpose of our trip is to visit, encourage and serve our daughter church, Kingdom Life Butuan (KLB),  lead 2 conferences (pastors and leaders conference and youth conference), support KLB's weekly activities (serving the local orphanage and street children's ministry), visit several churches, the jail ministry, and perform several radio broadcasts. The emphasis will be on encouraging, training and equipping the leaders in KLB and in Butuan and on influencing the Church with the presence, power and truth of God and His Kingdom.

On Sunday our KLF family prayed for our team, layed hands on us, prophesied over us and sent us in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are greatly encouraged and excited about what God has prepared for us and we look forward to seeing what God is doing and will do in Butuan.

"I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me." Philippians 1:25,26