2/11/2019 7 Comments Making a Way in The WildernessMaking a Way in The Wilderness
Happy New Year Wonderful People!!! Below is our latest update including some testimonies and some decisions we are praying into for 2019.
Highlights:
Recently a hunger has been stirring up in us for more of God and more of His fullness in us! Shawn Bolz a well known prophetic voice posted this scripture from Isaiah 43:19 for his first post of 2019:
Last year I got a hugely impacting prophetic word from Lyndsay Coil (a pastor here at bethel) who called me out in the middle of a meeting. She got many accurate words of knowledge about my birthday, our names (Mollie, Steve, Grace and Benjy), my education, that we were missionaries and many more specific details. I had never before experienced such incredible accuracy in the prophetic. (Some of you may remember the testimony and the recording from an email I sent out last year, I have added the recording of the word at the bottom if you would like to listen).
While giving us this prophetic word Lindsay mentioned that she felt the Lord was saying that we are not finished in Cambodia yet! Then she also included this scripture (the same one as above).
With all these other things in mind it really got us praying and asking for the more of Him! We are so thankful to God for what He has already graciously given us but He has stirred up a hunger in us for more! We are conscious that without more of Him we cannot fully do what He has called us to in defeating the pervasive powers of darkness in Cambodia or wherever else He leads us to serve Him.
We are also praying for discernment and wisdom for some really big and difficult decisions. The coming few months lead into potential transition for us again, with Mollie’s BSSM1 class finishing in May we are praying about what specific steps we are to take next and in what timing. Mollie’s mentors and pastors all mention that a second year of BSSM brings a more complete ministry training experience but at the moment we are both not sure what is next.
The main two options are to leave here with a view to return to missions after Mollie graduates BSSM1 or to stay and complete BSSM2 (potentially both of us together).
God has been doing some wonderful, amazing and powerful things in us and to us! Mollie has recently had some moments of encounter that have already felt like small installments of what He has promised.
Jesus has been taking me (Steve) on a journey of heart healing and renewing my mind this year (sometimes I feel like my mind is the "wilderness" that He wants to make a way in!). He has been dealing with many lies that I have been believing about myself and Him (and didn’t even know about) and replacing them with His freeing truths. I have been blessed to be able to attend SOZO courses and other similar things that have been bringing me new levels of freedom and also some tools equipping me to help others to experience the same thing. There have been great moments serving in the healing rooms and seeing God move powerfully, including things I have never seen before! Jesus has been growing people’s legs out after prayer, completely healing damaged joints, swollen shoulders and even recently He powerfully healed someone with breast cancer who had a huge mass and level 9 out of 10 pain. Jesus encountered her, she fell to her knees and when she got up all pain had gone and the tumor shrank; her shoulder and back were also completely healed in the same instance and she was able to dance again!! Jesus has been so wonderful; as He always is. More than I can describe in a few short paragraphs here. There have been times of uncertainty, doubt and unbelief too though. But He is good and He is worth it all, all the unknowns, all the challenges and all the joys in this process of seeking Him and being transformed by Him. Below Mollie shares some more of the process God has been taking her on so far. From Mollie:
Where do I start?! This last four months has been phenomenal! God has been revealing to me the importance of a renewed mind - that it’s my mind that is the only limiting factor in what God can do in my life. Jesus often talks about the importance of faith; that if we truly had faith even the size of a mustard seed we could command mountains to be thrown into the sea. Paul also prays that we would "transformed" (same word used for Jesus’ transfiguration) by the renewing of our minds.
When we are renewing the mind and forming new ways of thinking there is actually a process of new neural pathways being formed in the brain (there are many scientific studies that highlight this). At first there is resistance though, metaphorically It’s like we have to form new pathways in areas where there is dense shrubbery and large boulders and obstructions (lies we are believing). A bit like making a way in the wilderness! (Isa 43:19). At first it takes much determination to make a new path which has much resistance when you first travel it. Especially when there are the 6 lane highways we are so accustomed to going down and have been using for years (our old habitual ways of thinking!!). Naturally our brains will choose to follow the path of least resistance, the easiest road to use; so it requires the empowering grace of God and our co-laboring with Him to renew our mind! This is so significant because what we think eventually creates our beliefs and what we believe shapes our actions. Our thoughts are incredibly important! We need the mind of Christ! I am learning the value of truly knowing who I am and realising that each of us represents God in a different way. Bill Johnson teaches; "if we truly knew how God made us we wouldn’t want to be anyone else”. We wouldn’t dare criticize a work of art in front of the famous artist; yet we often are so quick to pick out the flaws in God’s most magnificent creations; ourselves (we are created in Him image!). So it’s been a journey of identifying lies and replacing them with God’s truth. The first few months I was either in tears or laughing most of the time! On top of that I have been receiving powerful bible teaching, planting a micro church to college students, learning about prophecy, evangelism, discipleship and learning some core values for revival. We have seen the hunger and passion for God grow and grow in our class and the level of joy and hope has just exploded! We are seeing healings, miracles, fire and so much glory. “But do not make a mistake: God cannot do a great work through you without doing a great work in you first.”
“We felt the Holy Spirit had been a real person to us before; as far as we knew we had received Him ; and some of us had known much of His operations in and through our lives. But now the revelation of His person was so tremendous that all our other experiences seemed as nothing. There was no visible apparition , but He made Himself so real to our spiritual eyes that it was a “face to face” experience. And when we saw Him we knew we had never really seen Him before.“
I have also seen the children growing in their knowledge and love of God. We were blessed to be able go to the UK for a short visit and a family wedding over Christmas. While we were there Grace (my daughter who is 3 years old) prayed for a close family member’s eye to be healed. She had just had surgery due to a bleed in her eye and couldn't see anything but a blur. After Grace prayed for her she said her sight improved significantly!!
I am incredibly thankful to everyone who has helped to make this year possible so far! I’m about halfway through and I am already receiving such breakthrough. I know the victories we get now will help us for many many years to come. Please be praying for us for clarity about what’s next. We are wanting to wait and see how God leads and are holding everything so lightly; our lives are His so please be praying that we follow His heartbeat so clearly about what is next. All of our love, -Mollie, Steve, Grace and Benjy (Check out the pictures below for some more highlights and testimonies)
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5/10/2018 0 Comments Contagious TestimoniesThis year has been full of God showing us just how kind and good He is. Not only have we been surrounded by an environment of outrageous testimonies of God working in people’s lives but we have been seeing His faithfulness first hand. Whether it has been through having a cheque given to us at just the right time (so we can pay our rent) or through encountering His presence directly and powerfully in a single moment. He has graciously and consistently shown us just how wonderful He is. A few days ago I was privileged to be able to graduate from Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry 1. I can simply say that this has been the most incredible nine months of my life. Over the course of this year Jesus has taken me deeper into understanding my identity in Him, brought me to new levels of freedom and faith and has rekindled a lot of passion for Him that had gradually grown cooler over the years. To say the time here at BSSM has been impacting would be an understatement. In the journey with Him there is always more and always deeper levels, but I didn’t expect to see and experience as much as I have during this season. None of these experiences would have been possible if it wasn’t Mollie's love and support. When I was at school during the day she has stayed at home, holding the fort, caring for the kids and making space for me to be able to get as much as I can out of the school. We mentioned in a recent private email update (if you would like to join our email updates click here) that we felt we heard the Lord speaking to us about being here for longer so that Mollie could also do the school. In that update we requested your prayers for us while we considered and prayed into it. Below is written by Mollie on the decision we have made; Recently while praying into the practicalities of all of this we were wondering about what to do with all of our furniture over summer and whether to move out, lose our apartment and put all of our things in storage while we are away. Only to return and then try and find a new house all over again and move all of our furniture out of storage into a new place and start again (this would also mean our 5th house move in 2 years!). It has been a big unknown but every time I (Steve) have prayed about it I felt peace about keeping our apartment over the summer even though it didn’t make financial sense to do so and we couldn’t afford it. Then Mollie was having coffee with a friend a few days ago and her friend felt led by the Lord to give her a cheque for the full amount of two months rent to enable us to keep our apartment over the summer! We were so blown away by this wonderful couple’s generosity. God is so good! His goodness has not just hugely impacted ourselves but many others as well. There have been many breakthroughs in the lives of our friends and fellow students and many others who attend the church. It’s faith inspiring to be in a place that values the testimonies of Jesus’ workings and it really makes them contagious for others to receive as well. A few weeks ago I was serving in the healing rooms here and had the privilege of praying for an older lady who was visiting from Korea for a few days. She had endured having excruciating back pain for 20 years which was at the time of praying at a pain level of about 8 out of 10. After I laid my hand on her back prayed a simple prayer God completely healed her. She was astounded and jumping up and down bending over and moving about everywhere trying to find the pain. Her daughter (who was translating for us) was so overwhelmed and surprised that she could barely stand and was weeping under the weighty presence of God. That same day Jesus also healed a lady who had tinnitus (ringing ears) for 12 years and many others. Serving in the healing rooms has been one of my favorite things to do here (the above is just a small snapshot of what a day can look like here!). We both been blessed be able to serve in different areas whilst being here. Mollie has been helping out at the Bethel Transformation Centre, learning how to minister an inner healing Ministry called Sozo. I have been able to volunteer at the Iris Global main office for one day a week and will continue to do so over the coming year. After all the wonderful things we have experienced and this incredibly impacting year all we can summarize to say is that we are thankful. Thankful for what God has done is doing in restoring and refreshing us and equipping us for what’s ahead, but not only that. We are so thankful for every single amazing person who has been supporting us along the way. Every message, every financial gift (you know who you are!) and every kind word sent to us has been another beautiful testimony of His love and it is contagious! It’s all wonderful proof that He is who He says He is. As we look ahead there are still some unknowns and hurdles to jump through (including a full round of visa applications and embassy visits again) but as we continue to follow Him into the unknown we hold on to the many testimonies of all that He has done and we know that whatever happens He is faithful and good.
(If you would like to give a small donation towards Mollie's tuition fees for the coming year you can do so by following this link: https://my.bssm.net/donations/transactions/new?student_binder=24401) 11/22/2017 4 Comments Living in AmericaWe have been in Redding for over three months now! It feels like we have been here longer! God has been doing so much in our hearts! We arrived after a pretty long journey to our new home - a city in the north of California which feels like it’s in the middle of nowhere ! When we drove up here the forest fires were raging it was hazy and hot and we couldn’t see or appreciate the beauty of the mountainous landscape surrounding the city. At first it seemed like a very bizarre place; built around a huge freeway with so many warehouse type shops. Around 1/10 of the population attends Bethel Church (9000 people ) and there are also hundreds of other big churches here too! So there are a lot of “Christians” here! However I wasn’t prepared for the many homeless / drug addict / alcoholic population there are in the city. This was a big surprise to me, it’s really heart-breaking to see such brokenness all over the city. Although it does open up so many opportunities for these precious ones to encounter Jesus through His people here! When we first arrived it was ridiculously hot (46ºC), smokey, hazy and overwhelmingly different to what I had expected ! To add to the challenges we were homeless for nearly 2 weeks, I (Mollie) crashed our 1996 car (which is older than many BSSM students!) and I was feeling really anxious about arriving in America. We had no friends, no family and no money (the sale of Steve’s flat fell through two days before we came)! Everything seemed alien, weird and surreal (some people wear cowboy hats here)! Our first Sunday we didn’t even get to church as Grace was unwell and then the next Sunday our car didn’t start! But God is FAITHFUL, KIND, LOVING and such a GOOD FATHER !!! I admit during that first two weeks my peace wasn’t flowing like a river; “What have we done?“ was the main thought I was battling! “God I know you called us here, what’s going on?” Despite my lack of faith and my lack of trust - (which is crazy as He has never and will never let us down!!!) Jesus proved himself again and again here. On one occasion, just after we had moved into our house (after staying with some new friends for the first 2 weeks) we had some furniture but not much. I had been asking God for a few things I knew we couldn’t afford including a vacuum cleaner and some kitchen stuff, groceries and a pass to the kids centre here. Then a precious local family invited us over for dinner one night and blessed us with an incredible meal – without us sharing our needs or desires to them at all - they blessed us with all these things and a sum of money which enabled us to pay everything we needed that month! We were just sat having dinner and they said “theres a vacuum at the door we want to give you”. Then they said “have you heard about this kids centre, we want to pay for a years pass so you can take Grace” The very things I had been praying about and they gave them to us without us even mentioning our needs to them. We felt so loved by them and they really demonstrated the heart of God to us with their outrageous kindness and generosity! Since then other people have given us furniture we have needed, we have received other financial gifts and even had meals brought round for us. They have been just the most incredible moments (someone is even paying for Grace to go to ballet lessons with their daughter, what a blessing!!)! At times this journey of being completely dependant on God for our needs (in a place at least three times more expensive to live than Cambodia) can be quite stressful and hard but we also feel really thankful to be on this journey as we are learning more and more through experience of God’s faithful provision. God has also provided us some wonderful friends who feel like family to us and to Grace (which was my biggest prayer coming here). In Cambodia and in the UK she had a handful of friends but now she has so many it’s hard to keep track of them all! She is also absolutely thriving at her daycare as well! It’s wonderful to be in relationship with the families here who are all on a similar journey and all hunger for more of Jesus. Getting to journey alongside them in their victories and their testimonies of breakthrough has been a highlight of our time here too! Being able to go to Bethel church is also absolutely incredible! It’s so much more wonderful than I could have imagined; the presence of God, the way they equip the body, the way they love everyone who comes through the doors! Steve is studying at BSSM and with around 1200 others in his class and his mind is getting blown everyday! The quality and anointing of the teaching (from Kris and Bill and many other inspiring leaders) and the worship is all having a huge impact on his heart and already God is doing a big work in Him! I am getting to do 3 classes a week too; sozo training , something called Thrive and another class called “ fire starters “, plus there is worship 3 nights a week - really you could spend every night at church ! I feel God is doing a really deep work in me and already and like Steve I feel like my heart is getting some major surgery! For the first time in a while I feel like my taste buds have been awakened and I’m so hungry for more of God! The testimonies I have heard from people in the church are unbelievable; from 11 year olds praying for people dying with cancer getting healed , to rain falling in the Church building ( a few weeks ago) , to 5 year olds prophesying with accuracy. The other day Steve was in a healing class learning from someone who God had used to raise 5 people from the dead. It’s an environment of excitement, faith and God’s glory! Plus it’s so great as many people here are living by faith and sharing with me testimonies of money appearing in their home, multiplying in their hands and crazy stories that are really helping us to have faith to get through our financial challenges here! In the first 3 weeks God gave us a word about Cambodia and Asia and many times since then during worship I have been smelling lemongrass so strongly ( which takes me back there instantly ) , plus God has been speaking to me too about going back ; but equally I really sense He is wanting us to go deep here and focus on everything He wants to do in our hearts before we think about what’s next ! It’s been wonderful as we have seen many friends from Cambodia here in Redding and even been able to speak Khmer with them! What a blessing!! I’m so thankful God has brought us here as He knew we needed this time of being equipped, realigned and given a good MOT - I hadn’t realised I was believing so many lies about myself and honestly I felt very close to being burnt out (which is totally my responsibility). A few weeks ago Mike Bickle shared powerfully on how the first and greatest commandment - to love God with all our heart, soul and strength is all that really matters - this really helped me see how I had lost focus on this as my main priority everyday - I’m so thankful for God’s kind and gentle ways of bringing us back on track ! Last night as I drove home watching the beautiful moon sink behind the spectacular mountains and seeing the stars I felt so incredibly in love! Wow what an honour and gift that we get to be His lovers! I am also so blessed to have joined a woman’s core group and I am learning how community works here in all its vulnerability alongside honour and I feel I am learning so much which I hope will help me cultivate community wherever I go next ! We have been so blessed to have had some visitors from our home church also - Andy and Irene! We have had so much fun with them and they are such a blessing to us! We are also so excited Steve’s younger brother came and had a wonderful time and then recently Steve’s sister came and was able to get baptised here at Bethel during one of the church services! It was a powerful and very special time. This week the Americans are celebrating thanksgiving, which is a really important holiday here! As we look back on the last few months we can’t help but be full of thanksgiving for what God has been doing! We are still learning and it is still really challenging and difficult at times but we are continuing to discover more and more that He is always faithful, He is exciting, He is fun, He is worth our all and the pleasure of knowing Him doesn’t compare to anything else on this earth. Even if sometimes the process is very uncomfortable it is completely worth it to get to where He wants us to be and to be able to discover the greater depths of His nearness in the process. I pray that God wold continue to take us all deeper into our love affair with Him and that we would know by experience the greater depths of the riches of His love!
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