It's hard to believe that we will have been in Halifax for one year at the end of this month. We left Kansas City last year in late May, with no guarantees except the sense that God was stirring a resurgence of healing in the East Coast of Canada, and that we were supposed to join Him in what He's doing. So much has happened already: In addition to everything that I've written about over the past year-
-I'm now serving on a National Youth Ministry Development Group for the Canadian Vineyard; focusing on equipping the next generations to do the ministry of Jesus.
-I've been teaching Vineyard Biblical Institute Classes at Halifax Vineyard; leading students through the Diploma in Kingdom Ministry and doing training in the areas of healing and spiritual gifts.
-I'm organizing the regional youth/young adult camp for the Atlantic Vineyards this Fall, where we'll be emphasizing growing in intimacy and empowering.
-I'm doing a workshop on Holy Spirit Ministry at the Regional Naturally Supernatural conference in New Brunswick next weekend, and then teaching that Sunday at the Halifax Vineyard on Growing in Intimacy and Authority.
This has been the hand of God leading the whole way. He spoke to us about leaving our home, our church and the people we love in Kansas City to come to Halifax to break up ground and equip people to do kingdom stuff. At times the journey has been difficult, but when I look back on all that's happened, I see we're right on schedule!
Something significant to this whole thing happened this past Sunday night at the VBI class:
I was talking about the role of faith/confident expectation in creating environments for healing. We focused a lot on cultivating intimacy with God, based on what Jesus models for us in the Gospels (withdrawing to pray, active in the moment listening for the Spirit etc).I also highlighted the role of prophetic ministry in breaking open environments and calling out what God has planted in people's hearts.
At the end, we made space for empowering and I started prophesying to different ones about what God has put in them. One of the church leadership team went into full on prophetic birthing/labor pains, lying on the ground with the power of God on her, shaking and groaning with intercession. I've attended all 5 of our babies deliveries, and it was intense as any of them!
This went on for 45 minutes or so. At the same time, 3 other women in the room were experiencing labor pains, and a sense of something significant being born in the Vineyard. A doctor who was there was weeping and crying out in travail with weeping.Tongues and spiritual gifts started flowing; it was like Holy Spirit organized chaos...I think it's significant that it all happened Mother's Day. 29 years after Mother's Day 1980 where empowering hit the Vineyard in a major way for the first time.
God has an agenda for breakthrough in this region and this nation. I'm so thankful that we all get an opportunity to play!
