Testimonials:

1. North Africa
2. Finland
3. Mexico
4. India
5. Snapshot of India

North Africa

North Africa: the crossroads of cultural pathways, and my opportunity to make a difference. This is a land of great history and intriguing culture -- a land where the west is tolerated and the old world is embraced. But God has ordained a new covenant, to which we are heirs and for which we are apostles.

This is a land of subtleties, where I was able to minister in subtle manner. I must not discuss everything we accomplished, but I will tell you it was the most radical, life-changing experience of my entire spiritual life. This place, where the Sahara Desert fires the sand and God fires the spirit. I will never be the same.

Thank you Lord for teaching me to hear your voice, as I have never heard it before. I look forward to many more trips like this one, and I pray that every American has the chance to experience a similar opportunity. ---M.S.

Finland Testimonies

I look back on the two weeks spent in Finland and try to come up with one thing that sticks out the most that occurred during the trip. Although we all shared our testimonies and listened to some preaching that struck all sorts of new chords of thought, I remember my wife speaking of our children, specifically our son. We were speaking to a youth group in Roveniemi, up near the Arctic Circle. A woman in our group spoke on repentance. I spoke that night on how God will always accept you back. My wife spoke on how much God loved us. Our testimonies tied in with each other even though neither one of us knew what the other would speak about. Repent and God will accept you back into His arms because He loves you.

My wife testified that the amount of love God has for us is so vast that He gave His Son to die for our sins. To die for us. That hits us close to home because our son nearly died the day he was born. We were awaiting the birth of our son and no sooner had he been born then he was being transported to Denver for major heart surgery. He had two heart surgeries within his first two months of life. He is alive, well, and normal today but I was so afraid he would die. Knowing how I felt then, I cannot fathom the pain God went through the day His Son was born. God knew the day His Son was born He would die but He still sent Him to earth. Hearing my wife give her testimony reminded me of how much I loved her and our two children. In fact as of that trip, we had conceived our third child. Yet another indication of how much God loves us. --N.P.

I’ve always imagined missions work as taking place in third world countries, talking with poor, dirty, hungry people.  Even though I know that not to be the case, it’s hard to lose that image.  Even as we were landing in the Boeing 777, images of thatched huts and animal skins floated in and out of my mind.  I was literally taken aback. 

In all actuality, my husband’s and my trip to Finland started out as a joke.  “I’ll go!” was my immediate reaction and not a thought out response.  Although we desperately wanted to go, I honestly didn’t expect it to happen.  We had absolutely no extra money.  It’s so amazing how God works, and even our spending money was provided.  We had to believe God for every aspect of our trip and while we were there we saw the rewards of our faith.  We never had more money than when we arrived, but we never had any less either.  God miraculously kept our dollar amount the same even though we were spending money.  God is so good, we never lacked for anything, even down to a drink if we were thirsty.   I didn’t include that to brag but to give God the glory and perhaps encourage someone who may have a difficult time believing for finances.

I think what impacted me the most came from a vision God gave me before we even left.  Without going into a lot of detail, it was very quick and I wasn’t even 100% sure of what I saw.  When we got to Finland, I kept it in the back of my head and asked God for wisdom beyond my years and experience.  When what I saw came to pass, I literally almost jumped out of my chair!  I had always heard of things such as that happening to others but when it became a personal experience…  It was something I will never forget nor am I able to properly describe it.  I immediately thanked God for not being a respecter of persons!

What a wonderful experience to be used by God and also to be so blessed by Him at the same time.  Being thanked for coming and ministering was so neat! Every time we praised God in song at any meeting, I was completely drawn into His presence.  Not to say that that cannot and has not happened here, but I think we tend to get into a specific routine and praising God changes into a habit rather than an offering to Him.  It was encouraging to me to be able to step back and regain a new perspective.  I came back with such a renewed love for my Father God and a deeper knowledge of His love for all of us.  —J.P.


Mexico

Going on the mission trip to Mexico was a great experience for me! It was incredible to just cross the border from Del Rio, Texas and enter into a totally different atmosphere, culture, and a different people. The work that we did was a blessing for the people of that small church, but the blessing for me was to see the love that those people have for God. The services were alive with the Spirit of God, and the people rejoiced because of what God was doing for them.

I must admit, that as I looked around I saw poverty,hopelessness, and despair, and wondered HOW people could live this way. But once again as I looked into the eyes of those people I could see that they saw prosperity, hope, and possibility with God! --- L.S.

We went to India in the spring of 1998.  It was our first trip overseas.  We left DFW Airport early in the morning on American Airlines.  Our excitement grew as we arrived in Chicago and transferred to the plane that would take us to London.  Others on the plane napped but we were so excited we could not sleep.  The adventure began as we arrived at Heathrow Airport at 11 p.m.  All six of us crammed into a taxi for the ride to our hotel.  We slept for a few hours and then got up for breakfast and devotions.  We attempted to have group devotions each morning.  (Some mornings it was not possible, but we tried.)  The devotions were actually a continuation of the prayer meetings we had started six weeks earlier.  Once a week we our group would meet for a time of prayer.  God really meet us in those meetings and continued in our morning devotions. 

After devotions, three of us went after the van we rented to go to Rugeley.  Even though we were going for ministry purposes (Mike was to teach in the Bible School on Saturday), we had fun along the way to Rugeley and back to London.

We left London for Bangalore, India on Sunday.  It was a long flight and once again we slept very little.  We arrived in Bangalore in the wee hours of the morning.  We slept just a little bit to keep us going and then we went sightseeing around the area.  We were asked to join in the devotions of Gospel Recordings Association.  In fact, I was asked to lead them that first morning.  I was nervous yet calm at the same time.  This was a stretch because it was not the home group we usually had.  I had something prepared that I had used in our home group so I gave that.  It was great the way God took a little something and made it fit the group and time.  The reception of the people at GRA increased my confidence.

We left the next morning for Quiet Corner in the jungles of India. It took us 8 hours to travel about 160 miles. We had too many adventures to record here. As we were preparing to leave the next morning the daughter of the people who ran the resort asked us to pray for her husband. He was in severe pain, possibly a concussion. God miraculously healed this young man of a severe headache. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and He is God here and all over the world. We then headed back to Bangalore to start the meeting there.

We had services at Revival Church Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  My wife and I helped with the music at each service and then we prayed with people at the conclusion of each service. People were healed physically, mentally, and spiritually. Different members of the group spoke at these services. I wasn’t ready for that so I didn’t have to speak there. On Sunday we went with Mike and Kay and our host missionaries to the Bangalore Assembly of God Church. Mike spoke there and we helped with the music.  They even found a keyboard for me to play. It was so neat. As we prayed for people there God did many more great works for the people of that church. We even had a young lady come back that night and tell us that when we prayed that morning her headache went away. We told her that she didn’t have to suffer from these chronic headaches and if they came back she could command them in Jesus’ name to leave. That afternoon the headache came back and she remembered what we said and she tried it and it worked.  God is so good.

During the day we went to homes to pray for people. My wife is going to tell you about those experiences and the ladies meeting they had.

It was mentioned that we had prayer meetings once a week before we left for India. At one of these meeting God gave me a picture of an elderly lady with a scarf covering her head. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Friday morning we went to pray for a young woman’s grandfather. We went in and met the family. The older woman was not wearing a headdress, so I did not recognize her. As we started to pray she got on the bed with her husband and covered her head, as was their custom to pray. I recognized her as the lady God showed me six weeks earlier. It took my breath away. I didn’t know what to do at first. The leader of my group said to go and pray for her, so I did. This, I believe, was to show me that God can show me things to come and I can be used of Him to minister to His people. Thus, short term mission trips for lay people are very important.  We get to be used of God in ways we can’t at home. 

An example of this was the ladies meeting that three of us ladies had at Revival Church for anyone who wanted to come. This was my first experience in teaching other than Sunday School and Children’s Church. The three of us took turns bringing what God had laid on our hearts. The ladies who attended were shy about getting involved and asking for prayer so we pulled our chairs into the group and started ministering basically on a one-to-one basis as they started speaking up. We had a great Saturday morning and lots of needs were met. This was a big confidence builder for me. I had never prepared and taught for any adults. God gave a boldness that I had not had before or since then.  This makes me believe God will anoint you to do what He wants you to do at the time He wants you to do it. You have to step out and walk in it.

After the ladies meeting we had the afternoon free. Our host took us to Commercial Street for a shopping spree. All of you ladies would love it!  We do take time to shop and sightsee and enjoy the country we are in.

On our way home we had a day and a half in London to sightsee and eat fish and chips. That is my husband’s favorite food. We can tell you the best places in London to get fish and chips.

As you can see we pack a lot into the time we have. We do the work of the ministry, which is our primary objective.  We also plan in times of fun and good times.

—J. & M.G.

Snapshot of India

“…I am calling you to obedience, not results, for the results you see may be in your lives. Don't be surprised at what I will do, just make worshiping Me your priority. As you show My love, you will see My power. I am sending you because you are willing, faithful, and because I love My people. So love them and as you give, it will be given back to you. So go and give and receive.”

We left for India with the words of this prophecy still fresh in our minds. There were six of us from the United States who went on this trip. This was my first trip to India and the pictures I had seen just didn’t do it justice. Sometimes you just have to be somewhere and experience it for yourself. That’s one of the main reasons we encourage people to go on short term missions trips. You can hear missionaries speak, you can see pictures of needy natives and poverty-stricken living standards. You can hear their stories of miracles. But that’s sort of like looking at a 4X6 snapshot of Pike’s Peak and saying you’ve seen the mountains, when you could actually be somewhere in Colorado experiencing for yourself a panoramic view of full ranges of Rocky Mountains and blue skies and quiet streams and fresh, crisp air.…

But for now, I'll try to give a brief “4X6 snapshot” of our trip to India and believe that one day every one of you reading this will be able to experience the “panoramic view” of a missions trip for yourself.

While on my way to a missions destination I go back over my notes of the prayer times we have had the six weeks prior to our trip, remember prophecies given to me and/or the team, and then meditate on it all. I knew from the above prophecy that worshiping God was our priority, so I began by going through the alphabet and praising God for His attributes. Another prophecy had been the verse that “greater things than these shall you do.” So I meditated on all the things I could think of that Jesus had done while here on earth. Then I had personally received a word that I was to “step out” and be bold. So I envisioned myself hearing from God and then doing it—not hesitating, not questioning, and not passing it off to someone else to do.

It was really neat how everything came together. We went to people’s houses and prayed for their needs. We held a miracle service and were able to pray for people and see immediate manifestations. We led meetings in other churches in the Bangalore area. The three women who went held a ladies meeting where we were each able to share what God had put on our hearts and then pray for nearly every one of  those precious ladies. That was pretty special in itself, but one of the greatest things I saw was the people on the team doing things that they didn't normally do at home. I saw them speak and pray and prophesy with a boldness and confidence they didn’t know they had. I saw them realize that they really did hear from God. I saw the compassion of God coming out of them and going to the people.

There were some really hilariously funny times we had on this trip. One of them was the 7 hour ride in a cramped vehicle where my husband and I couldn’t even sit up straight and the oncoming traffic came straight at us until the last possible second when both vehicles would “swerve” and narrowly miss each other, where we talked and laughed and got out and went for a “walk” every now and then (with T.P. in hand), where we stopped to drink “refreshing” coconut juice and watch the monkeys, where we were hindered by various animals in the middle of the road, where, when we finally got to our destination, we listened to an Englishman tell uproariously funny jokes.…

But one of the most memorable events to me started in one of the meetings when one of our team was prompted to speak to one of the daughters of our hosts and tell her that the Lord had heard her prayer and knew her and her husband’s desire and that she would be having a child. He had been the most reluctant to believe that he could actually hear from God and it took great courage to speak out something so specific. But it really ministered to her and she wept openly and thanked him for the word. A few months later we received word that she was indeed “in the family way” and now has a beautiful little daughter. We are looking forward to meeting this little miracle when we return to India.