Do you not say, four months more and then the harvest?
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
Philippine Missions
THE PROPHETIC VISION
I was in a hotel room in east Africa. during a time of prayer God led me to open up a map. I saw Uganda. I saw South Sudan {at the time I had never been to these nations} but something else caught my eye that day. It was a picture of the Philippine islands, far, far from my usual focus of east Africa. Whats more, God dropped into my heart a six week mission. This made no logical sense in that there was no way I could take that much time off work.
It was ten years later and I was married to a Filipina {I didn't really plan that either!} and she was expecting our first child. I was based in the UK and my wife in the Philippines and I wanted to be there for the birth of my daughter. So, I applied for what is called paternity leave with my employer. I added what holiday entitlement I had left to find that it added up to exactly six weeks in the Philippines which was an exact match to the prophetic word the Lord gave me ten years prior.
God has brought us together for such a time as this
THE MIRACLE CHILD
In fairness, neither of us are young. We discussed the possibility of having children and we decided to leave it in God's hands. We both knew time wasn't on our side but God definitely was. After the honeymoon and back in the UK I was leading a bible study with the text taken from 1 Samuel where a woman called Hannah brought her burden before the Lord and God blessed her with a miracle child. That same day, Jane shared with me the ultrasound picture and confirmed she was carrying our daughter, we naturally called her Hannah. At this age, conception can take a long time, if it happens at all but God gave us supernatural favour. Hannah is literally a honeymoon baby, a gift from God!
It's more fun in the Philippines with family.
Steve, Jane & Hannah at the Assemblies of God conference
My first ever baptisms and four of them at that!
The church is growing on Negros Island!
It was an impossible vision that became a prophetic reality. A six week visit to the Philippines that launched my mission work into a whole new realm of God given possibility.
A MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN
It was an otherwise ordinary day. I met with a Kenyan pastor I was connected with in my home town in England. I simply asked for prayer as I wanted to find a wife. Suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed and there was a heaviness of the weight of the glory of God in the room. Right there that pastor gave me prophetic advice that would change my life. He told me that before I should search for a wife I should put a pen and paper in front of me and pray and the write down what God showed me. the Lord gave me two things. My wife would be an intercessor and also a woman of worship. he also gave me a verse of scripture. "Commit your ways to the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" Psalm 37 verse 5
When i looked for a wife i found those exact words on her profile along with a commitment to intercession and the fact that she was a worship leader. Despite the delay caused by covid travel restrictions we eventually married in her home city in the Philippines and a marriage made in heaven was born.
THE FIRST MIRACLE CONVERT
So, we had not even begun anything you might call a mission outreach yet God put His seal of approval upon our partnership before we had even exchanged rings. Jane was in the mall on her way to the salon when she was sidetracked by a conversation with a young lady whom, it turned out, worked in another salon. As Jane was having her pedicure and manicure in preparation for the wedding day they chatted in their native tongue. suddenly she turned to me and said, "Honey, pray for this lady to receive Christ." God had led us to this wonderful supernatural opportunity to bring someone into His kingdom that day.
God was binding up the broken hearted in Cagayan de Oro. I was due to preach in a local church with no prior knowledge of their circumstances. God gave me the words of Jesus on the cross where He said, "Father forgive them". He showed me how forgiveness is bound up in the release of God's power and so I went to that church to preach the word I had received. Little did i know that the church in question had suffered a bad split with its former pastor and many people were hurt by the nature of his departure. The Spirit was moving in a powerful way. Many hearts were deeply and profoundly touched and the whole church responded in repentance and faith.
It was then that something remarkable happened. The numbers inside the church increased by around a third with visitors coming from seemingly nowhere as God poured our unusual favour upon them. Numbers among them gave their lives to Christ fulfilling the word that fruitfulness and anointing were connected to forgiveness.
There were a number of notable miracles including a man with impaired sight who was restored before I even had a chance to pray. god is glorious. his mercy poured out in waves that day. The lady who had stepped in to pastor the church shed tears of joy because of the amazing work of God in their midst. We thank God for such a wonderful and blessed outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
AN OPEN DOOR TO NEGROS ISLAND
We were in Negros Island for but a week and we saw God move in beautiful ways. During this time I preached at my first ever funeral and conducted my first ever baptisms. We had the chance to minister in one of the rural churches up in the mountains where I shared the word God gave me regarding what the bible says about open doors.
The church received a revelation of how our obedience or sin opens doors in the spiritual realm and the local rural church was given a great encouragement {and a challenge} about their position of influence and dominion in this area. This is a strategic church plant in an area bound by superstition and fear. Before this plant people sometimes saw the spirits of the dead wandering around and were afraid to leave their homes after dark. The church regularly has prayer meetings here and since it's establishment in this area, the demonic sightings have ceased, glory to God. Behold I set before you an open door which no man can shut!
In the capital city Manila for the Assembles of God conference.
We are in pursuit of the one who makes the impossible possible.
It is the Lord who has brought us thus far and will take us the rest of the way.
IN PURSUIT OF DESTINY. STAND WITH US AND MAKE AN ETERNAL DIFFERENCE
From East Africa to eastern Romania to the ends of the earth! The gospel must be preached and converts baptised and discipled. We are now launching full time into the island of MIndanao, Philippines. Working with local churches we will set up and expand a school of evangelists, teaching and training local believers to reach their communities with the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ! Our vision is based on the powerful words of Jesus to...”Pray therefore, the Lord of the harvest to ‘thrust out’ labourers into the harvest field. Starting in the city of Cagayan de Oro and expanding into other regions we aim to fill the nation with Spirit filled evangelists! This is a mighty vision with a nation changing potential. We are giving you the opportunity to do something significant, to invest in the next generation. You can impact lives for eternity. Go to our home page now and make an investment that will reap an eternal reward.
WE ARE RAISING AN ARMY OF EVANGELISTS. CLICK HERE NOW TO INVEST IN THE FUTURE GENERATION