Miracles in Mexico City 2011

This trip would have to be one of the greatest trips of my life! I have never seen Jesus heal so many people!

From the time we landed, we were go go go! On the first day (Sunday) we had over 8hrs of ministry over 3 meetings, during this time, we saw over 80% of people healed! I had the honor of praying for a little boy named Chris who had a genetic defect. While I was praying the pastor walked past said he had kidney issues. I looked into his eyes and he said he felt fire all over his belly! I also prayed for a lady who had stomach issues. Fire came on her stomach then God started tickling her! Then her husband came and he got hit with the joy too! All her pain left. During the night meeting a lady with severe nausea from hospital was brought to us, doctors couldn't help her. As we prayed for her pain left her stomach. My friend Michael then took her for a walk. As she came back, the Holy Spirit said "forgiveness". We asked her to ask Holy Spirit if she needed to forgive anyone...and He said Yes...so she forgave and then was completely healed of nausea and vommiting!

The next day was Monday, and we went sightseeing, taking a bus into Mexico City. Some of the highlights were, toilets that we had to pay for! (I shouted all my friends!) and just the beauty of the City of Mexico, like the new high-rise buildings everywhere and the fresh gardens being planted. These were some things that I didn't expect.

While we were out, we visited one of the biggest Catholic churches I'd ever seen!

In there I saw my first deaf ear healed!

I was walking along and was asking God "i really want to pray for someone" . Then a lady was highlighted to me who was looking at the dead bones of an old saint. She walked away, so i grabbed an interpreter and my mate Nathan Anderson. We asked her if she had anything wrong with her and if she would like prayer. She said she was partially deaf in her left ear. So we prayed once and then asked her if it changed. She said no. Then we prayed again, this time i walked further and further away asking her to repeat my words. I only got 5 m away and she couldn't hear. So we git her to thank God for what was happening, and prayed again. Again i walked away... This time getting 15m away and she could hear me! I told her to look around and she was amazed!!! She was healed!

Then we prayed for her missing gall bladder and she felt heat on the area! She wanted to know about church and exchanged numbers. We also prayed for a new job for her. She left totally rocked! The interpreter then went on with Nath and saw another lady completely healed of neck problems and knee problems!!! He was totally rocked too!!!

The next day we had outreach, which involved me leading a team and us being dropped off outside a school and market. So we divided up with Mexican interpretors and went for it! Jesus performed many many miracles and salvations! One highlight for me was how, we would pray for people, Jesus would heal them just with a few words like "Jesus heals you", and then they would go away and bring their family and friends to be healed! Before long we were ministering non-stop, seeing everyone healed for over 2hrs! A memorable one for me, was an old grandmother who had severe stomach pain and was instantly healed. Later she came back to me with her two grandchildren wanting me to pray for them, explaining "Red Pepper Red Pepper!!" I thought she was still having pain, but the interpreter told me that she had eaten 2 Red Peppers and was completely healed! I laughed! Another memorable miracle was two little girls who had conjunctivitis in their eyes. I prayed for them to feel the 'fire of God' in their hands - and they did! Then I got them to put their hands over their eyes and their eyes began to clear up! Then their mother explained she wanted to feel the fire of God too! They all had a massive encounter with Jesus that day!

On the Wednesday I led a team to a church plant over 50minutes away from the main church. It was in an area where "if you go outside you will get knifed!"... so we stayed inside! Our first meeting was with the women of the church... and it went for over 5 hrs! We began by calling out words of knowledge and healing began to fall on the people! We go them to pray for each other and 95% them were healed instantly! Then I gave a prophecy about a new wave falling on the church... and a spirit of joy fell on the whole group! It was amazing! I was blown over on the stage by the presence of God! And even our interpreter Betsa, was knocked out under the power of God and unable to interpret for some time

The night meeting in this church was awesome too! We activated the whole church in hearing the voice of God and prophecying over each other. There were also some crazy miracles like metal dissolving in a ladies hand and wrist! She came up moving her wrist backwards and forwards and making a fist exclaiming that she was completely healed! As she shouldn't be able to do that!

On the next day Thursday I saw some of the greatest miracles! We arrived at a school and I walked up to 4 older teenagers who didn't know Jesus and told them to follow me, because they were about to see Jesus perform a healing miracle! We walked across the street to a man on crutches, who'd had 3 knee operations and pain in his hip and other knee. I got one of the boys to pray "Jesus heals you!" over the man and touch his knee! All pain left his knee and then he pointed to his hip! I got another boy to join in and all pain left his hip! He got completely healed through the prayers of some boys who didn't know Jesus yet! Then all 5 of them gave their lives to Jesus!!!

The best part was walking back to the van and seeing the man back at work at his food stand, crutches leaning up against his van, no longer needed! He yelled out to us "Gracious! Gracious! Gracious!" Jesus is soo good!

The miracles continued throughout the rest of the trip! I saw 100% healing down the street that night! and a girls deaf ear opened in under 2minutes!!! An old lady with a deaf daughter met me as I was running to get on the bus to leave...I had to go, so I said "ok we have to be quick", I grabbed another lady and said you pray and heal! So together we quickly prayed "Jesus heals you!" check it out...she shook her head and said "no". So we prayed quickly again... "Jesus heals you" and she let out a sound and smiled as we tested it out! She was healed! Jesus opened her ear!!!

On the Outreach of Friday night I saw a lady with cancer, have all pain from her body leave her completely after a little boy Alex prayed for her! I saw a picture in my mind of a sperm entering her heart, and so I said "Gods seed is entering you now!" She then replied "yes I feel it! All pain is leaving my body!"

I also saw a lady with stomach pain get prayed for by two non Christian teens! All pain left her instantly and the boys decided to get saved!!! They then went home and grabbed their parents who all got encountered by Jesus!

A beautiful little girl and her brother were brought to us on the street at the end of the night... The little girl had a cold and sore chest, her brother flat feet. I got the brother to touch her hands and say "Jesus heals you" and her face lit up, as the sickness and pain left her! Then she touched her brothers feet, saying the same, and his face lit up as pain left his feet. Then the little girl stood up, white like a ghost, motioning with her hands that Jesus had created new arches in her brothers feet!! Gloria a Dios!!!

At one of our last meetings, we prayed with blind man who had something like cataracts for over 2hrs... We watched in awe as God began to create a new blue IRIS in his left eye! And he began to see shapes and images! He didn't get fully healed then and there...but during it he said he "felt like a cloth got taken off his face" (which his wife told us later that she'd had a dream about a cloth being removed from his eyes years earlier!) He also felt a whole lot of baggage lift off of him when he forgave tonnes of people!!! The best part for me though, was his tears of joy as he also got re-connected to Father God and could feel his love!!!

This trip totally changed my life! I am going to have to make this an annual event!

Thanks to everyone who contributed financially and through prayer for this trip! Together we all changed many many peoples lives!

The little things matter

We've told you many stories of how God has provided for all our needs while we've been here. And he continues to do so! We are so thankful to everyone who has supported us while we've been here. We couldn't have done it without you! We have had people support us week to week, and many one off donations. One of our prayer requests in an earlier post was for our travel insurance to be covered. We had people give us $1500 which was more than enough to cover our insurance. We've had people donate money towards Dave's school fees (which are paid off :) ) and donations towards his ministry and missions trips. We also had unexpected money come in just before Christmas - perfect timing!

But today we want to tell you about how God has also blessed us with the little things (actually they are more 'wants' rather than little things :) ).

Firstly, when we came to the USA my GHD hair straightener was an older model, so didn't convert to US power. So I bought a cheaper straightener here (every girl needs a straightener :) ). Well, it lasted a year. We were telling some people about it and how I wanted to save up for another GHD. The next week, we had some friends present me with a jar to start my savings! However, they had put a cheque inside the jar which was enough to cover the whole GHD! Not only that, they had a friend who could get one at wholesale. So now I have my new hair straightener and I love it! It will work anywhere in the world too!

Not long after that, I said to Dave that I would love to get away for a couple of nights without the kids. We worked out that there was 1 weekend that we could do it, or it possibly wouldn't happen for a long time. We waited until the night before to book our accommodation. We had been praying about it and felt that God would provide for it. We had lined up people to come and stay to help look after the kids - Tim and Anna needed somewhere to stay for a few nights while someone else was using their house. It worked perfectly. Within minutes of booking our accommodation, I received an email from someone saying that they had just put money in our account! The money was to go towards Dave's tuition, then on a holiday or whatever we chose for the remainder! We were able to finish paying for his school fees, and cover our trip away! How blessed are we! We spent 2 nights in San Fran in a room with wall to ceiling windows with views of Bay Bridge and the city. And we had the most beautiful weather (which is a rare thing!).

The most recent surprise we've had....well, Dave's birthday was Christmas eve, and I cashed in on his birthday gifts! Dave and I were both given iPhone 4's!!! We were astounded! We had been looking into them as a possibility, comparing the prices of what we were spending on phones to what it would cost. One day Dave was sitting in a cafe and was trying to research them. None of the websites would work for him. He felt God say that he would give him one. Sure enough, we got 2! They are linked with some other people on a family plan which makes it cheaper, so we're not paying much more than we already were for our phones. They are really handy - especially to record all the prophetic words that people speak over you! (Not to mention accessing skype and facebook when away from the computer :) ).

I think it's just amazing that God not only cares about what we need, but the things that aren't such a necessity. We have been blown away by God's favour on our lives. His grace is for all areas of our lives! His love is abundant and his generosity unending! We live in the Kings house and have access to all that is His! What an inheritance (more on this another time :) ).

Just a few months ago...

So, we've been a little slack with the updates! Apologies to anyone who might happen to check this :).

What's been happening? Some of the fun things we've had is having friends and family from Australia come to visit! We've had a ball showing people our life here in Redding. Back in early September, Colleen & Mason Thomson came to visit. We enjoyed the end of summer with them hiking, swimming and eating lots of food! Colleen came with a group of ladies to do the Trees Of Life conference. Mason came along for the journey and he's been convinced that this would be a great place to come to very soon.

For the month of November we had some of our closest friends staying with us. Jase, Rach, Judah, and Kahlan spent 5 weeks in the US, most of it spent with us. The house was definitely full but we really valued this time with them. There is something special about being able to share your 'new life' with 'old friends'. During their time here, we spend 4 nights in Yosemite National Park. It was the most beautiful winter wonderland I've ever seen. Absolutely spectacular! We also had a special Thanksgiving dinner (one of three that were hosted at our house :) ). A good friend of ours loves to cook...and I love to have people in the house. So we made a deal - I'll open the house and she could cook the food! Far deal to me :).

During December, I (Taff) was asked to play for the Choir for their Christmas events. I also had the opportunity to sing a couple of songs, including one of my own Christmas songs. I had so much fun playing piano for them! Also during this time, I was asked to play & sing at a community outreach event. While I was playing, I watch a man get healed as people were praying for him right in front of me. His leg grew out, his back and knee were healed, then later than night he went to the house church in the neighbourhood and was filled with the Holy Spirit! Wow! Come on Jesus! His life has been radically changed. What a privilege to be a part of what God was doing.

I've been surprised at how much I play and sing these days! I have hardly done it in the past, but felt that I had to practice....and now everywhere I sing, I play also. I'm really enjoying. I'm still leading worship for the parenting group I'm involved in, home group at our house every wednesday, and I co-lead once a month at Healing Rooms. I'm continually being stretched, and I'm excited about what I'm going to learn this year.

Just before Christmas, my sister was on a business trip to the US but I wasn't going to be able to catch up with her. While she was here, she ended up having to change her flight home. In order to get the cheaper flight, it meant that she had to stay a week longer in the US - so guess where she spent the week! With me! I was so excited to have her here, especially around Christmas time.

Our house was full of people again on Christmas day. It was a really nice relaxed, 'family' day. There were 8 kids that were beautifully behaved, and about 16 adults. So nice to be able to celebrate with friends that have become our family here.

We had a very relaxed New Years Eve - for once we didn't host anything which was really nice! We spent the night with a few friends...and were totally excited when it began snowing at 11pm! It was amazing! We stood outside watching the snow and the fireworks...counting down about 10 times...weren't sure of the actual time :). I was most excited when our yard was still covered in snow in the morning! It was such a beautiful experience (when you haven't had many snow adventures). The memories (with the help of photos) will stay in my mind forever!

God Heals Through Prophetic Art!

For my first ever prophetic art painting during worship at church, I painted a picture a silhouette of a mans face and the Holy Spirit like a lion roaring into their ear. The person was holding 'the harvest' and had a bracelet with life around their wrist. I remember at the time feeling that Holy Spirit wanted me to pain a wave of water going up and touching the persons ear. I felt that God was going to heal peoples ears.

After worship, I presented this painting to an elderly man named Earnest and he was prophecied over by another team member. Then at the end of the meeting A lady named “Gramma” who I had met at the front desk, came up and said that she suffered from Tinnitus and ringing in her ears.

So I released the testimony of a friend who had been healed of that condition and said “I think God wants to do it again!” As we began to pray, what was like a huge wave of the spirit, literally surged upon us and dumped on us! JUST LIKE THE PAINTING!!! It felt like a huge wave was crashing over us! I was holding the womans head as she arched back…(I have never seen a granny arch that far back!) I was getting knocked over too! She was like 65-70 years and arched back so far, that a teenager luckily caught her before she fell to the ground.

While she was down, God kept pouring over both her and me!. Then she got up, and I asked “how are you feeling?” she said “I cant tell until I go out of the room.” So I told her to come back and tell me if she hadn’t been healed because God wanted to heal her. She came back later to tell me “Guess what! I have been completely healed!” I didnt realise how cool it was, until I spoke to a few friends who told me that Tinnitus (ringing in the ear) is right up there with deafness as being incurrable and that people have suicided because of it!) Anyways God is AMAZING and he wants to heal today!

Zeke's Business & Trampoline Miracle!

Zeke came to me (Dave) during the summer and said "Daddy, I want to get some more toys!" So I said to him "Ok, well then you will have to start a business!". Zeke (3) looked at me with those big gaping 'Why' eyes and said "Daddy, what's a business?" So I told him how it worked and then he said "Daddy, I want a trampoline!" I drew up a chart (that he could colour in each time) and we made a goal of how much we wanted to make roughly. Then we proceeded to see what opportunities were around him to make this happen?

Zeke and I ended up negotiating with Mike and Bec (our amazing Aussie friends) for Zeke to move some wheelbarrows of bark (at the lucrative price of $1 per wheelbarrow) from one part of the property to the other, so they could plant turf.

So for the next 2 weeks roughly, Zeke and I got up early, had a quick bite for breakfast and headed out to aim to shovel 10 wheelbarrows (before the hot sun came out!) Zeke also managed to con-vince Mikes two kids to work for him. So the four of us shovelled (the kids used broom and shovels) After all of this, Zeke ended up shovelling 45 wheelbarrows, with the help of his cheap labour and dad!

Then we prayed for a miracle... and God came through! On Craigslist (a second hand on-line community selling website) we found a brand new trampoline (without a mat) for $45!!! This was an incredible price, as they retailed for $280 new with a mat (the mats were $90) So we grabbed this one... but then we had no mat.

Then a friend of ours Satch, dropped in one morning and announced to Taff and Zeke that his friends had heard the story and given him $150 for a mat!!! So Zeke had more than enough to buy a mat, pay his Tithe and his cheap labourers! Praise God that he is a generous God!

Zeke's Resurrection from the dead!

A friend of Dave's began to teach him about planting a vegetable garden. So Dave took up the challenge and made a garden with strawberries, basil, oregano, lettuce, tomatoes and a capsicum plant.

All of these went well, except for the lettuce seeds (which Zeke washed away in the early days!)

and the capsicum plant. It shot out 2 capsicums, but then died suddenly, withering into a yellow semi dry organism. Dave thought "Oh well! there we go again! maybe I am just not a gardener after all!" The plant was like this for weeks.

Then one morning while Dave was undertaking his usual ritual of watering the plants... Zeke came out in his pajamas. He then walked straight up to the capsicum plant, bent down and began to extend his hand and pray over the plant! Dave just stood there watering mouth gaping wide open! Then Zeke walked back inside! Dave said "Zeke did you just pray for the plant?" and he replied "Yes". Two weeks later the plant re-shot out of the top and has now produced two new capsicums and some more on the way!!! Praise God that He is a God who raises the dead! and does it through a child! Go Zeke!

life is relationships

I know that Dave has already shared about the power of community, but I (Taff) wanted to share about some of my personal journey with this.

Prior to coming to Bethel, I thought I was a fairly transparent person. I have since realised how much I wasn't. Rather, I was trying to fit into the idea of what I thought was expected of me - as a person, a friend, and especially a leader. I felt I always had to be strong; that despite tough times I could still keep it together. I felt I always had to have something to say, something to share or teach. But I've learnt that it's ok to show your weaknesses and allow other people to see what's going on in your life. It's ok not to have something to say, but to just be with people and share life with them. Let me try to explain more.

Many times back in Australia, we would joke around with our friends about 'living in community'. I always rejected the idea. Who would really want to live with other people? Sharing everything? Even the messy times? Not me! However, I eventually got to the point where I said to our closest friends that I could POSSIBLY live with them. Little did I know that these conversations were preparation for what we would be doing here in the US.

As we were looking for housing, Dave threw out the idea of having people rent with us to help cover costs. I didn't take to the idea initially due to the size of the houses we were looking at. When we found the house we are now in, I just knew it was perfect - and even perfect for having roomies! (Admittedly, the size of our house in Australia was not good for extra people so I think the idea of living with people in a small house really didn't gel with me!) So it was an easy decision (one that had a lot of grace on it) to have people live with us.

The first person to join our house was Tim. He and his girlfriend (now wife - yay!) were the perfect people to have around. They became amazing friends - and have had to put up with my transition into loving community! They've seen the good, the bad and the ugly - and they still seem to love me. They, and our other roomies, have endured the journey I have been on about being real with people and being ok with people seeing the mess in my life. They've also helped me to learn brave communication (openly talking about concerns etc).

We also have other amazing friends that have journeyed through this with us (me in particular). Our house became the place where people hang out - and we love it. Many of our close friends are Aussies - so good ol' Aussie humour was never left out at any gathering. At times I felt like some of my 'stronger and perhaps not so likable' characteristics became the brunt of many jokes. Ones that have been brought to my attention plenty of times over the years. After a while I had to check - was this really an issue or is it simply a joke (and I was a good bite :) )? I couldn't just hold it in anymore. I had to find out. This is where relationship really started...I began to open up and ask questions. I learnt that yep, at times I over stepped the boundaries, but I was still loved for who I was. I could be around these people, show my weaknesses, and still be accepted and loved. I didn't need to be strong and in control. We have learnt more recently in our Love After Marriage workshop, that when nothing is hidden - no secrets - that's when there can be a deeper relationship. I have taken this concept on as a strength for any relationship. I can share what I'm struggling with and know that I am only going to get support, love and prayer. I can speak to a person directly about a thought or issue I may have with them, and know that that friendship will only deepen and be stronger for it. I know that by me being open and honest, allows them to feel safe and do the same. People can relate to realness! They can relate to struggles. Then, they can celebrate with you when you have success! They become a part of the journey. Every relationship - even people I just meet - I feel like I can offer more of me (the good and the bad) which will help that relationship go deeper, even just a little. Not everyone in my life will be my best friend, and I'm not saying I share my deepest darkest feelings with a person I meet for the first time, however being real just makes people feel more important (at least that's what I think).

I now look for opportunities to go deeper with people. I get a little restless if the relationship feels stagnant. And I am constantly still learning how to make this a part of my life more and more. I just read 'The Shack' (yep, finally!) over the last 24 hours (hubby away on camp!) and it just confirmed everything I'm learning about relationships. I've been wanting a 'love encounter' with Jesus, and I think I'm in the middle of it - but it doesn't look like what I thought it would. Father has been showing me his love through people, through relationships, through life! I haven't been shaking or laughing or doing anything 'abnormal'. But I have felt the love of God through relationship with people. I feel so loved right now. I have amazing friends and roomies (now we have 2 girls - but that's another story) and I am learning not to try and earn God's love by doing what I am supposed to (cause I can't), but rather just capture his love for me by being in constant relationship with him, and learning to know the voice of Holy Spirit.

My only sad point is that I wish our close friends and family were all with us to be more a part of it! Skype (and time differences) make it very hard to catch up regularly and be able to share all that's going on. I now long for greater relationships with these people.

As for me as a leader, well that's still to be tested. I've just been given an opportunity to oversee the worship for the parenting group I've been leading worship at. There's only 3 of us at the moment, but I've got a lot to learn and practice so that's plenty for now! :)

We have the amazing opportunity to sit in a culture where everyone is learning similar things about their identity and relationships, so it does make it a bit easier. There is definitely a grace for that here. However, it's not limited to here. I don't intend to leave behind what I've learnt here either! Life is relationships. With people, and God (three in one). And life is so much better this way!