It was a semester of so many ups and downs.  A roller coaster of thoughts (memories good and bad), and uncovering our desires for today and the future.  It was time of great joy as I actually met the saviour who I learned for the first time that He really cares about me and I learned that He is always in a good mood!  We have had a first half full of learning about our identity in Christ and making many declarations against the Spirit of Religion that we have grown up in.  It was also a time of tears as many of those trials, tribulations and hurts came to the surface. It was painful to learn that we have lived in the Spirit of Religion and the law for so long!!  We realized that if we intend to be all that God has in store for us we need to get rid of those hurts, the un-forgiveness and bitterness’s that life can bring to all of us.  We are not unique in that area, as most of us carry these weights around.  It is a tool of the enemy to rob, kill and steal your future that Jesus died for!  What a slap for Him who came from the throne, endeared birth and life and took mocking, a spitting in the face and severe beating all for us, that, we only give Him half of what He died for. 

There were many days that we came home with total exhaustion as we dealt with the melting pot of thoughts and feelings.  In the end, God has begun to make a more new creation – the one that He actually died for.  We see Him so much differently now than when we arrived and we see the task at hand much more differently as well.  We have learned that it really is all about just loving Jesus and allowing His presence (love) to completely smother us.  It’s all about living in His presence everyday and allowing Him to direct us to our divine appointments each day.  He really does have a plan for us.   We have had so many prophetic messages given over both of us mostly around pastoring, leadership and mentoring people that we have been blown away.  People who have never met us, prophesying the same mail pretty much each and every time.  We know that God is increasing our tent pegs and filling our hearts deeply to love every person we meet.  We now look at each person regardless of there life as being made in the image of the creator – how powerful is that!!  God has such a plan even for those who live on the streets or who struggle with mental and deep health issues.  He wants all of us to walk in any area declaring health free zones and declaring goodness over everyone we meet. 

God has been so good to us – an area that we really struggled was asking for support on our mission’s trip.  It is very expensive ($7,000.00) and we did not budget for it.  He truly is pushing and teaching us to rely on him.  We did send out support letters and within one day $1800.00 came into our account!!!  It brought both of us to tears as we rejoiced about another area that God is teaching us deeply about.   We were so blown away by our friends who sent money that it was hard for us to even communicate with them.  We love them all and to understand that people care and see a value in what you are doing is so rewarding to us – but again, it is part of what God is showing us and how He is actually re-teaching us about Him and His love for us. 

Bill, Kris and the other senior leaders who teach have turned our idea of what God intended for us upside down.  We have had to relearn what it means to serve Him with all our heart and how we see the world and the people around us.  We are so thankful that God sent us here and we know that we will never be the same.  We are done playing religion and want to see revival come to wherever we serve.  Revival just isn’t for Bethel but it is for the world.  We are called to return home and begin to change the world – one person at a time.  Revival is coming to Vancouver Island and we will see a day when people will fall on their knees in repentance and experience the goodness of the Creator!!  We have seen how God’s love changes lives completely.  We have seen many signs, wonders and miracles here and we know that this just isn’t for Bethel – this is how God expects everyone of us to live everyday – wherever we live!!  Cool eh…..

We are so excited about the second half of this year and know that God will continue to do the good work He has started in us.  We are so excited as this semester we will see several Generals arrive to teach us starting with Randy Clark in early January. We love all of you who are reading this blog – we hope that it touches all of you in a unique way as you walk our journey with us.  God’s blessings to you all!!!!