If you had asked me a few years ago to rank the places in the world I wanted to visit most, Australia would not have been anywhere on the list. I guess I figured it was too similar to the United States. But after spending the past week there I totally fell in love with Australia and its awesome people. The Apostolic Women Arising conference in Brisbane was one of our best yet—because the Aussies were so hungry for God. Here are some highlights from my most recent trip:

** The journey to Brisbane (14 hours from Los Angeles) was long but the Lord gave me strength. When I arrived I was so blessed to meet our hosts from River of Life City Church, pastored by Royree Jensen—a great Aussie lady who has been in ministry for many years. She and her husband, Dave, have been pioneers not only in Australia but also in neighboring Papua New Guinea, where they were once missionaries. The River of Life team was incredibly supportive and I felt a part of their family. I was especially blessed to get to know Dave and his son Kent, who is associate pastor of the church. In one of the few afternoon breaks we had, Kent took me to a local forest for a jog and I got to get up close to some cute wallabies (small kangaroos).

** It was great to share the pulpit again with Naomi Dowdy, Barbara Wentroble and Indri Gautama. These women apostles are an inspiration, and I am blessed to be a part of their team. We had hundreds of people at the conference including many men. In the mentoring sessions I spoke on “Men and Women in Partnership” and “Six Women Leaders to Avoid”—and then in the conference I spoke on “Breaking Free from Abuse,” “Claiming the Daughter’s Inheritance” and “Becoming a Dangerous Woman.” The people were so hungry that they cleared out the product table completely—my books sold out by the second day.

** Pastor Royree shared with us a prophecy that had been given in the 1990s about women in Australia. It said that before full-fledged revival is poured out in that nation, there will be a move among women in which they will demonstrate signs, wonders and miracles. Royree’s reminder stirred everyone’s expectation, and then Barbara Wentroble and Naomi Dowdy took the people to another level of faith with challenging messages about the power of the Holy Spirit. And Indri Gautama got everyone excited as she shared how she is building a $30 million apartment and office complex in Jakarta, Indonesia, to house her new church. Indri’s faith and determination challenged me to the core.

** Besides the Aussies who came to the conference, we had some Pacific Islanders as well. More than a dozen women leaders came from the island of Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea, plus some women came from Fiji. Amazing miracles have been happening in Bougainville—including instances in which angels directed people to Christian meetings where they later were converted. One of the leaders has asked me to come to Bougainville to do meetings for men and women (the women there are horribly abused, and a lot of the men stay drunk most of the time). It is a very primitive area with spotty electricity and very rustic conditions, but I hope to go there sometime soon. I will team up with leaders from River of Life Church since they know the area.

** I spoke at a men’s breakfast on Saturday at a local hotel banquet room. Using the story of Gideon in Judges 6, I challenged the men to break free from their inferiority to embrace the call of a warrior. Guys in Australia (they call them “blokes”) struggle with inferiority and insecurity just like so many men in other parts of the world. It was great to see so many of these brothers stand and ask God for a warrior’s heart. And a guy named Andy received the forgiveness of Jesus for the first time in that meeting.

** It is impossible to relate all that happened in the conference. Many people were baptized in the Holy Spirit on the last night when Barbara spoke. When I shared about how Jesus heals abuse, we had an intense time of healing and deliverance at the altar. So many women came to me later and said they have never felt such freedom from guilt, shame and condemnation. And there was such a spirit of liberty in the meetings—especially when we had times of dancing during worship.

** On Sunday morning I preached at another church in Brisbane called Calvary Family Church. After the message I was able to prophesy over the pastors and their youth staff. They were greatly encouraged—in fact the pastor said that some of the things I said confirmed to him some decisions he needed to make.

** I left part of my heart in Australia. I was especially grateful for the friendship with Royree, Dave, Kent and a young man named Justin who took care of me the whole week. Justin and his wife Melody spent their Sunday afternoon taking me on my one and only sightseeing trip—to the beautiful Gold Coast of Queensland. I was also blessed to spend time with Neil and Lyn Richardson, a couple from Queensland who brought several people to the conference. Lyn was a student in my class on women when I taught at the Wagner Leadership Institute in 2004. Today she is blazing a trail for women leaders in several nations.