…In Jackson, Georgia, I spoke at the Fearless Women’s Conference hosted by my friends Rick and Donna Moncrief, pastors of Joshua’s Place Church in Jackson. The women who came to this event live in rural Georgia, where ironclad traditions about women and the church are still in place. Yet God spoke powerfully to them, and the focus was on breaking free from fear to obey the call of God. On the last day I spoke about the fear of public speaking, and then I challenged the women to run up to the microphone if they had this fear. Many of them stood and declared boldly how they believe God wants to use them. It was a special moment.

…It was really great to have my oldest daughter, Margaret, attend the Jackson conference. She brought six young women from Emmanuel College, where she is now associate campus pastor. It is exciting to see how the Lord is developing Margaret’s ministry.

…The next weekend I spoke at the Encounter 2101 Conference at Evangel Assembly of God in Tallahassee, Florida, pastored by Teryl Todd. I preached in this event along with John and Anne Bosman, South Africans who have ministered in the U.S. for many years. It was a very encouraging time of renewal. I preached on “The Lost Axe Head of Genuine Anointing” and “The Lost Message of Consecration.” I also did a luncheon for pastors on the last day.

…On the first night I prophesied over Pastor Teryl, his wife and the Evangel staff. I brought an actual axe on stage to use as a prop in telling the story of the lost axe head from 2 Kings 6. At the end of the message I asked Pastor Teryl to come on stage, and then I asked his father, an anointed minister named John Todd, and Rev. Bosman to come up and pray for Teryl as we placed the axe in his hand. We were asking God to bring a fresh new anointing of the Holy Spirit on Evangel Assembly. Some people were baptized in the Holy Spirit and others went to a deeper place of consecration. The work continued the next night when John Bosman taught on supernatural impartation. God is doing something special in this church. And I truly believe He is restoring the lost axe head of genuine anointing to us in this hour of spiritual awakening.

…Last weekend I was in Yuma, Arizona, to speak at the annual ImagiNations Missions Conference hosted by Mt. Zion Church. I met Mt. Zion’s pastor, Tom Renard, when I was in Australia two years ago at ImagiNations Church in Sydney. The pastor of that church, Jack Hanes, is very close to Tom Renard and Mt. Zion’s founding pastor, Tom Messer. We have all become close and this was a special time to renew our friendship.

…Pastor Jack Hanes explained during the conference that his church in Sydney is planting a new church in the city of Darwin, Australia, in three weeks. Two years ago I prophesied in a meeting in Sydney that Jack’s church would plant a work in Darwin—a growing but unreached city on the northern coast of Australia near Indonesia. God’s promise has come to pass. I am looking forward to visiting the Darwin church some day.

…One of the highlights of the Yuma trip was connecting with Ralph and Victor Rosas. These are two Mexican-American brothers who have started a church in San Luis, Mexico, near the U.S. border. Our hearts were knit and I am going to be going back to Yuma soon to sponsor a women’s event in San Luis. I also met their mother, Irena, who has been using the Spanish version of my book 10 Lies the Church Tells Women to reach the inmates at a women’s prison in San Luis! This message of freedom to women is going literally behind bars!

The theme for our weekend together is Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Here is the schedule:

Thursday March 25 -- 6 pm dinner followed by meeting

Friday March 26 -- 9 am to 5 pm, followed by a North Carolina barbeque dinner and fellowship

Saturday March 27 -- 9 am to 1 pm, followed by lunch and recreation. We will also have some special ministry activities Saturday evening for those who stay over Saturday night.

(Everyone is welcome to attend worship at Impact Church on Sunday morning.)

Our time together will be very interactive—lots of group discussions, questions and answer sessions and short messages with times for prayer and ministry. We will also have great food, fun and some interaction with some awesome Christian guys from outside the United States.

Here are the details you need to know:

1. Please e-mail Lee Grady at grady@strang.com to reserve a spot at the retreat. There is no registration fee, but we have to have an accurate count of participants. We will take offerings during the weekend to cover the costs of the food.

2. If you would like to bring a guest, please submit this request to Lee. He is encouraging leaders to bring younger disciples or friends who want relational discipleship.

3. Please plan to arrive at the church on or before 6 pm on Thursday, March 25, for our opening meal and first session.

4. All sessions will be at Impact Church, 44 Cabarrus Avenue West, Concord, North Carolina 28025. If you are driving please note this address.

5. If you are flying, please book your flight into the Charlotte, North Carolina, airport. Concord is only a few miles northeast of Charlotte. If you need a ride from the airport, please email our team administrator, Charlie Daniels, at alfcd@hotmail.com.

6. Directions to the Hampton Inn are online at www.concordkannapolis.hamptoninn.com

7. We have two options for housing. We are currently booking rooms at the Hampton in Concord. If you are willing to share a room with 3 other guys the cost will be $17 a night. If you want to share with one other guy it will be $34 a night. A room by yourself will be $68 a night. Please let Charlie Daniels know your preference by e-mailing him at alfcd@hotmail.com. You also need to tell him if you plan to stay 2 nights (Thursday and Friday) or 3 nights (Thursday, Friday and Saturday).

The meetings will end Saturday after lunch, but we will have some planned recreation, fellowship and additional ministry on Saturday afternoon and evening. Lee is hoping that most guys will stay until Sunday, but if you need to leave early, please don’t leave until Saturday afternoon. All those who stay will be worshiping together at Impact Church on Sunday morning.

8. Impact Church has also offered to house men in homes of church members, but there is limited availability. If you would like to stay in a home, please call or e-mail Charlie Daniels at alfcd@hotmail.com.

9. Please bring your Bible, notepad and pen. No dressy clothes allowed. You can wear jeans and T-shirts. Normally, Charlotte/Concord has spring-like weather in late March, with lows in the 40s. So you will need to bring a jacket.

see you in Concord!

… I visited 26 cities in 10 foreign countries

… I visited 22 cities in 16 states in the U.S.

… I preached about 120 times

… I flew on 132 planes

… I stayed in some interesting places (including a mosquito-infested room in Uganda and a centuries-old manor house in England) and ate some unusual foods (including ostrich sausage in Kenya and some great Hungarian goulash).

Here is how I would describe 2009:

… It was a banner year for our family. Deborah and I celebrated 25 years of marriage in April. I cannot express how blessed I am to have a wife who is so supportive and encouraging. We were also very excited that our oldest daughter, Margaret, was chosen to serve as assistant campus pastor at Emmanuel College. And we welcomed our second son-in-law, Sven, into the family when Meredith got married earlier this month. We are very grateful that all four of our girls and our two new sons are with us this Christmas.

… It was a year for international outreach. I traveled to Bolivia, Canada, Ecuador, England, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. Many people were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. As a result of these trips, new doors opened for me to travel to Malawi and Romania next year—as well as new cities in Bolivia, Guatemala and India. Also, my book “10 Lies the Church Tells Women” was published in Mandarin Chinese, and the Romanian translation was just finished. The Lord has truly opened a wide door to the nations.

… It was a year of empowering women leaders. Many of the conferences I did this year were either for empowering women or challenging the abuse of women. Besides the foreign venues, I also did women’s events in Mobile, Ala,; Deland, Tampa, and Sarasota, Fla.; Waycross, Ga.; and Rochester, N.Y. Countless women were healed emotionally in these meetings.

What blesses me most is that people who were touched took the fire to other places. In Uganda, a dear brother named Robert has already planned a women’s conference in another city in his country because he caught the vision. In Guatemala, a young businesswoman is now starting weekly discipleship meetings for women. In Kenya, an American missionary who attended my conference in Nairobi took the message to women in Ethiopia. She wrote this about her experience:

“I Just took my first trip to Ethiopia to do a women's conference among the Gidio tribe in Dilla. Women are not allowed to study the Bible, and very few even own one. One lady asked if women are allowed to pray in the church. Their ministry in the church is to keep it clean and visit the sick.

"I was asked to address whether women can preach. So I went for it! I thank you so much for your book 10 Lies the Church Tells Women. I remembered some of the biblical truths you brought out during the conference and I was able to take them through from the OT to NT and prove the case. I even found some of the male elders writing down the scripture references.

"God flooded us with His presence and power. The women were on their faces in the dirt crying out to God. Sometimes it felt like electricity going through my hands as I prayed. I am so grateful to God for the demonstration of His power. I believe He was showing those precious women that they can be empowered for service. I am continuing to pray that God will bring about a change there for women to step up and be all God has called them to be.”

… It was a year of breaking racial walls. Many of my meetings this year involved immigrant and ethnic churches. I spoke to Nigerians in Ohio, Ghanaians and Congolese in London, Ecuadorians in Florida and a multi-ethnic church in Vancouver—plus African-American churches in Alabama and Minnesota. The Lord has laid a special burden on my heart to break down the racial walls that divide us.

… It was a year of mentoring young disciples. My greatest joy in ministry is pouring what I have learned into younger leaders. I spoke to students for three days at Emmanuel College in January, and to another group of students at a ministry school in Pennsylvania in April. I also took several young men with me on trips—David, Jojo, Daniel, Felipe, Brandon and my son-in-law, Sven, plus my second daughter, Meredith. I also have been mentoring two men from Guatemala, Luis and Adolfo, by e-mail, and spent quality time with them in November. I’ve also been building a mentoring relationship with several other guys including a brilliant Jamaican professor named Marvin and a Hungarian pastor named Balint.

… It was a year of building new relationships. True wealth is found in relationships, not money. I am thankful this year not only for the strengthening of old relationships with mentors and friends, but also the building of new friendships. Those include Pastors Rick and Donna Moncrief of Jackson, Ga.; Pastor Scott Allen from Dauphin, Manitoba; Pastors Quentin Beard and Lyndle DeCamp in Pittsfield, Ill.; Pastor Kyle Searcy and his wife, Kimi, from Montgomery, Ala., and their associate Fred Adetunji; Ed and Janis Russo from Tampa, Fla.; Roque and Maggie Santiago from Harrisburg, Pa.; Sabin Iqbal from India; Otto and Sharon Bixler from Budapest; Pastor Stephanie Bond in Minneapolis; Pastor Jason Hotchkiss from Erie, Pa.; Pastor Scott Howard from Mobile, Ala.; Peggy and Jack Kennedy from Toronto; Guilio and Lina Garabeli from Vancouver; David Copeland from Lanett, Ala.; and my Twitter pals from Red Deer, Alberta: Brett, Bryce and Ryan, and their awesome pastors, Mel and Heather Mullen.

… It was a year of deeper connection to my IPHC church family. My connection to the International Pentecostal Holiness Church has grown this year as I have ministered at numerous IPHC events including a missionaries’ retreat in southern England, an IPHC church in London, a Joysprings ministers’ retreat in Tennessee, an IPHC prayer directors’ conference in Colorado and the annual School of Missions in North Carolina. I am especially grateful for the many mentors the Lord has given me from this group: Doug Beacham, Bane and Barbara James, Chris Maxwell, Terry Fowler and John Chasteen.

I also want to thank Barbara Wentroble, founder of International Breakthrough Ministries, who has been a tireless source of encouragement to me. We are so grateful for her and the IbM family of ministers for providing accountability and support. We are also so thankful for our home church, Church of the New Covenant, for standing with us year after year.

I can’t rank what happened this past year but I will share some highlights that really blessed me:

1. My life was rocked when I spent time with four brave pastors from Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda and India at Pastor Bruce Ladebu’s missions conference in Pennsylvania. I was humbled to see the depth of their devotion, sacrifice and brokenness. It was especially meaningful to hear how my Pakistani brother has been persecuted for his faith. If there was one moment that stands out to me from 2009, it was the time we washed each others’ feet at this conference.

2. The women’s conferences in Uganda and Kenya were off the charts. Thanks to the many people who gave financially, I was able to take a team of speakers to Kampala and Nairobi for two weeks of life-changing ministry. I am especially grateful to Pam Anderson, Chene Tucker and Jackson Ekwugun, who accompanied me on that journey. Even though our meetings were often on “African time,” God was never late and He always showed up! I am so grateful to my hosts, Medad Birungi, Moses Onyango and Gideon Thuranira.

3. I will never forget flying to five cities in Bolivia over the course of a week with my friends Xavier Cornejo and Billy Carrion. Preaching to 800 people wearing surgical masks in Santa Cruz, Bolivia (because of swine flu fears), will forever be etched in my memory. And many of them were baptized in the Holy Spirit while wearing those masks!

4. I am forever grateful to my Indian friend Shibu Zachariah, who hosted me the entire two-week journey in India. He is like my little brother. I did women’s events in three cities and then he went with me to Coimbatore and Bangalore. We were able to spend some time dreaming and strategizing on how to rescue oppressed women and girls. India is in my heart.

5. I visited Canada four times this year, and I have never been as cold as I was in Dauphin, Manitoba. Flying there in the snow from Winnepeg on what looked by a B-52 bomber forced me to count the cost of ministry all over again! (I told the Lord I was willing to go to cold places.)

6. I left part of my heart in Budapest after prophesying to and encouraging pastors there. I especially appreciated sharing a meal with a precious Hungarian pastoral couple in their home in the city of Vac. The Hungarians are some of the nicest people on earth.

7. I also finished my next book, “The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale.” It will be published in April. I’ve been preaching a lot from the book all year, particularly calling the church to holiness, humility and consecration. Often during this year we saw people at the altars asking God for a refilling of the Holy Spirit. I’m expecting to see a fresh outpouring of the Spirit in this coming year.

8. I also had lots of fun. Ministry is certainly not boring. I petted elephants in South Africa; sailed on the Danube River in Budapest; rode a motorcycle in rural Guatemala; swam in the freezing Irish Sea; hiked through a primeval forest in north Vancouver; visited Little Italy in New York City; ate awesome Mexican food with my buddies from Yuma, Arizona (Tom Renard, Tom Messer and Jack Hanes); and preached for the first time with a Hammond-B organ accompanying me in the background!

We know that 2010 will be full of adventure and challenges—especially as we prepare to move to Georgia and take on new ministry responsibilities. I do not believe this year would have been as blessed and fruitful if it had not been for your prayers and support. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you for loving us and being there for us.

Deborah and I wish you the happiest of Christmases and a very joyous New Year full of God’s presence and blessings.

Your friend always,

Lee Grady

P.S. If you would like to make an end-of-the-year donation to The Mordecai Project, to help with next year’s trips, please follow the instructions below. Thanks again.

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The Mordecai Project is a ministry devoted to empowering women, confronting abuse and transforming nations through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Currently donations are handled by Christian Life Missions, a not-for-profit charitable organization associated with Charisma magazine. All gifts are tax-deductible. Checks can be made out to Christian Life Missions and mailed to Lee Grady, 304 Little Springs Lane, Longwood, FL 32750.

I am not completely ending my involvement with Charisma. I will be serving as Contributing Editor and I will still write my “Fire in My Bones” column, so you will still hear from me that way. But I am stepping down from day-to-day involvement. I am passing the baton to Marcus Yoars, a brilliant young editor who has worked in our department for more than two years. Marcus will be able to navigate Charisma into its new season and bring a fresh new edge to the magazine and its various digital products.

All of you know that I have been very involved in ministry the past few years and I have a packed travel schedule. I plan to continue the work of The Mordecai Project and will be expanding that in the years to come, as the Lord provides. Meanwhile, I have also taken a part-time position as editor of Experience, the magazine of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. I am ordained with the IPHC and this is my spiritual family. I will be working more closely with their leaders to effectively communicate to their audience through the magazine.

This new job will also allow us to move to Georgia, my original home and where I have wanted to live for quite a while. We will be living closer to my parents and two of our adult children. We will settle in northeast Georgia, possibly in Franklin Springs, where the magazine office is located, or in nearby Athens, or somewhere in that vicinity. We will not move until the summer, after our youngest daughter Charlotte graduates from high school. My time with Charisma will end on January 30, and the new job with Experience will begin March 1.

Deborah and I would appreciate your prayers as we make this transition. This is not easy for us because we have loved our time in Orlando—our friends, our church, my job and the wonderful ministry opportunities that emerged during our time here. Also our third daughter, Gloria, has three more semesters at the University of Florida, and our youngest daughter, Charlotte, will be starting college next fall.

But we know that seasons change and that God has something special for us in Georgia. I believe 2010 is a strategic year for all of us to "cross over" into our new territory. I am expecting it to be a year of great advancement.

When you pray, please agree with us for provision, favor, wisdom and clear direction in regards to every detail. We appreciate your friendship very much.

** Uganda was as spiritually intense as any place I have ever visited. The first night was a real test—we had a loud thunderstorm at 1 a.m., rowdy hotel guests, mosquitoes buzzing in my room all night, jet lag and an awful sense of foreboding. I knew there was major warfare going on but I found the grace to stand.

** We trusted the Lord the next day as our host, Pastor Moses Onyango, took us to the Kampala Police Training Center where the event was held. As we drove up to the venue we saw stacks of burned and smashed cars along the muddy road. These were destroyed during the riots that had just happened in the city the week before! Not exactly what we wanted to see as we began the event…but God was faithful! We had 500 women the first day, a few more the next day and more than 700 on the final day. They came from more than 30 churches in the city.

** Women in Uganda have suffered a lot. Many of them are in abusive marriages. Some of their husbands have the AIDS virus. Many were molested as girls. And so many were raised in polygamous homes. (When I asked for a show of hands of how many wives their fathers had, some said as many as eight!) Yet the Lord came in a strong way to bring healing and deliverance. Pam Anderson taught about the importance of mentoring. Chene Tucker taught about sexual purity. I taught about how God views His daughters and how Jesus heals abuse. It was three days of intense healing for so many women.

** Each day we fed lunch to the women. (I want to thank all those who invested financially in this trip because you made these meals possible.) On the first day, before the conference began, I read in the book of Mark about the feeding of the 5,000. This built my faith to believe that we would have enough money to cover all the meals. Praise the Lord…the money stretched and we fed every person during those three days. The women were very grateful. Many of them have serious financial struggles but they were so hungry for the Word of God and for leadership training.

** I was especially encouraged that several male pastors came to the Uganda meetings and were eager to learn how to empower the women in their churches. A young pastor named Robert Kaahwa especially blessed me when he told me that he feels called to carry this message to the women of Uganda. I prayed for him on the last day that he would carry the same mantle I do. He is now studying my book carefully. We are keeping in touch by e-mail and he is so eager to learn. I can make more impact through encouraging a disciple like Robert than I ever could by returning to Uganda— although I definitely want to go back.

** Robert told me later that he has already planned a women’s conference for December 2009 in the city of Hoima. He wrote in an email: “If all goes as planned we are looking at 500-1000 women from about fifty churches. The arrangement is for every church involved to bring its top 10 leading ladies. That gives us a total of 500 women, then the host church has more than 300 women in the church plus a few men who have a passion to minister to women. We are looking at a move that is going to change the entire western region of Uganda. There will be women from 10 different districts. I am so excited. Pray that we will find a way of bringing the ones from the rural villages to the town without difficulty.”

** Another highlight of our visit to Uganda was ministering with Medad Birungi, a charismatic Anglican leader who served as co-host of our conference. Medad pastors St. Kakumba Chapel, a church that has grown from 500 to 5,000 in seven years under his leadership. He is a strong advocate for women in ministry and he and his wife were thrilled to be a part of our meetings. I preached in all three services of Medad’s church on Sunday and we had powerful times of healing for women who had been abused.

** Medad wrote a week after our visit and gave a testimony about a girl named Helen who had been in our conference. Helen was delivered from the trauma of abuse, and she decided to meet with the young man who abused her. She declared forgiveness over him and reconciled with him in front of four people and the man began weeping uncontrollably. Said Medad: “When she testified in church, she started marching excitedly and said, ‘Women, I am marching away from sexual abuse and am going to take up my inheritance!’ Then the whole church started marching! It was glorious. Thank you for this great Uganda Women Arising conference. It was remarkable, incredible, inconceivable and indescribable! Revolutionary love has touched women. Thank you for liberating the women of Uganda.”

** Every day in Uganda was intense but we could feel the sustaining power of your prayers. Thank you. We all ministered in various churches on Sunday and Chene Tucker taught a class on emotional healing to a group of university students. Pam Anderson helped a local pastor purchase sewing machines for his ministry to help women start small businesses. And I spoke at a business fellowship one evening where 11 people were baptized in the Holy Spirit. We also laid hands on and commissioned hundreds of women on the final day of our conference. We felt God left a major deposit of His Word in both the men and women who attended.

** After a week we said goodbye to the Ugandan team and flew to Nairobi, Kenya. We were met by our host Gideon Thuranira, who had been working for months with a strong team of women who were sponsoring the Kenyan Lady Arising conference. It was held at the Nairobi Pentecostal Church, a prominent congregation, and we had attendees from all kinds of backgrounds including charismatic, Baptist, Anglican and Presbyterian.

** The conference was a rousing success—so much so that the team wants to bring us back to Kenya next fall. Gideon wrote and said that the women are very excited because two women’s conferences have already been planned in rural areas as a result of our visit. He wrote: “We marvel at God's faithfulness. The ladies here want to do at least two similar conferences as a ministry to their own rural women—before another grand gathering in Nairobi, in November 2010. What blesses me is the fact that your ministry here has produced that desire and action, to reach more local women with the message of freedom and release of the women! God is using your visit here mightily for His glory!”

** One day in Nairobi I addressed the issue of sexual and physical abuse very openly from the pulpit. This is normally not done and the women were very quiet. I felt as if I were hitting a wall but I realized it was demonic resistance. Some of these women have been sworn to secrecy by their own mothers—and they pledged never to tell anyone that they were abused by their fathers, uncles or cousins. Yet God is invading this territory and bringing healing. We praise the Lord for the way He touched so many women. Some were even willing to stand and admit they had these issues, and then they received prayer.

** In the Kenya meetings we also had afternoon workshops. It gave the women a safe place to interact with each other. They had their choice of 10 classes and we utilized some of the best women speakers in Nairobi including Judy Mbugua, who has been a pioneer for years in addressing the abuse of women in Africa. Judy gave me her book on this topic and I was able to spend some time with her. Chene and Pam did an awesome job teaching, ministering to the women, listening to their problems and praying for them one-on-one.

** One of the most amazing developments in Kenya involves a pastor named Peter Peacepound from Malawi. This pastor actually rode on a bus for FOUR DAYS to come to Nairobi to meet me. He came to ask if I would consider doing a women’s conference in Malawi’s capital city, Lilongwe. He also brought the wife of his senior pastor. Peter and Fanny loved the conference and they want to do a similar event next year for their women. How could I refuse when this man sacrificed so much to come? I have told him I will seriously consider bringing a team to Malawi next year. The women in his nation suffer horrible abuse, including genital mutilation. I saw Peter’s visit as a “Macedonian call” to another nation.

** On Sunday I preached at Nairobi Lighthouse, a great church pastored by American missionary Don Matheny. Don and his wife have labored for many, many years in Kenya and now their church has more than 6,000 members. I spoke in two packed services and was able to challenge them to live a life of consecration.

** Just before we got on the plane to return home we went to Nairobi’s largest slum (some say it is the largest slum in the world) where we visited Lydia, a lady who has started a charitable pre-school for poor kids. Most of these kids do not know their dad, and they are so poor that they would not be in school if it were not for Lydia’s sacrifice. Please pray for her as she gives her life to help the helpless. I believe that as a result or our conference, many more Lydia’s were inspired to rise up and transform Kenya!

** I was in the state of Kerala the first week. My meetings were sponsored by the New India Church of God, a movement of 2,200 churches founded by V.A. and Mariamma Thampy. Their son-in-law, Shibu Zachariah, hosted me the entire trip. I met Shibu and his brother-in-law, Biju Thampy, in Australia last year and we knew God wanted us to work together. Shibu arranged for me to do meetings in four Kerala cities—Kottayam, Kochi, Ranny and Chingavanum. We did women’s sessions in the morning and sessions for families at night.

** Most Christians in India are rather private about personal problems—so issues such as domestic violence or sexual molestation are rarely discussed. I was breaking ground when I taught on these subjects, offering women the opportunity to receive healing for abuse and challenging men to repent of abusive behavior. The Lord opened a well of healing for the women in every meeting. In fact we had reports of physical healings that happened even during the teaching times.

** The abuse of women is a serious problem in India. Some women who came to the altar for prayer were demonized, and we had to take some time to cast the spirits out of them. One day right after I ministered a woman came to share with Mariamma that her husband had taken her to a river and held her head under water to force her to give him more dowry money. This type of behavior is common in India but it is hidden from view.

** In every evening session significant numbers of men came forward to repent. This was especially significant because their wives were often in the auditorium with them. The Lord’s conviction would fall on them and some of them wept as they asked God to take out their stony hearts. In Kottayam I asked the men to come on the stage so that they could corporately apologize to the women for mistreatment. That night a man was healed of a serious knee injury when he was kneeling before the women.

** On Sunday I spoke at the New India Church of God in Chingavanum, near Kottayam. Many people were baptized in the Holy Spirit that day. Then Shibu and I took a train to Coimbatore to visit Harry Gomes, an Indian evangelist who is like a spiritual father to me. Harry runs the Home of Hope Center for boys, and he recently took in 53 boys from the troubled region of Orissa. Most of these boys lost their fathers in anti-Christian violence, and they have been psychologically traumatized. I am hoping to help Harry start a girls’ home in Coimbatore soon. I was also able to pray with and comfort Harry after the loss of his son, Sashwi. Some of you may remember that Sashwi died in a car accident last year. I visited his grave and a memorial that Harry built on the orphanage property. It was an emotional experience for me since I knew Sashwi. I still cannot fathom the grief that Harry and his wife, Dellis, have had to endure—but the Lord has sustained them.

** After our visit in Coimbatore, Shibu and I flew to Bangalore, where I spoke at meetings sponsored by Bethel Assembly of God. This is a growing church that is reaching this huge city known for its high-tech labor force. I did meetings for women and men as well as a special session for leaders. In the men’s session something unusual happened. I began to receive words of knowledge from the Holy Spirit about what the men had been doing to their wives. When I said that one man had shattered glass in order to scare his wife, a man immediately ran to the altar. When I said that another man had been hitting his wife with a stick, a man got up and ran over to the side of the stage. (This man later began to manifest demonically and it took about 10 minutes for him to get free.) Praise God that the Lord was uprooting this hidden sin and helping these men to love their wives in a godly way.

** The meetings in India were awesome, but I am finding that one of the most important aspects of my work overseas is simply pouring my life into key individuals. This is true discipleship. I can make the biggest impact by mentoring and training younger leaders like Shibu (he is in the photo with me, below). We want to work together more closely and are praying about that. Another young leader, Raja, came to Kerala and spent time with me during those days. He and his wife have a children’s home in Andra Pradesh as well as 16 churches. I was able to pray with and encourage Raja during my time there.

** Before catching my return flight home I passed through Mumbai and was able to spend a few hours with Biju Thampy, who has a church and a feeding center in the world’s largest garbage dump. This is the same slum that is featured in the movie “Slumdog Millionaire.” I saw dozens of kids walking into the dump to forage for food and to collect plastic bottles. Then I boarded one of Biju’s ministry buses, where he offers hot meals as well as Bible stories and activities to 1,000 children each day. It was an inspiring way to end my visit because Biju really challenges me to live selflessly.

** There is no way to know how many men and women were touched in the meetings in Kerala and Bangalore. All the sessions were taped, and people who did not attend will be watching the recordings. I do believe that something revolutionary has begun and that the Word will continue to change hearts. Please agree with me in prayer for that.

I preached four times during the “Flow in the Snow” conference sponsored by New Life Centre. The temperature got down to minus 20 F during the meetings, but the fire of the Holy Spirit showed up anyway! Here are some highlights:

** I made some great friends in Dauphin. My hosts were Scott and Alice Allen who pastor New Life Centre. They are graduates of Christ for the Nations Institute and have pastored in Dauphin for many years. They are building a healthy church that is reaching the community. I also connected with Pastor Mike Bolton and his wife, Debbie, who pastor Prairie View Christian Assembly. I spoke there on Sunday morning and really felt at home with their awesome congregation.

** In the past few months the Lord has led me to really focus on the need for personal holiness and repentance. I am convinced that the church must embrace the fear of the Lord in a fresh way. The Lord is holding His holy plumb line over the church and we must make sure we are building according to His code. I emphasized this in Dauphin and many people came to the altars find healing and restoration.

** There is no way I can begin to list all that God did in individual hearts during those sessions. Some people were delivered of fear and inferiority. The Lord began to heal a woman who had been molested as a child. Men were set free of sexual bondage. In one altar call a large group came for prayer to acknowledge that they were so discouraged they were thinking of quitting. The Lord brought waves of encouragement to many people. There was a lot of repentance on Saturday night when I talked about 10 ways that we quench the Holy Spirit.

** From the moment I landed in Dauphin I began to sense a burden from the Lord for the First Nations people—the Native Canadians. Manitoba has one of the highest percentages of aboriginal people in Canada, and they are a needy mission field. We had some Native people in our meetings. One of them was a young teenager named Dakota who has had a rough life in the past. The Lord really encouraged Dakota during the meetings and I was able to pray with him. I wish you could have seen him dancing in the aisles on the last night of the meetings.

** On the last night we had people from more than six churches in Dauphin—including the two main charismatic churches, plus Lutherans, Anglicans, Baptists and even a few from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. I challenged them with a message about God’s call to Samaria. All of us are called to reach Samaritans---people in our local area who are from a different race or culture. God was really calling the churches of Dauphin to reach the Native community. Many responded that night to say that they want to reach out in some way to First Nations people. At one point during the service, after I challenged people to repent of racism, some of the First Nations people in the audience began to weep. It was a healing moment. Then I asked the two charismatic pastors to stand in front with a few of the Native people and they linked arms. We prayed that the Lord would unite God’s people and heal the divisions between Native and Anglo Christians.

** I came home from Dauphin with a burden to do something to help the Native women in that region. A high percentage of them suffer in abusive situations. I am praying about going back to that area to do a women’s conference focusing on Native women.

** One highlight of my time at Ashburnham as connecting with Tunde and Tina Bolanta, pastors of a growing church in Kaduna, Nigeria. Tunde and Tina both ministered during the week. This amazing couple has faced incredible hardship in a city where persecution from Muslims is common. I learned so much from Tunde and look forward to ministering at his church in Kaduna next year.

** I was able to minister to many people with words of prophetic encouragement. I also taught a series on “Recovering Genuine Apostolic Anointing” as well as a session on how to release women in ministry. Women in the UK still face a lot of challenges so this was an encouraging time for them.

** On Saturday I spoke at a men’s event in Littlehampton, a town on the south English coast near Brighton. My host was Clive Price, a British journalist who writes often for Charisma magazine. Because the British church is struggling against the forces of secularism and atheism, they often feel intimidated. I brought a message to these men about rising up as warriors to face the enemy. Many of the men came to the altar to receive a fresh anointing of courage.

** On Sunday I preached at Fountain of Life Church, a Pentecostal Holiness congregation in east London. The pastor is from Ghana, his wife is from Guyana and the members are from many other countries. The Lord really came to encourage the saints that day. Many came to the altar if they felt they needed a fresh encounter with the fire of God’s holiness.

** On Monday I taught an all-day course on “Biblical Foundations for Women in Ministry” at Ellel Ministries’ ministry school near Farnham, southwest of London. The school is housed in a huge manor house that was built in the 1800s. There were about 80 students in my class that day and both men and women were greatly encouraged. The students represented more than 15 nations, including some European countries where women are still strictly bound by religious tradition. It is exciting to see how God is unraveling old religious mindsets so that the church can advance in the power of the Holy Spirit.

** On Tuesday I traveled with some of the Ellel leaders four hours north to Blackpool, an English city on the coast of the Irish Sea. The next day the annual conference of Ellel Ministries began. There were about 800 people in attendance for four days, and the other speakers included my friends George Otis Jr. from Seattle and Allistair Petrie from Canada. Peter and Fiona Horrobin, who direct Ellel, also spoke.

** I did two main sessions as well as an all-afternoon workshop on “Restoring Character in Ministry.” In my main session on Wednesday night the Lord directed me to take a piece of cloth and rip it into shreds as I read from Joel 2:13, in which God says: “Rend your hearts and not your garments.” It was a sobering call to repentance for the state of the church (I did not realize until later that it was Ash Wednesday!). I do believe the Lord heard our cries that night for the restoration of holiness in His church. In my main session on Friday I challenged the people to break out of their fears and limitations to take the healing power of Jesus to the nations. During the altar call a large number of the people came to the front to acknowledge that God has called them to minister cross-culturally.

** It was really a blessing to be with God’s people in Europe. I found amazing hunger in their hearts. Christians from the UK, France, Germany, Romania and other nations do not have as much access to teaching and Christian resources, and they are so grateful for conferences like this. They know they are on the front lines and that secularism and Islam are immediate threats to the church. I came home with a greater concern for them and a burden to pray that God will pour out His Spirit in a fresh way all over Europe.

I preached in 10 countries: Australia, India, Ecuador, South Africa, Bolivia, Colombia, Wales, England and Guatemala. My feet touched every continent (except Antarctica!) and I also ministered in 24 U.S. cities in 10 states. I did about 102 meetings this year. I was in huge cities like Sydney, Lagos and La Paz, but also in small towns such as Umatilla, Florida; Waycross, Georgia; and Saspan, Guatemala. Jesus loves people wherever they are, and He wants His message to spread everywhere.

There is no way I could rank the highlights of the year, but here are some of the most memorable moments:

** Taking the gospel to Oruro, Bolivia, a city oppressed by witchcraft and idolatry. In spite of the dark spiritual atmosphere, God moved in that place. Many women were emotionally healed and men repented for abusing their wives.

** Praying for the sick at a large outdoor meeting in Warrangal, in south India, and seeing hundreds line up to tell how God touched them. I am grateful to my friend Harry Gomes for allowing me to minister alongside him.

** Washing the feet of an “untouchable” man from India in a conference in Sydney, Australia. The video of that moment has since been shown to many untouchables in India and has had a profound impact on these precious people who have been rejected by society.

** Training 900 Nigerian women for three days in our special African Woman Arising conference. I am still amazed by what God did during that event, and I am especially grateful to Jackson and Yinka Ekwugun for the sacrifice they made to host it.

** Seeing hundreds of abused women get emotionally healed in Bogota, Colombia, after I preached about the Samaritan woman at the well.

** Visiting the birthplace of the Welsh Revival and standing in the same pulpit where Evan Roberts preached to coal miners in 1904.

** Preaching at the Mount Hermon Christian Retreat Center in northern California, where Henrietta Mears ministered back in the 1940s and ‘50s.

Looking back I can see some common threads running through 2008 that help me understand how God is moving:

1. It was a year of freedom for women. A large percentage of my meetings were conferences designed to empower women for ministry and heal them from the wounds of the past. Jesus has a message from His heart to the women of the world and I am privileged to help carry it.

2. It was a year for immigrants. God continues to connect me with immigrant church leaders in the United States who simply want connection and affirmation. This year I was blessed to continue building a relationship with Pastor Fernando and Sylvia Pinto (Brazilians) and Nebby and Dee Gomez (Ecuadorian). This year I also ministered in a Russian congregation in Philadelphia and a Nigerian congregation in Washington, D.C.

3. It was a year to challenge racism. The Lord often uses me to break racial divisions and this happened in many ways in 2008. At a young adult conference in the Atlanta area, a young white man repented of racism and is now reaching out with the love of Jesus to people of color. In Umatilla, Florida, I equipped a radical band of women who are working to break racial walls in their community. In Waycross, Georgia, I led a reconciliation service to heal the breach that still exists there between churches. I was also able to challenge the caste system in India.

4. It was a year to mobilize for evangelism. The Lord has connected me with some awesome churches, and this year I was able to challenge them in their outreach strategies. I was also blessed to see many people saved in various meetings—including a Russian Jewish girl who gave her heart to the Lord in Philadelphia and a Welsh man who wandered into the church off the street and came to the altar.

5. It was an intense year of spiritual confrontation. I continued my work at Charisma magazine, and the issues I had to address in my weekly online columns were not easy. This has been an intense season of spiritual warfare for the church. There were times when I wanted to run from Jezebel and hide in a cave, but the Lord sustained me—thanks in part to your prayers.

6. It was a year to launch out in faith. I made the decision in the fall to go half time with Charisma. I will begin this new arrangement in February 2009. It is scary to step out of the boat, but I sense a great deal of peace and I know that Jesus will meet me on the water.

7. It was a year of teamwork. I am very grateful for the people who traveled with me this year and supported me so faithfully. I am very glad that my wife was able to accompany me to a conference in Ohio—since she is usually manning the battle stations at home. Andy Byrd, a pastor from West Virginia, took three weeks off to go with me to India and Australia; Maureen Bravo also joined me for part of the trip to north India; A.J. Hall, a youth pastor from Gainesville, Fla., served with me in Bolivia; Danny Morgan, a youth pastor from Baltimore, traveled with me to Guatemala; the Getting Free team from South Florida drove all the way to Umatilla to join me there; Brandon Duck, who is now a professor at Southeastern University, went with me on six domestic trips; and Charlie Daniels, a pastor from Ann Arbor, Michigan, not only went to Nigeria with me but also served as my conference administrator.

The African Woman Arising event in Nigeria was the biggest event I have ever sponsored, but I could not have done it without the other speakers who came: Barbara Wentroble, Naomi Dowdy, Remi Ogunrinde, Mosy Madugba and Funke Adejumo. I am also grateful to Barbara Wentroble’s team that provided prayer ministry. A young Nigerian man I am mentoring, Miracle, also worked alongside me in Lagos

8. It was a year of many new ministry friends. The Lord connected me with so many new friends this year. I can’t begin to list them all but I must mention Jack and Carol Hanes of Sydney; Indian evangelist Biju Thampy of Mumbai, Arizona pastors Tom Messer and Tom Renard, Shibu Zachariah from India, Pastors Francois and Ansa Van Neikerk of South Africa (they took my daughter and me to a game reserve and showed us the “locals”— rhinos, elephants, hippos and wildebeests), Pastor Zacharias and Pastor Alexandro from Bolivia, Pastor Chris Cartright from Wales, Rodney and Renee Thrift of Waycross, Georgia, Pastor Craig Morton of New Hampshire, Imena and Chisa Nosamiefan of Boston, and Jonathan Dow, new leader of the Aldersgate Fellowship in Nashville, Tennessee.

I am also very grateful for all my “old” friends (“old” has a new meaning now that I have turned 50!)—especially to those who provided counsel in difficult moments or encouragement when I was in the line of fire. My most valuable counselor, of course, is my wife, Deborah, who was always ready to listen and offer no-nonsense advice.

** On Friday Billy and Lisette led a youth conference near El Rosario with about 250 kids. Danny, Roque and I went to preach in a village called Saspan with Pastor Oto Morales, the man I have worked closely with since my first visit to Guatemala in 2003. He and his wife, Ilma, pastor the Church of New Vision in the town of El Rosario. In the past I have helped Pastor Oto develop his ministry, and my home church helped build him a youth center.

** We told Pastor Oto it was okay for him to squeeze every drop of energy out of us. Saspan is an isolated town on top of a mountain, and the people are very poor. Pastor Oto planted a church there about three years ago and it has grown to about 70 members. Danny, Roque and I were able to pray and prophesy over these precious people and I brought a simple message to them about praising God in tough times.

** The Friday night celebration service was thrilling because it was held in the youth center that my home church helped build in 2003. We lost a lot of sweat (and maybe some blood) when we dug the foundations of that building in the hard, rocky soil five years ago. It was so great to see the fruit of our labor. Today the center is used to attract the young people of El Rosario —and the church now has a large number of youth.

** On Saturday night we hosted our main event—a family conference in an arena in the city of Gualan, 15 miles east of El Rosario. We had about 700 people there from many churches. Pastor Roque and I preached, Billy and Lisette led worship and Danny shared the testimony of how his mother prayed for him when he was a wayward teenager. It was a great encouragement to many parents there.

** My message that night was addressed to the men who had been mistreating and neglecting their wives. Pastor Roque faithfully served as my translator whenever I spoke. I had arranged to do a special demonstration during the sermon and it made an unforgettable impact on the people. I asked a woman to walk down the long center aisle of the arena carrying a heavy load of firewood on her head. This is how many of the poor women in the rural villages gather wood. They carry unbelievably heavy loads while their strong-backed husbands refuse to help. It is one of the most blatant examples of gender prejudice in this part of Guatemala.

** When the woman came to the front of the stage I took the wood from her and threw it on the floor. The bundle made a loud crash and I just stood for a few moments in silence. Then I picked the wood up again and threw it on the floor. I did this three times to make sure everyone in that place got the message. Some women were already crying before I opened my Bible to preach from Ephesians 5. When I finished I asked the woman’s husband to come to the front, and he knelt in front of her and washed her feet. I told the crowd that this is God’s pattern—godly husbands treat their wives like Christ loves the church.

** Giving a message like this in Guatemala is not easy. The men of this area are called “hombres duros”—“tough guys.” When I am in situations like this I cannot help but say to myself, “Lee, why are you doing this?!? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” It seems ridiculous in the natural because the machismo spirit is so deeply ingrained in the men’s hearts. However I know the Lord wants to deliver them from this cultural bondage. Myra Goldfarb told me later that when I was speaking she could feel the Word of God shattering the hardness of their hearts. Even though they did not seem to flinch at that point, the conviction was heavy.

** At the end of the message I called the married couples to come to the altar and they all cooperated. For almost an hour our team laid hands on these couples and asked for healing and renewal in every marriage. Many tough men were crying. Some of the women were so overcome by the pain of abuse and neglect that they collapsed, but we prayed over every couple and urged the men to put their arms around their wives. We saw an awesome victory that night!

** The victory intensified the next day during the Sunday morning service at Iglesia Nueva Vision. Pastor Oto had invited several government leaders to the meeting, including the general of Guatemala’s rural army and the governor of the state of Zacapa. I preached a message called “You Need the Oil”—about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Even though this is a Pentecostal church many of the people have not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit. At the end of the service things begin to resemble the house of Cornelius in Acts 10. More than three-fourths of the church came to the altar—including the Army general! The Holy Spirit was poured out in fullness and we had an explosive time of ministry.

** That night Roque took things one step further in the closing message and reminded the people that when the Holy Spirit’s power comes, He opens doors for ministry. More people were baptized in the Spirit that night and a powerful spirit of joy was released on the people—even on those who had been struggling with heaviness and condemnation.

** It is impossible to tell everything that happened on this trip. Myra, Maggie and Lisette had several powerful meetings with the women. We were able to offer deep personal ministry to Pastor Oto and his wife, as well as to their daughters. Billy and Lisette encouraged so many of the youth. Danny worked hard praying over people at the altars. And our hearts were broken as we saw the great poverty in El Rosario and Saspan. We poured ourselves out, but God was faithful to minister to us as well.

** As we were traveling to the airport on Monday I was praying about whether I was to come back to Guatemala. The Lord began to stir my heart about a town near El Rosario that I have visited called Chiquimula. I shared this with Pastor Oto and we are now discussing the possibilities of doing a women’s conference in that city. There are many poor women there who carry heavy loads of wood on their heads—and a crushing burden of abuse. I know my work in Guatemala is not finished yet.

** I am always thrilled to minister in Georgia. I feel like I have a spiritual inheritance there because it is my home state. Pastor Rodney Thrift and his wife, Renee, hosted me at Crossway Church in Waycross. Rodney and Renee grew up in this South Georgia town and they have a sincere love for the people. They are committed to the city and they have been working with local pastors to build unity across racial and denominational lines…in a place where Confederate flags still fly in front of houses and churches are very segregated.

** It was great to build relationships with members of Rodney’s church. On Saturday I went on a canoe trip in the Okefenokee Swamp with 8 men from the church. Brandon Duck, one of the young men I am mentoring, came with me and got to know South Georgia culture better. We paddled for 16 miles and had some awesome fellowship (and came home with really sore arms and backs).

** Crossway is a relatively new church but they have been growing consistently and are moving into a bigger sanctuary this month. They have many teenagers and young families in a town where churches are traditional. I taught on Sunday morning about how Jesus broke religious rules by touching the untouchables of society. This is a mandate for Crossway Church—to break through religious and cultural barriers.

** On Sunday night we had a special unity meeting at the El Bethel Church—an older Pentecostal church in the heart of Waycross. Pastor Kenneth Brown opened the doors of his church to the city and we had people from various ministries—including the biggest Hispanic church in Waycross. I preached a message called “It’s Time to Cross the Line” and challenged the churches to be intentional about racial reconciliation.

** At the close of the service three pastors came to the altar to represent the white, black and Hispanic churches of South Georgia. Each of them repented for racism and exclusivity, and then they joined arms to pray for reconciliation. I believe something shifted that night in the heavenly realm. Later many who had been battling discouragement came to the altar and we had an extended time of prophetic ministry. Thank you all for praying for this special weekend!

** I did four sessions on “The Daughter’s Inheritance.” (1) Confidence; (2) Healing; (3) Perseverance; and (4) Authority. In each session the women experienced deeper levels of freedom. During the first session they listed their fears on note cards and brought them up to the altar. Many of them expressed fears of public speaking, but the Lord smashed those fears and challenged His daughters to arise in a new boldness. In the second session we dealt with issues of sexual brokenness, rape, molestation and abuse. Even those who had experienced some healing in the past found new breakthroughs that morning. In the third session we dealt with the labels that people have put on them. And in the fourth session we had an official coronation ceremony as all the women marched down the aisles to the front and allowed the Lord to crown them with His authority, just as Esther was crowned.

** Many of the women told me that could not believe that a man was actually saying these things to them. Although these women enjoy great freedom at Gateway, many of them have been told in previous churches that their gender disqualifies them from ministry. The Lord broke these lies this weekend and released amazing encouragement.

** I had a special experience this weekend when I discovered a display of historic photos in the Mount Hermon dining hall. I learned that Presbyterian Bible teacher Henrietta Mears—who founded the Gospel Light publishing company—taught at Mount Hermon for 33 years until her death in 1963. I wrote about her in my first book because she is an example of a woman who became a spiritual mother for a generation. It was Henrietta Mears who helped launch the ministries of both Billy Graham and Bill Bright. It was an amazing thing to realize that we were standing in the same place where Henrietta Mears taught. It was like we were re-digging a well of revival—and challenging women to follow in that amazing woman’s footsteps. The Lord challenged these women to realize that through mentoring they can also be spiritual mothers to men and women who will change the next generation.

** Here is a special testimony about a woman who came to the conference from another church. This story proves to me that God is in the details of our lives! I will let one of the participants tell this story in her words:

“Thank you, Lee, for giving your time to come all the way to California and minister to our women at The Daughter's Inheritance Conference. There was such a ministry of healing that occurred there that extended beyond the meetings and was present during our meals and other times of fellowship. I want to share one testimony with you, and although it is a unique miracle, it is just one example of what God did during the conference.

“On Friday morning during the prayer time you called out a woman [who was crying at the altar] and you said, ‘This woman needs a mother's hug.’ One of our ministry leaders from Gateway City Church was standing directly behind her but knew that she was not the one who was to give her the hug. The leader of our altar ministry, a beautiful 75-year old woman named Rita, began to make her way towards the woman you had the word of knowledge about. Although this took several minutes due to the crowded altar and the fact that Rita was up on stage, no one else stepped in to give this sister a hug.

“When Rita finally reached her and embraced her, Rita said she felt a powerful anointing. This precious woman wept for several minutes while Rita continued to embrace her. It turns out that this sister’s mother abandoned her as a child, and her mother's name was Rita. To have a true mother named Rita minister to her was a powerful breakthrough of healing. Some may just call this a coincidence, but this woman is forever changed and blessed by the fact that God knew exactly what she needed.”

** A breakthrough occurred on Friday night when I asked the pastors to come to the stage to repent for the way men had treated these women. I always ask the women to keep their eyes open during this time—they need to see the men kneeling on the stage as a visible sign from God of His love and healing. At that point many of the women began to wail as the Lord started draining out the pain of abuse. Some of them collapsed on the floor but we had plenty of prayer ministers to help them. It took a while to pray for all the women who came to the altar, but by the end of the night all had experienced transformation.

** I taught that night about Dinah, the daughter of Jacob who was raped. The saddest part of Dinah’s story is that she is never heard from again after she was abused. Yet Jesus has come to heal the wounded heart and restore her innocence and her voice. We saw God do this in many lives. Ray and I prayed for one woman who told us she had been raped repeatedly by male relatives and even by a stranger. And she had never told anyone about these incidents. The Lord removed this woman’s shame, and He did a similar work in so many others.

** We had a great dance team during the conference and I asked them to do some spontaneous choreography during my message on Saturday. As I was preaching about Esther, and how God is preparing His women for this strategic season, the dancers came to the stage and modeled the new wardrobe that the Holy Spirit is giving women today. It was powerful to see these seven different types of clothes (boldness, emotional healing, forgiveness, wisdom, humility, supernatural anointing, and authority) modeled in a visible way. If you would like the DVD of this teaching you can contact Ray and Renaid at info@VCTchurch.org.

** After the conference I went with my friends Bruce and Aricka Ladebu to Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, to speak at their church—Victory Family Worship Center. Bruce is a great friend and has traveled with me to Guatemala and Indonesia. In a message about the prophet Jonah I challenged the people to refocus their priorities on evangelism.

** This past weekend I was in Tampa, Florida, speaking at a conference led by my Nigerian friends Imena and Chisa Nosamiefan. We had an awesome time in God’s presence and the Lord was releasing encouragement to many women who had become weary and discouraged. There were women there from Jamaica, the Bahamas, Senegal and Nigeria as well as the United States. I love the way the Lord is drawing together so many from diverse ethnic backgrounds for His kingdom purpose.

I will share about the meetings in Wales in a moment. But first I must tell about my visit on Monday to Loughor, Wales, where the Welsh Revival erupted in 1904. I was able to go inside Moriah Chapel, where a young Evan Roberts preached and witnessed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on a group of believers. What happened in those early meetings began to spread until, within a year, up to 100,000 people were converted to Christ. Do it again, Lord!

I feel I touched something holy while I was in Moriah Chapel. I know God does not live in shrines, and the cloud of His presence does not linger over places of revival history. He does not want us to worship the past. He moves on, looking for new hearts to ignite. Yet when I went to Loughor, the message that was preached there was quickened in my memory (I’ve read many accounts of it) and my heart was filled with a longing for the kind of revival that brings holy conviction, deep repentance and thousands of conversions. I did not feel particularly stirred while I was in Moriah Chapel, to be honest; but it began to grow over the course of the next two days. (You can read my column about this experience at www.fireinmybones.com.)

Some highlights of my trip:

** My Welsh friend Carl Brettle, who reminds me of Evan Roberts in many ways, was my host during this trip. In 2004 he mobilized Christians around the world to pray for Wales for 1 million hours. Some significant ministries have been born in Wales since that time, and churches have been strengthened. They still have a long way to go, since few people in Wales today attend church. (The revival died out, partly, because so many men who were saved at that time later were killed in World War I.)

** When I arrived I went to the city of Blackwood for the Impact the Nation conference, which Carl hosts every year. I spoke there three times—twice on God’s heart for evangelism and once on women in ministry. For the most part women still face an uphill battle in Wales, and male chauvinism is subtle but very much alive. However I learned that many women were involved on the front lines of the Welsh revival more than 100 years ago. I intend to research that more in the days ahead. That is a legacy we need to reclaim for Wales.

** During Impact the Nation some were baptized in the Holy Spirit and others repented of running from God’s mission for their lives. I was especially blessed when a young man came to the altar to repent for abusing drugs. I was also able to prophesy over individuals including the pastors of Oasis Christian Center, where the conference was held. We had attendees from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man (I did not realize until this trip that it is a separate country with its own language, Manx) and a few other places.

** On Sunday I preached twice in the morning and once at night at City Temple, a large charismatic church in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Pastor Chris Cartwright and I hit it off immediately. We are now talking about doing a women’s conference next year for women in Wales. In each of the services at City Temple people were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Also in the first service, after I gave an altar call for salvation, a man came from the back of the auditorium to give his life to the Lord in front of the congregation. He had come to the church for the first time and had no friends there, but God met him. Now heaven is rejoicing.

** On Sunday night I did a message called “What Happened to the Power?” and in one segment I shared how Muslims are coming to Christ today in the Middle East because they are having spiritual dreams. After I finished praying with people that night, a young Iranian woman shared with me how she had come to the Lord six years ago because she dreamed about Jesus. He told her she would be a missionary and now she is in training to be one. God is sending Iranians to evangelize Europe!

** On the next evening I spoke at a special meeting called Band of Brothers, a gathering of men in Cardiff. There were men from many countries including Spain, Malaysia, Nigeria, Congo, Zambia, Aruba and New Zealand. I addressed the issue of domestic violence and how men should treat women with Christ-like character. You could hear a pin drop as I talked about how a godly man should serve his wife as an equal.

** On the last day, Carl drove me to Stoke-on-Trent, England, where I recorded three half-hour radio interviews about my book “10 Lies the Church Tells Women” for British audiences. I believe the Lord is opening new doors for this message to spread in Europe.

Thanks so much for your love and support.

** A.J. and I were blessed to have Pastor Mario as our translator during the entire trip. Pastor Alejandro of Ekklesia Church in Oruro was so glad we had been willing to add Oruro to our itinerary because not many outside ministers visit there. He had planned a special meeting that night for all the evangelical churches in the city. When we arrived in the hall, all the pastors were sitting on the front row—and they had asked their wives to sit elsewhere! They did not realize my message that night would be focused on “How to Treat Your Wife.” Needless to say, many men came to the altar that night to repent for abuse and mistreatment—and a few of the pastors also came to the front. Later, when I opened up the altar for the women, they streamed forward to receive prayer for abuse and abandonment. Several also came to the altar for first-time salvations.

** Years ago I told the Lord I would be willing to go to the “out of the way places.” I was reminded of that promise when I as in Oruro. It was not a fun place to visit. The altitude is even higher that La Paz, so both A.J. and I got headaches. The hotel was cold and damp. The spiritual oppression was thick. But after we met pastor Alejandro and his wife Beatriz, and saw their courage and dedication, there was nothing to complain about. They are true heroes. I was able to encourage them a lot, along with the other pastors who attended the meeting. Pastor Alejandro also told me that he plans to do follow-up meetings now to help encourage the pastors to release their wives in ministry so they can combat the machismo spirit in their region. I am ready to go back there now.

** The next day we drove back to La Paz and did two nights of meetings at Ekklesia Church. I focused the first night on empowering the women. After the message I asked all the men in the church to form a prayer tunnel and we prayed for and anointed all the women. It was a powerful time of impartation. On the next night I addressed the men, and we allowed time for personal ministry for any of them who felt they had abuse issues because of the way their fathers treated them. We must have hugged more than 200 men at that altar the second night, and tears flowed freely. It was evident in both of these meetings that the Father is releasing His healing touch on Latin America in a tangible way.

**I was so proud of the way A.J. ministered at the altar. This 24-year-old pastor poured out his heart in each meeting as he prayed and prophesied over people. And he learned so much about ministry just by watching. Probably one of the most rewarding aspects of these trips is being able to mentor and train younger leaders like A.J. so that they can take this message much farther than I can. We must invest in the next generation!

** I preached in both services on Sunday morning, and the second service was televised in several places including Spain. I preached a message called “Jesus Broke the Walls”—about how Jesus broke the barriers of racism, gender prejudice, economic injustice and the generation gap. I emphasized the economic barriers because Bolivia is very divided right now between socialists and capitalists, and between the poorer indigenous population and the wealthy people from a Spanish background. Pastor Alberto has been involved in trying to bring healing to his nation at a time of intense political tension. He felt this was the word of the Lord for Bolivia at this time and he said he would be airing the message on television throughout the next week.

** There seems to be a strong grace for evangelism on me right now. It seemed to begin a few months ago and something kicked in during July when I started watching some videos of old Billy Graham crusades. It was obvious on Sunday morning when I preached in both services at Ekklesia Church. When I gave an invitation for salvation, dozens of people responded in both services. In the second service we hardly had enough room at the altar to accommodate all the people who needed counseling and follow-up.

** On Monday we flew to Cochabamba, a city that has the highest rate of violence against women in Bolivia. We fell in love with Pastor Zacharias and his wife, Estella, and his staff. I did a special meeting with his leaders that afternoon and then an evening service about “Breaking the Power of Machismo.” We were supposed to be there only one night, but our trip to Sucre was canceled because of strikes at the airport so this allowed us to stay two nights in Cochabamba. Pastor Zacharias was thrilled that we got to invest in his congregation another night. I did a prophetic meeting that second night and I was able to encourage a lot of his leaders. We also saw several people saved and a large number were baptized in the Spirit. Also on that last night, I asked A.J. to pray for all the teenagers. After he did that, parents began to bring their smaller children to him for prayer. Before the night was over he was praying for about 50 children and many of them were falling on the floor, overcome by the Holy Spirit’s power. It was so awesome to see how spiritually hungry these kids were—even some as young as five or six.

** On Thursday after we returned to La Paz, A.J. flew home to Florida and I flew to Bogota, Colombia, to speak at a women’s conference there. This was like a reunion because the other speakers included my friends Naomi Dowdy, Igna Suarez, Susan Combs, Esther Millian and Hispanic recording artist Kristy Motta from Guatemala. We also had a guest appearance from Danilo Montero, who used to live in Orlando. There were about 2,500 women at this event and they were so hungry. I preached three times even though I was exhausted when I arrived in Bogota. The Lord supplied the grace. I also preached on Sunday morning at Iglesia Filadelphia, and again I saw many come to the altar to make first-time decisions for Christ that day.

** If you would like to see photos of my Bolivia trip, they are posted on my Facebook page. (If you are not on Facebook, join me there! It is a great way to network.)