** 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.)

** God’s grace was on us for sure. We flew 20 hours to get there, and our bags did not arrive with us, but when Pastor Francois and his wife, Ansa, met us at the airport they took us shopping to buy toiletries and extra clothes. So we had a great bonding experience from the first day.

** The “Living Bravely” women’s conference was awesome. About 1,400 women attended for two days and I preached five times, packing as much as possible into those sessions. Several of the women leaders at Hatfield had spent months preparing for the conference and it was bathed in prayer. A victory had already been secured. Besides women from Hatfield, there were attendees from all over South Africa and from other countries including Rwanda. The women were like sponges, ready to receive all they could from God.

** On the first night there was a time of emotional and physical healing at the altar after I preached about the women with the issue of blood from Mark 5. The presence of the Lord was amazing during that ministry time and I know He was doing miracles in bodies and in wounded souls. I asked Pastor Francois and other men from the church to come on stage with me to kneel before the women and repent for the treatment of South Africa’s women. (By the way, you may not know that white women in South Africa did not get the right to vote until 1930; black women didn’t get that right until 1994.)

** The other speaker at the conference was Dr. Mimikie Molapo, a black educator whose husband is a pastor and business leader in South Africa. She offered a lot of practical help to the women regarding marriage and family. It was beautiful to see the racial mix in the conference---a perfect blend of white, black and other ethnic backgrounds—in a country that has been so divided by race in the past.

** On Saturday night I spoke on “Becoming a Dangerous Woman” and there was a sense of excitement from the first moment of that service. During the altar ministry time, all the women ran to the front to receive prayer for courage and boldness. God was breaking them free from fear and intimidation. At the end I asked the Sotho and Zulu women to release their African war cries and then everyone began to dance African style—including all the white Afrikaans women! It was a glorious time and no one wanted to stop. Pastor Francois’ wife, Ansa, was on the stage dancing with the black women, and she then brought up some of the Bible college students who had attended the conference. It was like heaven on earth for a few hours.

** I started getting feedback about the conference immediately. Ansa told me that this message of biblical women’s empowerment has not really been preached in South Africa, at least not to this group, so it was groundbreaking. When I got home I read this message from a woman who is in a key role in the government: “I just wanted to thank you for the inspiration that you brought to this conference. I have had a passion for a couple of years now to minster to women: To actually train and empower women. God is birthing this inside of me, and I am trusting Him for open doors. I currently work for the U.S. government in Pretoria, South Africa. Years of administrative and financial training have now come to a head, and I believe God is going to use my skills and knowledge for something bigger to glorify His kingdom.”

** I know that every woman who came to this event has a similar story. South Africa is in a strategic season right now, and it is time for the women to rise up and claim their territory. God sent this word to them at the right moment. One lady from Rwanda told me that her husband is an Anglican pastor and that their bishop was sending them to a very poor area to lead a church. She had been afraid of this assignment but God gave her the courage to embrace it as she listened to me talk about the fearless women in China who have been persecuted for their faith. God is sending His women on the front lines!

** Meredith was really encouraged during this trip too. Some of the young people from Hatfield hosted her and took her to see some local sites. She also went with me to Abba House, a ministry that is rescuing babies that have been abandoned. We held babies in our arms that had been left in drainage pipes and on doorsteps. Meredith also got to attend a church for homeless people that Hatfield sponsors in a poor area of Johnnesburg.

** I spoke at Hatfield on Sunday morning. There were least 4,000 people there I think. I spoke about how Jonah ran from God, and then gave an opportunity for people who have been running from their callings to come to the altar and repent. I was amazed to see how many responded—many were in tears as they turned from selfishness and reclaimed our mission to reach a lost world. There were also about eight people who came to the altar to be saved—including a woman who came to church for the first time. She boldly walked to the front of the auditorium in front of that huge crowd and gave her life to Christ. That is the greatest miracle of all --- seeing conversions makes these long trips worth all the hassles of losing sleep and luggage!

** A personal highlight for me on this trip was building a friendship with Pastor Francois van Niekerk. He leads this huge church but is such a humble servant. He is truly setting a new standard of leadership for his nation and for the global church. We spent a lot of time together, talking about the crises that Christians in both our countries are facing. After the conference, Francois and Ansa took Meredith and I on a trip to Pilansberg Game Reserve, two hours from Pretoria. We shared meals and rode around the reserve where we saw elephants, rhino, hippos, impala, zebra, wildebeest and many other animals. It reminded me of how much our God has deposited in the continent of Africa. So much is waiting to be discovered and unleashed. I am blessed to see the way He is moving today in this amazing place!

*** At the Nigerian church, Jesus House in Silver Spring, Md., I spoke at a women’s conference. I loved working with Pastor Omo Ghandi-Oloaye and her team. My heart was knit with these folks immediately because of my previous trips to Nigeria. They fed me moin moin (mashed black-eyed peas) and jollof rice—my favorite Nigerian dishes. We also had quite a time dancing. On Sunday morning I was drenched when the service was over!

*** The highlight was on Saturday evening when I zeroed in on the issue of marriage. From Numbers 36 I ministered on the story of the daughters of Zelophehad, and how they had to marry within their tribe in order to keep their inheritance. This is a crucial message for women who truly want to serve in ministry. They must marry within their tribe! If they marry a man who is not a Christian, or who does not believe women can be in ministry, these women could forfeit their dreams. This is crucial in the Nigerian church because there is so much pressure on women to marry by a certain age. I was able to pray for many single women who were being tempted to marry a man who was not God’s best choice for them.

*** By the end of the weekend the women were begging me to come back and minister to the men in the congregation. This is because Nigerian men can be very dominant, and they are not used to hearing preachers speak about treating your wife with respect or empowering her for her ministry. I am told that I will be getting an invitation to come back soon!

*** I then jumped from Nigerian culture to Russian culture. Did anyone else know that there are more than 600,000 Russians in Philadelphia? I spent the weekend at Word of Life Church, which is led by Pastor Nickolai Novik. He escaped to the U.S. from Belarus when it reverted to communism a few years ago. His son, Alex, and another young man, Gennady, have become dear friends of mine and I was there to perform Gennady’s wedding. Gennady has traveled with me to Peru, Bolivia and Nigeria.

*** Russian weddings are long affairs—this was lasted from 10 am. until almost 6 p.m! Everything I said in the wedding ceremony was translated into Russian. Alina was a beautiful bride. After the wedding I went to Gennady’s brother’s home, where we had an impromptu prayer meeting with some of the church’s youth. They are so hungry for God and I was able to prophesy over all of them.

*** On Sunday I did both morning and evening services. In the Russian Pentecostal community there are a lot of tensions between generations—over culture and traditions. Older believers don’t really trust American influences (can you blame them?) and the young people don’t want to speak Russian or do things the Russian way. So on Sunday night we had a powerful move of God. I talked about generational conflicts and then had the young people come to the front of the church and spread out in a long line. There must have been more than 150 of them. Then I asked the older folks to stand in front of them, and they prayed for each other for a long time. It was a powerful time of healing and a rift was repaired.

*** Later that night I had an altar call for those who wanted to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Many came forward and there was a powerful time of ministry. During that time a Russian Jewish girl who was visiting for the first time asked Jesus to be her Savior! Also another visiting Russian man gave his heart to the Lord at the altar. I prophesied over many people in the church that night, including several of the youth leaders. It is obvious that God is moving among these Russian youth and He plans to use them to reach the United States.

** The Lord put together an amazing team for this conference. The speakers were Igna Suarez, an apostolic leader from Colombia; Milagros Aguayo, who pastors with her husband, Guillermo, in Peru; Mercedes Dalton, leader of the Global Alliance ministry in El Salvador; Andrea Francisco, a preacher and worship leader from Argentina; me; and the conference hosts, Jimmy and Aida Cornejo, who pastor the 4,000-member Centro Cristiano in Cuenca. Igna also brought her assistant, Susan Combs, an American missionary who was worked in Colombia for many years.

** Up to 2,000 people attended the sessions, which ran from Thursday night until Sunday. Many men came even though it was billed as a women’s event—because the men are hungry for God and they also want to change their view of women. We addressed the terrible condition of women in Ecuador and offered healing to them as well as teaching to help shift people’s mindsets about gender issues. Xavier, who runs the church’s tape ministry, said a record-breaking number of people were ordering the CDs from this conference.

** The altars were often jammed with women who came to be healed from a poor self-image, from the wounds of abuse, or from the lack of love from their fathers. So many women in Ecuador have suffered from rape, molestation and domestic violence. But the presence of the Lord was tangible in every session as He came to touch His daughters and heal them from the pain they have endured for years.

** What blessed me most about this event was the fact that the speakers all have experienced terrible abuse—and yet they have risen above the pain to become healers. One of the speakers was molested when she was five. Another was rejected by her father. One was raped by a young man in a gang. Yet today these women are mobilizing an army of compassion to reform Latin America. It is a beautiful testimony of God’s grace.

** It truly felt like we were on the verge of a revolution as the messages came forth. It was amazing how each speaker’s message built on the previous sermon. On Saturday I preached a message called “Donde Estan Las Reformadoras?” (“Where Are the Women Reformers?”) in which I challenged them from the Bible and from history to change society. It was obvious that God is empowering Latin American women to shift to a new level. When the women came forward in that session to be set free from the fear of speaking out, the Holy Spirit sent a wave of His fire.

** Women came from as far away as Quito, Ecuador’s capital, and from some rural areas as well as from the largest city, Guayaquil. Also on Saturday, just before I spoke, Aida invited a famous young woman named Cristina to give her testimony. Cristina has been in a wheelchair all her life, with no use of her legs. But after she spoke out against discrimination of Ecuador’s physically-challenged community she was elected to political office, even though she is only 22. Now she is being used as an agent for change in the country. I was able to prophesy over her—and she was very intrigued by what God was saying to her. We talked further about it during a dinner with the speakers on Sunday. Pray for this amazing young woman, who is seeking God for a full revelation of His love for her.

** The Lord handpicked my translator for this event, as He always does. This time it was the church’s youth pastor, Gabriel. I believe he will be taking this message all over his country. He also prayed for me to learn Spanish quickly so that one day soon I can preach fluently. It is awesome to see how God is raising up a new breed of men in Latin America today. They are strong in God but they want to be loving servants of their wives rather than tyrannical overlords.

** We are now forming an alliance of like-minded ministers who are addressing the problem of machismo in Latin America. I am really honored to be a part of this team with Igna, Milagros, Jimmy, Aida, Andrea and Mercedes. We are planning the next regional conference for Lima, Peru, in mid-March 2009.

** We had about 900 women at the African Woman Arising conference. They heard about the event through billboards, radio ads, magazine ads and church announcements. The conference was unique because most events of this kind are sponsored by one church and attended by members of that church. Interdenominational conferences are rare in Lagos, so we were breaking ground by uniting men and women from different churches. Each day a different praise team led the worship, and different pastors and their wives hosted the sessions. It was an awesome time of building bridges between ministries.

** All the speakers and the ministry team made it to Lagos safely, even though my baggage did not arrive with me—and neither did Barbara Wentroble’s. (In light of eternity, that was no big deal! We both got our bags a day later.) We had about 27 people on the ministry team from the U.S. and Canada, and these folks were real troopers. They never complained once even though we had to deal with Lagos traffic, African time delays, intense heat, power outages, bugs, thin mattresses, unusual food, miscommunication, thick accents and cultural differences. The love of God kept us in the Spirit and I was so proud of everyone who came to serve. I am especially grateful to Charlie Daniels, who volunteered to serve as the stateside conference administrator. He kept us all sane even when things seemed chaotic.

** Our local conference team in Lagos made the women feel so loved. My dear friends Jackson and Yinka Ekwugun, editors of Lifeway magazine, were the main conference coordinators. They took the designs that we made for the conference and printed beautiful gift bags for each attendee, and the bags had a notebook, a pen, a conference badge, a program and meal tickets. Dozens of women ushers from various churches showed the women to their seats and kept everything in order. Lunch was provided every day and it gave the women plenty of time for fellowship and interaction.

** Each day the presence of God was in our midst to heal, empower and restore. Each speaker had a relevant word and the women (and many men) took every message to heart. Barbara Wentroble electrified the audience with her prophetic teaching about Saul’s lowly concubine Rizpah, whose name means “pavement” (2 Sam. 3:7). Barbara challenged the women to rise above their circumstances and view themselves as overcomers. Each time Naomi Dowdy opened the Word she broke old mindsets of tradition and culture. My Nigerian mentor Mosy Madugba had the women jumping and shouting as he taught on what happens when women pray. Remi Ogunrinde, a Nigerian pastor living in Canada, reminded the women that this is the prophetic hour for Nigerian women to arise and seize their divine mandate. And Funke Adejumo, a pastor from Nigeria, offered some practical teaching on “Seven Relationships You Must Have to Grow as a Leader.”

** In one of my sessions I taught on the parable of the woman who put yeast in the dough, from Luke 13. I explained that Jesus, in His teaching, affirmed women by using domestic imagery. In this parable He foreshadowed the day when women would be empowered to preach the gospel all over the world. On Saturday I also got to tag-team a sermon with Mosy Madugba on “The Father’s Heart for His Daughters.” After that session the floodgates opened and many women came to the altar to be healed from mistreatment, rejection and emotional abandonment. In Nigerian culture, many fathers reject their daughters because they prefer sons. The Lord came in a powerful way during our conference to heal women from the effects of this crippling mindset.

** It was as if the Lord prepared a banquet for these women, and they feasted on the Word for three days. By the last day they were begging Yinka to schedule another conference next year. She was getting text messages each night from women who said their lives were forever changed. Mindsets were shifted. Old wounds were healed. Many women were able to forgive the men who had hurt them. And they shared their revelations with friends so that people were buzzing about the conference. In many ways it felt as if God had sparked a revolution that will spread throughout the country.

** This was my seventh visit to Nigeria and I wondered while I was there, “Lord, seven is the number of completion. Is my time here finished?” But the Lord told me that in this case, seven simply means, “The foundation is laid.” I have never felt such a burden for a nation, and I know I will be going back. In fact while I was in the conference some of my Nigerian friends gave me my new Yoruba name: “Akinwale,” which means, “the warrior has come home.” Nigeria is my second home when I am there.

** There is so much more work to be done in Nigeria. Current laws do not safeguard women who are beaten by their husbands. In fact I met a woman in our conference who has tried to run a domestic shelter. But the police have actually arrested her for hiding a woman who had been put in a coma by her abusive husband! I am convinced that the key to change in Nigeria is in the hands of Christian women. They will rise up and bring reformation as they are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Please pray that what began in Lagos in March 2008 will spread like a holy fire!

** After the conference, all of the speakers spoke in different churches on Sunday. I spoke at House of Grace Church in Lagos, pastored by Omar and Jane Pela. Jane is one of the leading worship artists in Nigeria. I shared a groundbreaking message at their church about how men are to treat their wives with respect, dignity and affection.

** The next day I took Charlie Daniels and four other Americans to Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, to speak at a smaller women’s conference organized by Pastor Eunice Enujuba. I helped launch Eunice into ministry six years ago when I first visited the city of Port Harcourt. Today she has a thriving church and also a ministry called Women of Substance, a network of women who are in government, church leadership, business and the arts. Our meeting in Abuja was incredible. It seemed like when I spoke there, sparks were falling on gasoline. The women were so hungry for a word from the Lord. The first night I preached on Hannah’s persistence in birthing a reformation. On the second night I gave them a mandate when I preached a message called “Where Are the Women Reformers?” They took the challenge and they seem eager to work to reform their country for Jesus Christ. Charlie, Ruthanne, Valerie, Terry and Donna served as a dynamic ministry team during that event. One of the women in the meeting was Liz Benson, a well-known Nollywood actress who became a Christian a few years ago. Another woman named Deyo, who is a professional emcee and media host, was so touched by the first night’s message about Hannah that she wrote a song about the sermon and sang it in the meeting!

** It seemed that everywhere we went on this journey God was opening new doors to Africa. One female pastor in Lagos who has a burden for French-speaking nations has asked me to come with her to do conferences in Benin, Togo and Congo. The women in Abuja want to do a full-scale African Woman Arising conference in their city soon. There are other doors opening in Liberia, Ghana and Uganda. My dream is that what began in Lagos this month will spread to every African nation. Also, I was able to strengthen many relationships with my Nigerian friends including Pastor Ladi Thompson (who I hope to partner with in doing ministry in northern Nigeria), Miracle (my son in the Lord who I helping to get into Emmanuel College in the U.S.) and Kelechi, a brave evangelist who is reaching dangerous militants for Jesus in southeastern Nigeria.

** In Abuja, a Nigerian woman named Obii Pax-Harry came to the conference on the second night. She had heard about the meeting from her friend Deyo. This woman, who was based in England for years, released a prophecy on the Elijah List several months ago in which she said that God was going to begin something unusual with the women of Nigeria in March 2008. Barbara Wentroble and I had seen this prophecy recently, after we had planned the AWA conference. When I talked with Obii in Abuja she was ecstatic because she felt the meetings we were involved in were the fulfillment of the word she received from the Lord. God had all this planned in His perfect timing!

** Many of you have asked if I got all the money needed for the conference. I want to offer thanks to the Lord for that. He came through in an amazing way. One month before the conference, when I still needed more than $17,000, a widow sent me $25 and included a note saying that she had prayed for the gift to multiply. She said she felt God told here there would be “more than enough” and that we would have “12 baskets full left over.” I am not sure how much money is in 12 baskets, but I can testify that God met every need! I am still paying some leftover bills and the money has not run out yet. While we were in Lagos, Funke Adejumo took up a surprise offering and it covered all the expenses on the Nigerian side of the event. Meanwhile people sent funds to me from near and far and every expense is covered. I stand amazed at the Lord’s goodness.

Thank you all for your prayers and partnership.

** Pastor Andy Byrd and I preached for three days at the Bless Bihar Conference after arriving in Patna, in the north Indian state of Bihar. Two intercessors from Florida, Maureen and Jackie, joined us for this portion of the trip and helped with prayer ministry. They also taught the women in a separate session. About 300 pastors and young church leaders took part in these times of encouragement, training and empowerment.

** All the teaching was great, but the best part of this conference was the tangible love of God that was so evident. Every morning when we arrived at the retreat center we would hug almost every person in the conference. Most of the people at the event were Dalits, or “untouchables,” yet our constant affirmation was healing for them. God broke our hearts with His compassion for these precious people who have been at the bottom of the Hindu caste system. The Lord is tearing down this cruel system of lies today.

** In one session with the men, more than 60 publicly confessed to abusing their wives. This is a serious problem in India, so it was encouraging to see these men weeping at the altar in deep repentance. Meanwhile the women in Bihar tend to be very timid and withdrawn. By the end of the three days we could see a new boldness and confidence rising in them.

** Our host, Pastor Biju Thomas, has been working hard to reach Bihar, which is one of the least evangelized states in India. His church sponsors a home for 15 orphan boys. I am praying about helping Biju and his wife start a similar home for girls. Because of the discrimination against women in India, girls are at a serious disadvantage educationally and this makes it harder for women to emerge as leaders. I believe The Mordecai Project can help change this situation in many parts of India.

** From Patna we flew to Hyderabad and then drove to Warangal with members of Rev. Harry Gomes’ team. Harry was doing a city-wide crusade in the city, and he arranged for me to speak at a two-day women’s conference in the mornings. About 600 women crammed into a Baptist church, and on the second day an additional 200 gathered outside the building to listen through the windows because there were not enough seats. On that second day, about 400 women were baptized in the Spirit at one time! It reminded me of what happened in the house of Cornelius in Acts 10.

** I spoke at the crusade that Tuesday night, and Harry asked me to pray for the sick that evening. Harry said about 50,000 were in the crowd. Normally after Harry preaches he kneels on the stage and prays for various diseases to be healed. He let me do this because he wanted to encourage me to move out in the miraculous. It was an amazing time and my faith was stretched. I prayed for about 15 minutes, and then people began to line up and testify about various healings. One lady said her entire left side had been paralyzed but she now felt normal. Tumors vanished, pains went away and so many other miracles happened. The testimonies lasted for an hour.

** Andy and I both received so much from Harry Gomes. He models Christlike humility and has an incredible prayer life. We asked him a million questions and received a lot of mentoring. On Wednesday we traveled to his home base, Coimbatore, where we visited his boys’ home and then spoke at a pastors’ conference. Again I challenged the pastors to treat their wives with dignity and respect—and to view them as equals. When I challenged them to repent of abuse, many came to the altar even though their wives were in the auditorium. One of the pastors told me that the subject of wife abuse is never addressed publicly in India. We felt we were a part of history. I know the message we preached there will spread.

** I hope to partner with Harry Gomes to launch a girls’ home and school similar to the one he has for boys. In Coimbatore, people in one area routinely kill baby girls after birth because they believe female children will suffer too much if they live. When I learned this I was stirred to the core. We must do whatever we can to stop this genocide.

** Andy and I were exhausted when we flew from India to Australia on Feb. 17. I had misunderstood the schedule of the conference in Sydney, so when I landed there at 7:30 a.m. I discovered that I was preaching in the 9:30 a.m service at Penrith Christian Life Centre. Yikes! It was a stretching experience but the Lord gave me grace that day and throughout the event. I preached five times that week and it was a life-changing week for everyone.

** Penrith Christian Life Center, pastored by Jack and Carol Hanes, is an amazing church. They are totally committed to planting churches in the developing world, and in 2007 they planted more than 700 churches in India. My heart was knit to Pastor Jack and the other speakers who came from the U.S., Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India. I taught a message about the importance of releasing women for the harvest, and the Aussie women were overwhelmingly inspired. I believe God is mobilizing the women Down Under to head to the mission field.

** We had a very special moment on Thursday when I spoke on the importance of reaching our Samarias—the places near us that are culturally or racially different. At the end I invited an Indian brother, Philip, to come the stage. He is a Dalit, and he had shared with me a horrible story about how he had been treated in India. Some people of a different caste had told him that he would have to wash the floor where he walked because he contaminated it with his “untouchable” feet. I washed Philip’s feet in front of the crowd and asked God to heal him from the rejection caused by the caste system. There wasn’t a dry eye in that place that day. The Lord poured out His compassion for those who have been marginalized or mistreated, and the Aussies were also challenged to reach the Aborigine population in their country. (Just before we arrived in Australia, the national government issued an apology to the Aborigines for their mistreatment during the early days of Australia’s history.)

Thanks to all of you for praying for me and my family. I have posted photos of my trip on my Facebook page. If you are on Facebook please tag me so that you can have access to my page. Also, I wrote three columns about my trip and they are available on my blog, fireinmybones.com.