The LORD Will Provide

Stephen Burke "Cities of Refuge" Interview on 10/28/2011

2011-11-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

http://somethingbeautifulpodcast.com/podcast/stephen-burke-4-34/

More Than Dreams - Khalil's Journey to Jesus

2011-10-05T16:29:00.000-07:00

Click on title to view this powerful dramatic story of a Muslim man assigned to write a book that discredits the Bible, but he finds Jesus instead.

D.L. Moody and the Holy Spirit

2011-10-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

D.L. Moody was a successful minister but by his own admission later, he lacked the power in his ministry. One day two women came up to him after a service. They said,

"We have been praying for you."

"Why don't you pray for the people?" he asked.

"Because you need the power of the Spirit," they said.

"I need the power! Why," said Mr. Moody, in relating the incident years after, "I thought I had power. I had the largest congregations in Chicago, and there were many conversions.”

Moody also said that in a sense, he was satisfied. He was in a comfort zone. But these two praying women rocked the boat. They told him that they were praying for an anointing by the Holy Spirit for D.L. to have a special service to God. He could not get this off his mind and he said, “There came a great hunger in my soul. I did not know what it was and I began to cry out to God as never before. I felt I did not want to live if I could not have this power for service”.

After the great fire of Chicago, DL was working to raise money to rebuild a tabernacle. He said his heart was not into it because he kept crying out to God to fill him. He withdrew and prayed during a visit to New York to raise money and he cried that God would fill him with His Spirit. DL describes it this way:

“Well, one day, in the city of New York -- oh, what a day! -- I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name. Paul had an experience of which he never spoke for fourteen years. I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths, and yet hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience if you should give me all the world -- it would be as the small dust of the balance.”

Jesus Heals A Demon-Possessed Boy

2011-07-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy
Matthew 17:14-20

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

A Muslim Cries Out To Jesus

2011-06-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gccio1vE41M&feature=share

The Old Cross And The New - A W Tozer (1946)

2011-03-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique—a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrillseeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross. The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends, He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him.

What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.

Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power.

Season Of Grace

2011-02-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

It was spring 2008 and I felt God was wanting me to travel to Minnesota to visit a couple I had heard about from a friend here in Texas. I felt God wanted me to go there to encourage them, but I was waiting for a confirmation from Giod. Within a few weeks I received a call from a prophetic friend of mine who lives in Virginia. His name is Brian. "Steve, is God talking to you about Minnesota?" "Yes!" I exclaimed. "Me, too!" Brian said, "We need to go!" God then gave us clear timing for the trip which turned out to be August 2008.We arrived at the airport in Minneapolis/St. Paul and met our new Minnesotan friends, Denny and JoAnna. God had sent us there to encourage them and accomplish two other assignments including anointing the headwaters of the Mississippi River with salt and oil. The next day Denny took us to Lake Itasca which is where the Mississippi River is born. We were about to pray as we stood near the headwaters of the Mississippi when Denny began to share some things that God had been showing him."God has been telling me that we are coming into a 'Season of Grace'. A time when we will see things improve. For example, gas right now is over $4.00 a gallon. It will come down to around $2.00 a gallon. We will also see the financial crisis that we are going through right now, settle down and some people will think we're going to get through this like we always have." Shaking his head and with seriousness in his voice Denny continued, "God is telling me, 'No.' He is showing me that this Season of Grace will last for 30 months. When the Season of Grace ends, the things we are now seeing will come back worse than they are now." Brian and I nodded our heads and we began to pray.After we prayed, Brian anointed the headwaters of the Mississippi. From there we headed o the parking lot to begin our drive to back to Denny's home. At that time (August 2008) Brian had an 8-month old baby at home and as we were walking back to the car, Brian noticed a woman with a tiny baby in her arms. "Oh, what a pretty baby!" Brian exclaimed. "Is your baby a boy or a girl?" The mother responded, "A girl." "She's beautiful! How old is she?" Brain asked. "8 weeks old." replied the mother. "I have an 8-month old at home." Brian said with a big smile." Brian asked, "What's her name?" The mother responded, "Her name is... Season Grace." Brian's jaw hit the ground. "What's her name?" An utterly shocked Brian asked again to confrim what he just heard. Again the mother said, "Season Grace."

God had just signed His name to the information we had just heard.

I originally published this on my blog in January 2010. January 2011 marked the end of the 30-month season of grace. The uprising in Egypt began in January and has now spread across the Middle East. Gas prices have begun to climb. We must stay close to the LORD... He is our refuge. We must pray and ask Him what He wants us to do as individuals, as families and as churches.

Colton Burpo: Glimpses of Heaven

2011-02-21T21:35:00.000-08:00

Colton Burpo: Glimpses of Heaven

Stephen Burke Interview January 2011

2011-01-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

I invite you to listen to this interview filled with the latest information regarding the challenging times that are coming that I did with Rick Bell in the first part of January 2011. To listen simply click on the title above.

An End Times Ministry

2010-12-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

Stephen Burke worked for 18 years in advertising and public relations before
God called him out of his chosen profession in 2004 to begin a ministry
named The LORD Will Provide. The initial call began as he came alongside
those who were called of God in Guatemala, but as time progressed the LORD
made it clear that Stephen’s ministry was not a typical missions and church
planting ministry. The ministry that God started through Stephen was an End
Times ministry.

In 2008, God unexpectedly gave Stephen a 2-hour download of information
about what was coming for America and the world. Since then, Stephen’s work
has been actively involved in connecting with and creating Cities of Refuge
around the globe. Stephen is led by the Holy Spirit to many places and
people who are answering this End Times call. Some Cities of Refuge are
houses, some are farms, some are underground, some are communities, and some are entire countries . These Cities of Refuge are areas much like Goshen
was for the Ancient Israelites as they were in captivity in Egypt during the
time of the 10 plagues. While Egypt was suffering the consequences of these
plagues, the Israelites were preserved and protected. During the
challenging times that are coming God will provide Cities of Refuge around
the globe in which He will supernaturally protect and provide for His chosen
ones.

Please listen to "Challenging Times Ahead" at www.theLORDwillprovide.org

A Time Is Coming

2010-12-13T23:50:00.001-08:00

I was in Honduras (Central America) praying one night in December 2007. The LORD said, "Today people from this part of the world are trying to get to the United States, but a time is coming when people in the United Staes will be wanting to come here."

Sid Roth - It's Supernatural Messianic Vision: Joel Richardson 2010

2010-11-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

Sid Roth - It's Supernatural Messianic Vision: Joel Richardson 2010

God Touched Me In Kansas City

2010-08-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

It was an amazing few days at IHOP-KC. I attended the Joseph Company's "Rebuilding The Cities" Conference Augsut 8-11 which was about cities of refuge. I spent Sunday afternoon in the Prayer Room where the LORD told me two things. 1) "Today (August 8, 2010) would be an important day for you" and 2) "Your name is now Stephen."

The Conference began Sunday evening with worship and an overview of the End Times rooted in Scripture. During this presentation one of the founders of IHOP came in. He is a business guy who God has blessed substantially to purchase the IHOP buildings over the years... since the beginning. His name is Bob Hartley.

He was not planning on attending the first night, but God had a word that He wanted Bob to release. The Conference leader invited Bob to come forward and share what God had laid on his heart.

"There are some of you here today whom God is moving from striiving to your inheritance". This was significant to me because a 90-year old woman in Texas had given me a word just 10 days earlier that God was about to give me my inheritance. It would come shockingly. Bob shared a story of a plantation owner from the civil war times who wanted to give one of his slaves his entire plantation becasue he saw the slave as his own son. However, the laws would not permit it. The slave grew from a boy to a man and the laws changed after the civil war. The owner invited the slave into the house and gave him the property. That night they slept and the former owner came downstairs the next morning to find the slave sleeping on the floor in the corner as he had done for years as a slave in his own slave house.

God is moving some of you from being a servant to your inheritance. "Is there a Stephen here?" I raised my hand. "God has provided for you uniquely and you have shared how he has down this with many others. He is your Provider. I don't know what you are goung through right now, but He is your provider. Does this mean anything to you?"

"Yes, thats the name of my ministry." I was called to the front of the room. "God says He is giving you the Temple... He is giving you the Temple... He is giving you the Temple. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Yes... I live in Temple, Texas."

Bob continued, "Today is your birthday. Today, August 8, 2010 is your Birthday." "I knew it would be a significant day for me." Bob asked, "Is today your actual Birthday?" "No," I replied.

He prayed some more and then said, "October 29th."

"That's my Birthday," I said.

God had touched me deeply and I can say that since that moment my life... even my spiritual life has changed.

An Urgent Call for Massive Intercession by Cindy Jacobs

2010-07-26T09:26:00.001-07:00

Cindy Jacobs:

An Urgent Call for Massive Intercession

Dear Believers in Christ,

A few days ago as I watched a news business channel, I received the
following word from the Lord. As you can tell, it's a serious warning. I
know the nation is in a delicate condition now, but I believe that I need to
send this word out. I ran it by Chuck Pierce and he said that it fits with
what he has been hearing, only more specific on the economic side.

This is a wake up and it's so strong.

A Serious Warning and a Call for Urgent Prayer

A warning received from the Lord on July 17, 2010 in Dallas, Texas:

A few days ago as I watched the financial news, the Lord clearly spoke these
words to me, "The nation is teetering!" I then had a vision of the economy
of the United States, on what looked like a "scale of justice." He then went
on to show me that we must fast, pray and cry out to the Lord for mercy and
solutions that will balance righteousness and justice.

In praying to the Lord for wisdom about this word, I realized what must be
done—it is time for the Church in America to stand up and take her place
once again in the nation. I mulled over the fact that we have already lost
so many of our liberties and this is what I heard, "If the Church doesn't
fast and pray for a faster acceleration of revival and awakening, the
iniquitous sin structures in the nation will tip the scale that is teetering
and there will be another great depression."

Of course, this word shook me to the core of my being. Many of you may be
aware that the Holy Spirit spoke to me almost a year before the September
2008 economic melt down, that there would be "no more business as usual."

The balance of the economy is fragile and depending on the way we fast,
pray, and how we cast our votes in the next election will depend on which
way the scale tips. We must pray and do. We must pray and act. We must
awaken the Church to the state of the nation without fear of pleasing man or
fear for our reputation.

God is watching to see which way the die will be cast. If we shift the
nation to Biblical values in the arenas of righteousness and justice, the
economy will follow. If we continue in our stance of support for Israel, the
Stock Market will stabilize and prosper, and that which is fragile will
become strong. Supernatural solutions will be sent from Heaven that our
natural minds could never reason, nor grasp and they will heal the land.

If we do not heed in this hour there will be a tumbling of our economy and
dark days will be ahead to such a degree that our nation will possibly never
fully recover from and have the greatness as a nation that God has favored
us with for generations.

God have mercy. God send an awakening. God send salvation.

Cindy Jacobs
Generals International

Turning The Tide

2010-07-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

What happens when a nation violates the laws of God? In this powerful message, Dr. Stanley explains what happens when people govern themselves based on preference rather than the principles of God.

http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/video-archives/content/topic/turning_the_tide

N.Y. Congressman Calls for Inquiry Into Funding of Mosque Near Ground Zero

2010-07-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Published July 12, 2010
Associated Press

May 25: Community members both for and against the plan to build a mosque and cultural center near Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan speak during board meeting.

NEW YORK -- The ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee said Monday he favors an investigation into the funding of a proposed mosque near ground zero.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Rep. Peter King raised concerns about the sources of funding for the proposed $100 million mosque, just blocks away from the site of the Sept. 11 attacks, where nearly 3,000 Americans died at the hands of Islamic terrorists.

"It's a house of worship, but we are at war with al-Qaida," King told the AP. "I think the 9/11 families have a right to know where the funding comes from; I think there are significant questions."

The mosque is a project of the American Society for Muslim Advancement and the Cordoba Institute, which promotes cross-cultural understanding between Islam and the West. Cordoba's director, Imam Faisel Abdul Rauf, has refused to disclose the sources of funding for the mosque and once suggested in a television interview that U.S. policies contributed to the 9/11 attacks.

King's views differ sharply from those of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said Monday it would be un-American to investigate the mosque. Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent, has backed the mosque since the project came under development, as do numerous other community and political leaders including Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic nominee for governor.

King is a supporter of Republican Rick Lazio's campaign for governor. Lazio opposes the mosque and has called on Cuomo to look into its funding. Lazio was scheduled to testify Tuesday on the mosque at a hearing of the New York City Landmarks Commission.

Cuomo has said he would investigate the mosque if there is evidence of wrongdoing or criminal behavior but that no such evidence has been put forth.

Even though a mosque is supposed to be a religious setting, ground zero may not be an appropriate spot for this or any proposed mosque, King said.

"Right at this moment in history, it's bad form to put it there," he said. "There are things you are allowed to do, but that aren't appropriate to do."

The LORD is going to start giving you details of the End Times

2010-06-06T15:17:00.001-07:00

It was April 2008 when a friend of mine told me about a local pastor whom he felt I was supposed to meet. A few days later the pastor and I had breakfast. As were departed the restaurant, he turned back to me and said, “The LORD is going to start giving you details of the End Times.”

The next day I was in a meeting with three other people when the Holy Spirit fell upon me in a powerful way and began to fulfill what the pastor had prophesied just the day before. The first thing I saw were two hands gripping something in the manner a batter would grip a baseball bat. What these hands were holding on to immediately disintegrated and fell to the ground like dust. I heard, “This is banking and financial institutions.” I knew we in America had put our faith into something that was not God and it was about to fail. The second thing I saw was a woven fabric about 3’ wide by 2’ tall. There was a pattern woven into the fabric. I knew the fabric represented the United States of America. Immediately there was some sort of tremendous disturbance off of the fabric to the right as I faced the fabric. I couldn’t tell what the disturbance was… but it was powerful. Possibly an explosion of some sort. Once the disturbance happened there was movement within the fabric. Part of the thread that made up the fabric began to move and come out of the fabric. The thread was black and formed a net that had a large head on top of it. The head was also black and reminded me of the head like that of a Tyrannosaurus Rex Dinosaur. It was evil. This black netting was part of the fabric that made up America, but what we didn’t recognize was that it was all connected. Instead of attacking outward toward the area of the disturbance as we expected it would, the head turned back around and began to devour the innocent people that made up the fabric. I saw that the main roads were no longer the highways that were accustomed to traveling, but the main roads had become back roads and dirt roads. Then after a time, the people were afraid to use even these roads. I saw people one and two at a time running across fields trying to find prepared hiding places. I saw two running across a field and they came to a coffee shop of some sort with round tables. They gave a password and the owner of the shop led them to a door. The door opened and led downstairs. There was a huge underground place. Caves. I saw one very large cave that had a very high ceiling. The underground room was filled to the ceiling with barrels and barrels of grain.

As this disturbance and internal attack began to happen people were terrified and there was a tremendous panic in the land. Electricity went away and stores closed. People could not buy food and they did not know how to grow food or function without electricity. However, there were people like me who were prepared by God for this day. We help everyone to calm down and advise them that God had already prepared us for this day. After a time people began to calm down and even disappear into these hiding places and they adjusted to these new circumstances.

These are not times to fear. It is time for us to draw close to the LORD and remain close to Him. We must individually ask the LORD how He wants each one of us to prepare. We will not all be doing the same thing or going to the same places of refuge. This is a time for us to sharpen our hearing of the LORD’s voice. The LORD alone is our refuge.

If you would like to hear the entire message, please listen to "Challenging Times Ahead" at my website, www.theLORDwillprovide.org.

Healing In India

2010-05-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

She was a beautiful Hindu girl, typically very thin with big dark eyes and a
beautiful smile. Maybe the smile was because she became a Christian only
three weeks ago.

It was the first time for her to visit our fellowship. We were having a
two day retreat and she came along with a friend (the very friend who had
led her to Christ.) We sang a while, then started praying. She was at the
other end of the sofa, but I felt her put her hand gently on my shoulder.
About 30 minutes later, she again touched my shoulder, but this time with
more boldness. It was my "hurt" shoulder, what is referred to as a
"frozen" shoulder and had been paining me since November, seven months.
I had not been able to lift my hand above my head but she had no way of
knowing this.

Later we were again singing and praising when I lifted my hands in worship. To my surprise, both hands went all the way up. I also had not been able to clap my hands without a painful vibration traveling up my arm. I immediately started clapping, louder and harder and crying out to God. When I testified to the group what had happened, Rosie just bounced up and down and flashed that huge smile.

Rosie is filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks in tongues and has the gift of healing. Rosie thinks this is normal and delights in her gift. We delight in Rosie!

Sue Albin
In His Service in Shillong, India.

America Parallels Ancient Israel

2010-05-13T14:56:00.001-07:00

America was one of only two countries in history founded under God. Israel was the other. Ancient Israel turned away from God, so God sent Assyria to attack and awaken Israel. They attacked Israel and Israel's response was, "The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig (Sycamore in KJV) trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars." Isaiah 9:10. This was not God's intent. God was looking forIsrael to repent and return to God... they didn't. Later, God sent the Phillistines and Israel was crushed.

America is reliving this with 9/11. Gov. Potaki, shortly after 9/11/01 quoted this very Scripture (Isaiah 9:10) indicating that we would rebuild. What is so amazing about this is that in 1789, New York City was the first capital of America after the constitution. George Washington was sworn in as our first president there at the federal building. From there George Washington and the leaders walked to a small chapel for a two-hour service where America's first leaders dedicated America to God. What's even more amazing is that this Cahpel sits on Ground Zero... St. Paul's Chapel. As with Israel, the very place where each country was dedicated to God, God allowed destruction to come for the purpose of awakening us.

After the bricks had fallen on 9/11, in a ceremony NY officials lowered a 20-ton quarried stone (dressed stone) into the foundation with the intent of building "Freedom Tower." Of course, the stone was later removed due to the outcry of those who lost loved ones in the Twin Towers. But ourintent was there.

Even more... As 9/11 unfolded a beam from the north tower came down and was headed toward the chapel, but a Sycamore (Fig) Tree stood in the way and was felled by the beam and the chapel spared. The Sycamore's root system was made into a bronze statue (bronze is a metal of judgement) and placed on Wall Street. The NYSE was founded beneath a Sycamore Tree. To top it all off, a Cedar Tree was planted to replace the fallen Sycamore Tree.

America is reliving Sripture. As with Ancient Israel, we have not turned back to God as America. For more details which are all verifiable in newsprint and even St. Paul Chapel's website, please see the following website.

http://www.grandnationalchallenge.com/watchmen.htm

This is absolutely stunning information that needs to be heard. Rabbi Jonathan Cahn (who is a Christian) was my first source for this info and is quoted extensively on the website. Cahn can also be found sharing this info on Youtube in a radio broadcast he did with Sid Roth.

Also, here's more on the Sycamore-Fig Tree...

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5835785_sycamore-tree-symbolize_.html

So It Will Be At The Coming Of The Son Of Man

2010-05-13T00:53:00.000-07:00

"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man... Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left." In the Days of Noah, who was left behind and who was taken? "So it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." Matthew 24:37, 40

"Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." Matthew 24:29-31 Jesus will appear in the sky to gather His elect "immediately after the distress of those days."

God is raising up Cities of Refuge around the world to protect His own during the challenging times that are coming. He is, even now, having His people prepare farms, houses, and underground places in which "The LORD their God will care for them"

"Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger." Zephaniah 2:3

"Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by." Isaiah 26:20

"The land by the sea, where the Kerethites dwell, will be a place for shepherds and sheep pens. It will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The LORD their God will care for them; he will restore their fortunes." Zephaniah 2:7

God And The USA

2010-05-09T01:49:00.000-07:00

This is incredible information from our nation's history and God's hand in it.

http://www.grandnationalchallenge.com/watchmen.htm

Blessings,

Steve

Because Of Her Hypocrisy

2010-05-07T07:42:00.000-07:00

An extremely dedicated Believer and friend of mine had a dream on December 24, 1987. She's now 62 years old. I went down to visit her and her husband last month in the Terlingua, Texas area. Godly, Godly people. Lots and lots of good fruit. Her dream was this:

She was in an old wooden cabin with her two blood sisters. The old fashioned screen door was closed and the old fashioned heavy wooden door was open. All of a sudden a large bear standing on its hind legs appeared on her porch. It was hostile and she was scared. She immedately ran and slammed closed the wooden door and began to lock three latches on her door. As she was latching them a voice from above her said, "These are arms treaties." With this knowledge and the door closed and locked, she felt safe and relaxed. Suddenly the bear's claws ripped through the door and the bear destroyed the door and stood before her and had the face of a man. The voice above her then said, "Russia invades America." Her sisters were terrified and ran out the back door leaving her to fend for herself with the bear. The voice above her said, "Her allies flee from her." Then she woke up. The dream was so powerful, she was physically ill for three days as she pondered it.

She asked the Lord, "Why would You let Russia invade America?" God replied to her, "Because of her hypocrisy. She has sent out missionaries and evangelists around the world with the Gospel message, yet she has not partaken of it herself."

Sue Delivers A Baby In India

2010-04-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

She was lying on the floor on a burlap sack, curled up and fully clothed, her wrap around skirt pulled over her knees. The hut was so dark, I stumbled over a small stool as I made my way around to her face. I brushed her hair back gently and spoke to her. Using my anointing oil, I massaged her swollen belly. The contractions were still far apart and not severe so I thought it might be a while yet. But she had been like this for two days and her family was worried and wanted to get her into town. I started up the hill to find a vehicle. The water truck had just passed and would return shortly. Could we load her into that? Then I saw my friend, an older tribal woman who had 5 children of her own. I walked up to her and tried to pantomime "pregnant" or "baby" as I pointed back at the hut by the cattle shed. She did not understand. I finally grabbed her hand, pulled her to her feet and led her back down the path. We ran into the pastor's son who explained to her what was happening. The young Hindu woman from Assam was having her baby."She's giving birth! It's too late", he said.

We entered the dark hut again and I heard a faint cry. I eased around the young woman who was now in a squatting position and gently lifted her skirt. The baby's head was out, but the mother was practically sitting on it in her exhaustion. The cord was around his neck. I knew she needed to raise up and push. I told my friend, "Up!" Together we lifted the young woman about a foot off the floor and out came the baby. I yelled, " I see a foot. He is out" . Then I gently removed the cord from his neck. I reached under her with both arms and cradling the baby pulled him forward, out from under his mother. "It's a boy", I cried. Later, I realized no one in the room spoke English and all my yelling was for nothing, but my friend understood "boy" and turned to tell the father as I lifted him up to show the mother.

When they brought the razor blade to cut the cord, I stepped out of the hut into the sunlight. I had blood up to both elbows, but WOW, what an experience. I thanked God once again for sending me to this small village in northeast India.

I love my job!

Written By Sue Albin, The LORD Will Provide, India

A Time Is Coming...

2010-04-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

In December 2007 I was in Trujillo, Honduras in Central America. I was in prayer when all of a sudden God showed me that right now people from this part of the world want to go to the United States of America, but there is a time coming when the people in the United States of America will want to come here.

At that time, I didn't understand why this would happen, but since then God has shown me more and more about what is to come for the USA. Please listen to the message entitled, "Challenging Times Ahead" at my website www.theLORDwillprovide.org.

God tells us these things now so we may prepare. He is a merciful and loving God. May we heed His warnings.

Many Are Receiving Dreams and Visions - Challenging Times Ahead

2010-03-29T01:17:00.000-07:00

I continue to hear from people (even young people) who are receiving dreams and visions about the challenging times that are coming.

This is not a statement born from merely looking at the events and circumstances in the world today. This is not even a statement debating how God communicates to His Body through dreams and visions (which He clearly says He will do and does as stated in the last days in Acts 2 and Joel 2). It is the message that God is communicating over and over to His Body that's important here. He is warning us and asking, even pleading with us, to prepare. These people I am hearing from aren't seeking out these dreams and visions. God is surprising them with these communications... even kids... even me. (Please listen to "Challenging Times Ahead" at www.theLORDwillprovide.org)

There is no need for God's own to fear. This is God's mercy at work... He warns us because He loves us and wants us to prepare so we can endure. Matthew 24:37-41. begins, "As in the Days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man..." Noah and his family were left behind and had to endure the flood... it was the wicked who were taken away. And just like Noah, we will have to endure the challenging times ahead. This time instead of an ark, God is preparing Cities of Refuge in the US and around the world. Places of refuge, provision and protection.

Encouraging Word

2010-03-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

Love beckons me. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love conquers all. Be not dismayed. You cannot do anything to destroy the plan I have for you. My plan is not based on your abilities. It is based on My Grace. Stop doubting yourself. Stop looking back and regretting your mistakes. Am I not powerful enough to overcome your ablilty? Am I not strong enough to correct your errors? And Am I not wise enough to re-direct you? Nothing you can do can defeat My plan for you. Do not despair. Do you not know that My Goodness is greater than your best effort? If you think it is too late or too hard or your mistakes are too many, then you are saying that your weakness is more powerful than My Strength!

Nothing is impossible for Me! When you get to the point of your inability, that is when you are ready to tap into My ability. Let go of thinking how you can make things happen and watch Me proceed on your behalf. I will wash away your past in the Light of a new beginning. Do not give up because failure is the start of true victory. Never was there true victory without many failures preceeding.

Trust in Me. I created you. I Love you! And I want your success more than you want it for yourself. My deepest desire is that we do it together. You were not created to exist without Me. Let Me be your frontline guide and your rear shield. I will cover you, protect you and surround you with My Grace. Listen to Me, Follow Me, obey Me. I will be responsible for you My child. I Am Faithful and Worthy of your trust. I have the ability to carry your through any adversity and bring you out in victory. There is no enemy I cannot destroy. No mountain too high, no valley too low, no river too wide. I created all. I know all. I know every cave to hide you in . I know every foe to protect your from. The enemy cannot surprise Me with any schemes of destruction. I know them all and have seen them before they were set in motion. I have the inside track on everything. I wil guide you up, around and through every detail of your life.

All I ask of you is to get in My boat. The storms will come. The waves will rise, but you, My beloved will not be harmed. I will protect you like I did in your mother's womb. When the raging sea settles and the enemy is defeated, you will see the rising Son and join us in the clouds. That is when you will see the Glory of your King. We will trample the enemy of Love together. Nothing can defeat My beloved who rests in My care.

The King has annointed you for such a time as this. If you did not have what it takes, you would have been planted at a different time in history. Do not question the Wisdom of your God.

Rejoice and Reign for the appointed time is at hand to claim your victory!

The LORD Will Provide - Guatemala

2010-03-05T07:11:00.000-08:00

Season of Grace

2010-02-16T05:28:00.000-08:00

It was spring 2008 and I felt God was wanting me to travel to Minnesota to visit a couple I had heard about from a friend here in Texas. I felt God wanted me to go there to encourage them, but I was waiting for a confirmation from Giod. Within a few weeks I received a call from a prophetic friend of mine who lives in Virginia. His name is Brian. "Steve, is God talking to you about Minnesota?" "Yes!" I exclaimed. "Me, too!" Brian said, "We need to go!" God then gave us clear timing for the trip which turned out to be August 2008.

We arrived at the airport in Minneapolis/St. Paul and met our new Minnesotan friends, Denny and JoAnna. God had sent us there to encourage them and accomplish two other assignments including anointing the headwaters of the Mississippi River with salt and oil. The next day Denny took us to Lake Itasca which is where the Mississippi River is born. We were about to pray as we stood near the headwaters of the Mississippi when Denny began to share some things that God had been showing him.

"God has been telling me that we are coming into a 'Season of Grace'. A time when we will see things improve. For example, gas right now is over $4.00 a gallon. It will come down to around $2.00 a gallon. We will also see the financial crisis that we are going through right now, settle down and some people will think we're going to get through this like we always have." Shaking his head and with seriousness in his voice Denny continued, "God is telling me, 'No.' He is showing me that this Season of Grace will last for 30 months. When the Season of Grace ends, the things we are now seeing will come back worse than they are now." Brian and I nodded our heads and we began to pray.

After we prayed, Brian anointed the headwaters of the Mississippi. From there we headed o the parking lot to begin our drive to back to Denny's home. At that time (August 2008) Brian had an 8-month old baby at home and as we were walking back to the car, Brian noticed a woman with a tiny baby in her arms. "Oh, what a pretty baby!" Brian exclaimed. "Is your baby a boy or a girl?" The mother responded, "A girl." "She's beautiful! How old is she?" Brain asked. "8 weeks old." replied the mother. "I have an 8-month old at home." Brian said with a big smile." Brian asked, "What's her name?" The mother responded, "Her name is... Season Grace." Brian's jaw hit the ground. "What's her name?" An utterly shocked Brian asked again to confrim what he just heard. Again the mother said, "Season Grace."

God had just signed His name to the information we had just heard.

His Servants The Prophets

2010-01-28T07:23:00.000-08:00

I am an ordinary man who listens to the Holy Spirit of God and obeys. When He asks me to turn left, I turn left. When He asks me to turn right, I turn right. When He says go straight ahead, I go straight ahead. The more I obey, the more I hear and the more I hear, the more I obey. This is how I got into ministry in the first place. Guatemala is not written in the Bible, yet I knew I was to go to Guatemala. India is not written in the Bible, yet I knew was to travel to India. God speaks through the Bible, through others, through circumstances and through His Holy Spirit. God has shown me and many others what is coming to the world through revelation, not because we asked to see it, but because God decided we should see it. I don't know why.

I have never been a "End Times" person. Never studied it, never had a passion for it. But one day God decided he wanted me to know some of it. The amazing thing is that since then (April 2008) He has confirmed what He showed me through many, many others and through His Word. This is not a distraction, this is what God is showing us is coming. "Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets." Amos 3:7. People thought Noah and most of God's prophets were crazy until they saw it happen. Please listen to "Challenging Times Ahead" at www.theLORDwillprovide.org and then pray, asking God what He wants you to do.

2010-01-27T21:17:00.001-08:00

Dream - Spring 2007

2010-01-27T09:57:00.000-08:00

I was given a dream in the Spring 2007. In the dream I was working with a few others on a green hillside when there was a nearby explosion. The few of us that were working immediately ran away. The next thing I saw, I was on a roof top looking back at the hill that I had just left. As I looked back I saw a row of houses (I just see the roofs) between me and the green hill. Suddenly from the left I saw a huge airplane with the words "United States" written on it (the way Air Force One has United States of America written on it) falling out of the sky. I noticed that there were many people (one on each roof top), including me just watching this happen... not doing anything about it. The plane then crashed into the green hill and exploded into a huge ball of fire. The entire hill was engulfed in flames. Suddenly from deep inside of me my voice welled up and I yelled out in my loudest voice for all to hear, "We're under attack!"

I woke up.

Former Jihadist, Kamal Saleem, shares his story and provides an inside look at radical Islam

2010-01-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

Lebanese-born former Jihadist, Kamal Saleem, shares his testimony and gives an inside look into the world of radical Islam. He also authored a book which I highly recommend entitled, "The Blood of Lambs". Learn more about Kamal Saleem at http://www.kamalsaleem.com/

Look At The Signs

2010-01-01T07:26:00.000-08:00

Stephen Burke Prophetic Word - July, 2008

Devastation is coming. Will be an unleashing - written in Scripture.
Clouds, clouds, clouds, clouds
We will be devastated, overwhelmed
We are going to be devastated

There is an unleashing coming. A bowl will be poured out. The devastation is coming.
I've been trying to tell everyone. Nobody is doing anything.
Devastation is coming. Hear me! Hear me!

It's coming. Warn my children.
It's coming. Warn my children.
It's coming. Warn my children.

My dear children. Warn my children. Somebody hear me.
Warn them. Tell them, tell them, tell them, tell them. It's time. It's time.
God is angry. He has been telling everybody and nobody's doing anything.
It's like we don't believe Him.

End times. Don't be surprised.
End times. Don't be surprised.
End times. Don't be surprised. It's coming.
End times. The Lion of judah.
End times. Look for the signs.
End times. Look for the signs.
End times. Look for the signs.
End times. Clouds, clouds, clouds, clouds. (Rev. 14:14)

I will pour out my Spirit.
I will pour out my Spirit.
I AM. I AM. I AM.

He's been warning everybody because He loves us.

Look at the big picture.
Look at the big picture.
I'm looking for those who will hear me speak.

I AM. I AM.
Time is short. Time is short. Time is short. Time is short.
Too much delay. Too much delay. Too much delay. Too much delay.
I ask people to do things -- they're putting it off.
I am your priority -- time is short.
No more playing around.
Tims is short -- the signs are there. Look at the signs.
Wake up! Wake up!

Ezekiel 33

His children are going to cry out and He will hear them.

The whole system we have put our faith into is going to collapse. It's a false secuurity.
There is going to be a shift. We have to adjust, if we are to survive.

Challenging Times Ahead

2009-12-24T22:57:00.000-08:00

In the challenging times coming in the not so distant future, God will raise up Cities of Refuge. These are cities and places situated all over the world where people will find food, shelter and safety. To learn more visit www.theLORDwillprovide.org and listen to the message "Challenging Times Ahead".

They Are Abused And Give Blessing. They Are Insulted And Give Honor.

2009-12-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

In the early church the lost world was deeply impacted by the lives of Christians, as evidenced by this letter written by Piagnetus, an early historian, in the year AD 180. Describing believers, he states:

"They are not distinguished from the rest of mankind by country, by speech, nor by customs. But although they live in both Greek and foreign cities and follow the local customs both in clothing and food and the rest of life, they exhibit the wonderful and strange nature of their own citizenshp--but as sojourners. They live in their own homelands. They share all things as citizens and suffer all things as aliens. Every foreign country is a homeland, and every homeland is a foreign country. They marry as all do. They bear children, but they do not discard their children as some do. They offer a common table, but not a common bed. They find themselves in the flesh, but they do not live according to the flesh. They pass their time upon the Earth, but are citizens of Heaven. They obey the established laws and supposit the laws in their own lives. They love all and are persecuted by all. They are put to death--and are made alive. They are poor--but make many rich. They lack all things, yet abound in all things. They are abused and give blessing. They are insulted and give honor. When they do good they are punished as evildoers. When they are punished, they rejoice as those receiving life."

The Power Of God Over Death

2009-10-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a blessed trip to Guatemala. I want to share one incredible story of God's power over death:

One evening I was invited to eat dinner with two of the leaders of our churches in Guatemala and El Salvador. The married couple was excited to tell me of the latest miracle God had done.

A woman who attends the church had become gravely ill and her four grown children had come to be by her side as their mother lay dying. The illness had come so fast and had quickly brought the woman to death's door. Over the course of the illness, people from the church had come, laying hands on her and praying for healing, but there was no improvement. She continued to get worse.

One evening the couple was called by one of the children, "Come quickly, mother has died!" By the time the two had arrived the woman had been dead for twenty minutes. The two checked for a pulse and confirmed that she had passed, but this was not the end. As the children huddled together in the corner of the room sobbing and comforting each other, the two began to pray. They lifted up the woman before God, asking Him to bring her back. They cried out to the One who had raised Jesus from the dead... to the One who had raised Lazarus from the grave. They pressed in.

After a time the woman's eyes began to flutter. There was life! They pressed in even harder and God continued to work. Soon she was speaking. The children could not believe their eyes. They rejoiced. The couple immediately saw an opportunity to tell the children about Jesus. And one by one, each one of this mother's four grown children gave their hearts to Jesus.

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!

Written By Stephen Burke; Edited By Jennifer Poppy

An Eternity Spent With God

2009-09-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

I was in Central America staying in the home of one of our local leaders in Villa Nueva, Guatemala. They are an awesome couple who are very involved in what the Lord is doing in that area. One morning the Lord put one of their friends on their hearts and asked if we could visit her later in the morning. I agreed.

We arrived at the home of their friend who was obviously upset. Her mother, who looked to be in her late sixties, was in the front room of the house and was very sick. Her face was ashen. Her eyes were open, but she didn't seem to be there. The family informed us that their beloved Christian mother and grandmother had throat cancer.

We immediately began to pray asking the Lord for healing. After a time, each one of us had prayed. The air was filled with the Lord's amazing peace. It was then the Lord asked me to anoint her with oil. Anointing her forehead with oil in the sign of the cross, I blessed her. Then I felt the Lord wanted me to repeat this act, but this time He wanted me to directly apply the oil to her throat. I dipped my finger in the oil and prayed peace over her, making the sign of the cross directly on her throat. The very second I made the last stroke, completing the cross, the woman's chest heaved upward. Then as her chest collapsed, her spirit left her.

Suddenly, I realized this was not a death, but this was a birth. God had been waiting for us. We had the privilege to attend to one His very own as she left this earth on her way to an eternity spent with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1

Written by Stephen Burke. Edited by Jennifer Poppy.

No Longer Alone

2009-09-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

I was at home and it was nearing lunchtime when the Lord asked me to go to "The Park" to get a hamburger and that I would be eating my hamburger at one of their picnic tables. “The Park” is a small hamburger stand in downtown Belton, Texas.

I pulled up and got out of my car to place my order at the window. I noticed there was a woman, probably in her sixties, who seemed to be waiting for her order. She was walking around talking on a cell phone.

Once I placed my order, I got back in my car and waited. Soon the woman who was talking on the cell phone got her order and suddenly walked directly toward me. I knew this was my divine appointment. I rolled down my window to greet her. She pointed to the "The LORD Will Provide Ministries" sign on my car door and asked, "Do you really believe what that sign says or is it just a sign?"

"Oh, yes I believe it,” I responded. “The Lord asked me to leave my job over 5 years ago and we've come to know God as our provider."

Soon, tears began to roll down her face as I continued to share about how God had provided for us over the years. My lunch arrived and I asked, "If you have time, maybe we can sit down at one of these picnic tables and get to know each other a little bit." She agreed.

She told me how she started hearing the Holy Spirit as a teenager. She felt so alone all these years, because she had never been able to find anyone who was like her. She was weeping as she shared. God had asked her and her husband to move to Temple nearly 2 years ago and nothing seemed to be coming from it. God had not connected her with any spiritually like-minded people. She had been pleading with God to move her somewhere else.

"You're not the only one who hears God like that," I said. "There are many of us. You are not alone."

I invited her to come to our prayer and worship meeting, "The Journey". She came and God touched her heart as the prophetic stream flowed through the group. She was not alone and could not hold back her tears of joy as God met her that night and brought her to like-minded believers whom she had been trying to find for 50 years.

Written by Stephen Burke. Edited by Jennifer Poppy.

Our Struggle Is Not Against Flesh And Blood

2009-08-31T13:30:00.000-07:00

I traveled to a small town in Texas to speak at a Wednesday night church group. We gathered for a time of prayer, music and prophecy, much like “The Journey” gatherings we have in my home most every Saturday evening in Temple, Texas. As the meeting progressed, some of the people began to share about themselves and what God had been doing in their lives. It was then that the Lord asked me to share a series of God stories because He wanted to "increase the faith in the room.”

As I told these miraculous stories, I could literally feel the faith in the room rise up. Then a thirteen-year-old boy boldly proclaimed to a woman in her sixties who had been undergoing chemotherapy, “God has told me like thirty times that He is going to heal you.” I was getting the same message, but had not said anything yet.

At the end of the meeting, the woman who had been promised healing came over to say “good-bye.” As I stood up to greet her, I became overwhelmed by the Spirit of God. I began to hug her and as I held her I was compelled by God's Spirit to pray healing over her in the name of Jesus. While I was praying the woman's hands began to tremble and soon she was making sounds in her throat as if she were about to vomit. I continued praying. Suddenly she leaned back slightly, bending at the waist. Then she violently lurched forward as if to throw up. As she came back upright I could see the floor and my shoes were clean. I knew God had just freed her from an unclean spirit.

The woman's hands continued to tremble as I prayed in the name of Jesus. Suddenly her body went limp and she collapsed on the floor in a heap. She had passed out. I knelt down on one knee and continued to pray over her as she lay on her back. Soon she awoke and opened her eyes half-way. She seemed very groggy. Then, in an instant, she opened her mouth slightly and began praying in an unknown language. She had received the gift of tongues. Our eyes met and I could strongly feel God’s presence in our midst. There were about ten people left in the room including her friends who were witness to all of this. They spontaneously began raising their hands toward heaven and praising the Lord.

The ironic thing about this situation is that on the way to the gathering the woman had told her friends, "This guy we're going to hear tonight better not be one of those tongue-talking people.” Amazingly, she was the one who was speaking in tongues! How big is our God! God had come upon this woman in a very powerful way and I believe healed her body. Praise the Lord for His faithful love and healing power!

"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines” (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).

I just received word on Saturday, September 26 that the woman whom I have written about in this story went to her doctor and she no longer has cancer. Bless God!

Challenging Times

2009-08-29T19:21:00.002-07:00

Posts Coming Soon...

Becoming Shiloh Gospel Music Festival

2009-08-17T05:30:00.001-07:00

The Lord sent Jeffrey Light and I to Vavenby, British Columbia, Canada to attend the 2nd annual Becoming Shiloh Gospel Music Festival August 5-11. I felt God was sending us there to encourage the oraganizers, Erin Dawson and her family.

Jeff flew in from Virginia and I flew in from Texas. We converged in Seattle, Washington, rented a car and began the 8-hour journey to Vavenby. A few miles out, we stopped at a convenince store to get some gas and as we walked in I imediately noticed a shelf full of homemade bread. "Communion" God said. I knew God wanted me to buy a loaf of bread with which to have communion.

I grabbed a single loaf and asked, "Juice?"

The Lord immediately responded, "No."

I told Jeff the Lord wanted me to get this bread for communion. "I guess we're going to have communion with Erin and the others," I said.

Shouldn't we get some juice?" Jeff asked.

"The Lord said, 'No'" I replied.

We arrived at the festival grounds along the North Thompson River. A beautiful place to worship God surrounded by mountains and trees. Erin and the other organizers welcomed us and soon we were gathered together for prayer. We sat in chairs forming a large circle. On one side of the circle was a picnic table, so I grabbed a seat there on the bench. As I surveyed the circle, I noticed a lone bottle of red wine atop the picnic table. I stared at it for a few seconds. Communion, I thoght. My mind immediately flashed back to the communion bread which we had just purchased. I had left the bread in the rental car not knowing exactly when we would need it. I dashed back to the car and returned with the bread setting it next to the bottle of wine.

We prayed together and shared in the Lord's Supper partaking of the bread which the LORD had so amazingly provided. God had signed His name to our trip. We were exactly where we were supposed to be and we knew God was in Becoming Shiloh. Praise God!!!

Nicaragua 2009

2009-04-29T15:31:00.000-07:00

I just returned this month from an impactful trip to Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. God continues to open new doors for us to join those He has called in northern Guatemala and in El Salvador. He has led us to a woman who is from El Salvador and called to the mountains near Coban, Guatemala and a couple who are living south of San Salvador.

The Lord also led us to a group of 1,200 people who live next to an old garbage dump. They were displaced due to flooding from Managua, Nicaragua to a very desolate place north of Managua near Tipitapa. We will help with the construction of a simply built feeding center. Our Guatemalan team will return next month to continue our outreach. We would also like to place a fulltime missionary there from our Guatemalan team. Please pray for wisdom as we approach this new challenge and opportunity for us to be Jesus' hands, feet and heart to these who are so poor.

It All Stated With A Simple Question

2009-04-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

Five years ago on April 9, 2004 I leapt from a cliff... a place of security and manmade comfort because I had fallen in love. With faith in my heart, I spread out my wings, jumped as I was asked and found that I could fly. My eyes were focused on Jesus and I could not see the ground below, even though I knew full well it was there. I held on to God and my wife held on to me. We jumped and there was no turning back. My flesh felt the humiliation and death that awaited me. My wife's tears showed what I should have feared, but my love for my Lord and His call were all that I saw.

The ground should have rushed up at us, but we found we were being held up by the mighty hand of our God. Over these five years, we have made mistakes and even taken wrong turns. But our ears heard a voice behind us saying, "This is the way, walk in it." We have experienced the mountaintops seeing God's hand of provision and we have gone deep into caves of despair. We have heard the sound of heaven rejoicing and known the breath of hell on our heels. We have experienced the encouragement of God's whispers and known the strength of His correcting hand. We have seen God remove mountains before us and experienced the thrill of seeing His redemption, healing and love that changes lives. We have been privileged to come alongside those who are faithful to their Creator living out their own calling in the most remote of places.

And to think it all started with a simple question. "Steve, do you love me?" Three times He asked me in early 2004 and I responded with all of my heart, "Yes, Lord You know I love You." In tears I laid my life down before Him, "Lord, I will go anywhere You want me to go. I will do anything You ask me to do and I will say anything You ask me to say." Soon afterward, the adventure began. I have not yet entered my Land of Promise, but I know it is soon to come. I have seen evidence of what I cannot see and praise the One who made the promise for He is faithful to keep His promises. I have come to know Him so intimately as the lover of my soul. He is so big, yet so small. He is so far, yet so close. He is so natural, yet supernatural. The skies and earth declare His glory to all mankind. In an instant He can supercede the natural laws He put in place and allow His creation to see Him move supernaturally. He is not limited. He is real. His power is real and the most amazing thing is this... that this most holy God loved us while we were yet sinners. He sent His Son to die for you and for me. He is love and He is our Savior if we will only believe and receive His free gift of eternal life with Him. Our lives are in His hands and our deaths are in His hands. May our future... your future be in His resurrection.

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow.

Peace In Christ,

Steve

An Unanticipated Miracle Trip To El Salvador

2009-01-24T00:02:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a trip to Guatemala January 6-21 where we saw God move day after day. However, I want to share about an unanticipated short miracle trip to El Salvador. One of our Guatemalan leaders, Annie, received a dream from God one night in which a woman named Sorina from El Salvador thanked Annie for coming to see her. Sorina is a friend of the ministry whom we had not seen for two years and who had since become pastor of her very conservative denominational church. They believed that God did not move anymore as He did when the Bible was written. We checked on Sorina by e-mail. In her response, Sorina informed us that her ministry was fine, but her health was not. She could not eat and was having serious colon and digestive problems.

Two days later, we made the 6-hour trip to Sorina's church in El Salvador and met with Sorina and 25 of her church members and leaders.The group was sitting in a large circle of chairs when we arrived. As ll sat and prayed, pastor Jorge, our Guatemalan team leader shared how a small, poor church from Villa Nueva, Guatemala had been doing missions totally led by God. It turned out that this El Salvador church made up of professional people had just made a commitment to missions beginning January, 2009 (Divinve appointment I'd say). During this time I looked around the circle asking God what He was doing... where He was working.

As I scanned the people, He kept showing me one particular woman over and over who sat directly acorss the circle from me. At the end of our meeting, we had one on one prayer. I approached the woman (who I later learned was named Blanca) whom God had been highlighting to me. I placed the tips of two of my fingers very lightly upon the woman's forehead and began to pray. Her hands were partially raised about head high and her eyes were closed. After a few moments she began to fall backward, she caught herself as her eyes opened with a start. She had obvious fear in her eyes. She looked at me as I continued to pray and then closed her eyes again. After a few more moments, the Holy Spirit moved upon her again and she fell backward into the arms of one of our team members. Blanca laid on the floor for many minutes sobbing as the Holy Spirit ministered to her. The team prayed for every church member and we also laid hands upon Sorina asking God for her healing.

At the end of the meeting, I sought out Blanca and asked her if she was alright, knowing that she had never experienced the Holy Spirit like this before. She looked up at me nodding her head approvingly, saying in Spanish, "I was really blessed by this new experience." She continued, "Two or three weeks ago a man gave me a word that the Holy Spirit was coming to our church. I have been praying ever since that the Holy Spirit would come through me." God answered her prayer. Praise God!

In addition as we gathered the next day around mid-morning, pastor Sorina, who previously did not believe that God spoke through dreams anymore or still did things like He did in the Bible, praised God for sending us to their church through a dream. Sorina also announced that she had been able to eat a big supper after our prayer meeting the night before and even had a large breakfast that morning without any problems. She praised God for her healing.

I believe this church will be a much needed base for our continued work to the poor in the rural mountains of El Salvador. Please pray that God will continue to move through these people and teach them about His Holy Spirit. How sweet and gentle is our God!

As an overall update, we started 3 1/2 years ago with 20 people in a very dangerous and poor area of Guatemala called Villa Nueva. Today we are ministering to over 550 people in Villa Nueva and the mountains of Guatemala and El Salvador. Plus this group in Villa Nueva is going weekly into the Villa Nueva schools to share Gospel stories with 2,000 school children each week. I am so blessed to be a witness of how they are operating in power and going deeper with God.

God's Mercy in Honduras - July 2008

2008-07-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

A group of 15 people from Virginia and Georgia made their way to Honduras to come alongside a missionary family whom the Lord led us to in December. The Rose family's mission is to help the local people help themselves through job training and business development while evangelizing, discipling and displaying Christ. The trip saw many dozens of people receive Jesus as their personal Savior while many dozens of others recommited their lives to Christ. Many were healed, but there was one day that stood out to me... a day that only God could orhestrate.

One Saturday afternoon, several of our group made the one mile or so trek from the Rose's home to the small town of nearby Pena Blanca. While there the first time in December, the Lord led me around along with Sylvester Mathews and pastor Jeff Light. the Lord would say to me, "Turn left," and we'd turn left. "Turn right." We'd turn right. "Go in there... there's a pastor I want you to meet." We'd meet him. And so this was the way I expected God to lead this time. However, the Lord remained quiet and closed all the doors that had been previously open in December. I finally asked the Lord what He wanted me to do. He replied, "Relax and enjoy the day. I will send them to you." So I did.

The afternoon quickly turned into evening and we found ourselves back at the Rose's home. We had been working with a local group of missionaries who were putting on a evengelistic crusade. Saturday marked the second night of the three night event. We had left a group of mostly womwne back at the Rose's home to interced in prayer for the event. A crowd slowly filled the community building as I found a seat in the back. I began to pray when suddenly the Lord spoke to my heart, "Go outside and walk the perimeter of the property in prayer." I circled the property a few times and went back inside to pray for the speakers in a small back room. After we finished, the Lord spoke to my heart again. "Go back to the house." I was confused. "Why?" I asked. I struggled with this since I felt I was needed at the event. But again I obeyed and went back to the Rose's house.

I walked into the home where i found 7 or 8 people praying. I joined in and soon one of the women had a vision. "I see demons over this region linking arms and preventing our prayers from reaching heaven. Jesus says, 'We need to get loud.'" We began to raise the roof with praise and worship. We stormed heaven at the top of our lungs while drumming on table tops and banging pots with wooden spoons. The worship was awesome and the battle became intense. unbeknownst to us a group of drunken men had gathered outside the house and were throwing rocks at the house and on the tin roof accompanied by loud shouts of displeasure. Our noisy congregation never heard their attempt at disruption. We were making a joyful noise to the Lord that got the enemy's attention. After one hour and a half, we found ourselves in perfectly peaceful air. The Lord and His army had cleared the way for what was to happen next.

As the members of our group returned from the crusade a very drunk man entered our room. He wanted us to pray for him. Behind him in the street were two more men. The Lord said to me, "It's time to worship." I gathered the Rose family's two oldest daughtyers and their friend and asked them to begin to sing and lead us in Spanish worship songs. They quickly got organized and soon we had a spontaneous worship service going. The men who had earlier been throwing rocks and shouting curse words at us were now slowly trickling into the room one or two at a time. They came in smiling and ready to sing. We set before them chair after chair until we had 15 men singing and praising the Lord. They raised their hands in worship and between songs lifted their voices shouting "Halleluiah!" I have never seen anything like this before. It was God who had drawn them to us. And His words echoed in my mind, "I will send them to you." By the time the night was over all 15 men either recommited their lives to Christ or accepted Him for the first time and many who came in drunk left the meeting sober. What a glorious night I will never forget.

In Christ,

Steve

India Report from Sue - The Ring

2008-07-10T08:09:00.000-07:00

It had been prophesied that our ministry would be working with the Jewish people around the world. I didn't think that meant me, since I was presently assigned to India. "Surely there are no Jews in India," I said. So I hit the Internet and found that I was quite mistaken. Granted, there are fewer today than 50 years ago, but there are still small pockets and large concentrations in places such as Bombay (Mumbai). There are even Jews in Manipur, which was my destination, so I was excited about what God had in store.

One Sunday after our church's Bible study in Texas, a man in our class approached me and started taking off his gold ring. He told me that God had spoken to him. "Give this ring to Sue, she will meet a down and out man in India and she is to give it to him," he was told. As he laid the ring in my hand, I saw the Hebrew lettering and said, "It is for the Jewish man." He asked me what man and I told him about the prophesy. I wore the ring a lot as time for my trip grew near because it was a reminder to me that God was in control and had interesting things planned for me in India.

I had been in Manipur about two weeks when we had to go to Calcutta to meet with the US consulate regarding our friend in India Alex's visa to the US. He was denied this time, but we know now what is needed and feel confident he can get one next year when he is allowed to re-apply. We stayed in a quaint little hotel on Sudder Street that had quite a history. It had been owned once by a Jewish family because, according to the brief history in the lobby, we were in the old Armenian and Jewish sector of the city. After that I saw the old buildings with different eyes, imagining the families living in the big apartment buildings.

On the last afternoon of our stay in Calcutta we went to a travel agent to get tickets to fly back to Manipur the next day. On a door in the lobby was a brass name-plate: David Cohen. After our second visit to the travel agent, I looked again at the name and knocked. No answer, but we knocked on another door which turned out to be the kitchen of Mr. Cohen's apartment. We were let in and got a chance to meet Mr. Cohen. He was happy to have visitors and very talkative. He was using a walker and explained that he had broken his hip four years before and had to sell his business to pay his debts and is now a beggar. This got my attention, so when he mentioned again his financial condition, I removed the ring and
handed it to him.

Mr. Cohen was suprised and said he couldn't take it. I explained the whole story and he was incredulous. He asked me again who told me to give him the ring and I said, "God, Jehovah!" When I said Jehovah he sank back into his chair in resignation. We talked more and he said as I left, "You are a Godsend." I replied, "Exactly."

Later I went back to give him the shawl that Melba Knott had given me to give to him. He was asleep and I didn't get to see him, but I will return someday and check on him. He is 94 and told me that there are only 25 Jews left in all of Calcutta. Out of 15 million people, God had led me to the one man he wanted to show His love to.

Miracle Birds In Alaska - June 2008

2008-06-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

As a child I grew up admiring the life of St. Francis of Assisi. I was especially drawn to him and his way with animals. They apparantly had no fear of him. I have always been intrigued by this and desired the same for my own life. Throughout my years, as I would spy a deer, squirrel or bird, I would yearn for the gift of St. Francis, but to no avail. That is until my last trip to Alaska.

I traveled to Alaska May 19-June 2 to speak and minsiter. I had spoken at a church one Sunday morning decided to go outside and spend some time with the Lord that afternoon. I would be speaking again that evening. I took my Bible along with me outside into the cool Alaska air. As I made my way to a comfortable spot on the stairs of a friend's house that led to their second story wooden deck, I opened my Bible to read Acts chapter 2.

I was about ten minutes into my study when all of a sudden there was a flutter. And instantly there was a bird perched next to my feet and a second bird perched on the handrailing near my head. I dared not look at the bird near my head for fear I might scare it away. I was astonished. I studied the black and white headed chickadee at my feet for a few moments. Then, another flutter. The sound of wings and a suddenly there appeared a third bird. It was soft and gray with black, charcoal eyes. It landed on edge of the open Bible in my hands. As quickly as it landed, it cocked its head and stared directly at me as I stared back in disbelief. There we were looking at each other, natural enemies, for many seconds. Then a terrible, yet comical thought filled my head.

"This bird is going to peck my eyes out." (Strange thought I know)

As soon as the ugly thought entered my mind, there was another flutter and just as quickly as they appeared, the birds were gone. I quickly ran inside to ask my hosts if the birds in Alaska were different somehow of birds in other places.

"Are your birds not afraid of human beings?" I sasked. I shared what had just happened. TMy hosts smiled and informed me that they were no different in Alaska than anywhere else.

Blessings,

Steve

Report from Sue in India - June 2008

2008-06-09T20:56:00.001-07:00

Report from India...

The town is called Ananthavaram, but is probably not on any map you can find. If you had been with me and met the grandmother who lives in a small room behind a cow stall and had her pray for you, as she did for me, you would not be in a pit. You would be praising God for your home, your family, your clean kitchen and your beautiful clothes. We hosted a dinner for the widows of the village and gave them each a cotton sari. Cotton is grown in this area and also woven locally and often dyed with natural dyes, so they are cheap, less than $2. Grandmother's sari was woven with two different colors of thread giving it an iridescent look. It had a beautiful green border. We went to visit her the next morning and she had SLEPT in it! She is quite bow-legged and arthritic, but ambled slowly to her grinding stone outside to prepare some chutney for us. Roasted peanuts, oil, salt and a few small peppers were slowly ground to a paste requiring about 30 minutes with the ancient stone. Her daughter in law made hot dosas (similar to a thin crepe) and we used the dosas to sop up the chutney. Heavenly!

Grandmother was born Hindu in a village only a few miles away, an extremely poor village. There were many children in the family, so when she was old enough she was married off to a man from Ananthavaram. Their custom is to move to the husband's village and she has been here since. She was only blessed with one child, a son, but he grew strong, became a village and church leader and had four sons and one daughter. The third son, Suresh, is the man I met on the train last year.

Every morning grandmother arises and starts singing and praising God. She sometimes sings for hours, they say. I have promised to return in October and take her to her village to visit her extended family who still live there.

Please continue to pray, as I will pray for you. I am sitting in the Calcutta airport at a small cybercafe waiting to board my flight to Imphal. Only one week and I have already had an amazing time with God.

We are planning a medical clinic for Ananthavaram in October, hope to continue the feeding of the widows and are praying for funds to complete the church. So much already planned for only the first stop in my journey.

My prayer: may God bless you, wrap His arms around you and lift you to new heights in Him. May He send His Holy Sprit to reside in you and guide you and encourage you. May he send Christian friends to your side and, each day, show you His ways.

Sue

Amazing Alabama

2008-05-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

In December the Lord has brought us together with an independent missionary in Honduras named Chris Rose. He sold his Florida lumber business in 2004 and moved his wife and six of his seven children there because God told him to go. His heart is to spread the Gospel and help the people help themselves by teaching the local people marketable skills. He's also helping the people find new markets and fair prices for their commodities such as high quality coffee. At the same time the Lord has miraculously led us to a man in Austin who the Lord has called to start a chain of coffee stores (similar to Starbuck's) beginning in Austin, Texas this Fall. He is a strong follower of Christ who has a heart for the poor around the world and desires to pay a fair price for the coffee he buys. We are the connector between the two and all will be used to fund the work of the ministry leading the world to Christ.

An Amazing God Story

Chris Rose told me of a friend of his in Alabama named Ellis Wade whom he wanted me to meet. Ellis owns a furniture manufacturing business in Alabama and sells to national furniture chains. I scheduled a driving trip for January from Texas to Alabama, Georgia and Virginia. I was accompanied by a man named Paige Rowland who has worked full time with The LORD Will Provide Ministries since December trusting the Lord for his provision.

Paige and I drove to northern Alabama in one day and by the next we were on our way to meet with Ellis Wade. On the way, two things happened. First, Chris Rose called from Honduras wanting me to meet with another man named Larry Blankenship after seeing Ellis. Chris said, "Larry Blankenship has an industrial electric business up the road from Ellis' business and I need you to check on an electric transformer for me." I agreed and wrote down Larry Blankenship's name and the specs for the transformer. Second, as we neared Ellis' place, we passed a very large church named, Meek Baptist Church. "Paige, look at that!" I exclaimed jokingly as I pointed at the sign, "Meek Baptist Church is huge. There is nothing meek about that church." We laughed.

Our meeting with Ellis was filled with prayer and prophetic words and was so awesome and lasted so long that Paige and I forgot about seeing Larry Blankenship afterwards. We were some fifteen minutes away traveling back to the house where we were staying when I realized my mistake. I called Ellis and asked him to call Larry Blankenship to check on the transformer for Chris. "I'll take care of it," He said reassuringly. Just as I hung up, my phone rang and it was Chris Rose from Honduras. "How was your meeting with Ellis?" "It was awesome. God really showed up," I said. "Did you have a chance to see Larry Blankenship?" "No," I replied. "But I gave the information to Ellis and he said he'd take care of it." Chris sounded a little disappointed and I felt bad. I hung up the phone and just as quickly, the Lord told me that we needed to go to a prayer meeting that very night. It was 3:30 Friday afternoon and I immediately began looking at every church we passed reading every marquee sign I saw and at the same time looking for a supernatural sign from the Lord that would lead us to the meeting. Nothing. We arrived back at the house some thirty minutes away and I still didn't know where the prayer meeting was. I went to the yellow pages and started calling churches. It was late Friday afternoon and most didn't even have someone there to answer the phone. The two that did were not holding a prayer meeting that night and didn't know of a church that was. It was Friday after all. "Lord, where is it?" I asked. I flipped in the yellow pages over to the "B's" and God highlighted Meek Baptist Church. "No way," I said out loud in surprise. I called them. "Yes," said the stranger's voice on the other end. "We have a prayer meeting tonight at 7." "Thank you, I know where you are," I said as I hung up the phone.

Paige and I arrived just after 7 and to our surprise there were only five people there. We introduced ourselves and the group's leader immediately asked, "How did you hear about our prayer meeting?" I replied, "The Lord told us today there was a prayer meeting in the area and so I made many phone calls until I found you." "I'm so glad the Lord told you about us because it really affirms our starting this group. We just started this group two nights ago and haven't even had a chance to publicize our meetings yet." The leader came over and stuck out his hand ntroducing himself, "I'm Larry Blankenship." Paige and I were taken aback. I pulled out the piece of paper on which I had written his name along with the transformer specs and pointed to it. "I was supposed to meet you this afternoon at your office." "I wasn't in my office this afternoon." Larry replied. "I had to go to the airport. The only time we could have met was tonight."

Is God cool or what!!!

An Encounter With God 11/24/07

2007-11-23T14:32:00.000-08:00

For the last two or three months I have been so, so tired. I was feeling battered and bruised from this 3 1/2 year journey through the desert that I have been on since quitting my job in April, 2004. As soon as a person agrees to go with God on his/her way to their Promised Land they step right into the desert. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert... the Israelites upon leaving Egypt spent 40 years in the desert. The desert is the place of testing, preparation and growth which for me included the stress of, at times, not having enough money to make my house payment or pay my bills as I learned to trust God more and more for my provision. At other times I found myself in the midst of a lack of resources for this or for that in the ministry. Of course, every time, God has provided. The challenges and tests of faith have been great and they have become a part of my testimony. However, after 3 1/2 years I was worn out and just couldn't tale another test from God. But faith comes only when we reach the end of ourselves and at the end of our resources. I was so tired and worn out from the desert, I couldn't face another test. Consequently, my communication with God was very one sided. I did all the talking and did very little question asking because I didn't have the physical stamina to pass another difficult test of faith. Consequently, out of self-defense I figuratively put my fingers in my ears and quietly closed the door of my heart.

On Tuesday, November 13 I was staying at my sister Theresa's house in Virginia to speak at a church in nearby Culpeper. I decided to go out for an early morning walk to pray. I began speaking to the Lord out of my tiredness saying, "Lord, I need..." Suddenly the Lord turned my self pity into praise. I opened my eyes, lifted my head and looked around me. I began to thank God for the beautiful morning and for the beautiful backdrop of Virginia's countryside. As I walked along this country road, I thanked Him for the ministry and the privilege of sharing the story of my journey with others. My grateful words turned into songs of praise and soon I found myself clapping along and rejoicing in Him with all of my heart. After about 25 minutes, I turned off the paved road onto an isolated gravel road. I came to a rise and stopped, I looked up into the sky, opened my heart up to God and said, "Lord, I have done everything you have asked me to do. I have gone everywhere You have asked me to go and I have said everything You have asked me to say. What do You want me to do now?"

Suddenly, I looked all around me and everything near me was glowing. Even the trees above my head were glowing. It was almost as if a cloud surrounded me and the area around me. I knew I was in the presence of God. I felt His closeness to me. "I love You, Lord." I knew He was right there listening to me. So close. So close. I can't explain it, but I knew God was right there. It was like I could almost see Him, even though I couldn't see Him. I began to weep and I said, "Lord, I want to go further with You." And as soon as those words left my lips, the Lord graciously took away all the scars, all the pain, all the dust and all the pressure from this journey I have been on since quitting my job 3 1/2 years ago. Immediately my heart was made new and fresh. My circumstances hadn't changed, but I was changed. Suddenly the Scripture, "He made His ways known to Moses" (Psalm 103:7) came to my mind. I dropped to my knees and though tears of gratefulness I cried out to God, "Lord, I want to know Your ways. How can I continue to go to churches and other places to tell people about Your ways, if I don't know Your ways myself?" I made a heartfelt appeal, "Show me Your ways."

Suddenly I noticed a car was coming on the nearby paved road. I got up off of my knees and wiped the tears from my eyes just in case the car turned on the gravel road where I was. I didn't want them to think this man on his knees in the middle of the road was a crazy man so I continued walking further down the gravel road. The car passed by on the paved road without turning my direction, so I walked back up to the rise where I had been with God. I tell you this to say that I literally could feel myself walk out of the presence of God when I left the rise and I felt myself literally walk back into His presence when I returned to the rise.

After a time, I walked slowly back to my sister's house as tears continued to stream down my face. "I am wrecked. Lord, I am wrecked." I entered the house and found Theresa, my brother-in-law Jeff and two others who had traveled with me from Texas engaged in conversation around the kitchen table. I sat down to join them uncertain as to how I would tell them about what had just happened to me. Just then Theresa turned to me and said, "Steve! You are all aglow." I ducked my head as tears once again streamed down my face. "I have been with God."

When I returned home from Virginia I decided to look again at "The Dream Giver" by Bruce Wilkinson because I seemed to recall a part of the journey to our "land of promise" that involves God removing the scars and dust from the desert. As I reviewed the process I found it, "sanctuary" that marks the end of the desert and God's preparation for us to face our giants down in the valley. It's time to take on and take out some giants! Praise the Lord for books like "The Dream Giver" that make clearer the patterns of God as we head towards our own personal Land of Promise. It's time to pick up some stones and head down into the valley.

May the Lord bless you.

In Christ,

Steve

Stephen P. Burke, Director
The LORD Will Provide
P.O. Box 1926
Temple, Texas 76503
(254) 780-3591
stephen@theLORDwillprovide.org
www.theLORDwillprovide.org

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' (Isaiah 6:8)

This e-mail transmission and any documents, files, or previous e-mail messages attached to it contain confidential and/or legally privileged information and are intended for use by Stephen P. Burke and/or The LORD Will Provide

Video - Mission Trip to Guatemala/El Salvador 2007

2007-09-02T18:03:00.001-07:00

Pastor Jeff Light of Virginia made a video documenting our recent mission trip to Guatemala & El Salvador and that video is now available to view via the Internet at "You Tube". This year folks from Virginia, Georgia and Texas joined together for a 10 day mission of ministry and outreach in Guatemala and the mountains of El Salvador. Pastors Jorge and Annie Cerritos and church family were our hosts.

Check it out when you have a minute.

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKFYjtlt0ls

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOA9_gdDJnI

Special thanks to Randy Peck of www.PeckWebs.com for taking the initiative to have the video posted and helping to spread the Word!

In Christ,

Steve

Healing and Another Church Plant in El Salvador

2007-09-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

The Lord God is blessing us so much. Everything is accelerating in all areas of the ministry. Our 9 churches are growing with dozens of new believers and rededications. Pastor Jorge shared one story of a baby that is 42 days old, but for 30 of those days he was in the hospital. Doctors said that he would not live long because he had a strange illness that came with high fever and extreme weakness. Two weeks ago our prayer walking team happened upon this child's home and prayed for him. The team went to their home a second time and two of the team members felt in the Spirit that the baby would be healed, but the baby's parents needed to rededicate their lives to Jesus. The mother rededicated her life that day. The very next morning the baby woke up smiling and eating completely healed. The baby's father also rededicated his life to Christ. These kind of miracles are happening more and more frequently. God has entire church PRAISING GOD FOR THIS MIRACLE!!!

Please Pray:

1) Please pray as we are witnessing the birth of church number 10 ( 8 in Guatemala and now 2 in El Salvador) in the mountains of Abilene, El Salvador. This is three hours away from our initial El Salvador church plant. A new believer who accepted Christ two weeks ago at our initial church went home and told others about his newfound Savior. The Good News spread and now we have a team going there to help them get started.

2} Please pray for me as I travel to India September 6-17. I'll be going to some very poor areas and I expect the Lord to bring more folks for us to help who are called to spread the Good News like pastor Jorge , pastor Pedro and others.

3} Please pray for two Texas men who are traveling to Guatemala on behalf of The LORD Will Provide September 7-17 to follow the Lord as He begins to present new business opportunities for the people and ministry in Guatemala and El Salvador.

4} Please pray as we witness the birth of our first ministry in South America. We will work among the children and people living on the streets in Asuncion, Paraguay.

5) Please pray as the Lord opens doors into Honduras where I and two others will be traveling December 2-14.

6) Please pray that the Lord will meet the needs of His growing ministry and that He will send the people to help us in this work. We are doing our best to keep up with God.

Thank you for all of your prayers, encouragement and support.

In Christ,

Steve

Guatemala Trips #24 & #25 - March 2007

2007-05-07T07:31:00.000-07:00

I returned from my 24th and 25th trips to Guatemala this week. During these two trips we spent time in Guatemala and El Salvador. So far we have seen the Lord bring up 5 churches with a sixth one on the horizon in Guatemala. In addition, He has brought up a church plant in El Salvador. God is moving so fast... we're just trying to keep up. So much has happened, but I wanted to share two highlights.

HIGHLIGHT #1

One highlight was our meeting with the mayor of Villa Nueva (part of Guatemala City) which is a community of 1.5 million people known for its gangs, crime and social problems. Pastor Jorge, pastor Jeff from Virginia and I attended the meeting. The mayor is very popular and has worked extremely hard and progressively to successfully implement many improvements in Villa Nueva. What was so amazing though, was how the Lord had already been at work. You see, the mayor of Villa Nueva had become a Christian 10 months earlier. He is so excited about God! He leads two Bible studies per week among his leadership and staff. He speaks of God's love and salvation message both privately and publicly to all he meets. He even has Christian music playing constantly on his office computer.

For an hour and a half we got to know each other as brothers in Christ. We prayed together, we shared God stories and we spoke of the plans we have to build a Christian hospital in his jurisdiction. He informed us that the federal government had just announced plans to build a hospital for Villa Nueva, so the mayor asked us if we would build four medical clinics that would act as "feeders" for the hospital. We agreed. He then provided an architect to design everything for us at no cost and will give us the land for each construction site. At the end of our meeting the mayor invited us to join him the next morning for a breakfast he was hosting for 200 pastors. He is trying to encourage all the churches to work together for the benefit of the Villa Nueva people.

HIGHLIGHT #2

The second highlight occurred during and after the mayor's breakfast meeting. As the meeting was in full swing I began to look around the room asking the Lord to show me where He was working. As I did this He brought my attention to a woman sitting on the other side of the room. She was a tall woman probably in her late forties. "I want you to help her." I leaned over to pastor Jorge who was sitting next to me and asked him to speak with her to see what was going on. "I am feeling the same thing," he said. "And, I know her."

After the meeting, Jorge approached the woman and found out she had been leading her church by default. Her name is Judith. Their pastor had left and the leadership of the church had fallen onto her. She was doing all she could to fill the role, but she was tired. We prayed with her and encouraged her. There were two women with her and one was having painful, continual headaches and asked me to pray for her. At that moment pastor Jeff from Virginia called me over to pray for another man. I joined pastor Jeff for a few minutes before returning to the woman. As I was walking the twenty feet back towards the woman I could feel my faith welling up inside me. Somehow I knew with certainty that the Lord was going to heal this woman. As I placed my hands on either side of her head upon her temples I began to pray. The woman raised her hands "worship style" about head high and all of a sudden God moved. I felt what I can only describe as a powerful shot of electricity run through both of my arms and into the woman. At that very moment her outstretched arms trembled profusely and she fell straight back onto the floor. Pastor Jorge caught her as she fell. I have been involved in healing and I have been involved in people being slain in the Spirit, but I have never experienced the power of God like I felt that day. Afterwards I told Jorge and Jeff that God did this for a purpose and hopefully we'd find out what God was up to.

Several days later I found out that the woman who lay on the floor had gone back to her church on Sunday and testified what God had done. She testified that the Lord had not only healed her headaches, but had healed her long term back pain too. Praise God!

All of this happened six weeks ago in January on the 24th trip. As I was preparing for trip 25 last week, the Lord impressed upon me to set up a meeting with the woman named Judith who was carrying the leadership responsibility at her church. We met with her last Saturday. A group from Gatesville, Texas had come with me along with pastor Jorge. It was then that we found out just what had happened with Judith. She had come to the prayer breakfast very weary and ready to quit the ministry. She felt like she couldn't go on anymore. There was too much pressure at the church and at home. God knew that and had used us six weeks earlier to encourage her at just the right time. You see, Judith has a call on her life to preach the Good News. She even graduated from seminary a few years earlier, but her church won't consider her as a pastor because she is a woman and because her husband is not a "Believer" yet (Judith is under immense attack from the enemy at church and at home so we encourage you to pray for her and for the salvation of her husband). The group from Gatesville ministered wonderfully to Judith, having gone through themselves in the past some of what Judith was presently experiencing at home. As we prayed for Judith and her husband, the Lord showed us that Judith would be cutting a new trail in Guatemala... that as she preaches, battles will be raging to her right and to her left. We encouraged her that in the midst of these battles she must continue to preach because there are many girls who will be inspired by Judith to fulfill God's call upon their own lives to preach the Good News. Amen!

One final note... the woman who was healed so powerfully in the Holy Spirit is now receiving dreams from God, too. She's seeing things in dreams that either have come to pass or have been determined to be real. This is all new for her. Please pray for her as she learns to live and minister with these things of the Holy Spirit that until recently she didn't know or believe even existed today.

In Christ,

Steve

Guatemala Trip #22 - November 2006

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It's hard to believe, but this was trip #22 to Guatemala for me since traveling there for the first time three years ago. Pastor Jorge in Villa Nueva (Guatemala City) and I have been so blessed to see God do so much. Please join us as we pray that as the ministry rapidly grows that we will stay in the middle of God's will and be sensitive to what God is doing around us so that we may join Him in His work.

The school bus we drove down to Guatemala in September is working well in Villa Nueva... each week over 40 adults are being picked up to attend Bible study at Ciudad de Refugio church. We also had a special children's event in October for which the bus was used to pick up 75 children from around the refugee area. I have not seen a school bus better cared for than this one in Guatemala. The church members are so thrilled that the Lord blessed them with the bus. As a matter of fact, the man who drives the bus is a professional driver who just joined the church along with his family this past Summer. He is also a good mechanic. The Lord really does provide!

I have included a picture of pastor Pedro behind the microphone broadcasting the Good News from a radio station in Nebaj in the Mayan language of Ixil. God is growing the ministry in the mountains of Guatemala very rapidly, we're just trying to keep up. If you recall in my last update, I was certain we were not going to build buildings. However it appears God has other ideas. We have had two pieces of land donated to us. One in Chajul (where the 17 families have come to Christ through the radio program) and in the country of El Salvador in a community located about one hour east of the capital city of San Salvador. Also, the home church in Cotzal has now grown to over 90 members... way too many members to fit into a house. Please pray for us as we search for land on which to build a church or, at least to set up a roof without walls. Since January, we have 5 churches in Guatemala and 2 in the country of El Salvador that are up and running or are somewhere in the development process. God is so amazing. Pedro has also been asked to preach in another mountain village to people who speak the Mayan language of Quiche. Pedro doesn't speak Quiche, but within a couple of days God sent a translator to Pedro. God is good!

The Lord is bringing more people to us as our ministry expands. These people will eventually become full time evangelists and operations folks for us. here's how God brought a man named Bernardo to us. Pastor Jorge and I spoke to a group of church leaders at Ciudad de Refugio Church in Nebaj. During our lunch break I happened to be standing next to a man named Bernardo. The Lord gave me a "word"... this man is another pastor Pedro. I immediately turned and asked Jorge about this man whom I'd never met... what's his story.

"He's an elder in a church who has a tremendous heart for the Lord."

At the end of the day, I took the opportunity to sit down with Bernardo. Pastor Jorge was my translator. "What's the Lord been doing in your life?" I asked, "Do you believe the Lord has called you?"

Bernardo responded, "Yes, to be a preacher."

Bernardo is married with 5 children and works full time for the government teaching locals about farming techniques that would improve crop production. I assured him, "The Lord will soon provide for you so you can do the work He was called you to do." That evening I asked Pedro what he thought about Bernardo. Pedro responded, "This morning I told Bernardo to get ready because soon the Lord was going to have him helping me in the ministry as it expanded into Chajul." Pedro already knew what God was doing. Awesome!

Also, during this last trip we were presented with the opportunity to purchase a cinder block making machine for $2,000 American. This would be a great asset to us as we get more and more into construction. We could also make and sell block to others which would help us maintain the ever-growing monetary demand of this ministry. We will also be building a 4-story hospital in Villa Nueva for which we now have our first architectural drawings. I will send the drawings in a separate e-mail. We're also needing to add a bathroom and kitchen to pastor Pedro's house in the mountains so he can stay there instead of his parents home each week This will also give us a place for future missionaries to stay.

I could write so much more about what God is doing, but this gives you some of the highlights. Please continue to pray for us and as always, thank you for your support.

In Christ,

Steve

Guatemala Update - November, 2006

2006-11-22T20:59:00.000-08:00

As I pray this morning it is clear we are coming into a time of miracles... a time when we have run out of ourselves and have no ne else to rely upon except the hand of God. Please pray for The LORD Will Provide and for me as I return to Guatemala November 1-8. I will be traveling up into the mountains with pastor Jorge, pastor Pedro and our newest pastor Manuel in thankfulness to those God has brought to us to deepen their faith. Seventeen new families from one mountain village have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior through our radio program broadcast in the Mayan language of Ixil. This mountain village is two hours by motorcycle from the town of Nebaj where we are broadcasting from. You may recall, Nebaj is 6 hours by car from Guatemala City. How wonderful that we are privileged to witness God drawing His creation to Himself.

In Guatemala City (Villa Nueva) we are no longer using the Buenas Nuevas Compound for church services because the rent was increased beyond our ability to pay. But what the enemy meant for bad the Lord has turned around for good. Our single church has now grown into eight home churches with seven people leading these groups.

Every week we have a prayer walking activity in the community and every week something happens. One day the leadership of the Soccer League of Linda Vista asked for prayer for protection from the gangs. The Soccer League is really in a battle with the gangs attracting young people to play soccer rather than join gangs. One night the Team went to distribute bread with beans and coffee to the drunk men in the streets. It was wonderful see how God opened doors to serve them and share the love of Jesus with them.

We are finishing a Bible Study Called " Standing On the Promises of God" based on Genesis and are now planning to begin "Walking thru the Desert" based on Exodus. Pastor Jorge reports this is helping us to understand we need to keep moving forward every moment no matter how the circumstances may appear. Please pray that we may continue to move forward in wisdom and faith with our focus on Jesus and His desire to reach the entire community... even those who may not appear to be worthy by our own human standards.

Please know that The LORD Will Provide is not about building church buildings, but we are about building up the church... the people who make up the Body of Christ... encouraging and teaching them to go deeper with the Lord and sending them out.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

In Christ,

Steve

Our House - August, 2006

2006-11-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share this with you so you could praise God like we are.

God's been opening up so many doors for me to speak at churches... Assemblies of God Tabernacle in Houston, Temple Tabernacle in Temple, Texas River Church in Belton, Texas. I also spoke at 6 different churches in Virginia during my visit there August 8-14. Praise God!

God is so faithful... it has now been 2 years and 4 months since I left my job to do this ministry full time. As you know, He asked us to sell the house in the spring and we obeyed as a family. We painted, repaired and put a sign out in the front yard. Some of my Christian friends and family believed our house was our "Isaac". For a season we had people coming over to look at the house, but they were clearly not here to buy our house. God sent them here to be ministered to. It was an amazing time. Then, about six weeks ago, the Lord told me to take the "for sale" sign down. I did. That same night we had a couple call that wanted to buy, but needed to get their finances together. We never heard from them again. The season of selling our house had ended.

Instead of us having to sell our home, here's what God has just done. He provided a ram as He did for Abraham. A Godly family just sold an investment condo they had and knew the money was the Lord's. They prayed, asking the Lord where they should sow it... as the wife was praying about it the Lord said to her, "Give all of it to Steve." Not to the ministry, but to Steve personally. God promised her that He would "restore their wealth." Praise God, she was obedient and sent me an initial check which I received yesterday... just in time... right on time. They are not getting any tax deduction because it was a personal gift... the check was made out to Stephen Burke. She and her family are believing and trusting God 100%.

God has now taken care of our personal financial needs for at least the next two and a half years. My entire focus can now be on this ministry we have been called to. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow. He is so faithful, so faithful. I am merely a witness to the amazing God we serve. May He alone be glorified.

In Christ,

Steve

Guatemala Update - June, 2006

2006-11-22T20:51:00.000-08:00

Pedro Perez is a 28 year old of Mayan decent from the small mountain community of La Pista, located near Nebaj, Guatemala (about a six hour drive by car northwest of Guatemala City). Pedro is married to Juana and they have three young children. They had a fourth child, a daughter, who died a few short months ago from meningitis. The Lord supernaturally brought Pedro and his family together with us, The LORD Will Provide Ministries, so we might provide for the financial and physical needs of he, his family and his ministry. This partnership has enabled Pedro to freely do full time what the Lord has called him to do... evangelize the lost. In the few short months since God miraculously brought us together, we have seen much "good" spiritual fruit come from his ministry as he has led dozens of people to the Lord and the birth of a home church in Cotzal (three hours walk from Nebaj).

An awesome God story

Pedro was a boy 20 years ago when a battle was being waged between the Guatemalan government's military and a vast group of rebels known as Guerillas. As the fighting raged between the two enemies, innocent mountain villagers were often assaulted, robbed and killed. Sometimes entire villages were slaughtered as mistrust permeated the Guatemalan mountains. It was a dangerous time in Guatemala's history and was the backdrop for this amazing God story.

Pedro's hometown of La Pista did not exist during this time in the mid 1980's when Pedro was just a boy. He and the other villagers lived some 12 miles away in another part of the mountains and life was dangerous there. One night God gave one of the leader's in the community a vision. His name was Tomas. In the vision God revealed a new and safe place where Tomas was to take his family and others to settle. God had also shown Tomas several very distinct landmarks that would guide him on his way there. Tomas was extremely familiar with the surrounding mountains, but had never before seen the landmarks that God had shown him in his vision or the place where he was to eventually settle. However, Tomas trusted God and soon after made plans to leave under cover of darkness. Tomas, for fear of death, had also discreetly told a few people about what God had shown him and of his plan to leave at a predetermined place and time. The night finally came. Tomas expected some 12 to 15 people to meet him. But to his surprise 225 villagers showed up and among them, 9-year old Pedro Perez and his entire family.

The group made their way through the darkness traversing the mountains by night and day. They were guided on their way by the landmarks God had shown Tomas in his vision. Each landmark was as God has shown him, one leading to the next. After several days and nights the group was nearing their destination. As they were making their final ascent up a mountainside they were discovered by the Guerillas who immediately organized and rushed up the mountain in deadly pursuit. Suddenly and without warning, as the Guerilla's were closing in, a large explosion ripped into the mountain between the villagers and their pursuers. Tomas and the villagers thought the Guerillas were firing at them and that the end was near. Then a second explosion tore into the mountain and the villagers watched in amazement as the Guerillas turned and retreated back down the mountain. Tomas and the villagers wondered what had just happened.

Here's the rest of the story...

The Guerillas had thought the military was fighting for and protecting the villagers so they ran. However, this was not the case. The military general in the town of Nebaj located near that mountainside had an old Howitzer cannon in need of repair. He had, a few days earlier, hired a local man who had a nack for fixing things to take a look and see if there was anything he could do to fix the broken cannon. The man made the repairs and brought the old Howitzer to the general. The general promptly instructed the repairman fire a test shot. The general pointed high up into the surrounding mountainside and said, "There's nobody up there. Fire there." The repairman obliged, firing two test shots. God is sovereign! Unknowingly, the general had saved 225 people who eventually settled a little further up the mountain in what is now known as La Pista. Shortly thereafter, the military agreed to provide protection for Tomas and the new settlement and today the Guerillas are only a distant memory.

A side note: I was in Guatemala May 18-25 when pastor Jorge and I, along with Albert Solis from Temple Bethel Christian Center in Abilene, Texas rented a small truck and traveled back up into the mountain towns of Nebaj and La Pista. We met with some folks from Wycliffe Bible Translators who have been quietly working... translating the Bible into Ixil - Nebaj. The process began in 1955 and has been unusually slow, taking some twenty years longer than they would have ordinarily expected to finish the work... but the enemy has put up a great fight and God's timing is always perfect. The Book of John is now complete and we bought all 36 copies they had putting them into Pedro's hands as well as some 500 Ixil - Nebaj evangelistic tracts. I wish you could have been there when we were privileged enough to witness Pedro read the front cover of the Gospel of John for the first time in his native language. His face told the story... it was historic! God had placed this new and treasured weapon into the hands of one of His most gifted and fervent soldiers! Even more good news... the Wycliffe folks are expecting to finish the entire New Testament by August 2007. We hope to be there for the big celebration. Praise the Lord!

Please pray for me as I travel back to Guatemala June 7-14 with a group of 16 people from Virginia plus my mother, son and youngest daughter. We are going down knowing only that we will be engaging in spiritual warfare as we continue to work with our Guatemalan brothers and sisters to take back the land and the people for Christ. We are expecting to see more of God's miracles, power and supernatural ways.

In Christ,

Steve

Update - May, 2006

2006-11-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a one week trip May 4-11 to Tennessee and Kentucky. I arrived there on Thursday, May 4 already scheduled to speak the following Saturday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night at different churches. I also knew I'd be speaking each weekday at Jellico Community Hospital. The odd thing was, I had a glaring and obviously large hole in my schedule for Sunday morning with no where scheduled to speak. I prayed the Lord would show me what He had in mind.

I had arrived in Jellico, Tennessee on Thursday, May 4. The next day, Friday, I spent meeting up with some of our friends who had come down to Guatemala back in November to do a medical clinic and construction work. One great friend I saw, Dr. L.B. Moses, lives and practices dentistry in Williamsburg, Kentucky (about 15 miles north of Jellico). During our visit in Williamsburg he passed along a donation he had received for our ministry from a small country church called Good Hope Baptist Church located back in Jellico. I had never before visited or heard of the Jellico church, but the pastor had learned of our work in Guatemala and took up an offering to help us. The pastor had a special interest in Guatemala because he and his wife had recently adopted a baby from there.

I decided that later in the afternoon when I returned to my home base in Jellico, that I'd try to locate the church and personally thank them for the support. Upon returning, I found the church was not listed in the Jellico phone book so I decided to stop in at a couple of nearby convenience stores to see what some of the locals could tell me. A man at one store informed me that the church, Good Hope Baptist Church had actually changed their name to Oswego Missionary Baptist Church. He explained the church was located just at the opposite edge of town, but there probably would not be anyone there until Sunday morning. I drove out to the relatively isolated church and pulled into the small, gravel parking lot. I pulled in past a pickup truck containing a man and a woman that was just pulling out. They stopped just before entering the road and backed up to see if they could be of some assistance. I introduced myself to the driver, John, and his mother Francis. John was
an assistant pastor at Oswego and had just pulled into the parking lot for a moment. I explained I was looking for Good Hope Baptist Church, but was told they had changed their name to Oswego. "Nope, Good Hope is right up that hill, hidden behind those trees," he said pointing across the street and up a winding road. We visited a little bit as I explained why I was in town and shared some of how God had miraculously called us to begin a work in Guatemala. I gave each of them a copy of my book. The following evening, Saturday, I was reading Scripture preparing for my
daily presentations at Jellico Hospital. It was about 8:30 PM when I suddenly had a strange urge to drive up to Williamsburg, Kentucky (15 miles away) to drive through and see the town that I'd be speaking in the next night. It was very unusual in that it was already dark. What could I possibly see? After twenty minutes on the highway I pulled into Williamsburg and began to drive around. I took peculiar notice of road
signs pointing the way to "The University of the Cumberlands" located near downtown Williamsburg. I suddenly became really interested in seeing the campus. After driving a few more minutes I found the university where every building seemed to have a steeple on it. What denomination was behind this school? I was compelled to find out. I drove around campus in search of a brochure, but everything was closed.
I gave up and headed back to the highway where I noticed "The Cumberland Inn." They should have a brochure, I thought, Since they share the same name. I went inside the majestic, two-story lobby and made my way around an exquisite cascading staircase. As I came around to the front of the staircase I was stunned to see my new friend, assistant pastor John from Oswego. Our eyes met and we were both taken aback. "What are you doing up here?" I asked. "I'm helping chaperone the Jellico High School prom." John continued, "What are you doing here?" "I'm trying to find a brochure about Cumberland University." John shook his head and said, "This is weird." He then invited me to visit their church the next morning. "Sunday school starts at 10:00."

I attended their church the next morning where I was invited by the pastor and John to share the miraculous Guatemala story with their congregation. It was a divine appointment, but it would not be until later that I knew how much God had orchestrated the initial meeting between John and I in the church parking lot.

John actually lives about 35 miles from Jellico and had gone there to pick up his mother who lives near Oswego Church. He was at a stop sign close to the church when the Holy Spirit told him to pull into the parking lot. He obeyed even as his mother was questioning, "Why are we at the church?" "I don't know mom, but the Holy Spirit told me to pull in." After a few moments of wondering and looking around the small lot, John began to drive out and there I was pulling in. God had made a divine appointment for me with John and Oswego Missionary Baptist Church. Please pray for me as I travel to Guatemala May 18-25 with Albert Solis, a youth pastor from Bethel Temple Christian Center in Abilene, Texas. How the church and I came together is another amazing God story. We're looking forward to seeing what God has planned.

In Christ,

Steve

Guatemala Update - April, 2006

2006-11-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

I just received a report from pastor Jorge as the work continues in Guatemala. This update includes present work and future plans in which you may want to prayerfully consider joining with us:

It is great to see God work as we join Him in this new ministry. The three new churches of Ciudad de Refugio are doing great and it is a blessing to see all of the members really working well together. The second Ciudad de Refugio church is in the process of building. The foundation is being poured and soon walls will be going up. The members are doing the work as the LORD provides funding. The radio program broadcast in the Mayan language of Ixil is also being heard in remote mountain villages of Guatemala and new people are being lead to Christ weekly. Please pray for pastor Jorge, pastor Pedro and pastor Pedrito. We call him Pedrito so we can distinguish between the two Pedros. Pastor Pedrito is smaller than the other pastor Pedro.

Pastor Jorge and the team at Ciudad de Refugio have developed a program which takes our new and young believers through a discipleship process utilizing Biblical principles and methods taught in "Operation Multiplication" materials written by Billie Hanks, Jr. As the new and young believers grow up in the process, they are taken through a second step that includes teaching "Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God" by Henry Blackaby and Claude King. This is now standard follow-up procedure as we evangelize in Guatemala.

Corporately, as a church, Jorge and his team are also busy sharing our church vision in four classes ("101", "201", "301" and "401") with a curriculum based on Rick Warren's book called, "Purpose Driven Church." These classes are working very well. They are moving carefully, being sensitive to the Holy Spirit as He works to grow the members in Christ.

Please prayerfully consider areas in which we are working to see where you may join us:

Community Ministry

1) Leadership Training for the people in the squatter village communities. Teaching them how to flourish where they live by teaching them how to better work together as a community and how to start individual small businesses.

2) Job training for women so they may better provide for their families. (e.g. Making and selling handcrafted items, etc.)

3) Helping the poor families in the squatter villages add floors and improved roofs to their homes. Especially for widows, single mothers, and families with absent parents.

4) Helping to begin a new ministry we're calling the "Nehemiah Ministry" which will allow us to build homes in the squatter villages providing homes for the very poor and jobs to the people of the community.

Youth Ministry

1) Gang outreach ministry in the squatter villages.

2) Organized sports for youth (basketball camps, soccer training, etc)

3) Helping Youth Circles: Groups of youth will meet together two or three times a week for tutoring, studying and Bible studies. We will provide refreshments and snacks.

4) Witnessing activities where youth will learn to share the Gospel in public places. Christian music concerts in public places featuring music styles popular with youth.

5) Vocational education that will allow youth to improve their earning potential.

6) Recovery ministry to help youth addicted to drugs and/or alcohol.

Children's Ministry

1) Day Care Ministry for children of single mothers who must work to support their families.

2) Ministry activities for mothers and their young children. Also teaching soon-to-be mothers and new mothers how to care for their babies 0-1 years old.

Spiritual Ministry:

1) Prayer walking ministry in the areas where the gangs operate. Prayer walking individuals and teams will be protected as we have relationships with community leaders who want and need our help.

2) Develop a ministry of care for families with kids who are in trouble.

3) Develop spiritual relationships with people associated with gangs. Providing spiritual support for their families.

Also, please pray for me as God has opened doors with groups and churches in the United States for me to share. I will travel to:

Los Angeles - April 20-24
Tennessee and Kentucky - May 4-11
Kansas - June 18.

I'll also be returning to Guatemala, May 18-25. In addition, a group of 18 people from Virginia and 4 others from Texas including me, my brother Patrick, my mother will be traveling to Guatemala June 7-14 to pray, encourage and work alongside our Guatemalan brothers and sisters in Christ.

Thank you for all of your prayers and encouraging notes and e-mails. May our Lord lead.

In Service to Christ,

Steve

Guatemala Update - February 28, 2006

2006-02-28T12:57:00.000-08:00

The Lord continues to expand our ministry in Guatemala as we join Him in His work. Pedro Perez is a man who has a call on his life to be a pastor and whom the Lord led us to through his wife Juana. Juana came to us by way of the "practice" medical clinic we held in late September because she and her children were sick. You may recall, we held the practice clinic in preparation for the American doctors, dentist and medical professionals who came down from Tennessee and Kentucky in November. The Lord led us to provide financial support for Pedro and launch the "Ciudad de Refugio" radio program in his first language of Ixil (a Mayan Indian language pronounced ee'sheel) broadcasting the Good News from the mountain town of Nebaj, Guatemala. Each week Pedro makes the 12-hour "chicken bus" ride from Guatemala City to Nebaj to do the weekly radio program which we began on Saturday, January 28. Every week Pedro receives phone calls from listeners to personally visit homes and share the Good News. This week he was called to visit two homes and three new people received Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Pedro does not have a vehicle, but makes these visits traveling by chicken bus.

As I reported in my last update, we planted a second "Ciudad de Refugio" church in a small town near Nebaj. The town is called Xecax (x is pronounced "sh"). There are over 30 people attending this church now and we are seeking to raise $9,000 from our supporters to buy the materials needed to build a church building.

Even more good news. God has called Pedro to begin a new work... a third "Ciudad de Refugio" church, in a small mountain village called Cotzal. Cotzal is a two-hour drive from Nebaj. He is beginning this church plant with 14 people who will meet every week in a Cotzal family's house. I also wanted to report about the building our American friends from Jellico, Tennessee helped us to construct in November. The holidays have passed, the roof has been put on and steel doors and windows have been put in. The building is complete and the groundwork has now been laid among the neighboring refugee people. I am pleased to announce this Sunday we will begin a weekly community Bible study in our new building located in the heart of this refugee area called Las Colinas de Villa Nueva. The area of Villa Nueva is well known in Guatemala for the high level of gang activity... murders, assaults, robberies, drug and alcohol abuse, etc. "Jesus said to them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'" (Mark 2:17)

So much is happening so fast. Since planting the first "Ciudad de Refugio" church with pastor Jorge Cerritos in September we've taken on a radio program, a second and a third church, conducted two community medical clinics and constructed a building for outreach. God is clearly doing the work... leading us to the people and places where He has already been working in Guatemala.

Thank you for your prayers and support. May our Lord continue to lead.

In Christ,

Steve

Guatemala Update - Trip #17 January 2006

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I want to thank pastor Frank Estes of Bethel Temple Christian Center in Abilene, Texas and pastor Jeff Light of Novum Baptist Church in Reva, Virginia for graciously inviting me to share with their congregations what the Lord has been doing in Guatemala. I'd also like to thank Charlie Robinson and Bobby Johnson of First Baptist Church in Belton, Texas for also giving me the opportunity to share the evidence of God's mighty works with a group of men whom I meet with each week to learn more about our Creator and His Word. The Lord truly blessed our time together in every case as He promises in Psalm 37:5-6, "Commit your way to the Lord and trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn and the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."

Guatemala Update:

Through the initial "practice" medical clinic we held in late September the Lord led us to one family who has been the bridge to a whole new area for us in Guatemala. Here's what happened: I noticed one woman who was just leaving the clinic. She was dressed in tractional Mayan wear carrying an infant with a small boy in tow. I asked her if we had been able to help her with all of her medical needs (she was the only one I asked that day). She was having headaches and was given an order by our doctor to go to one of the hospitals in Guatemala City for further testing. On my ensuing trip to Guatemala I inquired about this woman, Juana, and wanted to make a follow up visit to her home. Pastor Jorge and I made the visit. Her dark, windowless home was the size of a large walk-in closet illuminated by a single light bulb strung up in the middle of the room. Her bed took up the entire back wall, a small burner and shelves on the left wall and a broken down dresser drawer on the right.

As we talked we found out her husband and their two older children were living during the week near a small mountain town called Nebaj some 12-hour bus ride up in the mountains. He was working there in their hometown selling garbage bags to support his wife and their four children. He came to Guatemala City to be with Juana as often as he could afford. Jorge and I prayed for this family and left. That night at about 3 AM, the Lord woke me up and told me, "You missed it!" I knew immediately what I had missed. God had brought us to Juana to help her and her family. "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" (James 2:15-16). I couldn't sleep the rest of the night. I picked up Jorge very early the next morning and he and I went back to Juana's home. I told her how the Lord had brought me back to her home and I apologized for allowing her to spend one more night worried about how her family would survive. The Lord led me to ask more about her husband, "Is he a Christian?" Juana told me, "Yes." Her now husband Pedro had become a Christian when he was 14 before they were married and he immediately felt the call on his life to study and preach the Word of God. Over time he became an associate pastor of a small church near his hometown without pay. He worked there for nearly ten years. He even began preaching on the radio in his native tongue, Ixil (ee'sheel). He paid for the air time himself. But as the financial strains of his growing family took over, he was no longer able to afford to continue the radio program. He knew he was called to preach, but it wasn't paying the bills. He had to abandon his calling to support his family. It had now been three years since his radio program ended. He thought God had abandoned him. But we were there to tell him God had not forgotten about him. God was sending help.

The LORD is providing through The LORD Will Provide for Pedro to fulfill his calling full time. We are also providing training materials and teaching Pedro the principles of discipleship, "Operation Multiplication" by Billie Hanks, Jr. and "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby and Claude King. The amazing thing is that through this relationship with The LORD Will Provide, Pedro is now back on the radio every week in his hometown in the Guatemalan mountains preaching in his native tongue to his native people. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!

The LORD Will Provide is now supporting pastor Jorge Cerritos full time and our initial church plant called "Ciudad de Refugio" (City of Refuge) which we began together in September. Just four short months later through our new friend Pedro, the Lord has given us the responsibility of a second "City of Refuge" church located in Pedro's hometown as well as his radio program. Everything is moving so fast as we continue to trust the Lord as Provider.

One final thought, as I stood in our new church plant "Ciudad de Refugio" near Nebaj I spoke and prayed with the congregation. My words were in English. Pastor Jorge translated my words into Spanish and Pedro translated Jorge's Spanish into Ixil. Three different languages spoken in praise of the One Living God. How awesome is that!!!

The Lord is leading with a vision for a lost world. We are simply joining Him. My prayer is you will join with Him also in prayer and support.

In Christ,

Steve

Back At Home - Post Guatemala Mission November 2005

2006-02-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

Our team of twenty from Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee have just returned from our very first medical mission trip, here are my thoughts:

Each one of us is now at home. We've reentered the atmosphere of our earthly reality and gone back to the life-sustaining oxygen of our jobs, our families and all the things that make us comfortable and happy. But as we go back to the ordinary, we can't help but remember that one week in November when we seemed to draw our breaths from extraordinary spiritual air. When we seemed to be touched and healed at the very softest and most intimate places within our hearts. When we seemed to literally work alongside our Creator to fulfill His desire to lift up the poor and needy. For He called and we went. Out of obedience we ventured to a strange land far away to help a people we do not know. A people whom God heard from heaven. "This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles." (Psalm 34:6, NIV)

We are at the beginning of acting upon God's call to this ministry in Guatemala. It is a time when our faith is tested and strengthened. It is a time when all He allows us to see is today. We are totally and completely dependent on our heavenly Father for everything. It is a time when we are constantly reminded that our hope is in Him... in Him alone. He is the reason we are there in Guatemala. "Come, follow me," He said. Now here we are on a journey... a difficult and glorious journey where we learn to surrender our will and depend solely on Him. A place where we run out of ourselves, our own resources and our own ideas. A place where
we are left only to rely on Him. This place is not a natural land, it is a land of the supernatural... where miracles live. Where God's strength is seen. May we always live there.

Peter said to Jesus, "We have left everything to follow you!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life." (Mark 10:28-30,NIV)

There is a story of a missionary couple that was in Africa for dozens of years and were finally coming home after growing too old to remain there any longer. They happened to be traveling on the same ship as a diplomat. Upon arriving home, the diplomat received a great welcome... a band played... speeches were made. The missionary couple looked at each other and the man said to his wife, "How is it that we have served in Africa for so many years and we come home to a quiet reception with our family and he comes home after a few months to such a grand welcome?" His wife looked at her husband and said with great love, "We're not home yet."

May our eyes always be fixed on eternity. May we live like we believe Him, not just in Him. May we be doers of the Word, not just hearers. I pray our Lord will protect and continue to grow the seeds that have been planted deep within you and I pray:

May the fruit of your tree be good
May your roots grow long and deep
May your branches reach toward heaven
And your shade cover those in need

In Christ,

Steve

Guatemala Trip #14 - September 14-26

2006-02-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

First let me report, our inaugural medical clinic was a success... we worked with two Guatemalan doctors who saw 71 sick people in 5 1/2 hours (please see the attached photographs). We decided to hold the event by invitation only so we could learn from the experience without being overwhelmed by great numbers of people. My great friend and co-laboror in The LORD Will Provide Ministries pastor Jorge Cerritos and folks from his new church (which The LORD Will Provide has had the privilege to help him plant) called, "Iglesia Cristiana Ciudad de Refugio" (City of Refuge Christian Church) worked to coordinate and administer the clinic. The event served as excellent preparation for the enormous medical clinic and construction event which will take place November 7-11 with medical professionals and others from Tennessee and Virginia. We expect over 20 people to join us from the US and about the same number from Guatemala. God is sure doing something great!

In a second unscheduled event Jorge was invited to preach to a group of 80 or so teenagers who were staying at a Christian retreat center in the refugee area called, "Buenas Nuevas" (Good News). The founders of the camp are a Guatemalan pastor David and his wife Layli whom the Lord has led to open as a place of spiritual freedom. The facility was built as a large industrial complex which failed and now God is using the facility to change lives. At this point, let me interject a few personal thoughts. I debated with myself about how much I would say or not say about this event. I knew I could choose to water down the event or I could choose to be completely forthright. As I began to think this through, I asked myself one question... why would I feel a need to water any portion of this event down? What was I afraid of? My conclusion was that I feared man. I feared what someone might think or say. God's Word tells us we should fear only Him. 'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom" (Job 28:28) And so, I come before you to give you a firsthand account of what I witnessed at this particular event in Guatemala at Buenas Nuevas.

The room was full with Guatemalan teenagers, mostly girls who had varied and troubled backgrounds. Some were sexually abused, some were prostitutes, some were drug addicts... all were in need of hope. Jorge shared the good news of Jesus Christ for 45 minutes and afterwards invited me and pastor David to come forward as he offered an invitation to the teenagers to come forward for prayer. Over half of the teenagers came forward crowding toward the front of the room. Jorge reached out his hand and placed it on the forehead of the first girl and immediately the Lord gave him a "word of knowledge" telling Jorge that He was healing this girl's heart. Jorge conveyed the message (word of knowledge) to her. She began to cry and suddenly she went down to the floor overwhelmed by the Spirit of God. Jorge had never been given a word of knowledge before, but he kept going. He went to the next girl and prayed the same way... she too went down. Then pastor David went to the microphone and began to pray for those who may have been sexually abused. A girl in the front row went down to the ground and began screaming. Two women and I rushed to the girl's side and began to pray over her. It took all of us to hold her still. She had become very, very strong as we prayed. Then one after the other people began to fall to the ground... some screaming and writhing on the floor. The Lord was at work delivering His children. This was no place for an evil spirit... God was present. The teenagers who didn't come forward were sitting stunned in
their chairs trying to absorb what they were seeing. Me and many others began to seek out those who were on the floor screaming laying hands on them for deliverance and inner healing. What a scene. It literally looked like a battlefield with people laying out all over the floor. The air was thick with atmosphere of a battle we could not see... the apostle Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 6, "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Here was evidence of the battle. People were crying all over the room. Many of us were in prayer... loud and fervent prayer... warriors winning back the freedom of those who were oppressed by evil forces.

The ones who were screaming and writhing seemed to be in a trance... I was praying over one such girl speaking to the evil spirit to leave in the name of Jesus. Of course, here the people speak Spanish. As I commanded the spirit to leave in English and in Jesus' name, the girl violently and firmly shook her head back and forth... the universal sign for "no." The girl did not know English, but the Spirit who really, really didn't want to leave knew the name of Jesus and understood.
Others knelt beside me to join me in prayer. Soon she was freed.

Praise God that He has given us the name of Jesus whose name is above all other names. He is sovereign... all creation must submit to His name... even in the spiritual world. The battle is real because there is a lot at stake. The eternal resting place of each and every human soul. So many of us are standing on the sidelines and watching or even refusing to believe there is a battle being waged... please pray for us as we continue to march forward into the darkness seeking to bring the Light of Jesus Christ into the world.

In Christ,

Steve

Update: September 1, 2005

2006-02-08T19:04:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a very productive trip to Guatemala. Pastor Jorge Cerritos and I have been working closely together and he truly is becoming as close to me as my own family. He is one of two men who have been called to spread the Gospel among the refugees whom we are now supporting in Guatemala. We have been preparing for a group of about 20 people from Tennessee and Virginia to conduct The LORD Will Provide's very first medical and construction short-term mission trip November 6-13. Everything is coming together very nicely and then some.

During my last trip (August 14-21) we had a group of three Guatemalan doctors (2-family practice and 1-Ob/gyn) contact us to see if they could help the refugee people by conducting a one-day medical clinic on Sunday, September 25 (Before I had even left Texas on this 13th trip, the LORD had already led me to book my 14th trip back to Guatemala September 14-26). We met with the lead doctor and made plans for the three doctors to see 150 refugee patients in 6 hours. The LORD Will Provide will be donating the medication. We'll start the day with a worship service and we'll be praying for and with each individual as they come in for care. A group of local women have also agreed to cut the hair of the children who may need something to do while other family members see the doctors. This one-day clinic has given us the perfect opportunity to work out any "bugs" before the big group comes down in November. It's been a long process and 13 trips (so far) to Guatemala, but we're finally starting to see the fruit of our preparation and relationship building in Guatemala and in the US.

I am also overjoyed that my brother, Patrick, who had the original vision of this mission in Guatemala, will be returning with me in November for the first time since our original trip two years ago. He is very excited about going back and I am so happy to have him there. My sister Theresa from Virginia and one of her two daughter's will also be making the trip in November. What a wonderful God we serve.

As I look back over these past two years it has been a long haul. I praise the Lord for the faith He gave me to believe Him. I know that every word He has told me will come to pass. He has led me to form relationships in Guatemala and here at home that I never would have imagined two years ago. And today, here we are at the threshold of a brand new work in Guatemala... the door is now open and we're about to walk through it. Our first mission trip. What a great feeling! I will be honest, the road to get to this point has been dark at times and seemingly endless. If it were up to me, we'd have done this a long time ago. But I know God had to prepare us and I know His timing is perfect.

There were those times when giants we faced seemed so enormous that they could never be defeated. But then we overcame them... not by our own strength, but by the awesome power of our Living God. He truly is all-powerful. There is nothing impossible for Him. Absolutely nothing! For if He is for us, who can be against us? After all, the Guatemala ministry was His idea and so He has provided.

Of course, He loves to work through His creation... through all of us. There have been so many of you that have prayed for us. We thank you. There have been many of you that have sent along financial support. We thank you. There have been some of you who have given clothes, medicine, Christian materials, Bibles and so much more. We thank you. There have been churches that have allowed me to come in and share this incredible God-story that continues to unfold. We thank you. There have been some of you who have offered encouragement along the way. We thank you.

At this moment we're seeing some light at the end of the tunnel and it seemed a perfect place to pause and say "thank you." As you know, it takes the entire body of Christ working together to accomplish God's will in this world. Some people to go and some people to send. Some people to pray and some people to give. Some people to build and some people to heal. Fingers, feet, legs, ears and every other part of the body are very important to the success and health of the whole body. No one part is greater than another. As each body part needs the other... so The LORD Will Provide will always need you.

Please continue to pray for us and to write. We love to hear from you.

In Christ,

Steve

A Starnger's Surprise - March 14, 2005

2006-02-08T18:59:00.000-08:00

I was meeting with Johner Martin with J.A.I.L. Ministries at a small restaurant in Belton, Texas when a man, a total stranger to me, walked up to me at the table and handed me a note saying the Lord wanted him to share this message with me. WOW! I thanked him as he walked out the restaurant door.

Here is what the note said:

Your hope is in Him!

Gal. 6:9 (Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.) Rom 5:5 (And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.) Heb 11:1 (Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what
we do not see.)

He will carry you!

God wants to do amazing things in and through you (Pray Col. 4:2 "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.") and He will make known His true call in your life.

(James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.") Hold this (James 1:12) close to your heart. He has you in His arms! ("His" was underlined three times)

Your fellow co-laborer (He did not write his name)

The Lord amazes me so often with His sovereign and tender hand. Using the obedience of a perfect stranger, the Lord blessed me.

In Christ,

Steve