Final Thoughts...

Alas! It's come to an end... Vegas with Lauren Patton, Tahoe, Sacramento, Redding, LA, probably forgetting somewhere in between, but how can a blog a week cover all that we've done? ...I don't know how to.

I'm not going to lie, I'm not even really going to attempt to put down everything we experienced in the last couple of weeks. Let's just say it was RICH. Like a Krispy Kreme donut... you can't have too many in one sitting.

We learned at Bethel Church in Redding about yielding to the Holy Spirit. To beg God to heal someone is to assume we have more mercy than God - it's about letting the Holy Spirit do His work... if we're not seeing results, don't get discouraged, focus on what He has done, and go get some more revelation of God, our Healer. (Thank you Chris Gore and Chris Overstreet).

Shawn Bolz - Expression 58 - bought us lunch and told us stories about transporting in the spirit and the importance of community and understanding tiers of relationship. Maximize. He also brought a great word about our stance with interpreting the times here and coming - we need to be like the men of Issachar who understood the seasons, but have to see through the lens of the Gospel. Our job is to love, and if we don't have love for a place, we need to be careful to prophesy.

Jaeson Ma - author of "The Blueprint" and a church planter - had a Bible study that we attended one of the last nights we were there. It was amazing to see people go after prayer and Bible study the way they did. At the end they prophesied over us, and encouraged the Awaken crew that was present that night.

Sweet times of processing and meeting new friends as well as fellowship with THE Daniel Stedman and co. in Laguna Niegel (as well as other YWAM cameos throughout the week).

Conclusion? ...God is on the move, just like we thought, there is FAITH HOPE and LOVE in action. Everyone should do a perspectives trip across the states... without a doubt it catapulted us into greater intimacy with a really good God.

Fire, San Antonio, 93 and Sex+Money

The Yorks

So much to do, so little time... with less than a couple weeks left in the trip, minds that are brimming with revelation, and still experiencing anointed people, community and ministry, it's hard to find time to blog within the meetings, eating, praying and the sleeping.

Where do I start? We knew we wanted to go to Waco, TX to connect with Antioch Church... so after praying in Colorado at the York's, we felt good about making the longest drive yet...through the night. The night was beautiful, and laced with glorious moments with the Holy Spirit in the midst of corporate outbursts of prayer and worship. I could have sworn we were just going to be transported along with Wallace to our destination.

Waco, TX - here we met up with Grace, a sister of one of the AWAKEN staff - she graciously hooked us up with places to stay after Esther, a good friend of ours, blessed us with a room at the Marriott for a night! It was encouraging to see the youth really come walking out real community around the presence of God. Antioch Church has launched out around 50 church plants all over the world! Great to visit the church... and while we didn't really meet with any ministry leader here, we were encouraged to see God on the move yet again.

It was also in Waco that Erica and Eli felt a peace about booking tickets to Amsterdam! Andrew, Eli (the one with the vision for Amsterdam), Erica and Haley will be going to the Netherlands to explore what God's doing, and explore potential long-term community and ministry.

"San Antonio. Here we come. Where are we staying? ...that's a great question. Let me know if there's anyone who wants to hook 6 very friendly people up!"

This was the status I posted on my Facebook just before arriving in San Antonio... After hearing clearly from the LORD "San Antonio" "Fire" and "93" (and then discovering that there was a Fresh FIRE Healing gathering in SAN ANTONIO led by Todd Bentley) we decided to attend the conference, but had no idea where we were going to stay. Well, God truly does work in mysterious ways, and through a Facebook status, Andrew's friend Kirsten from YWAM, connected us with 2 of the most amazing people Texas has to offer. We were treated like ROYALTY! Food galore, housing, and good times - this was a hard stop to beat... we gained so much more than impartations this week, we gained great friendships.

Robert and Janie

The gathering was amazing... we would drive close to 30 minutes everyday for 3 days to get to the little church from where we were. Todd Bentley, Luke Holter and Jason Hooper all yielded to the Holy Spirit to help administer healing to the hundreds that came through in the few days. The gathering simply said to "bring the sick, and those hungry and thirsty for an outpouring", it was incredible worship and solid Biblical teaching, with all the glory to God. I love that God is one of breakthrough (in fact He's the "Master of breakthrough"), and our faith was stirred.

Luke and Grace Holter

Luke Holter also shared a couple mornings on the prophetic gifting, and also his testimony... He just finished a book called "A Beautiful kind of Broken", and taught us that God is a safe place to "fail" in the area of walking out the prophetic. Luke, and his wife Grace, met us for lunch to share more prophetic words and encourage us to love the unlovely and keep going after the giftings. Again, another amazing connection that will hopefully lead to more connecting in the future.

The Alamo and the Riverwalk were also spots where we got to check out, along with connecting with a student from the last school, Emery, for his birthday!

...after a great night of powerful prayer with our friends Robert and Janie (our gracious hosts), we left around 5 the next morning for Arizona!

Katie

Sex + Money

Again... we weren't really sure where we were going to stay... but yet again, we connected with a YWAM alum! YWAM is a great tribe to be a part of :) ...Our friend Katie set up AMAZING housing for us in Maricopa which JUST happened to be 5 minutes away from our friends with Sex+Money (a ministry raising awareness of Human Trafficking in America) - so we were able to spend time with them and hear about how God is opening up doors and giving them more vision... they are great friends personally and of AWAKEN, and know that the LORD will connect us more with them in the future.

Andrew and Eli also got to connect with 2 of their aunts in the area!

What's a road trip without seeing the Grand Canyon? ...we had to do it... we felt that we were supposed to go to Vegas, but not before a trip to the canyon. This is also where "93" came in... highway 93 was the road that takes you from Phoenix to Las Vegas!

GOD IS BEAUTIFUL... and the Grand Canyon testifies to that! In a moment we went from feeling significant to insignificant as we saw the vastness of the view before us. God is amazing in His creativity! Thank you LORD for moments like these...

After a refreshing time seeing our Creator's handiwork... in was on to Vegas!!

Dick Eastmen, First Love, Rocky's

Ahhhh... the Rocky Mountains. It was good to get some time in the crisp cool air of Colorado. This was our next stop after our hard-to-beat time in Kansas City. We arrived at the York household, and were greeted by Dad, Mom, David and Sonia (David's wife) York... we were blessed beyond belief, and truly felt like royalty - we were overfed and pampered, haha, but it was just what we needed halfway through. That home, what can I say? ...it's a place of rest, joy, and the presence for anyone who spends a length of time there.

We were encouraged to meet with Dick Eastmen, founder of Every Home for Christ (EHC), and author of the recent Purple Pig. He lived in the Springs, and Lou Engle and Bob Hartley encouraged time with him. We got to work right away to see if anything would work out, as he, like the rest of the people we were meeting with, was busy. ...we were on standby for the time being.

We started by meeting with Evan, the business/missions pastor at Jubilee Fellowship Church. He was an amazing, humble man that shared with Chris and I some revelation about Elijah and Elisha that he had received. There need to be more Elisha's who aren't content with the Christian experience so far. Good word. Later that evening we went to the evening service and met up with Kat Hobin and Chris Chun, who have been hanging out in Estes Park with Kat's family. So good to be with more Awaken family for a bit.

The next day we all had the amazing experience of going to Pastor Sun Hui East's church 'First Love Harvest'. Charismatic and fiery, Pastor shared a sermon of returning to holiness. There was definitely a sense of community and love in the environment there, and Pastor even took time to prophesy and speak encouragement over many of the team members. That evening, some went to Estes Park, and I was able to meet with Dan Baumann, who was speaking at the Spring's base. Friends are a blessing.

The next day were were invited to Korean food with pastor and her assistant (who are Korean), and, let's just say, some of us may have experienced a little deliverance through the Pastor's words to us! ...that evening we were invited to go back and share at the First Love Harvest Church service, Andrew gave a word on the importance of waiting on the LORD, and Matt played a couple songs to help usher people into the presence. Pastor gave a word afterward, it was a powerful night. The church gave a VERY generous gift, and we were once again amazed at the LORD's provision on this trip. Korean food after the service at 10 pm as well!

We were able to get a hold of Tanner, Dick's assistant, and he was able to set up a meeting (with lunch!) for us. We made our way up to the Spring's, and arrived at EHC's headquarters at 10:45, we were able to sit in on a staff meeting where Dick gave a word. Immediately after, we were able to meet with him for lunch in one of the conference rooms. It was incredible to hear how his prayers, along with those with him in agreement, helped birth many other movements - Lou Engle and Mike Bickle look to him as one of their spiritual fathers! He shared with us the importance of prayer, to schedule time with the LORD, just like we would any other time. He told of a story of being in DC with other Christian leaders, he told the others he would have to leave at 4 for an appointment. Later in the meeting, the other leaders expressed frustration of being too busy to get much time in prayer. As they each went around and sympathized with each other, it was Dick's turn to share. When he was asked if he also shared in the frustration, while holding back tears, he said "no, that's what my appointment is at 4". Dick has made prayer and the secret place as much (if not more) as ministry or anything else in his day. Amazing!

...but that night was far from over... we decided to surprise the crew by taking them to Casa Bonita, a Colorado-must! (debatable).

We met Sarah-Jane Hobin, Kat's sister, along with the York's and went to the Mexican restaurant that included all the festivities of Mexico! (debatable).

After a night full of authentic Mexican fun! We left, but as we were praying for Kat, Chris (Chun) and Sarah, a couple walked by and asked if we were praying. We said "yes! would you like prayer?", and immediately the man lifted his hands and let us pray for him. The woman with him left as we began to pray over him. Though he was obviously drunk, we knew the LORD wanted to touch him. So Chris and Chun went to get him some food while the rest spent 25-30 minutes speaking the truth in love over him. At one point the man fell to his knees and repented for being an alcoholic and cried out for the LORD to help him. Erica was able to pray over the woman (his wife?) and she was also led to tears. What a day!!
The last day we felt to encounter God in the Rocky Mountains! We went to hanging lake for a hike to a beautiful waterfall... it couldn't have been better. We arrived at the top after 45 minutes of hiking to a light snowfall that set the mood perfectly... after taking it in, and standing in awe. We made our way back down, to the car, and back intoDenver. It was off to Texas the next evening for an all-night drive...

IHOP, Boiler Room, Favor

On May 7, 1999, the International House of Prayer Missions Base was founded by Mike Bickle and twenty full-time “intercessory missionaries” who cried out to God in prayer with worship for thirteen hours each day. Four months later, on September 19, 1999, prayer and worship extended to the full 24/7 schedule. - ihop.org

A gloomy, but warm enough sky set the scene as we drove from Tennessee to Kansas City. We had heard so much about things the LORD was doing in this place, and even tasted of it a little at a conference called Onething last year. More and more though, we've witnessed the missions and prayer movement converge, and in turn seen the release of power like never before. Missionaries, from the place of prayer and intimacy are being fired up to be His hands and feet.

Once again, we were blessed with housing, surrounded not only with walls and a ceiling, but with love and His presence. Christian Gonzales, one of the most intelligent, God-fearing people we've met, set up our housing, and more... he shared with us how God is leading him to some amazing revelation on Jesus as a the reference for truth. Ross and Amanda, currently serving IHOP, put us up and gave us meals... what amazing new friends we have made.

First stop was to meet with Bob Hartley. Jedidiah Hartley, Bob's son, invited us to a prayer time with His dad early morning shortly after arriving. Bob runs several businesses and raises up Hope centers with the intention of seeing cities raised up that love God well. Bob is a prophetic voice in this generation, and had words of accurate encouragement for each one of us. "8-31 man..." he began as he talked to me. At first, there was a little confusion, until I realized

Bob had nailed my birth date on the head. He continued to accurately share with us the testimony of Jesus' hearts to us. While there are still words that we're not sure about (and need to prayerfully consider) we were aware of the Holy Spirit in our midst. After that we went to the Daniel Academy, the IHOP highschool, where the kids prayed powerful prayers, even singing in the Spirit, over us. We went back to the office to join Bob, and many other businessmen in the area for a time of seeking the LORD and thanking Him for His favor. (He does this every weekday morning).

The Boiler Room... another establishment birthed out of a prayer movement, the Boiler Room is a spiritual family, living to see every sphere permeated with the love of the Gospel. We sat down with Adam Cox and his friend Dave to hear about what the LORD was doing. It was so encouraging, and deeply challenging to see a community based around the presence of God living lives, and seeing the art culture reached. 4 floors of glorious community and people of prayer and brotherhood. We were prayed for, and Eli received some awesome words of her prophetic voice being realized.

Erica and the rest of us, had some amazing times of prayer/worship/intercession at the Prayer Room at IHOP. (I mention Erica because she pulled 3 all nighters - epic). The atmosphere was so inviting, we could have stayed much much longer.

We had the privilege of sitting down with Brian Kim, who is one of the leaders at IHOP. He shared with us thoughts on community, and helped us process a bit. Then went on to share about the end times, and how it's important to know where you stand on the issue. If we really are in the end times, how important is it we undertand the season we're in? We want to be like the men of Issachar.

We attended Bob Hartley's Champions of Hope meeting that he has weekly, and shared more prophetic words for our team. Chris Little is now Chris Big, and Matt is called to cities and countries with 'T', while Haley will be a revivalist in Sacramento, so much more...

Just when we thought things couldn't get any better, we get a call from Mrs. Engle (Chris had been in communication with Jonathan, who's currently taking a school in Kona), asking us when we would be able to come over to the house to spend some time with them. Unreal. Matt had a dream earlier that we would meet with Lou. While we were psyched out of our minds, the excitement was replaced with the reality that this was "just" another burning, Jesus-lover. We related with him so much as he asked us our stories and we shared thoughts on the next great awakening, and the moves of the Spirit. He and his wife finished by praying over us, and releasing mantles of prayer and fasting... lookout. What a day. What's crazy is we would have kept hanging out, but we "had" to go to the Hartley's for dinner!

All in all... KC is blowing up - the blazing inferno of God's love is ravishing continuously and systematically through the body. We've received so much from the LORD during our few days there, I pray that we will never forget those moments.

TennesSEE

(Wallace, getting a little Jesus-time in before leaving Memphis)

After encountering Ecclesia and the Father Heart of God in Hamilton, AL with people at the Ramp... we made our way to Nashville. Along the way we've been going deeper in our van conversation/discussion, passing the levels of a superficial community that the enemy would love to hinder us from entering, and engaging hearts. Exposing little things that annoy us, and becoming more and more knit together... we're also picking up some super awesome bumper stickers for Wallace along the way. I guess that's just partof the experience though (Thanks Erica and Little, you keep things...interesting!)

When we got to Nashville, we once again were blessed through the little

relationships via YWAM to get plugged into cozy housing. 3 different houses provided rest for Jesus-nomads... and we are grateful. A girl named Shelly, who years ago was in YWAM, resides in Nashville, and serves her local community and church - she hooked. us. up. Thank you.

I got a text not too long ago from Amy Sollars encouraging me to try to meet up with a pastor/worship leader named Chris Dupree. After texting back and forth, he agreed to meet us over Jason't Deli and enjoy a meal with us. We were truly blessed by his encouragements to us to remember often the nearness of Jesus. He shared his story of an encounter with Jesus smiling at him and holding him close - shattering and simultaneously restoring him to right standing, and how his life has never been the same. He was Mike Bickle's right-hand-man for years, and now helps pastor a church in Toronto, while living in TN. He shared with us how the Kingdom IS at hand. Again reaffirming to us the reality that we don't have to pray from an anxious standpoint, worrying whether or not God will "come". Let's be aware that He has COME.

The rest of our days near Nashville were spent in a hotel in Franklin (thank you anonymous donor for the much needed time at a hotel), where we traveled to Thompson's Station to meet with the Caleb Company. The Caleb Co. is run by Todd Mcdowell and was founded by Don Finto... they carry God's heart for Israel and poured out so much perspective (and what we've really seen as keys) as to how God longs for Israel to be redeemed. Oh! How grateful we are to be grafted into the promise to the Jewish people! We never want to take that for granted. Don proclaimed, by memory and heart, the words of Paul in Romans 11, bringing them to life. How, for so long, had these Scriptures seemed to escape our attention?? While it's safe to say that all of us are wrestling with our thoughts that were stirred within us that day, we definitely are more keenly aware that the redemption of those He originally covenanted through Abraham with is going to be a blessing to the rest of the world! We had some amazing times of laughing and enjoying one another with those at the Caleb Co. and felt immediately "grafted in" to their community... praying and prophesying over one another. What a blessing!

After this, it was time to move on... after praying we felt right about going to Memphis for the day and connecting with Rachel Sumner and Jonathan Brown. Both YWAMers... We found the house in Memphis, and yet, again, were blown away by the hospitality (let's go America!) that received us. A food basket and rooms awaited us, we CHILLED. As we went downtown with the above mentioned, we got to see one of the most beautiful sunsets from one of the coolest places in Memphis - fellowship. Beautiful. It's like God's arms were wrapped around us as He orchestrated a beautiful night (including getting the...most interesting of our bumper stickers yet!). Both Jonathan and Rachel are believing for God to breakthrough in greater ways in Memphis. Yes, LORD.

It's been a blessing connecting with friends and families along the way, Shelly, Marc and many others, both to encourage and BE encouraged. God is moving.

If I could keep going with all that we've learned, it would take the rest of my day, so I'll leave it at that. Continue to pray that the next half of our trip is led by the Spirit and not our flesh. There's many more lessons to be learned, and God knows we need His grace and strength to be able to get all that we're meant to out of this. We also desire to be vessels, anywhere, anytime, Father, we are available.

Angels, The Ramp, Fire Tunnel

Family is on the heart of God. We were able to be a part of people's families in the last couple of days. The Little's, the Coffey's... rich hospitality, and simply beautiful times with the LORD. In the Carolina's we were blown away by blessings of all shapes and sizes.

Charleston, a time to draw together to pray for one another, and fellowship in a beautiful piece of America. We met up (once again) with the Little's, and Chris's brother's family.

We had times of prayer and connected in a deep way with new friends. We didn't really have a place to stay the first night in Charleston, but after seeking the LORD, a door opened up, and someone called and offered to pay for a hotel for the night. The next evening we had a condo to sleep for a couple nights! God is good to us... it was refreshing!So it was back to Charlotte to drop Rachel off and see the Coffey's one last time.

Mrs. Coffey shared about the death of her son, and the testimony of many angelic visitations, stoking our faith to new heights. The Kingdom of God was evident in that family, and we truly believe He's getting ready to pour out new levels of His Spirit there.Then we got on the road, and got to Greenville late.

We had heard so much about Greenville, SC. We were greeted by Ian Finlay, a good friend of ours from Kona, and he showed us to our house... we crashed and then woke early to meet Jed, the owner of the house. He has really been used to cultivate an amazing kingdom community within this area. They've helped spark prayer and intercession initiatives as well as homeless feedings and other acts of service to see Heaven realized there. You could feel the peaceful, welcoming atmosphere in that place and immediately felt at ease and that the Spirit was hovering over us. I love places like that... I only wish we had more time there. We grabbed coffee with Ian that morning, getting a little prayer sesh in before getting into Wallace, and took off for Alabama.

Alabama was a place that we probably knew the LEAST about, but had heard enough to check it out. With the few contacts we headed to Hamilton, AL where Hannah, our contact, was gracious enough to find some housing for us. When we were first dropping off the girls, we felt a little uneasy as the owners were a little hard to read... eventually we discovered they were precious people with a heart for this generation. The guys found their spot, and connected with a young high schooler named Justin, who graciously let us sleep in his guest room (free bagels and cereal as well... hmmmboy). Once we dropped off the luggage, we headed over to our first night at the Ramp for a 'Pastor's Summit'.

It's a community of believers that's seeing transformation of a city happening! Hamilton is getting ROCKED. What they believed was so much the DNA of AWAKEN it was scary... they talked often about the fact that we're on the verge of the 3rd great awakening, and that they would continue to be the Ecclesia (the governmental body of believers who allow the rule of Christ to be administered through them) until an awakening is realized. Damon, Karen and Dutch were all leaders who shared God's heart for pastors of many churches represented there. Conviction came quickly and the first night many pastors were on their faces repenting (changing their way of thinking) before the LORD. Dutch shared the next day on what ecclesia is. And Friday night ended with a 'fire-tunnel' - basically a line of people who prayed fire baptism on the people who would walk through the middle. The night was intense with passion and zeal as we worshipped the LORD with reckless abandon - hours later, people were lying everywhere having encountered Jesus in a fresh way. It was a beautiful thing... greater love was inspired for our LORD and Savior.
Saturday morning, we packed our things and were about to get on the road. It was around 8:30 and had started to think that a breakfast with Dutch Sheets wasn't a reality. We were ok with it, as we felt we had already been so blessed by having been a part of the Pastor's Summit. As 9 a.m. approached the phone rang... it was Hannah Sheets. She said "If you guys can come right now, my dad said he would have breakfast with you" - we jumped into Wallace, grabbed the girls and met at McCracken's for breakfast. It was an honor to sit with Dutch as he shared his heart for this generation and the stories of what God was doing. He also told us about his ambitions, hopes and dreams. Dutch Sheet's wrote the book "Intercessory Prayer" and his book is among the best on the subject. We said goodbye full in many ways, stomach and spirit :)

We just arrived in Tennessee and are excited to see what the LORD will show us here.

Helsers & Peterson - Heaven in NC

We were up early seeking the LORD. I remember pacing around the room and thinking about how blessed we've been on this trip. Through meals and housing provided, favor in the area of meeting leaders, rekindling old relationships (we met up with Calvin and Camille Hanson and Rachel Coffey) and just enjoying the LORD's goodness and nearness... I was walking around the room when I looked over and noticed a picture on the guest room that was a painting of 2 children playing, and lyrics framed in the larger frame, not thinking anything , I went back to worship. Around lunch, we were talking about where we were going next, as soon as we mentioned the name "Helser", Debbie Little (Chris's mom) went upstairs and brought down the picture... it was painted by Ken Helser, with lyrics of a song he had written years before. Small world.

There's times when Heaven collides with earth, an

d those fortunate to experience it, know that it's a beautiful thing to behold. After being with Chris Little and his amazing family in Fayetville, North Carolina, and truly living in the midst of southern hospitality, we went down to Sophia, NC to Jonathan Helsers ranch. Jonathan and his wife Melissa, write some of the most inspired worship music you'll ever hear. The day after we arrived after enjoying an incredible breakfast meal with the community at the ranch, they began to encompass us and pray. It seemed for a moment angels entered the room and began to accompany the Helsers as they began to prophetically sing over us. It was majestic. We came back down to find things very well with our souls, and encouraged by our new friends. They told us that the it was time to re-awaken the wells of creativity within the body of Christ. Yes LORD.

The night before we spent the evening over coconut cream pie and coffee with Ken Helser (Jonathan's dad) - talk about a dude speaking wisdom from experience! Each word seemed anointed as he shared with us a longing for this generation to go beyond simply filling ourselves with knowledge, but to lay hold of the promises. We need more "fathers and mothers" of the faith like Ken and his wife.

Matt Peterson was an ex-CIA agent who was so aprehended by the Gospel that he gave it up for the ministry. Tasting of the supernatural life found in Christ, he began to ask the LORD for something bigger than what he had known. For a year he let God speak to him through a water bottle before he finally got the message. He was to start a company called ZAO water that would give the proceeds to fund wells being dug in Africa to bring pure water to suffering communities. He's dug countless wells and seen thousands impacted.

Matt told us a story of being in Africa a couple years ago, when a chief of one of the tribes came up to him with a crazy look in his eye and in a foreign language started cursing him. After a translator was sought out, he told the man something along the lines of "You're old, and you're going to die soon." After the man had taken time to think about this, he responded with "What should I do?"... long story short the man had had dreams of Matt for over 30 years. It was a reoccurring one of Matt taking this man and dunking him in the water and then lifting him back up. The last time that he had the dream was the night before. The man burned everything that was in opposition to the LORD and gave his life to Christ within the hour.

Matt told us that what he feels the church needs to get revelation of is that God is a loving Father who's brought us into the family (telling us that the story of the prodigal son was more of the story of God then it was the son), and that while simple, it's more relevant now then ever. He shared with us the beautiful reality that the Father never changed, the reason the son was reluctant to come home was that he didn't know the Father's goodness never changed. We run away from God instead of to Him, because we don't know Him. God, grant us a divine realization that the Father is good!

We then went to Rachel's house and that evening to Morningstar where we saw Shawn Bolz and others administer healing and prophetic words to many, God is alive and moving!