A Busy Spring

The first half of this year is very busy and full of travel. Travelling to Japan was a huge privilege, reported in previous blogs. There are times when I am preaching and feeling wonderfully carried along by the Holy Spirit with the huge privilege of being in another nation, affecting another culture, and I just sense God’s wonderful help. At such times I am so grateful for the prayers that are sustaining me in the midst of the whole thing.

USA
Next week I leave for the USA for the Newfrontiers USA national Leaders and Wives conference held in St Louis, Missouri. While there, I have a number of very important meetings with key individuals who are coming in to see me and will also preach at Jubilee Church on the Sunday. On our way home through Chicago, I will be with our friends John and Kim Lalgee and their church in the Kenosha area.

Whilst in St Louis I am also taking two sessions for the pastors in the Acts 29 group from the Mid-West, led by Darrin Patrick, on Prayer and Worship, and am being interviewed for their Resurgence website.

Zimbabwe
After a couple of weeks in the UK,

• I will be travelling to Harare and Bulawayo to address two pastors’ conferences, together with Dr Shana, the leader of the Zimbabwe Evangelical Fellowship. It is anticipated that 2,500 pastors will attend each of these conferences and Scott Marques has already arranged for my book God’s Lavish Grace to be translated into the two tribal languages.
• Both conferences will also have aspects of Foundations for Farming built in. This could be a truly significant national programme leading to one of even greater proportion being prepared for September of this year, when it may well be that many thousands will gather.

South Africa

• I will be speaking four times on 27th and 28th March to leaders and celebrations in Durban.
• This is followed by Master Builders Leaders’ Conference, Clarens, gathering leaders of churches from this part of the Free State in South Africa. Please pray for ongoing energy and ability to relate to these essentially rural African believers

Armenia

• After 9 days in England I’m off to Armenia. A few years ago I had the privilege of speaking at a pastors’ conference in Armenia, which proved to be a group of 2-300 very legalistic pastors who seemed quite offended at my message of grace. Among them was a pastor called Karen, who has since testified that it changed his life and his church and his sphere of influence among other churches in Armenia. He has subsequently been included in our Newfrontiers International Forum and indeed all his churches are Newfrontiers churches. This will be my first visit to him and his people since this all took place.

Israel

• This is immediately followed by a visit to Israel. It has long been my desire to work with churches in Israel and preach the glories of their Messiah and the wonders of the New Covenant. This visit will include meetings hosted by a pastor whose name is ‘Israel’ and who attended our Brighton TOAM conference last year. He has a church of Jewish believers, many of whom have a Russian background.
• This represents a very interesting open door to guys who are not Newfrontiers but really appreciate what we have to say. They really do seem like great people and have recently endured quite a bit of persecution and even physical beatings. Some of their young people were sharing their testimony with other Jewish young people but were set upon and punched. One’s nose was broken but said ‘I don’t intend stopping talking about Jesus.’ Sounds very Biblical!

So we have a very busy schedule! I have nearly finished the manuscript of a new book and have a growing conviction that it could be very significant for the future. I am delighted that God’s Lavish Grace has now been translated into Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Swedish, French and Japanese, and soon to be in two Zimbabwean languages. What a privilege this is! May God help us to change the expression of Christianity around the world.