Spread the Fire - May 2008 - (Page 20)

I know what the color maroon is, or what it means to be marooned on an island, but what does that have to do with Bolivia? the day before I left at about 2:30 A.M. to say these words to me: “The war is not over. You must press forward to receive the complete victory that you must have. There is a price to be paid for living in the Spirit. When the new creation comes, it brings birth pains, as if birthing a new man. The pain is the result of dying to oneself. But the new life to be birthed will bring great joy and much relief. You must be prepared to press forward to deliver what I am about to birth in you”. I had sensations passing through my body as if I were on a roller coaster ride, the kind of sensations of rising and falling again that bring that momentary feeling of euphoria in one’s belly. My stomach was literally twisting in delight. The only words that I can use to describe the sensations are “holy anticipation.” It was as if the Holy Spirit knew that something good was about to be born in me and all of this incredible joy began to well up inside of me like a fountain. And these sensations persisted even when I was at the airport. I knew something good was awaiting me in Toronto. When I got to Toronto, I found myself in Holy Spirit travail for three days. I was bent over like a woman moaning and groaning and about to give birth to a baby. A lot of the women thought this was quite comical, and my travail seemed to release Holy Spirit laughter wherever I went because I could not stop. However, there was nothing funny about my plight to me. I was at work. I was birthing something. I was hot and sweaty, yelling my vocal cords off and bent over in seeming pain every time I turned around. This was only the beginning of what the Lord did for me at the Father Loves You Conference. It wasn’t until I got back to the States and read my prophetic word that I realized that while I was in Toronto, the Lord had just fulfilled the word he had given me. Something had indeed been born in me. I proceeded to get hungrier and hungrier still for the things of God. So I went to the Catch the Fire conference in Dallas, TX that same month and also went to the Leaders School of Ministry for a whole month that coming July of 2002. Since then I’ve been to three schools and many other conferences. But here is the meat that I wanted to share with you. The Lord had spoken to me in 2003 that I had four more years to go before my release into the ministry. Knowing that my time was getting short, I began to ask the Lord what He wanted me to do in preparation for this release. In late February of 2004 the Lord took me into a vision. Later on that afternoon, I asked the Lord where He had taken me in this vision and what He wanted me to know. The Lord told me that it was Bolivia, and He dropped one word into my spirit. He said “Maroon.” “Maroon?” I responded. I know what the color maroon is, or what it means to be marooned on an island, but what does that have to do with Bolivia? On the Internet, I discovered that this was a people group living in Bolivia and other countries. They were called “maroons” because they were Africans who had been enslaved by the slave traders and who had either won their freedom from or who had escaped from the slave traders. This confirmation excited me, and I began to research this people group and pray for them and the Bolivian people as the Lord would bring them to mind. Then in late 2005 the Holy Spirit spoke to me about spying out the land in Bolivia. I said, “But Lord, I don’t know of anyone in Bolivia. I don’t even have a single contact”. The Lord responded, “When you go to the school of ministry in Toronto in January of 2006, I will establish the connections and will provide the network.” And so I went. When I got to TACF I began to scout around asking whether there were any Partners or Friends in Harvest Churches there, but there were none. One day as I was having lunch with a number of School of Ministry students, I met a gal who had a friend who had worked in Bolivia for awhile. She offered to email her about it. When I got back to Denver, there was an e-mail from her with a contact. It was a pastor that she had worked with while in Bolivia who also happened to be the national overseer of the Church of God there. I e-mailed him, telling him how the Lord had called me to preach the gospel in Bolivia by a vision. He proceeded to set me up with preaching engagements throughout the country, although I was a complete unknown entity without any practical evangelistic experience and had not, until that time, had any practical healing ministry experience. And not once until two weeks before I left for Bolivia did he ask for any references or resumes. The Lord was setting it up. S TF - 2

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Spread the Fire - May 2008

Spread the Fire - May 2008 Contents In the River From Mystery to Clarity: Understanding the Language of Heaven Don't Settle for a Substitute Marooned in Bolivia The Sign of Israel's Blooming International Itinerary Resource Center Catalogue Visitor Information Upcoming Events

Spread the Fire - May 2008

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