WALKING FREE NEWSLETTER- December 5, 2010
Hi everyone
As one year ends, another begins soon. It has been interesting and inspiring to reflect upon our journey so far at Coolangatta. Like the people in the wilderness in the above cartoon, we know where Egypt is and we know where we are now but we have no idea where there is!
While we can look back and see how good and bad Egypt was and is, it is still unsettling to be where you are now and not having a clear picture of where you may be going.
The Lord has provided us two important signs to help us. Liz and I (and some leaders from Twin Towns UCA) went to the Global Leadership Summit. At the summit we heard a number of talks over two days from interesting leaders who have done much in their field of work.
Bill Hybels talked about going from here to there. He suggested that to help people to make the journey, you need to show that being here is not a great place and there will be much better. While the journey has it pitfalls, we were encouraged to put in markers: celebrations of what we have achieved and how far we have gone. We were also encouraged to hear the whisper of God leading and encouraging us. Other talks added to this theme and helped us to understand where we are with Walking Free and the Church, where we want to go and what we need to understand to get there.
We were encouraged to listen to God and see what He was saying.
This complemented our home group study “Experiencing God”. This has been a challenging and deep study. The study manuals have 5 studies per session to work through which has biblical reflection and exercises to do.
The last two studies “Crisis of belief” and “Adjusting your life to God” added to what we learnt at the summit.
There were some key points that he made that continue to resonate:
As we started to put things into place, we began to see what God was doing and how we might move where he is.
We had an information night about starting a healing room at Coolangatta. We had two people come and one apology. We looked to begin a prayer meeting in the new year. While this seems disappointing, we still believed that God wants to establish a healing centre at Coolangatta.
At our meeting, one lady got a picture of a doctor’s surgery and a hospital joined together where people could come for a consultation and be referred if necessary. We are praying into this picture and see what God may be saying.
We went to an ecumenical Christmas gathering and Liz met an older couple who want to join us next year as part of a healing team. They have had experience with another minister on Sunshine coast.
I inquired about the Healing Room ministry and discovered that they were quite comfortable for us to refer clients to Walking Free if the people needed a deeper ministry. Very encouraging! They have a healing room in Brisbane and Byron Bay which we can visit and observe.
I looked on the web and discovered a Celebrate Recovery course at Reedy Creek which we can observe and see if this is where God is leading us also: viz. courses to be doors for people to come and get help and be open to Walking Free ministry.
We are learning to see where God is moving and adjusting our thinking and our moving. We still have no definite answers about the shape of Walking Free here. We do need gifted people who see in the spirit, can pray and want to be agents of God’s healing to the broken hearted.
We do have some people interested in praying for physical healing in a healing room concept.
After a quiet month of October, God again answers our prayers and we have had a full November doing 20+ ministries and the first two weeks of December are quite full also. Praise the Lord!
One of our wonderful team is not able to continue to join with me and pray. Her circumstances have changed and she is unable to pray with me in the foreseeable future including much of 2011. She will be greatly missed and we are looking to Jesus to provide another.
This may mean that my trips to Toowoomba will be less in 2011.
Liz has been working hard. She has taken on the extra load of praying with me for clients. She has done an awesome job along with talking and arranging ministry times for clients. She continues to walk with ladies from church on a Wednesday but her quilting has slowed with everything else happening.
Our family is doing well in Adelaide. Dave and his wife, Maddy, celebrate one year of marriage on December 5th. Dave’s company has offered him an opportunity to work in Chicago and they are very excited about this. Dave has worked on the web site and we now have a paypal option for people to donate.
Jess has a boyfriend and so has another person to keep up with along with her myriad of friends. His name is Matthew and they have been going out for a month. She continues to enjoy work and catching up with her friends.
Naomi has one more week to go at School. She has been very busy writing reports and getting new classes and teachers in place for 2011. She is looking forward to a holiday after Christmas, going to Vietnam on tour.
As you get ready for Christmas, I encourage you to not to go through the motions but see Christ in everything you plan and do. While we may want to go into holiday mode, Jesus always looks for opportunities to touch and minister to people. He wants to use you to reach out and touch someone with good news.
May you continue to make a difference for the sake of the God’s Kingdom.
Prayer Points
If you would like to donate to our ministry and receive a tax deduction, direct debit using the bank details below or make out your cheque to Walking Free Renewing Ministries Gift Fund.
Bank Details: Walking Free Renewing Ministries Gift Fund. National Australia Bank: BSB 084-959 Account Numbers 82-215-5845