We’ve had lots going on, giving us a variety of opportunities to be around people to share a message from the Word. Here’s a samping of what’s happened lately:

1) Two nights ago, we were at a local outdoor orchestral event. Ethan heard a lady talking about the Lord right behind him, so he politely interrupted the conversation to offer the lady one of our ministry website cards. They got chatting further, and the lady mentioned that she had just been in Starbucks talking with a man that was sitting reading his Bible. She told Ethan that she had deliberately waited to speak with the man, wanting to share a word about Jesus with him. Then, minutes later she returned to the event where Ethan purposefully spoke with her…! She said she could definitely see God’s hand upon things, and she was eager to look at our website, especially our videos on the “Winging It!” page. I love how God works, and His perfect timing!

2) A couple of nights before that, we were walking downtown again and our daughter spied a gorgeous tiny teacup poodle in the crowd of people. We all couldn’t resist, so we approached the owner to ask her if we could pet her puppy. We ended up chatting with her and her friend about the Lord after they asked where we were from (they noticed our accents) and how we had met. At first, I thought the friend seemed more interested than the lady I was speaking with, but it was actually the dog owner that ended up proclaiming, “Oh, I would love that to happen to me…!” (meaning, being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit). We both immediately replied, “It can!” So, Don and Elisabeth and I went off around the corner to a quiet place to pray over her. She had recently started to go back to a church (non-denominational) and study her bible, especially after losing her husband as well as a good friend of hers, and she could clearly see God’s hand upon us meeting her that evening. She ended up receiving the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, praise God!

3) We were invited to our realtor’s end-of-year client appreciation party, and it was there that we got chatting with Kevin again - the other realtor on his team that Don prayed with and water baptized many months ago. It was wonderful to connect with him again and discover that he has been praying in tongues every day since then! He said his life forever changed back then and things just don’t feel right for him unless he’s praying in the Holy Spirit every day, connecting with God using the language of the Holy Spirit. That was so encouraging for us to hear!

4) We needed a new mattress and, after looking in a few retail stores, Don felt moved to browse Facebook marketplace. It was there that he saw an ad for a local clearance center. When Don went there the first time, he discovered that the owner/manager is Spiritfilled and uses his store as a vehicle for his Christian ministry. Don shared some encouraging words with him and mentioned he’d be back again soon to decide on a mattress.

Both Don and I purposed to go to the store together many times over the course of a few weeks, but we never seemed to get there. Then, suddenly, we found some time and Don texted the owner/manager to set up an appointment. We were hoping to meet with him that Wednesday, but he told Don that he was currently at a conference and that he wouldn’t be able to make it until the Thursday. So, we set an appointment for the afternoon, expecting to see the same guy at the store, but it turned out to be his son-in-law (Jeremy) instead. Jeremy is a manager, too, and he had come to meet with us on his own. Instantly, Don and I both thought that maybe there was a reason… and there was…!

After checking out some mattresses, we asked Jeremy if he was filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, just like his father-in-law. He said yes, so we said a few encouraging words and then asked if he prayed in tongues often. This led to a wonderful, long conversation. We shared with him many scriptures and personal stories, and we watched our most recent “Winging It!” video together. We ended up laying hands on Jeremy and praying over him many things that came to us from the Holy Spirit, and we prayed in tongues together, too. Jeremy was in tears, and he felt wonderfully inspired and empowered to go and do the things that God had been laying upon his heart to do for quite some time.

It was especially encouraging for us when Jeremy shared two of his own stories:

a) Just that last night, his two year old woke up with serious breathing problems. They rushed him to the emergency room, and as Jeremy sat waiting with his son (who turned out to have croup), Jeremy prayed in the Holy Spirit - the first time in a while. Jeremy shared with us that he thought at the time, “Why don’t I do this more often? Why do I wait until difficult times to pray in tongues?”

b) Jeremy shared that the moment Don had texted his father-in-law at the conference on the Wednesday, his father-in-law was right in the middle of a conversation with some of his church-going friends and business associates. They were all comparing what goes on today with the period of the first churches (in the Book of Acts). They were questioning, “Why don’t things look like that today?” and “Why aren’t there people doing the work of God today like the disciples back then?” It was at that very time that Don “happened” (God’s hand!) to text the father-in-law who immediately showed his friends his phone and proclaimed, “I know someone who is… This guy…!”

When Don and I heard these two stories, we were so inspired and encouraged to keep doing what we’re doing. We just never know what God has His hands upon behind the scenes in order to prepare situations for us to minister into. Thank you, mighty Lord, for the privilege of doing your work upon this earth!

I thought I had learned the lesson “don’t judge a book by its cover” many years ago, but it appears that I had more to learn…

I was running to the library with my daughter alongside me, riding her bike. As we traveled through the civic park, we both spied an older man wearing an a-frame sign. He was walking around the community, hoping for people to notice the salvation messages printed on his boards. Given that I wasn’t wearing my glasses, I couldn’t read the words and I took my daughter’s word for it that the man was a Jehovah’s Witness from a previous group we had previously come across and that he wouldn’t be open to hearing about our experiences. Despite this, I did feel moved to stop and speak to the man, but I didn’t (based on my assumptions).

Then, one evening a few days later, we spontaneously decided to go for an evening stroll from the house, down to the same area. As we neared the same park, Don spied the same man with the same a-frame sign. I hadn’t shared with Don what had happened a few days earlier, and Don simply immediately got speaking with the man as soon as he read the signage.

It turned into a very long, very blessed, Holy Spirit-led conversation as Don shared with the man many scriptures to prove that salvation involves way more than someone simply giving their heart to Jesus. Toward the end of the discussion, we discovered that the man and his wife are actually both Spiritfilled (and can obviously pray in tongues). This led to even more encouragement for them to increase their prayer life, making the most of what God has given them — to pray daily in the Holy Spirit, individually and together as husband and wife, and then watch how their relationship with each other and, more importantly, with the Lord grows and strengthens. (It seemed that praying in tongues wasn’t something that the man was accustomed to be purposefully doing on a regular basis, despite God’s encouragement in His Word to do so.)

Rarely are people like this humble enough to ask, “So, what else exactly should I be telling people…?” But this is what the man asked, and it was very beautiful to see his tears of tenderness toward God and His Word as he eagerly inquired about various scriptures. Before we parted ways, we all prayed in the Holy Spirit (tongues) right there on the street as we huddled together. The man teared up again at that point, seemingly relieved to be freely praying in tongues and touched by God’s words of encouragement for him that night.

Needless to say, I eagerly shared my story (from the other day’s events) with everyone after we left, and I learned a valuable lesson not to assume that someone won’t be open to hearing Truth!

This is a new one…. Ministry at the barber shop!

Don was in line for getting his hair trimmed on Remembrance Day, but he had to wait an extra long time due to the wonderful “free cuts for veterans” that the barber shop was offering. He hadn’t planned on popping out for a trim on this day; it was a spontaneous decision, so Don wondered if the Lord had something in store for him to do while he waited. He did!

Don got chatting with the older man next to him, who was there with his elderly father. It started because Don noticed “Acts 2” printed on the back of some papers the man was holding. Don asked him about it, and the man (whose nickname is “B”) eagerly told him that it was from a course he was taking at his church - a THREE YEAR course at the end of which the students are deemed “qualified to preach the gospel” (IF they are allowed to graduate!). Wow…! Of course, Don proceeded to tell him about the born again experience, especially the power and authority that the Holy Spirit anointing equips someone with - immediately upon being born of water and of the Holy Spirit (speaking in tongues as the first manifesting sign). At this point, the receiver is empowered to “go” and “do” and “speak” in the name of Jesus Christ, and God will enable them as they step out in faith and utilize what He has put within them through the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Upon hearing this, B was very excited. By this time, though, Don was up for his hair cut, so Don said they could continue their conversation a bit later. But, B was eager, and he came over to speak with Don some more, right there by Don’s chair in the middle of the shop! (When things like this happen, we often wonder who else got “indirectly” preached to that day…) B was asking Don, “So, are you a pastor? Do you have a church? What is your information that I can look up? Etc., etc.” It was refreshing for Don to see such humility and passion.

Don gave B our card and B shared that he had been praying for the Holy Spirit anointing for many many years. B shared with Don the many prayers he prays every day, and told Don he wanted to get together again - that he believed that meeting Don was an answer to his prayers! So, Don invited B over for prayer with us all that afternoon. Needless to say, B did receive the Holy Spirit as we all laid hands on him and prayed. We talked some more and then prayed again, to help B get even more comfortable with praying in the Holy Spirit. When we asked him how he felt, he said he felt such a peace, and his back wasn’t hurting him anymore (he had severely injured it in the military, and he has metal pins in his lower spine). Praise God!

We encouraged B to share his experience with his wife and to lay hands on her to pray for her, too. Of course, we always reassure people that we can help them whenever they are preaching to and praying for others, but we are mindful to inspire them that, being born again of water and of the same Holy Spirit, they now have the same authority to go and do as we do — that we are all empowered together… by the Holy Spirit… through Jesus Christ… unto the Father… in the Kingdom of God!

So, that was our Remembrance Day adventure. Then yesterday, we attended a very popular farm festival — a perfect outreach opportunity! We were able to share our card and website with a number of people, and it was very touching when Ethan got to chat with a lady that is heavily involved in ministry work that promotes sexual purity in young people, especially young woman. Ethan commended her for her efforts, but he also encouraged her to emphasize the need for the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit — the power that strengthens a believer so they can then “mortify the deeds of the body,” (Romans 8:13). The lady agreed and was inspired to look into it when she next has opportunity. These are all seeds planted that we pray over afterward i.e. that God will give increase to the work that He put us to, for the furtherance of His Kingdom.

There are so many varied situations whereby we get the opportunity to share God’s Word with people - all kinds of people with all kinds of past religious experiences….

A couple of young salespeople knocked on our door selling solar panels for homes. We invited them in for a chat about their offer, which soon transitioned to talking about our ministry work when they asked what we do. We were quick to tell them that it’s a work of love i.e. it’s not what we do for income. We also discovered that the young man was filled with the Holy Spirit many years ago, but had turned away from the Lord when his brother died. The young gal was intrigued when we shared our personal experiences, and we encouraged them both to go and look into the Word of God directly and not to rely on what they’ve been told (or what they’ve experienced) in typical church groups.

We then got to pray with a couple over the phone one afternoon when Don phoned us all back here at the house. Don had gotten talking with a young married couple in a store parking lot after Don noticed the church-related t-shirt that the husband was wearing. Don discovered that the husband was already Spiritfilled, but the wife was not yet anointed. They are from down south and were up our way for a meeting with the editor on their new church movie! Anyway, Don offered to lay hands on the wife and pray over her to receive the Holy Spirit, which he did; and we all joined in, praying over speaker phone. The lady was a little hesitant at first, lacking confidence that she would actually receive the Holy Spirit, so I was able to counsel her from the Word, woman to woman, which I think helped greatly. She did receive, speaking in tongues, and it seems (from what I could tell over the phone) that she and her husband were both very relieved and very happy!

Interestingly, while Don was preaching to the couple, one of the store cart guys overheard the conversation and prayer, and he asked Don if what he was hearing was speaking in tongues. The guy was very excited as he seemed familiar with the experience, so Don was able to quickly share our ministry website with him, too!

Please also pray for Gabriella. We prayed with her over the phone yesterday. How it came about was that Don was at another store and saw a Jesus sticker on a parked vehicle. He was about to go over and put one of our cards on the windshield when he saw the owner (Gabriella) walk to her vehicle and hop inside. She was chatting on the phone and Don overheard her say “Jesus” to whomever she was speaking with. So, needless to say, Don got into a coversation with her and offered her a ChristiansRule.com card. Gabriella ended up phoning us later and Don spent a long time chatting with her, with the call ending in us offering to pray with her over the phone. It was helpful prayer, but she still needs to break through some obstacles, so we’re hoping to be able to connect with her in person to pray again. She’s had some mixed, confusing experiences with different churches and church-going people, so we’re praying for the Lord to give increase to what Don shared with Gabriella on the call.

Oh, and I also received a message from a sister in the Lord in Belize that her youngest son received the Holy Spirit anointing. She said he was praying with her and Knelson in the Holy Spirit (speaking in tongues) during our last prayer group session. Praise God, how exciting for their family!

We have learned to expect the unexpected whenever we are out and about. The harvest is everywhere around us!….

We learned about a new “late night” bakery cafe that just opened up, and we felt moved to check it out. While there, Don saw a guy wearing a Christian-related t-shirt, so he approached him to start a conversation. The rest of us joined in soon afterward and found out that he is actually Spiritfilled but has been discouraged from speaking in tongues, yet his wife’s parents are both Spirit filled and actively pray in the Holy Spirit (tongues).

We spent a long while with them both, encouraging them from the Word, and we also prayed over them. At the very end of the conversation, he shared that he was preparing a message for his congregation for the very next day and was due to finish it that night. The message was on “faith,'“ so we emphasized that it was no surprise that God was connecting us with him so that he could refine his talk according to the truth of the gospel that began in the Book of Acts!

Then, on the weekend we were out at a few stores, trying to find a few things to finish off the house renovations. At a lighting store, Don came across another young-ish man wearing a God-related t-shirt. He was also with his wife. We all chatted to them for quite a while right in the middle of the store. They received things really well and were keen to go away and compare what we had said with the Word of God. We encouraged them that that was the most perfect thing to do - for them to read for themselves and discover scriptures that had probably never been pointed out to them before in their man-made church experiences. We always encourage people to go direct to God in prayer and to study His Word with an open mind and heart, and to not rely on what has been told to them by others.

Finally, we were on our way home yet spontaneousluy called into one more furniture store, just to take a quick look. It ended up in a wonderful blessing. While we were there browsing, the store manager (from Argentina) commented about our family and Don replied that it was because of the power of the Holy Spirit within us. This turned into Don and the man (in his late-ish twenties) sitting at one of the tables and chatting for a very long time.

The man’s heart was so zealous and humble toward God that he wanted us to pray with him right then and there, but we couldn’t because of other customers who came into the store (and he was the only staff member on duty to serve them). So, we offered to come back when the store closed, which we did. Although he had a Catholic background, he had recently felt moved to get properly water baptized (by full immersion unto Jesus Christ), and now here we were, coming to Him with a message from God of how to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

We had some prayer initially in the store, and then he had to close up properly, so we invited him back to our place for dinner and some more prayer and scriptural teaching. It’s so wonderful to have a place to minister to people for as long as they need, any time during the week or weekend, and to have a space to invite people to join us in person for our weekly prayer groups. Thank you, Lord!

We just spent a wonderful five days with a dear sister-in-the-Lord from Belize, Central America. We flew her up here to spend some time counseling her, with lots of prayer and reading the Word, helping to build her faith and relationship with God.

We were also able to spend lots of time out and about together. One of the highlights was when we got to pray over Michael as we were walking to a restaurant for dinner. He is from New Hampshire and he shared with us many instances where he has experienced God’s miraculous hand, including saving him from what would have been a fatal car accident. He said that as the semi trailer ahead of him started to roll on its side, he saw some of God’s angels appear and hold it up so that it didn’t tip over. If it had, Michael would surely have been crushed. Wow, praise God!

What a privilege it is to be used to do God’s work in all kinds of situations, from ministering to our brethren in need of help and encouragement, to sharing the Word with strangers we “happen'“ to meet on the streets. THIS is true church life, just like the Book of Acts!

We’ve finally been able to find a suitable place to establish our church ministry work here in Florida! It’s a great place for prayer group, baptisms (once we get the pool installed - for now we’ll use the bathtub), counseling brethren, venturing out into the streets to share the Word of God, and generally growing toward the Kingdom of God together.

So much work for the Lord has already happened as a part of our moving and settling in here…

1) We shared our stories with the closing agent and ended up praying with her straight after the signings. We had met to go over the paperwork in a hotel lobby, so when we were done, we asked the hotel staff if we could use their conference room to pray. It was just the six of us praying in the huge empty room! The closing agent received the Holy Spirit that day and then ended up coming by the house once we were moved in, so we got to have some more prayer in the Holy Spirit (i.e. in tongues) at that point. She said that since we’d prayed together the first time, she’d been struggling to relax and allow the voice of the Holy Spirit to flow, so the second time of prayer was really helpful for her - she felt she achieved a breakthrough and was very excited to go and pray in tongues every day.

2) I mentioned using our soon-to-be pool for future water baptisms to the cleaning gal that the seller had hired. She was very intrigued, especially since she had recently been baptized, just a few weeks ago. I also mentioned Acts 19:2 and the Holy Spirit anointing to her, which she said she had yet to receive. I gave her our website and she later texted to say she really wanted to have us pray with her. We did so when she came back to finish stage #2 of the cleaning. She was very humble and eager to please God, so she was filled with the Holy Spirit virtually straight away, fluently praying in tongues. She also willingly received all of the follow-up counsel we gave her in terms of living out the ways of Jesus and being a strong Christian example, which was wonderful!

3) After bringing over all of our initial belongings from the hotel, we had to travel to Tampa to retrieve all of our stored goods - two lockers worth! On our way there, the truck rental place had to redirect us to an alternative depot seeing that the truck we’d booked never showed up from the previous customer. Before even driving away to head to the other location, we said to each other, “Maybe there’s a reason…!” And, there was very much a reason!

As we pulled into the other depot, we saw a storm chaser truck parked out front. The driver was still in the vehicle, so Don and our daughter went over to chat to him. When Elisabeth returned to our vehicle, she mentioned the Bible she’d spied sitting on the dash of the storm chaser’s vehicle. So, when Don went back to give him a card and take a photo with him, Don asked him about the Bible. This led to a great conversation and after a short while, we all ended up laying hands on the guy outside his truck, right there in the parking lot. We prayed over him and he received the Holy Spirit. We also prayed a second time, to help him get even more comfortable with praying in tongues, and to pray for God’s hand upon his future.

4) We needed to replace the window shades, so we booked consultations with two shade companies on two separate days. Each time, we got chatting with the salesperson, and they both ended up receiving the infilling of the Holy Spirit during their visits to the house. The first rep had a strong heart toward the Lord, and after he received (praying in tongues as proof), he tearfully shared with us a very significant prayer he’d prayed to God within the last two weeks, in addition to a number of other recent situations he had put to the Lord. So, he could most definitely see God’s hand upon us all coming together, praise God!

The second rep had a mix of a Baptist and Mormon background. At first, he was relatively skeptical and cautious, but as the conversation progressed he felt humbled by the Word of God and wanted us to pray over him. After someone receives the Holy Spirit, we always try to pray with them a second time before they leave, to get them even more comfortable with praying in tongues, so we did so with this rep as well. We also encouraged him to get properly water baptized which we pray he will follow through and do in obedience to the scriptures.

We spontaneously decided to go to the lighting store. We weren’t planning to switch out the lighting in the new place, but we decided to after all, and the day we decided was the day we “happened” (God’s doing!) to be near the best lighting store in the area. We had already been there for quite a while when a couple walked in that Don noticed in particular. The husband was wearing a “Waymaker” t-shirt, so Don took that as a sign that he should try to chat with him. The three of them stood in the middle of the store, talking for over half an hour. What Don shared really touched their hearts, and at one point the wife started to cry. By the end of the conversation, together with Don showing them the new “Winging It!” video we recently posted, they were ready to pray.

The wife was already born again (of water and of the Holy Spirit), but she only spoke in tongues during some church meetings. The husband had been water baptized but was not yet filled with the Holy Spirit, and he understood exactly what Don had been preaching from the Word in terms of the necessity to still receive the Holy Spirit anointing. So, three of us went to pray in the car with the couple, and the husband received mightily. At first, he was gently praying, praising God and seeking for the Holy Spirit, but nothing much was happening. We prayed over him some more, speaking powerful words from the Kingdom of God in both English and in the Holy Spirit, and suddenly he started to break down and burst forth in tongues himself, together with tears of joy. His wife was also praying in tongues and crying in the back seat, beautifully touched by the whole experience. I asked if that was the most powerful she’d prayed in tongues in a long while and she replied “Yes!"

What was particularly amazing was that the couple was only in town for the weekend. They had driven all the way down from North Carolina and they were only here for two days, for their son’s wedding rehearsal. They had a little bit of spare time before the rehearsal was due to start, so they randomly — not so random! ;) — decided to pop into the lighting store as they drove by. We took a selfie with them and exchanged details, and then they had to rush off to their appointment. Later, the wife texted back saying, “…This day will forever be in our hearts…” Wow, what a joy - for them and for us!

Wow, God’s timing is purely perfect, even down to seconds! We had been planning to leave the hotel earlier in the day, but we delayed because of the expected rain. But then, when the forecast changed, we decided to go out afterall. We were out for over four hours, wandering here and there, enjoying the warm evening together as a family to the point where we didn’t end up rolling back into the hotel until well after 11:00pm.

Just as we were driving to our apartment block, Don saw in the distance the silver pickup truck that had been parked near us the day before. He had noticed this particular vehicle that day because of the large sticker on the back which said, “Don’t wait for the hearse to take you to church!” Don had hoped we would run into the drivers of the truck, but we never did. The next time Don saw the vehicle, he determined to put one of our cards under the wiper blades, but as he dipped his hand into his shorts pocket, he realized he was out of cards! After that, Don deliberately planned to get a card, write a message on it, and go down to place it on the vehicle. But, by the time he got there, the pickup was gone!

Eventually, Don did get to put the card there, but he knew he was still meant to speak to someone connected with the vehicle - he just didn’t know how it was going to come together. Then, our evening out happened and Don excitedly spied the silver pickup in the distance, pulling into the hotel at the very same time as us and headed to the exact same block where we’ve been staying these last five months. Instantly, we recognized God’s miraculous hand upon the situation. What’s even more amazing is that we parked first after the silver pickup headed to the opposite side of the parking lot, but then the pickup turned around and came to park right beside us (even though there were lots of empty parking spaces)!

Needless to say, after we all exited our vehicles, Don instantly approached the driver of the pickup, eager to tell him the story of how we all finally came to meet. The young man (in his early thirties) was happy to find out that we were the ones that had put the card on the windshield, and so the conversation began…. We spent at least half an hour standing there in the parking lot, sharing scriptures and getting to know his story. We discovered that both of his parents are filled with the Holy Spirit and often pray in tongues, and his dad is even the pastor of a small church. But, the young man had yet to personally receive the Holy Spirit anointing. (He had been water baptized.) We also learned that the other times we’d seen the silver pickup, other family members were driving the vehicle, but this was the one time the young man been driving the truck on his own.

By the time we finished sharing with him, it was midnight, and he was due to go to work the next day. Nevertheless, he was still keen to come up to our hotel room for us to pray over him. He received the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, and definitely felt the power. He was saying, “Wow, wow…!” We shared some more brief encouragement regarding living the Christian life as “people of the Way of Jesus” and encouraged him to go and pray in tongues as much as he can every day, in addition to studying and applying God’s Word, of course. We were all rejoicing in God’s miraculous hand and how He orchestrated all of our lives for us to come together in the most perfect way where the truth would be received and acted upon.

We had just finished editing a new compilation video of all the amazing things God has orchestrated during our relocation, over the last five months. James (the preacher from Alabama that we posted about quite a while ago) features at the end of the video with an address to camera, encouraging viewers that if God could change his life around from the darkness he was once immersed in, then surely there is hope for anyone (or words along those lines). I mentioned to Don that he should text James to let him know about it, and to say we’d be soon sending him a copy. Well, just as Don was texting James, James texted Don to say that he’s in Florida again, staying right next to our hotel once more! Wow, God’s timing is so beautifully perfect!

James and Errica visited with us in our hotel room the next morning and we had such a blessed time catching up, encouraging one another from the Word, and praying together. They then so kindly invited us to join them for dinner last night along with James’ mother, so we had the opportunity for even more fellowship. It’s such a privilege to be used by the Lord to be a help to a brother and sister. We are to serve one another and be “helpers of one another’s joy” as per 2 Corinthians 1:24.

A miracle at Best Buy!

Don was tidying up the files on his computer and realized he needed a new hard drive in order to store his excess videos. He could have waited as it wasn’t that urgent, but for some reason (we all now know why!) Don felt moved to go out immediately to buy one. He quickly looked online first and ordered the drive he needed, to pick up at the closest Best Buy to our hotel. As Don was lining up at the store counter, he got chatting with a young guy (Terrence) who’d driven to this particular store from over 40 minutes away. He normally would never drive this far south to go to a Best Buy, but because his local store had mistakely told him they had in stock what he needed, Terrence was forced to drive to a different Best Buy. He had considered forgetting about it all given that he’d already used up a large part of his day. But, he was determined to achieve his goal (he later told us), so he headed to the Best Buy where Don had reserved his hard drive.

As Don got talking with Terrence while they both waited in line, Don shared that he was in the middle of backing up his video footage, most of which was from our Christian ministry work. This immediately intrigued Terrence, and so began a long and very fruitful conversation about the Lord. I was out for a walk at the time, and suddenly Don phoned me to say he was with someone who wanted to get water baptized and pray for the Holy Spirit anointing, and that the guy’s fiance (a platonic relationship) would want to be water baptized, too. So, our whole family stopped what we were doing and gathered together to drive north, to meet up with the young couple.

It was such a blessed evening. We met at the community pool area to chat first. We shared a lot of scriptures, and stories from our God-directed travels and encounters with all kinds of church-goers and even unbelievers. Both of them ended up getting water baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues. In fact, Terrence got born again first, and then Don helped him to water baptize and pray with Olivia, to encourage Terrence and to show him that someone’s own born again experience gives him/her full authority from God to go and do for others what God sent us to do for them. That’s the Book of Acts, empowered Christian life that we preach and demonstrate as God continues to use us for His work!

This last week has been amazing in so many ways. First of all, one evening Don felt moved to walk and pray on his own around the next door lake (which is something I normally do instead). As he began, he started to pass a man in front of him. They engaged in a brief conversation which led to Don sharing the Word with him as they both walked and talked together. The man could very much see God’s hand upon things. The timing was truly miraculous considering that the day’s events had held up our family from pursuing our other plans, so much so that Don was craving to get out for some fresh air and exercise. Just go with what the Lord puts before you “to-day” and trust that He is orchestrating all things to His glory!

This is so true regarding the following events, too: We discovered that the DMV printed the wrong address on Daniel’s new driver’s license, so Don felt moved to take him into a different office that’s closer to our hotel. It was there that he and Daniel got chatting with a Spiritfilled man that needed some encouragement from God’s Word. Again, the man saw that the entire situation was set up by God!

Then, while I was speaking with the new company we’d hired to help us with some paperwork, I forgot to ask the representative a few questions. So, I had to call back, and this time a different associate answered. At the end of the call, we got chatting about Australia and there was something in her friendliness that made me offer our ChristiansRULE website, for her to look at in her spare time. She was instantly moved, and the more I shared my personal experiences with her, the more she was touched, to the point where she said something like, “If you could only see me now - my face is a mess of tears!” Praise God! If it wasn’t for what was happening in our lives that I needed to call a rep in the first place, and then have to call again, I would never have spoken with her!

Also, a few days ago, a whole family got touched by the Lord’s Word. They suddenly felt the need to get away for a break, especially to help re-set their direction for the Lord’s work. Both parents were already Spiritfilled, as well as their older daughters, but the youngest daughter was yet to receive the Holy Spirit anointing (she’d only been water baptized so far). Our daughter Elisabeth got playing with this gal in the hotel pool, and she learned that the girl’s family were dedicated church goers. Elisabeth came back to our table and told Don that he should go chat with the parents seeing that they seemed to love Jesus. So, Don did so and it turned into a great conversation. It was revealed that the husband was an elder in his church but had been recently feeling very moved to submit his resignation letter.

Over the course of a few days, Don and I kept running into this family, to the point where there was no doubt in their minds and hearts that God was wanting them to accept our invitation to come up for coffee and prayer, etc. The morning they came turned into a beautiful work for the Lord! God used us to confirm things that the Holy Spirit had already been revealing to them, and we also prayed over their daughter who received the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues. She was overjoyed to the point of tears, and then we all prayed many things over one another, for each of our goings-forth in Jesus’ name.

The other amazing thing that happened this week is that Leon called us on Saturday morning while we were just waking up. He is the Spiritfilled man that Don met while taking down some trash to the ground level bins, and Don ended up praying over him late the next night, to help him get praying again in tongues (on a daily basis, fervently and boldly). Well, this Saturday morning, Leon was indeed praying zealously in tongues, sharing that ever since Don had prayed over him that night, he’d felt on fire for the Lord. He had even stood up for Jesus when his apartment manager had confronted him, wanting to evict him for preaching the gospel. He told her that she couldn’t believe because she believed in a dead God. Leon said that his Jesus is alive, and Leon began to pray in tongues. Well, the lady manager was suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues herself, and she dropped to her knees completely humbled and convicted. Wow, what a miraculous testimony!

We spent the rest of that Saturday “out about in the harvest,” seeking to be used by God according to His will. We got to speak with a number of people at a farmer’s market, inside and outside a coffee shop, and on the streets as we window shopped. One lady in particular was in tears (the one outside of Starbucks). Don had thought she’d overheard him talking with a Spiritfilled family inside, and he approached her on her way out of the store, to give her one of our cards, to help explain what he’d been talking about. She said she hadn’t actually heard what Don and the family were discussing, but Don gave her the card anyway, and as Don shared some more, she started to cry. She said that a number of very prominent things had recently happened in her life that were clearly the hand of God drawing her to Him. Wow yet again! You just never know how God is working in people’s lives until you step out in faith and start a conversation with them!

So much has been happening lately that we haven’t been recording each of the stories in detail. For now, we’ll summarize them briefly below, but if you’d like to know more about how the Lord blessed a particular situation, feel free to reach out to us and we can share more. As always, each and every circumstance has been the miraculous hand of God, orchestrating things perfectly for His work’s sake!

1) Lady from South America: Don noticed her struggling with trying to park the little cargo trailer she was pulling with her vehicle. He approached her and her brother to offer assistance. The next night, he saw her again - only because I left something in the car and Don kindly offered to go down to get it for me. On his way out of the room, I said “Maybe there’s a reason…!” which is one of our common declarations when something ususual or unexpected happens.

While chatting with the lady, Don found out that she’d literally just escaped her abusive husband and had driven all the way here from up north with her three children. She loved God dearly but knew she needed more of Him and His power in her life — now more than ever! She accepted Don’s invitation to pray over her and came up to our room to meet the rest of the family.

As we prayed, she received the infilling of the Holy Spirit almost immediately, praying in tongues, and she was nearly jumping out of her skin with thankfulness and excitement. We don’t want to post her video just yet given her delicate situation, but I can tell you that it was soooo beautiful. I don’t think I’ve seen someone smile as wide and rejoice so much. She gave us all the biggest bear hugs we’ve ever experienced!

2) One evening I went for my daily walk quite late at night given that we’d been too busy earlier in the day. As I looped the lake, I heard a lady praying loudly and passionately over what seemed to be something like Facetime or Zoom. She was on her netted porch, outside her hotel room on the first floor.

I waited quietly until she was done and then approached the back of the patio to chat with her through the netting. I quickly discovered that she’s filled with the Holy Spirit and regularly prays in tongues (I was not surprised from the way I heard her praying). We had a beautiful conversation and ended up praying some very powerful words over one another. It was a very unexpected and blessed end to the day!

3) While driving around on some errands, we spontaneously decided to go to Trader Joe’s for a snack and eat it by the nearby lake. While there, both Don and I noticed a gal sitting by herself in the distance. No-one else was around - just our family and this gal. Don obeyed the leading of the Holy Spirit first to go and chat with her, and I joined them after a few minutes.

When Don asked her if she was okay, she began to cry and shared that she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer and was due to have a mastectomy the very next morning. Wow, God’s timing is simply awe-inspiring! We prayed over her and tried to help her pray for the Holy Spirit anointing, but she was too distracted with all of her thoughts and emotions. We encouraged her to pray on her own and to not give up. Her name is Maraysha (I’m not sure of the spelling) if anyone feels moved to also pray for her.

4) Another day when we were at the same Trader Joe’s, Don saw a man out front wearing a t-shirt that said something about God on it (I can’t remember exactly what the message was). We try to always keep “in tune” with things that God sets up for us to do, and t-shirts that people choose to wear for the day seem to be a reccurring theme for our family. Anyway, we all ended up praying over him, to get him praying in tongues again, fluently and confidently. He was already born again of water and the Holy Spirit, but he had recently come back to God after straying for a while. Needless to say that he definitely recognized God’s hand upon the situation!

5) As I was waiting outside a music store for the rest of the family, I prayed for a friend of ours. I’d just found out that he was experiencing some health issues, so I sat on the curb with my head down, focusing on him as I prayed in the Holy Spirit. After a while, a caring guy approached me with some parcels of food to hand out, thinking I was in need. After I thanked him kindly and explained what I was doing, he sat down next me to hear what I had to say about being born of water and of the Holy Spirit, and the power of praying in tongues.

He looked semi-homeless himself and suddenly he felt changed, touched by what I had to say. I discovered that although he had experienced some serious negativities within church life (“Churchianity”) as a child, he had at one stage received the infilling of the Holy Spirit. I knew because as I described speaking in tongues, he said “Oh, you mean like…..,” and he proceeded to speak clearly in tongues in demonstration, to check if that’s what I was referring to.

He had a friend with him that was kind of badgering him to leave, so I only had a brief amount time to encourage him from the Word and pray over him at the end. Even he himself stated the obvious - that he had come to minister to me in kind servitude, and he got ministered to instead! He definitely felt the love of God, praise the Lord. We have learned to expect the unexpected!

6) Don got talking with a guy that was down in the foyer of our building after the guy mentioned something about the weather. They ended up having a great conversation about the Lord (apparently, he’s a minister in his church fellowship back in his home state), and the guy said he was going to call Don to have prayer (it had been a long while since the guy had prayed in tongues, and he “happened'“ - God’s doing! - to be on a spontaneous vacation here at the invite of a friend).

He never did phone, so God caused Don to run into him again very late the next evening - about midnight! This time, they had a really fruitful, deeper conversation, and Don got to pray over him, to help him pray in tongues fervently and confidently.

The Lord never ceases to amaze us how He orchestrates our lives together with the lives of others, so that His message(s) can be uttered forth and bear fruit.

7) On the way out of a convention we attended, Don yet again spied someone wearing a “God-related” t-shirt. After sharing our experiences with him, he was very inspired, and his wife got to hear a lot of the conversation, too. The husband wanted to pray for the Holy Spirit anointing, and we did so for a short while, but his exposure over the years to confusing religious ideas got in the way.

Nevertheless, he and his wife said they were keen to be open minded and make an effort to study the Word of God in terms of all that we had shared with them, which is great! Sometimes, people need to carefully read it for themselves before they can open themselves up to praying in complete humility, desire, and need for the Holy Spirit anointing. God promises that His Word will always accomplish that which He purposes it to do (Isaiah 55:11).

8) Quite a while back, Don got chatting with a small table of young-ish people who were here on vacation. He discovered that one of the gals is Spiritfilled but has wandered away from the faith and been led astray in a number of ways. As Don spoke lovingly yet firmly from the Word, she was convicted and, although she felt uncomfortable, she was thankful that God had set up the conversation.

Don never heard from any of them again and so wondered what, if anything, had come from the short time he had spent with the three of them. Then, a few days ago, he received a call from an older lady. She left a voicemail which Don returned and, to his pleasant surprise, it was the aunt of the Spiritfilled gal. It was her son that had been one of the others at the table, and when he returned home he encouraged his mother to contact Don for prayer.

Don had such a great conversation with the mother. She is Spiritfilled as are some others in her family together with the minister at the church they attend. Don was able to fill in some gaps in her understanding, encourage her regarding her daughter and her niece (the one Don had met and spent time chatting to), and offer some wisdom regarding how to be a positive light in her husband’s life. It was such a joy for Don to discover that the Lord blessed his efforts here in Florida to spread further and touch the lives of even more people throughout the country.

9) Yesterday, we were at a music store and while Elisabeth was offering a young boy some encouragement regarding piano playing and the best apps to use for instruction, Don and I got chatting with the boy’s parents. We chatted about travel and general life and somehow found an opportunity to “throw into the conversation” relying on God as a Christian family. When they nodded their heads in response, we realized that perhaps God had set up yet another situation.

After sharing examples from our lives and various scriptures regarding salvation and how the one true church (the Body of Christ) began, I asked the couple if they’d had any particularly ususual prayers to God lately. I shared how that we often discover “after the fact” that the people God connected us with on a particular day had just been praying about a specific situation that we had answers to, or that they had recently been drawing closer to God more than ever.

They seemed both taken aback for a moment and then the Lord revealed exactly why He had connected us all together. We ached for the wife in particular who had experienced some “Churchianity” related challenges, but more than anything she was experiencing very heavy burdens relating to family and health, amongst other things.

We ended up praying over her in the back room where it was quiet and she did receive the Holy Spirit. She most definitely felt the power and peace of the Holy Spirit as He filled her and she prayed a little bit, on and off, in tongues. However, she knew she needed to get away on her own one-on-one before the Lord, to let the fullness of her healing and strengthening take shape. She had to go seeing that her family was waiting for her, but we encouraged her to purpose to have more prayer on her own before the end of the day.

Also, she could most definitely see how God had moved upon their day (and our day) in order for our two families to come together. She shared that they were meant to go out for a bite to eat, yet they had suddenly decided to first come to the music store. Plus, seeing that they’d already been to the same store at another location, they hadn’t expected that they would ever visit this one. Likewise, when we had started out on our afternoon drive, we were actually quite closer to a different store, but I suggested that we drive to this one instead because I assumed it might be nicer. Little did I realize at the time that that was the directing of the Holy Spirit. I love how God guides us through our days for His work’s sake!

We received an exciting text from Keita. (We posted about what God recently did with him and his family here in Florida, and we have been keeping in touch.) Anyway, Keita texted that a sister-in-the-Lord friend of his was going to be attending a convention here and that she’d like to catch up with us. We were able to spend a whole day with her before her convention started, and it was a mightily blessed time together as we talked and prayed, encouraged her from the Word, and filled in the gaps of her understanding about various scriptures.

She was excited to get home and pray over her husband and children, for them to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit and to be water baptized. Keita didn’t even know she was planning a trip to Florida when he first told her about us, so God’s hand was most definitely upon the entire situation!

Also, just as I met Keita on my daily “lake loop walk” at the resort next door to us, I met another Spiritfilled man two days ago. I passed him twice as I walked around, and each time I felt drawn to speak with him. I noticed that he was listening to (or watching) something on his cell phone which was propped up against a sofa pillow as he rested under one of the palapas. Being a small, slight female I don’t just wander up to any strange man when I’m on my own. I wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit, so I purposed that if he was still there on my third lap around and if I still felt a strong call to talk to him, I would wander on over.

He was still there! This time, I was convinced that he was listening to a Christian band or perhaps a sermon. I smiled as I approached and asked him if he was listening to Christian music. He said he was and started to show me who it was. We quickly got into conversation about what we do as a family, and the struggles he was experiencing in his life. I discovered that he was already born of water and of the Holy Spirit, but he had only spoken in tongues the one time.

Through me, the Holy Spirit spoke many powerful things to him, and the man was eager for me to pray over him, too, to get him praying in tongues again. We prayed right there under the palapa, making the most of the moment. We then continued to speak for a long time, he cried quiet tears of relief and joy and gratitude to God for sending me his way, and we parted with him feeling revived and strengthened to “go and do likewise in Jesus’ name.” We also exchanged numbers and he now has our website. It felt very surreal, similar to the lyrics of one of my favorite songs — “the world grows strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

We believe our time right here in this location is winding down, but as we prepare for our next stage, the Lord continues to make the most of using us for His work…

1) On yet another lake walk/pray, a driver of one of the hotel shuttle buses stopped to talk to me. He asked if I was in training for something (I guess because he sees me do so many loops!). When I told him that I walk and pray, he was very excited. I quickly shared with him our website address and then he had to drive away.

Then about a half hour later, I ran into him in person as I was exiting the promotions building that has bathrooms and a water dispenser. He was eager to tell me that he was already browsing our website, so I asked him about his experiences with the Lord. I discovered that he had been water baptized and had spoken in tongues a long time ago, but hadn’t done so since. I encouraged him to get together with us for prayer, to help him access what is already inside of him but has been kind of “lying dormant.” He later emailed us and we’re hoping to connect again with him very soon.

I also texted him to say that it was the miraculous hand of God that I ran into him (or, rather, that he ran into me). Our family had been having regular late nights for a long while, causing me to get out for my walks quite late in the morning. But this one morning I woke bolt upright at 6am even though we’d had, yet again, gotten to bed very late. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t, which is completely foreign to me - I normally have absolutely no problem catching up on a bit more sleep when needed. So, I realized that maybe God was causing me to start my day earlier for a reason. Now I know why…! Thank you Lord! Our lives are all about helping to save souls…

2) Don got chatting with a guy at the hotel gym. He had been experiencing quite a few challenges in his life and was wanting to change. He’d been in prison before and is now dealing drugs to try to pay the bills. Don shared with him God’s promises and expectations, including His moral standards (which can be followed with dedication and strength and peace once we have the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, to equip us to “mortify the deeds of the flesh”). Then Don encouraged him that we could chat to his girlfriend, too, to see where her head and heart are at toward God.

So, that evening we all caught up by the pool and we got to have a really positive in-depth conversation with the girlfriend. She was clearly hurting as she broke down in tears and shared that she felt alone, with no-one on her side in life. Although neither of them were quite ready to make a commitment to the Father through Jesus that night, they were both very grateful for and moved by what we shared.

We pray God will continue to give increase to the words we spoke on His behalf, in obedience to the situation He put before us. Sometimes it’s a matter of planting and/or watering seeds that end up taking stronger root at a later time.

3) I had booked a hair appointment and was convinced that it was on a Tuesday morning. We raced to get there, but as I spoke to the receptionist, she told me I was mistaken and that the appointment was on Thursday instead. This is so incredibly unlike me as I’m normally very organized. On our way out, our daughter declared out loud exactly what I was thinking: maybe there was a reason - a God-ordained one!

She and I both immediately mentioned the library to one another - that is, that we now had an opportunity to go and join as new members, to cover off one of our “to do” list items. I wondered if God might be lining up someone for us to talk to. On our way there, we drove by the diner we ate at a couple of weeks earlier. I remembered the cookies we were wanting to try from there, but had no yet had the opportunity. I thought that we should go now versus on the way back from the library, in case they ran out again.

To our dismay, we discovered they had just sold the last one! But, to our delight, they told us they could bake fresh ones for us if we could wait 20 minutes. We were happy to hang out, so we sat on a bench seat together with our daughter and chatted. A tall older lady (Estelle) kept passing by, making friendly comments to us as she prepared her table for her family (it was self-seating). Don had noticed her first and had felt moved to talk to her. Then, when Estelle kept stopping by our bench seat to talk, I too realized God was setting something up.

After we received our baked goods, we wandered over to Estelle to give her one of our cards. Almost immediately she started speaking positive things over our daughter. As she did so, I noticed Estelle speak in tongues a little under her breath, kind of seeking God for the message He had for our daughter through the lady. I immediately rejoiced and shared that our whole family is filled with the Holy Spirit, praying in tongues daily as much as we can.

Well, this was like a beautiful spark upon the situation, and Estelle got touched mightily by God, prophesying over me and my husband (including our two boys which were back at the hotel for the day) for another 20 minutes or so. Her words were so miraculously on point - relating directly to a long and blessed conversation we had as a family the night before and which continued in the morning between Don and me. Don and I were in tears, rejoicing in the very personal and powerful “touch from the Lord.“

After big hugs and glorifying God with Estelle, we left the diner and immediately phoned our boys to share with them what had happened. We certainly don’t go looking to be prophesied over by others, but this encounter was most definitely of God. It was one of the few times that something like this has happened in our lives, and this was very strong!

We rejoiced all the way to the library and even filmed a little video about it outside of the car when we got there. We had a great time discovering the brand new amazing library, and then… On the way out, Don got talking with a young-ish construction worker. He is here from Chicago, repairing windows on the next door conference center as a specialized contractor. We found out that he is already baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, but he had never been encouraged to pray in tongues daily, and he had never fully developed his relationship with Jesus. We prayed over him, and then he ended up coming over to our hotel a couple of days later where we encouraged and counselled him some more from the Word.

4) Another time when we had brunch at a newly-opened cafe in the same area, Don overheard the gal at the adjacent table. She was speaking to someone online (on her computer) about things that were seemingly related to the Lord. Don asked her about it after her call, and he discovered that the discussion had to do with her psychology studies at college.

The more we all talked together, the more the gal opened up about her struggles in life. She said she could (indirectly) relate to our experiences with God because her grandmother prayed in tongues often and offered much wisdom from the Bible. It was a very long, blessed conversation, and although the gal wasn’t ready to make a commitment to the ways of Jesus at the time (because of what it would mean for her chosen lifestyle), she stressed very gravely and thankfully at the end that she knew the words we spoke were “of God” and that they would not be lost on her. Praise the Lord for the situations he sets up!

5) We have had the blessing of continuing to pray with and encourage the hotel manager that got born again a few weeks back. Remember, Don baptized him in our hotel room bathtub, and he received the Holy Spirit as we prayed over him straightway afterward. He is such a great guy and very fun to hang out with. He is so very “thirsty” for the Word of God after having been hurt and blinded by his Catholic background. He asks such great questions and is very humble in accepting the truth of the answers, including God’s wisdom and expectations relating to lifestyle and life choices. He has also been listening to an audio Bible, and purposing to be a light in the lives of his friends and family. It’s such a joy to hear how he is growing!