August 2012

Hi, Everybody,

WOW, again! I know I say that every month… but it always seems to be true with our God! Only this month it carries extra weight! I was invited to a crusade in Honduras in July that was truly life-changing for me and for many.

Light of Life International ministries, based in Ft. Worth, has been going into Honduras for 8 years holding crusades in different areas with terrific impact for the Gospel. These crusades have become increasingly larger over the years. Stephen Evans, L.O.L.I.’s founder (who travelled and mentored under Reinhard Bonnke), invited me to accompany his team of 150. While meeting Stephen for lunch with a friend, he discovered that I had pastored in Nicaragua and was fluent in Spanish. Needless to say, he was extremely happy to have an experienced, bilingual preacher along… and I was happier to go! It didn’t take long to figure out that this was no small venture and that God had some amazing things in store for us all.
We arrived on Monday and after the first team meeting, we were all bussed out to climb a mountain from which we could see the entire city and pray. The first miracle was actually for me. I have had foot problems which have prevented me from running (and sometimes walking) for six months. While walking down the mountain, God healed my foot!

The next morning we went out distributing thousands and thousands of bags of food from house to house, as well as teddy bears for the kids. Each house had its own incredible testimony, as you can imagine. Many received Christ, many were healed, many were filled with the Holy Spirit right on the spot. We simply greeted each house on behalf of the “King of Kings”, declaring that we had come to bless their home. We shared that we had brought food that would only last about a week, but a message that would last them for eternity.  Some of the precious people wept, some humbly accepted the love, some praised God, etc. All were happy to receive us.

At night we went to churches all over San Sula. I was asked to preach at a pretty big church. The service to follow was AWESOME. After preaching on “Following God”, the altar filled with hundreds of people wishing to sanctify their lives. Around 60 or so were filled with the Holy Spirit, many fell to the ground prostrate weeping and praying. It was amazing. After the service the Pastor informed me that he had called the crusade director to ask if I could return on Thursday as revival had broken out in his church. I did return after two days and witnessed God move so very powerfully. I need another newsletter just for that meeting.
Meanwhile back at the crusade, something bigger, much bigger, was brewing. The President of the country had confirmed to come to the crusade which would be held in the Olympic Stadium. He would also be accompanied by many of his cabinet members. All of the leading and well-known Christian ministers had also confirmed, many of which were rivals with public disagreements. The Mayor of San Pedro Sula was coming, who was the political opponent of the President, along with the three candidates for President in the next election… WOW! None of these people had ever shared the same stage, not even the Christians, but had come together for this Holy Convocation. The name and the purpose of the event: Honduras Prays. The event was changed from an evangelistic crusade because of recent developments in the nation. After an attempted coup about three years ago, the army had to sequester the previous president, who attempted to pull a Hugo Chavez and fire the Congress and Supreme Court, and escort him out of the country. In the wake of those events, the U.S. and the U.N. placed an embargo on the country despite their plea that they were only preserving liberty and democracy. In the vacuum left from the withdrawal of outside assistance, drug lords and violence filled cities. San Pedro Sula became the most murderous city in the world. The crusade, which had already been in the offing, was modified to bring the churches together to pray.
2 Chronicles 7:14 became the theme: “If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and will turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven and will heal their land.” This became a campaign for national repentance!

In short, President Lobo, a former atheist, proclaimed his faith in God and committed his nation to God and to the path that God desired for them. The Mayor of SPS, a Pastor’s kid, ended up preaching and prophesying over the city and the nation. The preachers all prayed over different areas for the nation. It was all so powerful that I wept as I translated all of their words to the American preachers. Enlace, Latin Americas biggest Christian TV station carried it live into every home and around the world. I can’t truly convey the significance of the entire event. Let me conclude by saying that, when I spoke to Heather the next morning, when asked how it went, I replied, “Honey, I was witness last night to an historical event of Biblical proportions: A nation, from the President down, turned to God”. And that was just the first night!

Blessings, Kevin and Family

P.S. Recently the UN passed a censure against Israel. Only two nations in the world stood with Israel (America abstained). One of them was Honduras! Let's see what God does with this little nation!

July 2012

Hi, Everybody!!

Wow! What a great month... and what a GREAT GOD!! As the mercury soars here in Brownwood (it's 104 outside right now!), so does our faith in God and our expectation in the plan He has for us all. We have truly had an amazing Summer so far and we have truly met God along the way!

As soon as the kids got out of school, we headed West. Just a few days before leaving, we discovered that Couy Griffin was now pastoring a cowboy church in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He invited us to speak for him on Sunday morning and organized a place to stay with some friends of his. Joe and Alisa turned out to be some of the most wonderful people in the world! They have a little guest house up the canyon overlooking the White Sands National Monument and away from the heat of the high desert floor. It was awesome! Our kids were the same age and Matthew and Abbey made life-long friends. Also, we found the church to be so precious and had a powerful ministry time there with them. From there we headed to the Grand Canyon! My kids have never seen America before. The desert was breathtaking... the Grand Canyon was mind-boggling. Then we headed to LA where Heather's wonderful cousins hosted my entire family at Disneyland and we got to catch up with them after being so many years abroad... they are Pastors in Lomita. Heather and I preached a weekend in one the most amazing churches in the world. My head usher from Nicaragua, Marvin De La Rocha, has helped to build a powerful innercity church in San Bernardino. This great church has grown to well over 2000 members in eight years. It is a HOT CHURCH!! It was an honor to speak there again and Heather and I enjoyed powerful services where the Holy Ghost flowed mightily! We then attended a minister's conference we had been invited to and were encouraged tremendously. We stayed with a Philipino couple who Pastor in San Diego and blessed our family so much. My children were also at every service, loved the church there, got to help with the kids there and were treated like little princes and princesses! After the conference we headed back East but went to Yuma, AZ to preach for some minister's we had met at the meeting that week. Wow!! We had such a powerful Sunday morning service... we didn't finish ministering until 2:30. Then drove on to Phoenix where it was 113. OMG! I'm sure glad I'm going to Heaven!! Then back to Alamogordo where we picked up some friends from Ireland that had flown in to meet us there, a precious lady from our church in Galway and her daughter, Hannah's bestest friend. We made a day trip out to White Sands to witness one of the wonders of the world: the mineral gypsum comes up out of the ground to the tune of about 300 square miles in dunes that you can sled down. Very cool!

Something truly amazing happened on this trip, though. And I couldn't wait to share this with you all. About an hour out of Alamogordo on the way back home, the engine light came on in the car. It was after midnight. I ran the little diagnostic button our car has and everything looked fine. I decided to keep going and get my family back to Joe and Alisa's house for the night. It was uneventful. The next morning, however, as I was driving down into town, the engine light came back on... this time the temp gauge pegged HOT. I pulled over. Repeat. I inched our way into town and phoned AAA. They towed our car to mechanic. I got a free day rental and we continued our little holiday, having planned to spend a few days there anyway. Here's where I get to tell you about God! When I got the bill for the car, it was a LOT of money. We were in the desert. We had no help but God! But God is a great Helper! The lady from Ireland brought over an envelope from the church folks and friends back there. It was an offering for Father's Day! Guess what? It was just enough for the car! My point is that God met us in the desert! More than that, we left Texas with only $110 and $54 on a Wal-Mart card and God blessed us with the best family vacation, conference and ministry we have ever had! Ps 78:19 shows Israel questioning wether God could furnish a table in the wilderness. The answer is YES, He can! Yes, He did!

Love, The Sanfords

June 2012

Hello Everybody,

I’m writing this month’s newsletter from the road… and I’m reminded what a wonderful country God has blessed us with! After the kids got out of school, we headed to Dallas to spend Memorial Day with Heather’s Mom and Step-Father, Tom. Hannah and Abbey got to spend the night at Lake Texoma with a ministry friend and was blessed to go out tubing the next morning. The younger guys went to the local pool there in Flower Mound. We all met up for dinner at the house for hamburgers which turned into an unexpected and glorious evening. Tom, a Vietnam Vet and a winner of two Silver Stars (that is the third highest honor the country can bestow on a citizen) was coaxed by me and the kids into sharing some of his war stories. It was the very first Memorial Day our family has ever spent in America. And it was forever immortalised in our hearts as we sat with tears in our eyes around the table and listened to a hero speak of other heroes and the sacrifices made by men to make us free. We sat amazed hearing the gut-wrenching horrors and glories Tom shared from his experience as an infantry commander who led three companies into battle. It brought the saying home: War is Hell. Thank God for Heaven! And thank God for this great Gospel nation and the men that have made it so.

I was so proud for my kids to hear first-hand experiences and the price paid by many! And you never know what kids are thinking. We were talking about the National Cemeteries where veterans can be buried and telling of how America honors it dead. We told them about the 21 gun salute as we conjured up proud images in our minds of uniformed men responding to the call of: Ready, Aim, Fire. We were abruptly interrupted by a question from Matthew who looked horrified. He said, “Dad, why would they be allowed to shoot the man over and over again?” Funny, he had never seen a 21 gun salute, had no idea what we were talking about and why we were misty-eyed at the thought of somebody shooting a to-be-buried soldier for 21 extra times just for fun! Hahaha!

We then loaded up the car and headed West. I’m sitting on the front porch of a guest house in New Mexico looking down an arroyo and across Alamogordo at White Sands National Monument. We were so blessed to get the minister this morning for a friend of ours who is now a pastor here. His name is Couy Griffin. You may remember Couy from previous letters. He is the cowboy we met years ago that had a vision to ride a HORSE from the Golden Gate of San Francisco, CA to the East Gate in Jerusalem… and DID IT!!!! Our church in Ireland was privileged to help in in the journey and it was a joy to see him doing so well. He took a church about a year ago of around 25 people and has by the grace of God grown it to about 80 (adults) in that short time. It’s a cowboy church! We had such a terrific time with everybody. We had a pot-luck dinner afterwards and are about to take the kids horseback riding with the family we are staying with. After twenty years on the mission field, we feel as if God is blessing us with a family break to see our own nation. Praise God! We are headed to the Grand Canyon tomorrow on the way to California where we have a pretty busy schedule with meetings, conferences and such. What a thrill to get to show my children this country by car… and to get to preach and meet God’s people along the way is simply “cooler than the other side of the pillow”!

This is such an important time in the course of events of this amazing country. As the French diplomat said to his countrymen after returning from visiting America for the sole purpose of finding what made America great, “America is great because America is good. If she ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great”. As we travel through our beloved country after twenty years of missionary service, we see the desperate need in our own nation for revival. Remember that Jesus said, “There is none good but God”. If we are to retain our goodness, we must return to our God. Pray for America! Pray like never before. I believe her best days are not behind, but before her. Heather and I are so very excited to see what God has planned for us here and feel privileged to get to serve God in the greatest nation in the world, at the greatest hour in human history. God Bless! Semper Fi!

Much love,
The Sanfords

May 2012

Hi Everyone!!

We hope that you have been blessed this Spring and that you are preparing for a Summer of harvesting the presence and the blessing of the Lord! We have been privileged to host some wonderful Irish folks here in Brownwood over the past month and have been so very happy to introduce them to a Central Texas. And what a beautiful Spring Central Texas has had! It has been amazing. Bluebonnets were everywhere and just driving through the country was like walking through a flower shop. Beautiful!

So much has happened to our family it is hard to know where to begin this month. Along with enjoying our Irish visitors, we were blessed to enjoy the first Easter in hundreds of years that coincided with Passover. For us it felt like a re-syncing with the timing and the blessing of God. We have felt out of sync for a while but now we feel as though God has ‘reset our clock’. We feel returned to God’s timing. I pray you are, as well.

We have truly been seeking the blessing of the Lord together as a family as never before. As we all know, God blesses unity like no other thing in the world. Through our children’s enormous transition of coming to a “foreign country” (Heather and I are coming home, they are leaving home), we have tried to encourage them to develop a much greater closeness with one another, with us and most importantly with God. Our purpose is to draw God’s pleasure and blessing toward our family. As Psalm 133 states, ‘…it is as the dew of Hermon, like the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing’. When talking about how the blessing comes ‘down from above’, Matthew noted that its like Jesus coming down in the cloud to ‘kiss the mountain’. Indeed, and we are the mountain! Our family has truly needed God’s help in this season of change. We have been using these principles of unity within the family to help the kids focus on God and press for His blessing. To teach this truth and provide faith and encouragement for the effort, we have used the story of David bringing the Ark back to Jerusalem to help guide us. As the scripture shows, the Ark of the Covenant had been in Abinadab’s house for twenty years. His sons, Uzzah and Ahio, were driving the new cart with the Ark on it when the ox stumbled. In Uzzah’s attempt to stay the Ark, he touched it and was struck dead. The parade of 30,000 dancers and singers stopped abruptly and the Ark was taken to a man’s house named Obededom. David was discouraged. However three short months later David began to hear that God had blessed Obededom’s house tremendously! Obededom’s house hold so honoured the presence of the Lord that it brought His blessing. David became newly encouraged and this time went to get the Ark using proper protocol with the priests carried it. He had better results. Our lesson here was simple. Abinadab and his children obviously never learned how to draw a blessing from God even though God literally dwelt in their house for twenty years. Obededom was different! He lived in such a way with his family that pleased God so much that He totally transformed their house in only three months. This blessing was so great that the King became jealous enough for the blessing that he overcame his fear, learned what to do and when to get the Ark! I don’t know about you, but I am believing for three months of total transformation in my house and situation…and we are making steps to learn, as did Obededom and his family, how to draw God’s blessing toward us!

Updating the ministry, we have had a VERY exciting month. Heather has been on TV, Local news in Abilene, newspapers in the region, radio stations all over including her hometown here in Brownwood! This past Saturday she did a book-signing for her book How to Love Your Life here after a week of radio and newspaper interviews and had a wonderful time. Many folks from her past came out to support her. It was so very fun for the rest of the family to see people like her 12th grade English teacher, Mrs. Stovall. Heather looked beautiful and was all smiles and really enjoyed the day. As for me, I have been ministering out and was in the San Saba prison unit the day prior to Heather’s signing preaching to a fairly large group of hungry men. God was moving in extraordinary ways….I will fill you in next month along with some of the big projects we have lined up for Honduras and Nicaragua.

Thanks for your love and support during this time. As always, we love and appreciate you all!
Kevin and Family

April 2012

Hi, Everyone!!

GOD is SO GOOD! Heather and I are getting used to life in Texas… and loving the weather, hallelujah! We are definitely still in transition. Our household items are all in storage, we’re still looking for a place to live, getting into a rhythm for work and ministry, etc., but we are settling into a good routine for the family here in Brownwood.

I shared last time on being in the flow of life and moving forward in the plan of God for you. The scripture I built the thought upon was John 7:37-39: “He that believeth on Me as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters…”. A couple of important points here were that first, the River already has a destination and knows where it is going. Second, the river comes out of YOU! This is so key and is rarely spoken about. It is what I’d like to speak briefly on today.

God has been speaking to me a lot lately on “the heart”. This is a topic that is brushed over often but rarely taught on… though it is a central theme in the Bible. The word heart is mentioned over one thousand times in scriptures. It is mentioned more than worship or prayer or offerings or faith… indeed, more than all of these put together. That is certainly because all of those things are matters of the heart. The heart is the ‘pump’ of your life. If it is not working, your life is over. If it is not working properly, you are stricken with severe limits. We are admonished in Proverbs 4 to guard and keep our heart with diligence (the Hebrew meaning is like a guard on a prison post) “…above all else”. Why so important? Well, because your heart is the pump or the source or the ‘spring’ of your life. If life is corrupted at the well or the source, then the entire life is polluted and cannot be remedied!

Lillian B. Yoemans, MD, a tremendous Bible teacher at the turn of the last century, shared how she was brought to a remote village where the entire population was stricken with typhoid. After investigation, she discovered that the well where the villagers drew all their water had been polluted. A wild pig had fallen into the well and died. It’s rotting corpse had corrupted the water source of the village and infected every inhabitant. This is precisely why the heart must be guarded with great care! It is the source where we draw our life, our strength from.

I was speaking to a dear brother who has a relative that was diagnosed with a severe disease which had rendered him hopeless and despondent. Not that the sickness had this effect on him, it was in very early stages. It was the ‘news’ that he was carrying the illness in his body that depressed him so much that he found it hard to pray, think, hope. You see, regardless of what is in the body, it must NOT be allowed into the heart. Since a healthy, happy heart can actually provide medicine to the body (Proverbs 17:22), we must not allow what is going on outside to control us on the inside.

This is where the Word of God comes into play. The Words of God and the promises of God are SEEDS to be planted into the soil of the human heart. God’s Word will accomplish God’s will when it is planted into the heart. It cannot get into the heart unless it goes through the ears. When God’s Word is heard, it produces faith. And when we believe what God is speaking to us, we release such a flow of power from our hearts that Jesus likened it to a mighty river that can carry us right into our divine destiny. So get a Word from God today! Believe the Word of God you get. Release the power from a strong, healthy heart and let the blessings flow!

God Bless! We love you all!

March 2012

Hi Everyone!!

Or should I say “Howdy”? Heather, the kids and I are all settling in Texas and busy with all the necessary things accompany a big move from a foreign country. The girls are doing ballet in Abilene, Matthew starts baseball next week and Elisabeth is, well, three... she just busy being cute! Heather has been helping with the children's ministry in the WONDERFUL church we are attending and teaching a class at the Christian school to the teenage girls. I taught the men at breakfast last weekend (we all went out behind the church afterwards for some target practice with hunting bows! Aaaaah, Texas!)

Though it has been harder on the kids than we imagined, we are truly enjoying being home. Though we are still trying to get our legs under us, we have been blessed with a bit of a sabbatical after twenty years of serving overseas. The Texas sunshine has been so good for our souls and the good 'ole Southern hospitality has been so very good for our spirits. We are thankful for having been brought back home by the hand of Providence. Hallelujah!

Though we were so very excited to come back to America, we were very surprised to see the spiritual needs when we got here. It is as though having been on the mission field, we returned to a mission field. We are truly looking forward to getting back into the rhythm of ministry here and finding our place so that we can contribute in the cause of Christ.

As many of you know, Heather and I were planning on going to El Paso to start a new work. Things haven't quite worked out the way we anticipated, however we are not discouraged. We are confident that we are in the timing of God and are eager to see what He has for us. It was time to turn over the church in Ireland; so, though one door has closed we are confident He will open another. While remaining in Brownwood for the short-term, I will be itinerating on the weekends until we sense God's direction for our next step. Please keep us in your prayers in the transition. We need to find a house, cars... everything. We also appreciate your continued support during these big changes as we look forward to all the good things that God has in store.

Thanks so much! Please stay in touch. You may reach me anytime at my email address: pksanford@gmail.com

Love,

The Sanfords

February 2012

We’re Home!!

Hello Everyone,

My family and I are back in Texas. Heather and I are very excited to be home. We truly loved living and ministering in Nicaragua and in Ireland, but there is, as they say, no place like home. The children are settling in to a small Christian school in Brownwood which is a part of Heather’s home church, Victory Life Church. Everyone has received them, and us, with such warm Southern hospitality. We are grateful. Our kids were all born in Ireland and have only known that as their home… they are still trying to throw their “rubbish in the bin”!! It is such a big change for them but the local folks here have already made them feel like family. We have a lot going on… looking for a temporary house for a family of six to move into, getting the different type of insurances, setting up the ministry, etc. Please continue to pray for us all during this time.

Also, since I am back stateside now, I would like to extend our ministry to all of our friends and partners. If there is anything that Heather and I can do for you, now is a good time to get us. It would be an honor to provide any sort of pastoral care. If you have a family member that really needs the Lord, a visit, marriage counselling, etc, just contact us. I’m sure we can organise something that could prove helpful to you and yours. You may contact me anytime at: pksanford@gmail.com.

The message that God has been speaking to me lately is out of John 7. Jesus said that they that believed in Him as the Scriptures taught, “...out of their belly would flow rivers of living water. This spake He of the Spirit which they that believed in Him would receive…” (v. 37, 38). This seems particularly pertinent to us right now as we are “moving”. One thing about a river is that it has a flow to it and a direction of its own. You can’t control it. Remember that the Lord was speaking back in chapter four of John that He would give water to thirsty people that would be “in them a well” as a type of Salvation (v. 18). Both a well and a river have water. But the river has a powerful current that can carry life, transport great ships and even produce electrical power to run cities! It is one thing to be “saved”. A person can have Jesus (that well of eternal water on the inside of them) and still not be found in the plan of God for their life… fulfilling their God-given purpose. And to get in the flow of the plan of God for your life, you cannot remain stationary. When we believe in the Scriptures, it opens up a flow of the Holy Spirit through our own hearts that will lead us into our divine destiny. We MUST participate by walking by faith! Please note that this Spiritual River was to flow “out of their belly”. In other words, it is just like the Rock in Exodus (a type of Christ). It was smitten and the water flowed out of it for the people of Israel. Well, when we receive Christ, the Rock is now within us. The potential for the flow is there, in every believer. But we must open up our hearts through believing (and therefore speaking which I will speak on next time) and allow the plan of God to come forth. One thing about going down river, the scenery is constantly changing. The Holy Spirit will keep you moving in life. You can tell when a person is following the call of God on their life. Things keep changing around them. When a person, or a Church, stops changing, they are probably no longer in God’s divine flow. So don’t be afraid of change… its God’s plan from glory to glory! And, boy, has the scenery changed for us! And remember this, you don’t even have to know where you are going. The River knows! We kind of feel like Father Abraham: He went out not knowing wither he went! Just get in the water today and let God be God.

More on “how to” get into the flow and to stay in the flow next time. Until then, we love you all. Keep praying for us. Thanks for the faithful support. We have really needed during the transition.

God Bless,

Kevin, Heather, Hannah, Abbey, Matthew and Elisabeth

January 2012

Hello Everyone!!

Happy New Year to you all. Heather and I are very excited to be bringing our family home to Texas this month to begin a new chapter in our lives. Having turned the church here over to some wonderful, very competent pastors, we are satisfied to head home with a great sense of accomplishment and a knowing in our hearts that we have obeyed God to the very best of our ability. As a great basketball coach used to say, “we left it all on the court.” We are so pleased that the church here has stayed strong during the transition and the Hand of God has been evident in every way. After our last Christmas in Ireland, full of goodbyes and bittersweet going away parties, we turn toward our new assignment with terrific expectation.

Starting something new is always challenging, but we believe that it is particularly significant that we are starting something new in 2012. Twelve is a very prophetic number in the Bible and reveals many, many things. It “speaks” about God’s government and structure. There was no leadership manual for the New Testament church, only 12 men that were selected by God Himself to lead it. There were 12 sons of Jacob which became the 12 Tribes of Israel and the founders of a new nation, God’s nation in the earth. There were 12 precious stones on the breastplate of the High Priest signifying that it was God’s structure and ministry… close to His heart. There were twelve rods in the Ark of the Covenant, one for each tribal leader. There are 12 gates in the New Jerusalem and 12 foundations… the structure undergirding the Holy City. That’s why we believe that this year is particularly important to the plan of God: it is foundational for God’s structure! To be starting again this year, we believe we have found the timing of God to lay a foundation for something powerful. And foundations are so very important!

The other day I was sitting on the sofa and talking with my Father-in-Law who was with us over the holidays, Dr. Henry McGowen, and Elisabeth was crawling on me. As I was loving on her and enjoying our playful little toddler of three, I lamented out loud what a sad thing it was that she would never remember these sweet and wonderful moments. I began to ponder the joys of putting her to bed at night and praying for her, and those special times singing together while driving down the road in the car. It was then that the Holy Spirit whispered something so exciting to me. He said that this was a “foundational” time in her life. Though she would not remember, this was such an important time for her. Just as the foundation of a building is never seen, this hidden but secure time in her life would bode well for a strong and powerful life… we could build big on it. She would be strong. She would be safe and secure. She might never remember, but that foundation would always be there.

Likewise, we believe that twelve is a foundation number, a number with God’s imprint of structure and stability and order in it. We believe that this year is extremely important…as important as a foundation is to a building. As Psalm 11:3 says, “…if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Therefore, whatever you do in 2012, make it sure. Even though it seem simple, unseen, do it well. I encourage you to put a lot into this year. I certainly intend to. I believe we will all look back and see how important this year was to the rest of our years. Heather and I are so blessed to get to start again in Texas, building with all our hearts to the Glory of God. We trust that the year will be well spent and that we will be wise master-builders. I remember John Osteen always telling a story about his children’s church building. As Lakewood Church grew, he wanted to add a second story onto the facility. The architects told him he absolutely could not do it as the foundation was not strong enough for it. He regretted that he had not put more into the foundation so that, when God’s blessing of growth came, he would not have been limited by what he had done in the past. What a great lesson for us! This might be the last time that 12 comes up on the calendar… it is time to build. And this is the year for God’s blessing on the foundation of that “new thing” (Isaiah 43:18,19).

God bless. Hope to see you in Texas!!

Love, Kevin, Heather, Hannah, Abbey, Matthew and Lilly Beth

June 2011

Hello Everyone!!!
What a great month! I couldn’t wait to update you all with recent events. We were blessed to host Jesse Duplantis and his lovely wife, Cathy, in May. Instead of trying to give you the report anew, I thought it best to cc you a copy of the letter I sent to Cathy last week. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Dear Sister Cathy and Brother Jesse,

Heather and I wish to thank you for your visit to the Republic of Ireland and to Galway. The meetings were FANTASTIC! It was truly a privilege to be able to host you both, as well as your wonderful team. To have that many people in a Christian meeting in Galway is truly remarkable... only those that labor in this field could understand and fully appreciate that. Also, I have never seen that many ministers and preachers in one meeting in my 15 years of pastoring in this beautiful country. What a blessing!

Also, Brother Jesse prophesied of a 'crack' in the heavens over Ireland while he was here saying that 'everything was about to change'. To follow up and fill you in, the Queen of England was here right after you guys left. It was a truly momentus event... historically and spiritually significant. She has never visited Ireland and the undercurrent was still extremely turbulent the days prior to her arrival with many claiming that it was still premature (when would it ever be appropriate, she is 84 years old). The complex relationship between the two nations was completely renovated with the Irish, who are NOT taken with royalty, truly being taken with everything... and they were the perfect hosts, as well. To see the leaders walking together as peers revolutionised the way the Irish look at the English, and themselves! The Queen went to two very important sites that are sacred to the Irish: Island Bridge (the memorial to 50,000 Irishmen who have died serving in the British army) and Croke Park (the sight of the Bloody Sunday massacre where British military opened fire on the crowd at a sporting event in the 20's). At the state dinner that evening, she stole away with the Irish heart by opening in Gaelic, a language banned by the English for many years, and offering (as close to) an apology as has ever been spoken by any English authority offering empathy and “regret for the things that have happened, as well as those that didn't (like helping during the famine).”

It was as if there was a national sigh. We know that there is no forgiveness where it is never sought... the offending brother must return, repent (even if 70 times) and seek forgiveness before it can be given (Luke 17:3,4). Since it was never sought, confessed, it was never released. Ireland has carried this burden for many generations. It was as if a healing balm was poured over the land. And it was immediately subsequent to Brother Jesse's prophecy that everything was changing from that very day... it has. The two nations' leaders reconciled on behalf of their people. It was an amazing sight. Now I believe that the Irish church and people can begin to experience amazing answers to prayer by fulfilling the Scriptures:
Mar 11:25- 26 “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

After receiving a call from Jesse’s UK office manager about how much their ministry enjoyed my letter, he shared his perspective, from the English side, which opened up a whole new thought to me. To my note he said, “Yes, it was as if we were released, as well.” I then thought of another verse Jesus preached from the sermon on the mount. He said,
Mat 5:23-24 “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

It was truly as if both nations were blessed, healed, and released from a horrible past.
Thank you all for your love and support. It has been a privilege serving here during these amazing days.

Kevin and Heather

May 2011

Hello Everyone!

Wow, what a spring! So many things going on around the world are proof to me that we are in an important generation… perhaps the one that will witness the return of the Lord. These things are both amazing and frightening. Amazing if you know your Bible, frightening if you do not.

We were reminded of these things the other day as a family, doing our devotionals together over the Easter holidays. Heather was reading from her Bible (NASB) in Luke 21:25-26: "There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world…” I was taken by the verses and commented to the children about how accurate Scripture is even mentioning the roaring of the sea and waves. Hannah and Abbey have both recently reported on the Tsunami in Japan for school and were well aware of the devastation it brought. We also spoke of the recent earthquake in Haiti where 200,000 people perished in 60 seconds, the tsunami in Indonesia that killed a quarter of a million, the volcano in Iceland which stopped global air traffic last year (particularly in Europe where many travellers were caught away from home taking them weeks to find their way back by trains, ferries, etc,… many were out of money and away from work and children), as well as the terrible effects of the global recession.

Last Winter it was 20 degrees colder than normal here in Ireland, froze everything, broke pipes all over the place and one half of the country’s residents (2 million people) were without water for nearly three weeks! Today many nations are, as the Scripture teaches, “boiling”. There are wars and rumours of wars. More foreboding still, is the promise of Jesus that these things would be the “beginning of sorrows”. The Greek word here for “sorrows” is interesting and important. It literally means “birth pangs”. This means that, once these things begin, they will continue to increase in frequency and in magnitude, becoming more and more severe (just like birth pangs) until Jesus returns. We have certainly witnessed an increase in severity and magnitude of these troubles… and much, much more to come.

Yet, in the midst of these terrible and terrifying things, He says in Luke 21:28, “and when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws nigh”. Should these dangerous times frighten us, or encourage us? He has even included a promise of protection in the same passage: “not a hair on your head will perish” (v 18). As incredible as it may seem, there is truly a difference between the people of God and the unbeliever. As the final judgement descended upon Egypt, God said, Exodus 11:7 “But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.” Imagine, as the fear and the torment and the angel of death worked its way through the streets, God’s people were safe in their houses. How? Well, there was only one thing between God’s people and the death and fear that was without: the blood of the lamb! What made the difference for them then was the blood of the lamb. This is what happened at Passover (Easter for the Christian which we just celebrated).

We have an even better covenant based on better promises. We have the Blood of Lamb of God! Can it make a difference today? I would bet my life on it… and have! I am trusting God for His promise to make a difference between us and the world, even in such tumultuous times. How about you?

God Bless!
Kevin, Heather and family

April 2011

Hi everybody!

Hope you all celebrated St. Pat’s and thought about us! We were in a terrific parade here in Galway. As always, we had a very cool float. This year’s kids camp theme is “Pirates of Hawaii” so we had our all star cast dancing their way down the parade route and sword-fighting their way down the road with real swords! The kids all loved it and we passed out every one of the 5,000 flyers we had advertising our summer camp. We ran up into the reviewing stand with all the dignitaries and handed out lollipops to everyone. It was a great day which we finished at my house with a party for the afters. Great stuff!!

Ministry wise, I am privileged to have been able to travel to the States for 8 days this month. Pastor Hallam’s minister’s conference is always in the spring so I timed my trip to coincide with a couple of other opportunities. I was privileged to minister for Jamie and Judy (Jacobs) Tuttle in Cleveland, TN. We had such an amazing time together! These guys have it ‘going on'!! Though they are obviously veterans and have been in field ministry for many years at a high level, they only started their church this January. They already have a terrific work, terrific facility and a terrific head start on any start-up I have ever seen. It was great to be with them again and to see what God is doing in their life and ministry. Also, it is going to be exciting to have them again the first week in June for Heather’s National Women’s Conference in Ireland for a consecutive year. I am so thankful for our relationship with these truly wonderful people and can’t wait to see what God does with (Pastor!) Jamie and their new church. Praise God!!

I was then off to Memphis to meet with one of our board members, Gary Giles, and his beautiful family. Gary, now in business, was a Captain in the Marine Corps. When I drove up to his house I was delighted to see the Marine Corps banner and ‘Old Glory’ waving proudly on his doorsteps. He graciously organised a meet-and-greet with some friends of his around a ministry presentation. Our plan is to design a program to introduce our family and church in Ireland, along with its accomplishments and needs, to new circles of friends. The night was wonderful and really helped in moving us through an idea we think will help us expand our influence and establish the ministry in Ireland on firmer ground. Gary is an avid athlete who runs marathons and took me for a trot through a beautiful section on the city, (I may have been bitten by the bug). We then went to the Civil Rights Museum located in the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed. Wow… it was something I will never forget. Moving. I highly recommend it. It was an amazing couple of days and I’m grateful for my time there with the wonderful Giles family and the new friends I have in Memphis.

I was then off to Alice, TX to preach for Pastors Evonne and ‘Cowboy’ Tyree. These are special, special people! Cowboy is a WWII vet who actually saw the flag go up in Iwojima… wow. It was my first time ministering for them and we had an incredible time. They have many Latinos in their church so I did the night service in English and Spanish. We experienced an amazing presence of God in the services… people stayed for an hour-and-a-half after service at the altar worshipping, weeping and dedicating their lives anew that morning. The night was even more special… and powerful.

It was then over to La Marque and the Minister’s conference. It was the very best yet. I don’t remember the anointing so strong on my own life or around my home church. I’m more excited about life and God than I have ever been. Despite the tough year we have had, I can’t wait to see what God does for and through us this year. It is truly our time! What a day we live in!! There truly is a move of the Glory of God that is coming, indeed is already here. Don’t be distracted today by the difficulties around. Go find the River of God and jump in… it’s your time! Jesus said the Holy Spirit is like a River. You don’t control a river. It knows where it is going, though you may not be able to see around the bend. If you will “believe” in the Scripture (Jn 7:37:39) and trust in the Lord, jump into the flow and let God carry you into your destiny!

March 2011

Hello, Everyone!

Spring is arriving in Ireland! It is always heralded by the bright and happy yellow trumpets that fill our gardens: daffodils. After an especially cold winter it is a very welcome sign, indeed. It is also lambing season. Every field you drive past allows a peak over the low stone walls of the baby lambs that literally fill the landscape. These are beautiful and hopeful symbols of God’s promises and inspire heart-felt prayers for the move of God in Ireland to be productive and powerful.

I was privileged to perform a wedding for a friend of mine who’s daughter was getting married this past month. As I prepared for the wedding, one of the things God was speaking to me about was the heart. I’d like to share part of that message with you.

Chip Brim, who is a friend of mine, shared a story about his well-known Mom (Billye Brim) in our church a few years ago. When his wife birthed a beautiful son, he couldn’t wait to give the news to his mother who was in Israel at the time. She was very excited with the announcement and promptly asked, “What did you name him?” Thrilled with God’s latest blessing and the prospects it brought, he informed her that he had named his new son Caleb… like the conquering companion of Joshua who possessed the promised land! “Oh”, his Mom returned flatly. Surprised at her lack of enthusiasm for such a manly, not to mention biblical name, he inquired as to the reason. “Well, son,” she said, “you know that I love the Hebrew language and speak it. When I hear the name Caleb, I hear it with its natural meaning. Do you know what Caleb means?” He didn’t. “It means: DOG!” With that, Chip’s disappointment settled in.

It wasn’t until later that week as Billye was in a small, out-of-the-way book store for Jewish Rabbis that something significant and enlightening happened which changed everything. A Rabbi approached her asking whether she could speak Hebrew. Yes! She received her Doctorate in Hebrew studies, she assured him. “Well,” he said, “I feel impressed to teach you a word. Would that be OK?” She immediately agreed. “What word?” she queried. “The name, Caleb.” As you can imagine, he had her attention. He took her aside to a chalk board where he wrote the name, Caleb. He asked her to pronounce it… then pronounce it more slowly. Finally, to break the word in half, “...kaw-labe. I see it!!”, she exclaimed. See, when you divide the word into two parts, it simply means ‘whole-heart’. And that is why Adam called the dog Caleb! He would have studied each of the animals and given them their names, in Hebrew, with significant meanings. The dog was the only animal which would have been ‘whole-heartedly’ devoted to his master. That also explains why God allowed Caleb to go into the promised land. Remember, God said that Caleb had followed Him with his WHOLE HEART. This lends, also, to the thought from 2 Chron 16:9 which says, “The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him…”

See, God is looking for someone to bless, someone to use!! The only requirement is the condition of our heart. This verse says it must be ‘perfect’... this is the word Shalem (Heb.) from which we get the word Shalom. It means complete, whole and at rest. This heart, then, is the one God will bring into His promises. The one who is whole-heartedly devoted to Him. His heart is at rest, trusting in the Master and completely given to God!

What is it in your life that God is trying to fix but you are still carrying and have not given it over to Him. God wants to show Himself STRONG for you… but you must give Him a whole heart to work through. Your attitude and posture will determine whether you receive your miracle. So to you, dear friend, I say, “What’s up, DOG??”

February 2011

Hello Everyone!!

I trust you are on your way to a supernatural year. With many things to report, I would first like to praise God for His faithfulness!! We are off to a great start in 2011! Hallelujah!

One of the things God instructed us last year was what He told Isaac in Genesis 26 when there was a severe famine in the land. He said, "Don’t go back(ward) to Egypt. Dwell in this land and I will be with you and I will bless you..." (vv 2-3). Verse 12 says, "Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundred fold, and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward and grew until he became very great." Wow! He didn’t allow the famine to determine his direction. As I posted on my Facebook page: Don’t let the devil set your goals for you! Amen!

January has been remarkable. We have moved into a new facility and the church has been working very hard to settle in. Painting, cleaning, building, and more has been the standard daily operation for the month. The place is really taking shape and it is more than wonderful to have a place of our own again. The church was so very patient while meeting in a hotel for a year after having a terrific location for over a dozen years. It revealed the true character of our folks to stick with it (and us!) through the valley... now we’re headed out. Hallelujah.

We are also on a 40 day prayer vigil. We start every new year with some sort of prayer initiative. We are ‘tithing and offering’ this year by giving the first 36 plus days as dedicated to seeking the Lord being confident He will bless the remainder. In addition to that we are also doing a 21 day fast. Most are juice fasting, some are Daniel fasting. Everyone is rowing in, fasting and praying while at the same time refitting the new building. It has been a terrific effort and there is a new and fresh wind blowing in the ministry. Besides having lost a stone (the Irish way to say 14 pounds), everyone has been getting closer to God and closer to our Destiny. Among the many things God has been speaking to us, one of the loudest is that this is a year where we will see the will of God manifest: ‘His will being done on Earth, as it is in Heaven’. I truly believe that 2011 will see an Open Heaven and God’s purpose for us will become flesh.

As the country has been deeply affected by the recession and the government has unravelled before our eyes, it seems significant to me that God is saying that it is His time to BLESS!!! We are more excited than we have ever been about the work here. Ireland survived one great famine. We know they can survive another. But this one, I believe, will result in a return to the hunger and thirst for God... and He will certainly satisfy.

God Bless,

Kevin, Heather, Hannah, Abbey, Matthew and Elisabeth

January 2011

Happy New Year, Everyone!!

We are all very excited about 2011. It’s always a blessing when a new year comes around. Change is in the air. New commitments abound where we promise ourselves, others and God to become a better person. New Year’s resolutions fill lists and help us in framing goals to assist us in becoming who we want to become by the end of the year. It’s truly a wonderful time and a wonderful opportunity that should not be missed. It is as if God Himself has provided an occasion to help us change... and indeed He has! Each year has its own special grace. Each year is created and given for a reason. It is our responsibility to find out exactly what purpose God has intended for each year and then ‘tap into’ the grace to live it out. And God is always faithful to share glimpses of the future to those who truly want to know. Remembering that God’s Word is ‘a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path’ (Ps 119:105). He will always give those glimpses through His Holy Word. How do you get that kind of information? Simple. Jeremiah 33:3 says, ‘Call unto Me and I will answer thee and show unto thee great and mighty things which you didn’t know.’

That’s why we are so excited about this coming year. We feel God is saying that 2011 will be a year of ‘Heaven on Earth’! We believe that this year will be one in which we will enter into the will of God. When I say ‘the will of God’, I really mean the ‘purpose’ of God. See, Joseph was actually ‘in’ the will of God while he was in prison...in the sense that he was proceeding toward his purpose. But when the king called him he went from the prison to the palace in just one day (Ps 105:20). Then he entered into the will of God for his life. He entered into his life’s calling. We believe that we are going to see that this year and that the will of God will be done ‘on Earth as it is in Heaven’. Praise God!

Many people don’t actually believe that Heaven can be enjoyed on the earth. But the Scripture teaches that God has indeed intended that we live a life where the two realms come together through us and that we be a window through which Heaven’s light can shine into a dark world. When the Israelites were headed into the Promised Land, God said that if they would keep the word of God that their lives would be ‘like the days of Heaven upon the Earth’ (Dt 11:21). When we praise the Lord with a sincere heart, He inhabits our praises and brings Heaven’s atmosphere into the moment: Heaven and Earth converge right then and there! But it does require one very important thing: Faith! We must BELIEVE that it can and should happen to us, for us. Remember what happened to the king’s servant in 2 Kings 7:1,2? The city of Samaria was under siege by a Syrian army with conditions so dreadful they were selling bird droppings for food. The man of God prophesied that there would be an abundance of all things by the same time the next morning. This lord, the King’s servant, said, ‘If the Lord were to make windows in Heaven, might this thing be?’ The prophet returned, ‘You will see it with your eyes, but you will not eat thereof.’ You see, God doesn’t have to make windows in Heaven....they already exist! And God can turn everything around from one day to the next! It doesn’t take God long....but you won’t get to enjoy the benefits of it if you are not believing the things that God has promised. We believe that 2011 will bring Heaven to Earth! We believe that a change is in the air and that God is about to do something remarkable. And we can’t wait! We look forward to seeing what God has in store for us all. Hallelujah!

Much love and many Irish blessings,

Kevin, Heather and Family

December 2010

What a joy for Heather and I to send our warmest wishes and our faith-filled prayers to all of you this Christmas. We feel as though a new season is upon us and our greatest desire is to see God’s best blessings pour out upon you abundantly. This month I wanted to share a simple but profound word with you which I think apropos in coinciding with this new season.

With the birth of Christ, the whole world felt Heaven and Earth converge in a moment, a real event that is still affecting real people to this very day. The fact of this blessing is abundantly evident in the millions of lives changed, miracles witnessed, sacrifices of love and life throughout human history. When the blessing of God manifests, when Heaven kisses the Earth, it creates an obvious and notable change. I remember when Heather and I lived in Nicaragua. They only have two seasons there: summer and winter. Summer is HOT. Winter is HOT AND WET. Basically, it rains for six months and then it doesn’t rain for six months. After the long summer, the ground is dry, dusty and brown. Then, with the first rain, everything goes GREEN. When the heavens pour out its refreshing rain, the earth responds with life, praise... you can almost hear it sigh! That is just how it is in the spirit world. God has said that His Word is like the rain and the snow that come down from Heaven. They make the earth to bring forth and bud (Is 55:10). “So shall My Word be that goes forth out of My mouth. It shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and PROSPER in the thing whereunto I send it” (v. 11). As brother Jesse once said, “God’s power is not released when the Holy Spirit is moving, but when God is SPEAKING” (see Gen 1:2,3). The impact of God’s Word upon creation is powerful, redemptive. It causes the earth to produce its crop, its harvest. And It will not ‘return’ without accomplishing its mission, like Jesus Himself.

God’s blessing, then, comes to us like the rain (or snow depending on the season). God said, ‘I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessings Ezekiel 34:26. However, and this is an important point, showers don’t come down from cloudless skies! Vapour must first arise from the earth, collect in the air, then return as precipitation. Jesus said it this way, “What you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, what you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mat 18:18). So then we, the people of God, must send up the vapours of prayer which gather in the heavens as clouds. God then sends the shower. It goes up invisible, returns tangible, visible. Even though what we do on earth is confirmed in heaven, God must be the Prime Mover! What does that mean? It means that He is the One who initiates all correct spiritual activity. See, He speaks a Word to us. Faith comes to us as we hear it. We return that spoken Word back to God in a believing prayer until the cloud forms, fills from saturation and breaks open pouring out its contents upon the earth. Here’s what it looks like: The prophet Elijah says, “there is a sound of abundance of rain” (1 Kings 18:41). The word for sound in this verse is the Hebrew word qol meaning ‘voice’! God was speaking RAIN. Though God said it, there still were no clouds in the sky. So the man of God went up to the mountain and prayed into cloudless skies until a “cloud the size of a Man’s hand” appeared. Then was the Word of God manifest! God said it. The man heard it. Faith came to him to pray a believing, faith-filled prayer (James 5:15-18). He told the king to eat, but he went to pray (fasting). He continued to pray into contradictory evidence until the promise manifest. Hallelujah!

This Christmas season I want to encourage you to not be put off by contradicting information... we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). Faith comes by hearing (Rom 10:17), not by seeing. So what has God spoken to you? Take it to the mountain, fast if need-be. Pray a believing prayer and watch the living God shower you with blessings! Where is the God of Elijah? He will come to you as the rain (Hos 6:3)!!

Much love and season’s blessings,

Kevin, Heather and family