May, 2005
Shalom Y’all!
Since my last newsletter I have done a whole lot of downsizing, packing, shifting and moving! Finally the move has been completed. I just thank God for the health, strength and abilities that the Lord has given me to be able to move and flow with Him as I’ve had to do the past thirty years. Every two to three years we have had to pack it all up in order to be relocated. That is part of the price we’ve paid to be trailblazers (forerunners) in the Kingdom of God. One thing for sure, it has not been dull moving and flowing with Jesus. When He said that those He will use in these End Times must be available, flexible and adaptable, He was as serious as serious can be. It has been exciting though!
Father & Son Movers carried all of the large, heavy pieces for me, and I took all of the rest in the car. The Lord allowed me to make each one of five trips during my night watch. Each time I left Jacksonville at 3:30 AM to drive down to Vero Beach, load the car to the hilt, and drive back to Jacksonville, arriving back here by 3:30 PM, so I could avoid rush hour traffic. Then I would unload the car and rest for a day. A couple of times I had to work around storms, but that gave me a little more rest between trips.
After five trips, everything had been moved to Jacksonville and it was all in its proper place. I was then able to make one more trip down to do a thorough cleaning, and return the keys to the landlord. Mylinda called to tell me that she wanted to help me with the cleaning, but she was unable to come at that particular time, so she was sending down the money I would need to bring someone in to help me with the cleaning. Her gift enabled me to bring in two Merry Maids to help me. They cleaned all of the blinds and windows on the inside for me, as well as all of the tile floors. PTL!
Marion said that she wanted to help, so she came armed with squeegee, nozzle and buckets to wash all of the windows and screens on the outside for me. I had the bathrooms and kitchen appliances done before they all arrived. So while they were busy with the house, I tackled the garage.
When the landlord sent workers in after the hurricanes were past, to replace the roof and two ceilings, they left piles of rubble in the garage, and I was told that I was responsible for having it all hauled out of there. So as I began to tackle the garage, I knew that I had to have someone to haul it all away for me.
Faith came over and gave me a few numbers that I might call for help in having the rubble hauled away. When I called the one that the Lord pointed me to, I was told that they were already gone for the day, and they had a full schedule. Still, I knew that I had heard from the Lord so I went on to share with the secretary the need I had for that afternoon. Finally she told me to call her back in ten minutes, and she would try to locate the owner by cell phone. When I called her back, she told me that Tom was headed in to Port St. Lucy, but he felt that he was to turn around and come back to carry away all the rubble from the garage for me. That way I could finish the garage, and return the landlord’s keys without making another trip. By mid afternoon everything was finished, just in time for both Shabbat and Passover. PTL!
How I want to thank all of the dear sisters and brothers who helped in the relocation process. They just rolled up their sleeves and went to work. There was such harmony among us! One of the Merry Maids was saved through Teen Challenge, and she shared her testimony, which was so powerful! We all just stood there praising God!
There were several brothers and sisters who sent me money to help pay for the expenses involved in the relocation. I am so grateful for them as well. Only God knows!
On one of the return trips to Jacksonville, I was so tired by the time that I arrived and began to unload the car that I found I just could not do it. I sat down and said, “Lord I am just too tired. I cannot do it!” Would you believe that within ten minutes my telephone rang and it was Alexus. She said to me, “Myrna, do you have a need?” So I told her that I had a full car, but not the strength to unload it. She said, “Hold on and my son will be there in just a couple of minutes!” It wasn’t but about five minutes until he arrived, and within forty-five minutes he had the car completely unloaded. Bless his heart!
On another return trip I had the copy machine in the car. I can not lift it alone, because it is both large and heavy. Within half an hour Meagan drove down and helped me to retrieve it from the car and carry it inside. It is times like these when we can clearly see the love of God in action. How I thank God for all of my brothers and sisters in the Lord! And how I thank Him for all of the rest He has given me over Shabbat, and through Passover.
To brag on Him just a little more, let me just share that I have never liked this northern part of Florida. It is not a place I would have chosen to live, even though I’m here for only a brief season, and the Lord knew that! Nevertheless, He chose to set me down here, and then while I was resting in Him over Shabbat and Passover, He did something within my heart. Monday as I drove through the complex everything looked different to me. Then Tuesday morning, as I was leaving the complex, I noticed that everything looked so beautiful to me, and I realized that I had a real joy about being here. I asked the Lord what had happened to me and He said, “I have given you My heart for this area and these people. I have placed you in the midst of a mission field. You will do the work of an evangelist while you are here. I have several divine connections and many divine appointments for you here. Pray for the peace and prosperity of this area, that is now under development, and I will bless you here! This is a special season for you!”
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About three years ago, I placed my telephone number on a Do Not Call List so that I would no longer be bothered by telemarketers. Just weeks before leaving Vero Beach, I began to receive one call after the other from telemarketers. I finally figured out that the three years had passed, and I was no longer covered by the Do Not Call List. So when I moved in to this area, I immediately put my phone number back on the list.
Just a few days ago I received an email from Carol Fox which reads: “In 31 days, cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies, and you will begin to receive sales calls. You will be charged for these calls. In order to prevent this, call this number from your cell phone: (888) 382-1222 or register on line at http://www.donotcall.gov/. It will only take a minute of your time, and it will block your number for five years.” Thank you, Carol for the heads up!
Looking Back!
Just a few nights ago, the Lord had me go back to review some of the Words that He has given me to speak the past few years. Words that so many within the Body of Messiah did not really want to hear at that time. Words spoken in order to try to awaken the Church from its slumber, that they not be caught off guard, or become fearful when it all began to happen, but they be prepared.
The very next evening, I received this news release from Cori Greco: “Pastor Bori Oginni Arrested for Holding a Church Service!” Does that sound like an incident in a Communist-ruled country? Well, it happened in a small suburb of St. Louis, Missouri!
Pastor Oginni oversees Lighted Path Ministries International, a non-denominational Christian church, serving St. Louis and neighboring cities for the past six years. They had been holding services in a day care facility for more than two years. During an anniversary celebration, a local police officer stopped by to inquire about the event and then left. Three days later, the owner of the day care center was summoned to appear in court to answer questions about the religious service. Later, a police officer arrived at a Sunday morning service and asked to speak with the pastor, and have him come fill out a form at his office. Pastor Oginni rode with the police officer to city hall because the officer had blocked the pastor’s vehicle with his police car. Once they arrived at city hall, the officer arrested the pastor. The violation was described as, “conducting business/service without proper license.”
Pastor Oginni is awaiting trial! He is being represented by Jay Sekulow and the American Center for Law and Justice. This entire humiliating incident is nothing less than religious discrimination, which we are seeing so much of today right here in America, as well as in many nations of the world.
During a forty day fast between 2002 and 2003 this is exactly what the Lord told me was coming, in fact, He had said that it was even at the doors. When I asked Him to expound on it for me, this is what He shared: “The agendas of certain people groups are targeted against My children, and against My Jewish people. Persecution from these groups will come about first as law suits, restrictions and new laws which will limit the voices of My children in America. Momentum will build, becoming more and more fierce!”
The Lord had me to go on and share at that time that various congregations would be fined for various trumped up charges, and when they were unable to pay their fines, they would be closed or sold. He said that many pastors will be imprisoned for their refusal to be silent against certain sinful practices. Their congregations will be left unattended, and the sheep will scatter, if the pastors, and others in leadership, do not begin now to teach and train the people to hear from God, and to follow God and not man.
He said, “This will be the “beginning” of many woes. I AM giving you advanced warning now so you will warn My people, that they not become discouraged in their hearts, but that they be prepared!. These things are even at the doors! Watch and pray! Only then will My children be able to discern My voice and be able to withstand these evil days. To those who overcome, I will give power to rise above all that would bring them down, and cause them discouragement and despair.”
This is not the first incident of this type since the Lord had me speak that Word. There have been many like this one. One group in Texas was even arrested for holding services in their home. Watch & Pray!
JIHAD COMES to SMALL TOWN USA
By Laura Mansfield, Assoc. Director, Senior Analyst
Northeast Intelligence Network
It happened again this week. I came out of the office to find a flyer under my windshield wipers inviting me to a special informational presentation on God and family values, and how to bring them back to the forefront in America. I am a parent so the flyer caught my interest. But as an analyst, my eyes were riveted to the address on the flyer: the session was being held at a nearby mosque.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided it would be a good time for some on site investigations of the mosque. In order to not attract undue attention, I dressed conservatively, wearing a navy jumper with a long sleeve white blouse and low heels. I debated whether or not to put on a hijab (head scarf) then decided not to, after all, I was going to “learn”, not to pretend I was a Muslim.
I checked the mosque schedule on the web, and discovered that there was going to be an Arabic language session an hour before. So I showed up an hour early. The imam met me at the door, and told me that the presentation didn’t start for an hour, and suggested that I come back in an hour. Fortunately I had anticipated this: I explained that since I had quite a bit of reading to do for a class I was taking, “Can I just sit here and read?” He hesitated for a moment, then agreed. I sat in the back of the room, with my book open, and made a mental note to remember to turn the pages every so often, as I listened to the speakers in Arabic.
The first speaker was the head of the Muslim Student’s Association at the nearby university. Although I missed the beginning of the discussion, I caught up quickly. He was talking about the problems he had encountered on a recent trip, when TSA flagged him for a second screening. He joked about the fact that they had stopped him for extensive screening. He had anticipated that he would be screened and he had filled his carryon luggage with printouts of the Qu’ran from the internet, and had 15 or 16 CDs labeled in Arabic, and he had a notebook computer with him.
As he expected he was delayed; he thought it was very amusing that while several TSA personnel were scrutinizing his personal belongings, his classmate from Jordan was able to walk through security, along with his American girlfriend, without any problems whatsoever. One of the men said, in Arabic, “Blonde Americans are good for something!” Another man advised him to be cautious since there was an American woman in the room. The imam spoke up and told everyone that I didn’t speak Arabic.
At that point another student took the podium. His name was Khaled, and he began to recount his recent trip to New York City. Khaled and three of his companions had gone to New York for several days in January. He told of how uncomfortable his trip had been. He felt like he was being watched, and thought he was a victim of racial profiling.
Khaled and his friends were pretty unhappy about it, so while in New York they came up with a plan to “teach” a lesson to the passengers and crew. You can imagine the story Khaled told. He described how he and his friends whispered to each other on the flight, made simultaneous visits to the restroom, and generally tried to “spook” the other passengers. He laughed when he described how several women were in tears, and one man sitting near him was praying.
The others in the room thought the story was quite amusing, judging from the laughter. The imam stood up and told the group that this was a kind of peaceful civil disobedience that should be encouraged, and commended Khaled and his friends for their efforts. He pointed out that it was through this kind of civil disobedience that ethnic profiling would fail.
One of the other men, Ahmed from Kuwait, gave a brief account of his friend, Eyad, who had finally gone to Iraq. Ahmed was in email contact with Eyad, and hoped by the following week, to be able to bring them more information about the state of the “mujahideen” in Iraq. As the meeting drew to a close, the imam gave a brief speech calling for the protection of Allah on the mujahideen fighting for Islam throughout the world, and reminded everyone that it was their duty as Muslims to continue in the path of jihad, whether it was simple efforts like those of Khaled and his friends, or the actual physical fighting of men like Eyad.
As the meeting broke up, several women in hijab came in to the room, and two of them sat with me. They were very warm and friendly and welcoming, and appeared to be clearly thrilled that I was there. They asked me questions about who I was, and why I was interested in the session. By the time the session began, there were half a dozen American women, four of them African American. Where the previous session had definite anti-American tones, this session was all American and Apple Pie. The earlier session had been in Arabic, and this one was in English.
The woman leading the session, Nafisa, told of the concerns she had regarding her daughters in the public school system. She complained about the influence of the MTV culture, and seemed concerned about the rampant sexuality that pervaded all facets of American life, from TV to movies, and on in to the school system. She explained her personal solution which was the local Islamic school, beginning with kindergarten. Instead of worrying about her daughters dressing provocatively, and behaving inappropriately with boys, she talked about the modest school uniforms that they wore, and the single gender classes that her daughters attended.
She then began to discuss Islam, focusing on the commonalities it has with Christianity. The sales pitch had clearly begun. While in the previous session, the men had quoted over and over again sura from the Qu’ran calling for violent jihad, the women’s session focused on the “gentler” side of Islam.
The same imam who demanded that the men continue in the path of jihad did a complete 180 degree turn in their session, stressing instead the suras that promoted the “brotherhood” between Muslims, Christians, and Jews. “After all, we worship the same God, and follow the teachings in the books he gave each of us. We are all the same, we are all people of the Book”, he stressed. The differences between the two sessions were striking! Clearly the second session was a recruiting session.
The reason for concern is obvious: two different doctrines are being promoted. One peaceful, friendly, warm, and fuzzy doctrine is being used to draw people in, with a focus on the wellbeing of their children. However, the Arabic speaking sessions clearly have an anti-American tone. It shows clearly that as much as we would like to pretend it has not happened, Jihad has reached small town USA. The mosque is not in Washington, DC or New York City, it is in a small town in the deep south. If it is in this tiny quiet southern town, it is most probably in your hometown, too.
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Hospitals Are Not Even Out of Bounds!
In the past few months hospitals in four states report that they have had Middle Eastern men entering their facilities masquerading as doctors. Federal authorities are puzzled! They ask questions about bed capacity, emergency services, and often request a private tour of the facilities. Once red flags are raised as a result of their questions, they are asked to produce their credentials, and they immediately leave. It is not known if they are scouting out future targets, or if this is just another act of what they call “civil disobedience” to terrorize the staff of each hospital. The type of jihad that the imam said should be encouraged here in America. US Hospitals have been told to be on guard!
Los Angeles, Mexico?
Just recently a commuter was driving along the 605 freeway in Southern California, as he does each day to and from work. He said he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He has noticed that many of the billboards along the route are now in Spanish, but on one he noticed something strange. On the advertisement it read Los Angeles, CA, but there was a red X through the abbreviation of California, and Mexico was written in large red letters in its place. As if that is not enough, in the center of the billboard, placed within the L.A. skyline, is an image of the Angel of Independence, a well known monument in Mexico City, further suggesting the merger of Los Angeles and Mexico.
Needless to say this has caused quite a stir, especially among those who are trying so desperately to get our government to secure our borders. Thousands of illegal immigrants have crossed our borders, and our government has allowed it, in fact President Bush wants to reward them by giving them amnesty, instead of enforcing the immigration laws. Illegal immigration has tripled under his watch.
Once that billboard went up removing California as the state and replacing it with Mexico, it became quite obvious as to their intentions. The Governor of California, thank God, made a stand against it, and the billboard has been changed. Oh, that President Bush would awaken to the true state of our Republic, and stop trying to please President Fox. Thank God for the Minutemen! They are volunteers who have stepped up to watch our borders because our government will not. They have made a tremendous difference within one month, and the Border Patrol Guards, who are not permitted to do their job, have welcomed their help. Even so, President Bush has chosen to refer to them as vigilantes. Citizens who care about their country, and simply want secure borders. Unbelievable!
Church Open to New Age, Big Time!
Rick Warren, known as the pioneer of the Purpose Driven paradigm for Church health, quite some time ago, teamed up with New Age Guru, Ken Blanchard. Something to be deeply concerned about!
Rick Warren authored the books: Purpose Driven Life, Purpose Driven Church, and What on Earth Am I Here For? These are books that thousands in Church leadership have picked up and used as text books. Seminaries have done likewise, as though the Bible is not enough. More than 250,000 Pastors and Church leaders from 125 countries have attended Purpose Driven Seminars in 18 languages. More than 60,000 Pastors and Church leadership subscribe to his email newsletters. He mentors thousands who hold a place of leadership in the Church. I can’t help but wonder how many of those, who were so quick to put down the Bible, and take up the study of the Purpose Driven books instead, are aware of his New Age involvement.
Ken Blanchard with whom Rick Warren is teamed up believes in the benefits and the use of mantra meditation, yoga, and has no problem with borrowing from Buddhism. He and his wife actually encourage the practice of yoga and mantra meditation. Yet, Rick Warren has hired him to come to Saddleback and help him to train up Church leaders to be effective in their callings. Ken Blanchard and Bill Hybels have teamed up with Rick Warren to hold their “Lead Like Jesus” conferences all across America. Together the three of them have also authored an audio set. “Stay alert, lest ye be deceived!”
Short Term Missions
You have all heard me say many times that the Lord is about to flood the nations with short term missions. He is not sending them in to Church buildings, but in to the streets, and in to the places where the people who have needs are. He is sending those who have a heart of compassion and will allow His love, and healing power to flow through them. Praise His Holy Name!
He told me when Joann Hahn went to Viet Nam, that He has given us a platform and a wide realm of influence. Therefore, He wants me to share who He is sending, and a little about their mission, so that we will all bathe both the mission, and those going, in prayer. He is also in hopes that it will arouse an interest in short term missions among more of us.
May Briscoe will be leading a Friendship Tour for “A Helping Hand Adoption Agency” from May 13th through May 25th to visit the special needs orphanage at Lanzhou, China (Gutian Province). May said that Mary Jackson, a wonderful adoptive Mom of four girls from China, Amy Wright, Amber Emy, and Jodi Cowan will be traveling with her. They will be joined in China by their Chinese guide, Susan, who works out of the AHH office in Beijing. This is not May’s first trip to China, but she is feeling a tremendous amount of joy about this mission. Bless her heart!
A Helping Hand has done so much for the orphanages in China. At this particular one they have paid for a dear little boy’s surgeries, bought wheelchairs, painting murals, put in foam flooring, dug a well, installed pipes and pumps, which gave them inside water and heat that they didn’t have before, solar water heaters, put in a nice big playground, industrial size washers and dryers, a library, kitchen equipment, and a food warmer, as well as special pots and pans. The water that they have provided for that orphanage was so important for there are 200 children that reside there. Imagine, with no running water or indoor plumbing!
While they are visiting the orphanage they will take the special needs children out on excursions, which is always such a treat for the children, and it blesses the hearts of those who go to them as well. Pray for the dear little special needs orphans, and those who are employed there. Pray for divine health and traveling mercies for May, and all those who will accompany her. May is such a tremendous blessing to so many. She has a pure heart of compassion for all who are in need. We will look forward to a good report!
Marion Shin and Shirley Schindler will be leaving for Israel May 29th and return June 11th. While they are in Israel they will be visiting many friends there, but also many of the residents in the communities, who are about to be expelled from their homes, farms, and businesses. Please pray for them to have travel mercies, and that the dear Lord will make them a blessing everywhere He leads them to go. Shalom