Increase by Bethel Agency

INCREASE {Catalytic Stories}

vol. 1

From a company of people who believe their world is getting better and that heaven responds when they say yes. BSSM 2012-2013

Demonized Drug Addict Saved BY BEN WILSON // BSSM2

I was out on a treasure hunt when a man approached me who was clearly distressed. He wanted to use someone’s phone, and I offered him mine. Only then could I see the blood on him. I offered to pray for him, and he started to weep. He told me how he was attacked with a baseball bat and kicked out of his house. He was filled with tremendous fear, and I could see the demons he was carrying. He told me how he was abused as a child, addicted to drugs and up for a probable jail sentence for stabbing someone after being convinced that person was following him and wanted to hurt him. We took him inside a taco shop and bought him something to eat as he continued to share his story. Halfway through, I looked him in the eye and told him he was a man of integrity and honor. He recoiled and manifested demonically. I continued to declare truth over him and prophesy how God saw him. Shortly after this, he remembered he hadn’t lost his phone after all and that it was in the back of his car. We helped him find it and then I asked him if he wanted to be free of the dark mountain lion (demon) that he said he saw following him around everywhere. He said yes, so I led him through deliverance of various things. When I started to lead him in the sinner’s prayer, he started out by following my words but then just started pouring his heart out to Jesus. He was radically born again. I shared how he could experience a drug that was better than any drug he’d ever experienced, one that was free and that had no negative side effects. I asked him if he wanted it and he said he did. He was radically filled with the Holy Spirit and began to dance and preach to anyone and everyone who would listen. He then told me he had been on his way to go park his car on the train track when he saw us praying for a homeless man and decided to stop. He said it was the best decision he ever made. He went from a suicidal, drug-addicted, demonized unbeliever who was going to jail to being radically saved, delivered and filled with the Holy Spirit in one encounter. The next week, I bumped into him at church (where he is now a regular attendee) and he told me that all anxiety, fear and addiction to drugs had left and that it looked like he was now no longer going to jail. { F e b r u a r y , 2 0 1 3 }

DEPRESSION BROKEN BY MEGAN HOLLAND // BSSM1

For a full year, I struggled with depression. One day, I realized I wasn’t positioning my life for God’s grace to take care of me, but rather that I took it upon myself to fix things and it never worked. I tried to quit taking anti-depressants twice, but both times it was pretty terrible. So on this particular day, I decided to go home and really give the problem to God. My prayer went from, “O Lord help me, what must I do?” to “The grace of God is upon my life.” As I said this, I threw away each individual pill. For the first time I realized that if my depression were to go away, it would have to be a miracle from Him because everything I had done was only temporary relief.

It was scary as I threw away the last pill because I knew that He would either come through or I would be in hell again in a couple weeks or even worse than before. However, I didn’t fight it this time. It was all on Him. Each day I simply remembered that my life was in His hands, and that it was ridiculous to believe that He wouldn’t help me. It has been over two months now, and I have not experienced a single symptom of depression. I usually would not be able to concentrate, read, do homework or do anything because of my depression, but today, I am known for my joy. All the glory be to God. I’m healed and free! { F e b r u a r y , 2 0 1 3 }

“When Christians supernaturally overcome sickness, disease or demons, it’s a sign that a superior Kingdom has been superimposed over an inferior world.” K R I S VA L L O T T O N

BACK TO LIFE B Y S U S A N WAY / / B S S M 1

The other day I witnessed a person who had been in cardiac arrest for 45 minutes being brought into a hospital by an ambulance. The medical personnel continued CPR for what seemed like 40 or 45 minutes. It did not seem to be working at all, so I began to pray. Not too long before this incident, we had been spoken to in school about God’s goodness, and I actually had to go through a process in my prayers going, “Okay God, even if my prayer doesn’t change anything this time and this patient ends up dying, You’re still good and I refuse to believe anything differently.” As I was thinking about God’s goodness, I had the overwhelming urge to start singing worship songs, so I started singing “Spirit Break Out.” I also started singing choruses of random songs

that just had the word “good” in them. After I started singing, the patient’s cardiac monitor sprang to life! I later learned that they had shocked him with a defibrillator when that happened, but all previous attempts had been unsuccessful. Later on, his vital signs had stabilized enough for the patient to be admitted. How awesome is that? I was so shocked afterwards. Fun fact: this was the first time that I had prayed over someone and something immediately and tangibly happened! It was a pretty big deal for me. I was very encouraged and just had a moment with God: “Yeah I knew it. You’re so good!” I felt privileged to know that He trusts me and wants to partner with me in that way. {March 14, 2013}

KEYS & A PET TORTOISE

SOMETHING FABULOUS FOR A HOMELESS WOMAN

B Y D AV E L E N T O N & H U D S O N D AV I S / / B S S M 1

B Y V erda N isly / / B S S M 1

Dave // One of God’s ways of showing his love for me has been finding things I believed were lost. For at least five years there is nothing I’ve lost that I haven’t later found. On January 9th God gave me a dream with an elaboration/ interpretation for why this was. It had to do with perspective on ownership. The things you’ve lost aren’t truly lost. If they were stolen they aren’t gone, you don’t have to buy/earn them twice. They are paid for and they are still yours! Ask and they’ll be returned to you.

One Sunday, I prophesied to a homeless lady in my activation who was at rock bottom. Her kids had been taken away from her. I told her that she was going to be able to see her kids and that in the next week something fabulous was going to happen.

Hudson // My friend Dave Lenton released a dream he had about lost things being found. Within a week, my mom found my keys for my dorm room at my university, which I had lost for over half a month! These keys were very important to me as I had a deposit on them for $200 (if I didn’t find the keys I would lose my $200). In the same week, we found our pet Sulcuta Tortoise, which we had lost for three months! The amazing thing was that our tortoise was kept alive for this whole time, during a cold winter which should have killed it! {January 20, 2013}

The following week she came running up to me with her kids in tow and a beaming smile on her face. She said, “I have my kids back, and I got an apartment! I could hardly wait until today to tell you!” { M a r c h 1 7 , 2 0 1 3 }

“There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace.” ISAIAH 9:7

MIRACLE BABY B Y A llison & Wade Watkins / / B S S M A L U M N I

E m a i l : Au gu s t 7 , 2 0 1 2 Dave, Allison and I have been thinking about you because Allison is pregnant. When you ‘prophesied’ a boy last year in August, Allison had not had her menstrual cycle in over a year and half. We went to the doctor before moving to China and he prescribed different medications, one of which she took and didn’t work. The other she waited to take because the doctor said it might have dangerous side effects. But after two and a half years of no cycle Allison was willing to try it. We then prayed about taking the medicine but did not have a peace. Three days later she started her cycle and was pregnant a few weeks later. Email: March 12, 2013 Dear Friends & Family, Allison gave birth to Stephen Michael yesterday, March 11th, 2013. Stephen is 9 lbs & 21 in. Attached is a document that has some pictures and the reason we chose his name if you are interested. Thanks for all your prayers. We are enjoying the moment. Sincerely, Wade & Allison

SUPERNATURAL CHEF BY JOHN GABRIEL // BSSM ALUMNI

I am passionate about flavors, aromas, texture, mouth feel, shape and color - this is how I see the world of food, and this is what I’m passionate about. A couple of years ago I was doing the foodservice for a ministry team at a pagan art festival. I felt I needed to do a special five-course meal, so I prayed and came up with a menu. Then I read Psalms 23:5 in the Message, which reads: “You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies.” God gave me an idea for the sixth course. A little while later, He went on to say He wanted to give me the prophetic meaning for each course! All my senses were on fire as I typed out the words He spoke over the food. That was the first official prophetic dinner I served. Scrolling forward, I was asked to serve pastries at one of the conferences here at Bethel. I had previously received prophetic words that my pastries were going to bring healing. At that event I shared what I felt God was saying through the pastries. Then one of the servers told a guest who couldn’t swallow properly, “If you eat this you will be healed.” The woman took two bites and was healed! Pastries infused with an impartation for healing? It can’t get more out of the box than that! {August, 2012}

DEBTS PAID OFF

PROPHECY BLESSES GLOBAL BUSINESS

B Y L ibby A llison / / B S S M 1

B Y B I L LY J O N E S / / B S S M S TA F F

My husband and I came to BSSM with minimal finances and $1,000 of medical debt. Despite finding jobs, the pay checks did not cover our expenses. We prayed and felt God tell us that if we paid our tithe and bills, we could put what was left over onto the credit card. Additionally, I felt God say that the debt would be paid off at the one-year anniversary of the surgery.

Recently I spoke with another revival group pastor about an amazing international finance business that was working very effectively at seeding and building the kingdom globally. This company had Christian leaders, and as we looked at their website we both wanted our students to prophesy over them.

In December, we got a call from my grandparents who asked if we had any credit card debt. We replied that we owed 6,000 between our credit cards. They then informed us that they wanted to pay off both credit cards. A week later, my grandparents called again asking about any medical debt. They decided to include a check for $1,100, meaning the debt was paid off by the anniversary date. After that phone call, we could not help but dance all around the house thanking God for His goodness. We had also planned on spending $300 on each other for Christmas but after having the promise of our debt being paid off, we decided it would not be wise. I got a letter from my grandparents in the mail on December 21st, 2012. In it were the two checks to pay off the credit card and the medical debt. But in addition was a surprise check for $300! My grandparents had included, with no prompting from us, the additional “Christmas Gift Money” check. { D e c e m b e r , 2 0 1 2 }

We didn’t know that the leaders of this company had never received prophetic words or that the company had suffered huge financial losses in the last three years. About 2 1/2 months after we sent the words, I received a report that something incredible had happened. One of them said: “I was in my summer retreat house and I opened the envelope and read these words... within three lines I was a mess crying. Then as I read the next three lines, I was laughing with joy!” The week they read their prophetic words, the company had a massive turnaround. In the following three weeks they brought in more money than they had in over three years! {March, 2013}

POST OFFICE APPOINTMENT BY BEN FITZGERALD // BSSM ALUMNI

Recently I was at home worshipping God when suddenly at 2:00pm He said, “Be at the Endeavor Hills post office at 4:30. There will be a man in a green jacket at the front, don’t be late!” I frantically rushed up there and arrived around 4:32pm to find a man in green standing alone, right where God said He would be. God told me to say to him, “You’re only alive because of me,” which was a pretty strong word.

sent by God to tell me God saved my life, and he is the third person in two weeks!” I was shocked to say the least, but the next bit got me even more. It turns out that seven weeks ago when Sam and I met him, the veins in his arms had collapsed and turned black. Yet after we prayed, he woke up the next day with completely new veins. It made him so afraid that he never shot up speed again.

As I walked up to him, I realized I already knew him. About seven weeks earlier, my brother and I prayed for this man when he was whacked up on speed. I walked up to him and asked if he remembered me. He didn’t, but he had obviously been out of it and now couldn’t recall anything.

So, here I am again with God, reaching out to this guy who was exactly where He said he would be, wearing what He said, and who was so ready to receive the words of God it was like feeding milk to a baby. God shows me more and more that my hunger for the lost doesn’t even compare to the great lengths He goes to in saving a human soul. All He’s asking for is that His own children would be willing to risk responding to His simple prompts to meet others. God bless you all -- watch out He will!

I went ahead and told the guy the exact sentence God told me to say, and he began to tremble on the spot, freaking out and running inside where he told all his drinking friends, “This guy was

{January, 2013}

“The miracles that Jesus did are not to show us what God could do. That had already been done. They are to show us what one man could do who was rightly related to God.” BILL JOHNSON

WOMEN WITH BLOOD BY CHRIS GORE // BSSM TEACHER & HEALING ROOMS DIRECTOR

I’m speaking in the healing AMT class about the passage with the woman with the issue of blood. Jesus says to her, “Your faith has made you whole, go in peace.” But the literal translation is “go into peace.” So I’m role playing the passage to the front row and I stand in front of a woman. I pretend I’m Jesus and she’s the woman. Three days later, a woman comes up. “Do you remember me? I was in the front row of the class. I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome and told I can’t have kids.” But she said as I stood there, she knew she was healed and the next day in school she got her period! It was her first one in at least four years. The next week, I share the testimony in the AMT class and a student who had premature menopause for four years also gets her period instantly. Then there’s a third girl. She was sitting next to the first woman in class. She shares her story and says, “18 months ago, my mom died. I held her in my arms, believing for her resurrection. I held her until she was taken away and I blamed myself for a lack of faith.” After that, several of her body functions shut down. After school started, many of them returned but she still didn’t have her period. But when I stood in front of the class that day, her stomach instantly cramped and her period came back. Another student has an 11 day period that’s so intense, she’s passed out in bed for a week

with wheat bags on her stomach that lacerate her with third degree burns. She considered a hysterectomy and even suicide but heard the testimony and got a regular period with no pain. And then there was the salad. A student sees me in a grocery store and wants to introduce herself but is too embarrassed. So instead, she picks up a Greek salad she saw me pick up but then put back down, and her period comes back. It had been gone for four months. Even better, the healings have spilled outside of Bethel. I preach at a church and then the pastor calls me and says, “So many women have been getting healed of menstrual cycle problems, we’ve had 5-6 a day coming forth for a week.” Bill says, “What would happen if we used our faith to recognize the One who lives in us?” I’ve just become more aware of the One who lives in me. If we recognized who’s actually in us more, would we see more happen without even laying hands on people? Since I’ve shared that first testimony, there’s been 30 first hand testimonies of women getting healed. And they keep pouring in. I’ve not prayed for any of them. I’ve just been sharing the word. Now when young ladies come up to me all nervous and tell me they’re embarrassed, I just help them out. “Oh, you got a period story! Tell me all the details!” { O c t o b e r , 2 0 1 2 }

PAINTING HEALS AUTISM B Y F I O N A S T E WA R T / / B S S M 2

My mum and I met a young woman in 2011 right before I came to Bethel. She had an 11-yearold son with autism, A.D.H.D and dyslexia, and her own dad had cancer. We started to pray for their freedom and healing. More than a year later in January of 2013, I Skyped with my mum who was home in Scotland, and she came on very excited. Pauline, the young woman we had been praying for, had tried to tell her son about God. She was leaving Christian books and Bibles in her son’s room, but he wasn’t interested. But one day God gave her an idea to put one of my paintings in her son’s room. It was a painting of a tree: half of the tree was dead and half of the tree was fully alive. It was called The Transformation from Death to Life.

The young boy could not stop staring at the painting and would not allow his mum to take it from his room. Within two months, he began to get peaceful, and he ended up getting completely set free and delivered. His teachers could not explain what had happened, and he had to be moved up grades. He then began to create, which he had never done before, and he created his own comic book. Two weeks later, my mum and I spoke on Skype again, and she said Pauline’s dad had been released from the hospital completely free of cancer. God is so good, and He restores families. Now the family is healthy and happy, following the Lord. { J a n u a r y , 2 0 1 3 }

SKYPE HEALING BY DEBORAH CAMPBELL // BSSM2

I was given a person to pray with on Skype during my healing activation class. She had a list a mile long of pains and problems. I was apprehensive about being given such a tough case because I had never prayed for someone with so many problems! I prayed that God would just help me to love her. On a scale of 1-10, she had back pain that was about an 11. She had problems with her vertebrae, her levels on her endocrine system (I believe) were off, she had depression and a list of other things. I prayed for her and nothing happened. I was thinking, “Great she’s not going to be healed.” I asked how long she had been dealing with these problems and she reported about four years. Normally, I would pray again and then end the call, but Holy Spirit guided me to ask what major event had happened when the problems started. As soon as I asked it, her eyes welled up with tears and she started to cry. She said her husband had cheated on her. She was still with him but didn’t really trust him, and he’d been unpredictable in his treatment of her. I led her through prayers of forgiveness and broke off any fear she had about the relationship.

I prayed again, and her pain level dropped to a 4. We gave praise to God! After praying again, the pain disappeared completely! She bent over and moved her waist around, showing me her ability to move easily without pain. We started laughing and cheering. She said, “Can we just stay online for a bit? You don’t know how long it’s been since I have laughed!” I said, “I’d love to keep laughing with you.” Praise God! About a week later, I was in a jail speaking to some women. I shared that testimony, and when I looked up, one of the girls was crying. She said that she had a similar problem with her husband. She said she had suffered from terrible pain in her stomach for about 6 months, and had trouble sleeping because of her back. She pointed to her stomach and there was a large, hard lump protruding from it. I led her through similar prayers, and the pain was completely gone. She also felt her back pop and said, “I know God is fixing my back.” We praised God, and when I went the following week she said she’d slept like a baby, hadn’t had any pain in her stomach and the lump was gone! {January 24, 2013}

YOUNGEST STATE REPRESENTATIVE BY CARMEL WRIGHT // BSSM ALUMNI

During our first year at BSSM, my friend and I decided to meet and encourage each other to pursue our dreams each week. A year later, when I was going to pick her up from the airport, God told me she was going to move back home and that He was opening the doors to her dreams. When she got in the car and said she had decided to move home, it was obvious God wanted me to encourage her. I told her what I had seen and declared that the doors to her dreams were opening up, specifically in government. After being home for only two weeks, she was asked to run for office as state representative. While she was campaigning, she had multiple opportunities to partner with fear. Many of her advisors recommended actions motivated by fear or based out of a reaction to other opponents. But she chose to be authentic and responded in love. The outcome was incredible - she won the primary election with a 69% majority of the vote and went on to be elected as the youngest female representative in the state. She was given incredible favor and was asked to serve on the Judiciary and Education boards boards that a freshman representative may request, but usually never get on. She is also now currently

presenting a bill dealing with sex trafficking laws. People told her it would be impossible to have pleasant relations with opponents during the sessions. But she made friends with many of her opponents, changing what politics can look like. She is surrounded by older, more experienced men and women every day. But because of her personal integrity, God has given her increasing amounts of influence and affected the whole House with peace and authenticity. Recently, the House of Representatives worked together to decide the budget bill for the whole state for two years. They set aside two entire days to debate it because historically, these days would start early in the morning and carry on until nine or ten at night. This year, they passed the bill in thirty minutes with an unanimous vote, which has never happened before. The constituents started messaging legislators to tell them how proud they were and that Washington should take note! Making history as the youngest female state representative to be elected in her state, and one of three youngest in the United States, my friend continues to go after her dreams and carries a superior law of love into her lawmaking sessions. {September, 2012}

20 to 200000 B Y D AV I D J A C K S O N / / B S S M 1

At the beginning of February, I was at a service when Kris Vallotton was sharing about tithes and giving. While listening to the message, I thought of my dad who had been in a financial rut the past year. He was getting a monthly cheque but instead of keeping it for himself, he had been using it to pay his staff. A fellow student came over towards the end of the service and put $20 in my hand. God then told me clearly to give Kris the twenty dollars. My first thought was, “Kris Vallotton doesn’t need $20!” But then He said, “If you give Kris the $20, your dad will get $200,000.” At the end of service, there was a line of people for Kris. I waited about an hour and ended up stopping him at his car door. I told him the Lord showed me that if I gave him the $20, even though it was small, He would honor my dad with $200,000. Kris took it, prayed into it with me and I left. Three weeks later I was at a worship practice when my dad called me. He told me that one of

his closest friends called, asking to meet him at a parking lot. When my dad arrived, this man told him that if it wasn’t for him he would have been dead, and that my dad had helped him in so many ways that he wanted to honor him and his family. The man then went to his truck and pulled out 20 ounces of gold chips and gold bricks worth a total of about $19,000. As my dad told me this on the phone, I was freaking out. Stopping me, he said, “David, that’s not even it.” The man went on to tell my dad that he had a four bedroom house he was renovating and that he wanted to give it to my parents at no charge. All they’d have to pay for was utilities. He said that we could move in, sell our home and keep the money. My dad said, “David, this is your $20 that did this.” Now my parents will be renting out our home and moving into this four bedroom house. A little later, at the end of March, the man called again deciding to give my dad four more ounces of gold. { F e b r u a r y - M a r c h , 2 0 1 3 }

YEAR OF LOVE BY JENNY LOCKHART // BSSM2

Jesus has radically loved the kids in our elementary school after-school program all year! A few weeks into the school year, we were teaching the kids that God is in a good mood and that He heals peoples’ bodies when we ask. During snack time before the lesson, we asked if any of the kids needed prayer for anything. After hearing “my cat is sick” and “my dog ran away,” a little boy said his back hurt. On a scale of 1 to 10, his pain was “at a 90.” All the kids rallied around him and quickly released healing over him. The look of shock when he realized his back didn’t hurt anymore was priceless. That day, 23 kids were healed of physical problems that ranged from hurt ankles to eczema. We prayed for one of the little girl’s grandma who was in the hospital that day. The grandma was supposed to be in the hospital for another week, but the day after we prayed, she was able to go home. When the grandma got home, the 7 year-old girl told her, “I know why you came home from the hospital early.” The little girl explained that we prayed for the grandma at school the day before and that God heals people when we pray because He’s in a good mood. Then she told her the story of Jesus and how He

gave everything for her, and the girl led her to Jesus for the first time! A few months later, we got news that the grandma died. That grandma is with Jesus right now because a little girl encountered the goodness of God and brought an encounter home with her. After God showed up and showed the kids His goodness, we taught on how Jesus’ blood paid for everything. Before the lesson, we mentioned Jesus’ name in conversation, and one of the little boys asked, “Jesus, who is Jesus? I have a cousin named Jesús, but I’ve never heard of a Jesus.” After hearing about what Jesus did, they all went into encounters where they pictured Jesus taking away their bad things while giving them His good things. That day 22 kids, including the little boy who had never heard of Jesus, gave their hearts to Him. A week doesn’t go by without one of the kids getting healed in their body or someone deciding to choose joy in a sad situation. This Thursday, a little girl told us, “My mommy and daddy fight a lot, but now I just pray and Jesus makes it all better.” { 2 0 1 2 - 2 0 1 3 }

20 to 200000 B Y D AV I D J A C K S O N / / B S S M 1