Belonging revealed

without buying anything came back and sat on the sofa next to me. The first thing she asked was, ‘Are you a Christian?. A bit stunned at the greeting I said, ‘Yes I am’ . ‘Do you need some money?’ she asked. Even more shocked but out of honesty, I said ‘Well, yes, I do’ . ‘What’s your name she said?’ I gave her my name and she reached into her bag, pulled out a cheque book, wrote on it, folded it up, gave it to me and got up and left the hotel.

I think Robert’s jaw was on the ground and we were both quiet for a minute. I opened up the cheque and it was for £100. It wasn’t all we needed but in that moment I heard God say. ‘If I can send someone here to do this, are you going to trust me?’ It really was a miraculous moment and a vivid reminder of this Father who knew just what we needed. 2004 also saw me back in Singapore this time as part of the Methodist International Prayer Conference from the 16th to 19th June. Visiting along with William Porter, Lloyd Cooke and other UK prayer representatives I was priviledged to be a part of afternoon seminars, back up singing in some of the evenings with an International band and leading worship on a Saturday Evening, which so happened to be based on 2 Chronicles 7:14 ‘If my people’ . The exact same cry that was rising in our 2C7 meetings in Stoke. Above all the worship and input that week, the most humbling evening was when we from the UK were asked to pray for delegates who wanted to give themselves to God again. Many came for prayer and at the end of one particular evening, I remember feeling how damp my shirt was and thinking it was the heat. Then I realised it was the tears of those who had come and found a deep place with God. What a privilege to be in the middle of days like this.

Belonging revealed

In these years that have followed God began to reveal more of His purpose in my ‘belonging to Stoke’ . The 2C7 meetings had continued to grow and develop from their beginnings in 2001 and leaders ' gatherings were running alongside these. All of which I was a part of leading and sometimes shaping. As well as our regular gatherings at what was then The Bethel Church in Abbey Hulton, we took the meetings out to local churches between 2003 and 2005. Modelling ways to worship and pray for our City. God was continuing to teach us the power and value of combined Worship and Prayer. Leaders and Intercessors were taking time out each year to be together for 24 hours at Shallowford House in Staordshire. Seeking God, growing our relationships and asking Him for wisdom as we continued to welcome his Kingdom into our city. Part of God’s directing us was a real sense of how we were to take our prayers and our worship into a place of mission. Following a visit to the South of

England. My friend Lloyd had met up with New Zealander Craig Marsh who had shared his amazing healing testimony . Lloyd shared this with the 2C7 team and we felt we should invite Craig to Stoke and open up some public meetings. Opportunities for healing and connection with God. The details of the mission are really well documented by Robert Mountford again in His book ‘Heal the land’ but I’ll just give a short taste here of what was a glorious and blessed time.

On the 25th September 2005 with a Marquee hired and teams in place we opened up ‘A time for healing’ in Trentham Gardens. It was the first of 12 planned weeks and many came and filled that place Christians and those who were seeking, those who had healing needs all came. Because of our wonderful friends Rob and Lorainne Tunicli’s amazing oer to take care of our Children on every evening we were to be away (this included weekends when we’d been leading conferences together!) Tracy and I were able to be fully involved in these nights, arriving around 6 to set up and sound check a band made up of musicians from churches around the City, we’d begin to worship as soon as we were ready, welcoming God’s presence, preparing a way for Him. After opening times of praise together, Criag Marsh would share His healing testimony, bring a short time of challenge then open up the front of the meeting tent for anyone to come who wanted prayer. After night one when we played some recorded music whilst prayer continued, I remember being prompted by God to see if it was OK with our team to continue to worship until the last person in the tent had received prayer. All agreed, for the following 11 eleven nights we flowed together in prayer and worship, Welcoming God to heal and meet with all who came. It was a beautiful and powerful time continuing until the midnight hour. This was such an amazing time for us all in the City. God was doing a beautiful thing and we were privileged to be a part of it. As this mission period paused we prepared to help host and lead a '’Touching The Father ' s Heart Conference at Swan Bank Mission, from the 24th -26th October 2005, iinviting guests and our Ignite Revival Network team for 3 days of teaching and worship. Included in this conference were John and Carol Arnott who had been such a blessing through the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church (The focal point of the '’Toronto Blessing ") These 3 days were filled with great teaching and times to abandon ourselves in worship, sometime '’ literally as the weight of His presence caused us to linger. There were deep Holy Spirit encounters and I remember well how wonderfully John and Carol took care to make sure that there was an explanation about what may have been happening as people in the room were impacted by the power of God. So