A father and a pastor

great couple. We were sad to say goodbye to Tai when he passed away but still encouraged by occasional visits and video calls with Joy. Eventually arriving in Cloverdale we were reunited with Randy and Chris Emerson. They had invited us to lead worship at their Church Camp for a week before we headed up for a trip to Whistler. What an amazing week that was. Mountains, a lake, cabins (we were in the hospital cabin!) Worship, prayer, friendship, food and laughter. So good. God really knew how to bless us when we remember times like these. Randy, Chris and their family remain a precious part of our extended family too, even though we’ ve not seem them face to face since this trip

Deeperprayer anddeeper worship

In these following years we became much more ‘Stoke based’ dedicating ourselves with our friends at the Beacon to worship, pray and welcome His glory in. From our early days with a predominantly City focus, we found ourselves increasingly praying wider into our Nation and nations beyond. We were travelling to these places in the Spirit as we lifted up Jesus from the prayer room in the house. This was part of God’s direction for us in this particular season. To dig, serve, help and facilitate. There would be occasional travel out wider but He was doing something new with us at a local level.

Following visits to the house of prayer from some friends in Cyprus, I was invited with Tracy to visit Paphos in 2011. On this trip we were travelling to bring some training to an existing team on the Island and to share some encouragement in a local home group, concluding our time by leading worship at our guests church. During this year God was stirring us at the Beacon with the possibility of organsing and hosting a year of unbroken prayer. We, with the team, made preparations and shared with local churches the vision and got ready to give ourselves in a new and intensified way. 2012 came and we’d developed a rota which meant that every hour of that year was to be filled with prayer from the Beacon. In the middle of our praying we continued to oer our worship to God, remembering that this too was our Intercession to Him and our praise for him. It was a significant year, celebrating and hosting the Queen’s Jubilee and the Olympic games, covering it all and welcoming God’s kingdom to come. As we were going deeper, God was visiting us in new ways and speaking to us about the future. Sensing an importance of passing on some of what I’d learned but not feeling the best gifted teacher, I prayed about a way to connect

musicians and singers in the city. A place to both grow in skill but also in friendship. After a little time I settled on the idea of ‘Presence Worship Interchange’ A place where an invited group of 8-12 could meet regularly around coee and cake, share some really practical and spiritual aspects of being on teams and leading worship. I had around 3 groups, one being a youth group (aged between 15 and 18) Some precious times of sharing and worship together.. Every group overan by 3 or 4 weeks. We all felt the benefit as these took place over 2012 and into 2013.

AFather anda Pastor?

As we returned to a lighter pattern in 2013, I’d felt that having given ourselves in a concentrated way to prayer in the year behind us, maybe He was calling us to deeper times of worship in the year in front of us. We began what we started to call our worship oerings, a time dedicated purely to worship before we entered into any corporate praying. We began bringing together dierent musicians and teams from around the City, 4 times a year to have continuous times of worship often for 24 hours non stop. My good friend Katie Britton and I became hosts for these extended times, oering our own worship gifts but also praying for each musician or singer that came, blessing them and asking God to release His presence in the room as we ministered to Him. On one of these occasions a friend in the house stopped me and asked why I’d decided to stay through the whole of these continuous worship times. I explained the deep connection I’d felt and the desire to support and encourage. He spoke 2 things over me. He said I was a Father and a Pastor. Both these things deeply resonated with me. Being a Father here in the natural world has been such a blessing especially after we’d thought for 7 years that we weren’t able to have children (then came 4, not all at the same time thankfully, plus one ‘Percy’ who entered heaven before we met). It seemed to me that any training and equipping with our house of prayer team was more about growing a family and this really encouraged me to see them all in that way. The title of Pastor was something that suddenly made sense too. In 2001 we’d been invited to lead worship in Plympton as guests from Cali in Columbia were speaking. They were part of a Pastor’s network that had been featured in George Otis’ Transformations videos, a place of Revivial and community breakthrough. It was as we met on the afternoon before the first evening that one of the Pastors, even before we’d introduced ourselves declared that ‘I was going to be a Pastor’ . He also prophisied over Tracy and I that we would be significant in a coming UK Revival. Wow! I seem to remember at the time Tracy had joked, saying something like ‘I’m not going to be a vicar’s wife ‘

But it turns out, She didn’t have to be. Here we were, over a decade later and God had made sense of his word. I just needed to receive it and walk in it.

Since that time in dierent seasons, I have tried to give myself away. To be alongside and mentor others in any way I can. Sometimes it;s been simply by sharing coee, conversation and prayer. Sometimes by taking a walk and listening. In one particular case I remember taking a year to walk with a worship team from Stone as they were growing and developing together. Even now I have new people in my life who I’m trying to be around for, to be a sounding board for and a friend on their journey. I remember how grateful I’d been for people like this who had been there for me over the years. I am particularly grateful to Robert Mountford who was my listening ear in the early days of presence. Faithful to meet me, listen and pray. And again in the pre-Presence days, Brian Lucas from Smallthorne Salvation Army was the one moddelled in my life how to be a supporter, encourager and sounding board.

Jeremiah 3:15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you withknowledge andunderstanding. Speaking of Transformations. In the June time, following all that we had journeyed with the 2C7 years, I was invited to lead worship for a conference that had been organised by our city leaders with Ed Silvoso. Ed had been a pioneer of prayer for transformation in many cities around the globe. We welcomed him into our city for 3 evenings of sharing and prayer, along with other key speakers who were involved in practical ministry in cities. We had prayer groups and intercessors that met for the weeks preceding making way for God and asking Him to clean us up and get us ready. These days reinforced in us the message about our responsibility to serve Him and others well in our City, being reflectors of the One who was only able to bring about true Kingdom change for good in every sector of our communities. Over these next few years we settled into a prolonged season in the City with just occasional visits out for Paul with House of Prayer Connections, including two trips to Augsburg House of Prayer in Germany during 2014 and 2016 where friends gathered from across Europe to worship together and seek God for a kingdom move across the nations. These were wonderful times of unity and forged some new worship friendships that became a real encouragement. Germany was to become significant in a later part of the story as you read on. We had also begun to host UK Houses of Prayer at The Beacon for 3 day gatherings to encourage and build one another up. It has been a blessing to do this as a couple. Me