Vera's Testimony / Encouragement

From: Vera Lim
Date: Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 5:50 PM

Early last year, I was rearranging the furniture in my house to accomodate for a class I have been teaching every Fri afternoon when suddenly I heard an inner voice that said, "you could have a powerhouse here." Almost immediately I pushed the thought out of my mind. Some months later, the thought came again and again I blocked it out. I even consciously stopped myself from sharing with Connie about this as I feared she and Chandra would persuade me into service (they have a gift in that area too, amongst many other gifts ).

I conveniently went about my life as usual, until I was back in S'pore and being ministered by my church family back there. Just before I came back to Perth in January this year, quite a few of them purposefully sought the Lord for a word as a gift for me. (It was the most special present I've ever received!) Amongst them was a word from John 10: 1-30 about The Shepherd and His Flock. I actually went up to this brother and told him I wasn't sure what he was trying to tell me since it wasn't just a word, more like a chapter. Josh (the bro) said to me, "Basically, the Lord has something planned for you to do this year, do you have any idea what it is?" Right away the thought of Powerhouse came to mind. However, I went ho hum, er ahhh and answered, "well, maybe, but not sure." Also among many other words of assurance and encouragement, another one stood out. It was my Pastor's wife who distinctively gave me, "the aroma of Christ" and "the Fragrance of life".

I returned to Perth and started to ask the Lord to speak to me clearly. I didn't want, impressions, i didn't want to second guess through situations. I want to See His purpose and Hear His Voice so I can be clear about my obedience to Him. Throughout the weeks I kept hearing or reading messages that pointed to being available to God, all He requires is our willingness to avail ourselves, Jesus will equip those He calls.

Lo and Behold, Chandra comes to Albert and then to me (hear the voice!) about the need(see the purpose!) to open another home for Powerhouse. By then I knew my only response had to be "Yes Lord, and thank you, Lord for this opportunity."

To wrap this all up, the Lord gave me another message to seal it in my head that I am hearing Him. When Pastor Cara prayed for me last friday night, she used the words "shepherdess" and "fragrance" which were the words specially given to me some months ago in S'pore by Josh as well as my pastor's wife.

So this is how I am beginning another chapter of my walk with God. Though my legs feel wobbly, my heart pounding hard, I hear him say, "my yoke is easy, my burden is light".

with love,

-vera-

Words given for The Way Church

A few weeks ago, when Pastor Dexter spoke in our church, there were prophecies given by our members and also Ps Dexter for the church to "Arise and press on!" "River of life flowing" "Arise and shine! For the glory of Lord is on us!" IT was a truly extraordinary experience, the spoken word of God effecting our lives and church!

Then, last week as I was preparing the worship list for yesterday's Sunday service, God brought such a stirring within me to pen down what He wanted our church to know about the more to come in this season of new wine. As I started to write, more and more came from the Lord and I couldn't stop writing until it was all over, these are the words the Lord gave to me for our church,

"The Way Church, I have done a work so quickly in you. Do not be contented with what you have now but strive on for greater things, I have MORE for you. I will be bringing upon you a greater outpouring of My Spirit. Wait for it, for when it comes, foundations will be shaken, blind eyes will start to see, the skeptics will cease and the church will see My glory in the work of My Hands. I say to you "Call unto Me and I will answer you, and show you even greater and mightier things that you have not yet known!"

This is so exciting! Church, believe and receive all that God is saying to our church. Something greater is coming, and it's coming to fulfill a purpose God has intended specially for The Way Church. Let's flow with the Spirit in this new move God is doing in The Way Church. It's revival time! Don't miss the wave! The Time is NOW! Arise and Shine for the Light has come, for the glory of the Lord is on you! We will not stand aside and be spectators but we will hear and listen and obey in faith what God needs us each to do. It'll be something massive, and God wants us to claim it because He has given that to you for the church. Do not fear, for the LORD is always victorious in battle and with His right hand He will bring us through gloriously!

Let's move with the Spirit to the next level God wants to bring us. Let's enter the promise of God for us!

Arised and moving ahead,
joshua

From Michele and Francis

We praise and thank God for taking care of our family thus far with a wonderful church here in Tallahassee. Especially for his protection whenever we travel and the opportunities to see new things here.

We also want to thank God for protecting us as we were on Tornado watch a few weeks back and it missed our city, hitting some cities west of us. And a week later, it missed us again, hitting a town just east of us. There were casualities. We really are so grateful as the houses here are not equipped to handle tornadoes.

They are made of wood and we are on the 2nd floor (the highest). Should a F5 tornado hit us, the entire roof can fly off and hiding in the bathtub may be our only chance but it may not even be enough. What's worse was it was night and you cannot see a tornado coming. The kids were all sleeping and you cannot drive out. The only way was to hide in an inner room without windows if you do not have a basement. Hence, we really praise and thank God for His mercy!

Basically, it's tornado season for 1st half of yr and hurricane season for 2nd half of yr. It's a really amazing country but they are so many natural weather calamities and it's a constant lookout. Like in the north, it's chaos with the heavy snow now. It can be tornado watch now, but tomorrow, it's desert heat.

In all cases, we praise and thank God for His protection on us always.

Also, thank God for extending our lease without penalty for another 5 months. The practice here penalty for a short extension. All our friends in other apartments has to pay 20% more for their extension. But, by the grace of God, the management extended without penalty and at same rent. Otherwise, we will have to shift out and source for new place and pack, etc. Cannot imagine that. Praise the Lord. Thank you God.

Also, we know you are always behind us and we thank you all for always keeping us in prayer.

Francis, Michele, Sonya & Ethan

(we have added some pics just to share where we live)

For more pics visit Francis TRAVEL USA blog:
http://francistan.net/blog/

God makes us smile!

Blessings come around! You give and God gives back to you. Albert, Caitlyn and I were taking a walk (our feeble attempt to keep fit!) one evening. At a road junction, we spotted a wallet on the ground. We picked it up (it was a fat one with several bank cards, credit cards and cash) and immediately tried to find a contact number we could call. When we phoned the owner of the lost wallet, he was so relieved and thankful that there were still some honest people around. A few days later, we found in our letter box, a thank you card with 4 supermarket vouchers amounting to $100. We were just doing the right thing in God's eyes, not expecting any rewards but our God is a generous giver.

Not just that, a month ago I called up AMEX (American Express) to cancel my credit card coz I haven't been using it plus the times I wanted to use it, shops won't accept it. So when asked why I was cancelling the card, I gave them those reasons. The personnel at AMEX informed me I've been issued a card that is subscription free for life and then he offered me a $50 Harvey Norman gift card to keep my credit card. That was a pleasant ! So just over the month, I've been blessed with these little extras to which I credit them as favours from our loving Father who likes to make us smile.

-vera-