Stepping out in Faith

So last night (Monday 21st), I came across a guy on a crutch who had a cast on his foot. It was quite a big cast. I told him, in faith, that God could easily heal his problem, and his friend promised me that if God did heal him, he would 'dedicate' his life to God and become a priest. Suddenly the stakes were raised...I got them to sit down, his friends had front row seats, eager to see God do something, and I prayed.

I told him to get up and walk around....but if I'm being honest, I harboured doubt, unbelief and I lacked faith. He said it felt slightly better when he got up, and after offering some more prayer, he said that he had torn ligaments – as if God couldn't really heal that. I had to suppress my rage at the thought that God isn't able nor bigger than torn ligaments, but I said nothing. It wasn't his fault.

Every time I come across someone with a break, I will endeavour to pray and ask God to reveal his power. I know God is good and His kingdom can break in.

Come Lord.

God is doing some awesome work!

God really is on the move.

Just not sure how to actually articulate what I feel is happening here in San Antonio. Just last week a girl on our team got chatting to a holiday maker who was extremely burdened and after sharing her testimony, this guy wanted to know Jesus himself, so she led him in a prayer and he said he felt 'light.' How awesome is that?

This all happened whilst we were praying that those out on the streets would get the chance to pray for someone for freedom and to help them break free from their problems. There seemed such a strong connection to what we were praying and what was happening out on the streets.

I really love it when these prayers seem to hit the bullseye so clearly and quickly.

When I came back into the Prayer room and heard the exciting news that someone had decided to accept what Jesus had done, I was totally overjoyed. I think Dan (from the American team) summed up what I was feeling the next day by saying just how much God used all of us in what happened and it wasn't just one person, and I hope that isn't taking anything away from the girl who stepped out in faith and obedience – as that was a key step. But feeling like you've played a part in that happening is so exciting!

One of those blogs you'll hate me for - sorry!

I know you're gonna hate me for blogging like this, but it'd be rude not to. This blog covers all the bases don't you know. Question: have you ever seen a yacht with a group of people on it, all of them seemingly having the best time of their lives and jealously thought 'I wish that was me?' (by the way, they are in fact having the best time – I can prove it).

I've often coveted (ever so slightly) those people on their yachts and sailing boats here in Ibiza, and yesterday was a chance to sample the high life as I got invited out on one of Brian and Tracy's friend's sailing boats. Martin – the guy who owns the boat - is such a generous guy, and really treated us all to an amazing day. We all took goes steering the boat as we sailed a little out to sea until Brian did some interesting skippering of the boat and took us in a whole new direction...but it was time to get to a little inlet and anchor down to have lunch anyway. We popped open the wine, had some bacon butties with English cheddar cheese and enjoyed the warm weather on deck listening to some music. It's moments like that you you think 'am I really here?' We cheered the Heasley's for having been in Ibiza 5 whole years as a family. Absolute awesome effort guys – pleasure to enjoy the moments with you.

The questions on our lips were: do we go swimming? Will it be warm enough? The lads got in, and I couldn't let them out-do me, so I got involved with Ellis, Dan, and Matthew and had a dip - albeit an ABSOLUTELY freezing one! I went with the 'dive-straight-in' approach, preferring that to the lad's 'slowly-slowly-in' technique. But it was a shock to the system to say the least. I swam one circuit of the boat before getting straight back out. March – too cold to go swimming in Ibiza!

When you cap off a day like that with a curry, you know it's been one of 'em days! What a wkd day - good times!

Awesome Weekend!!!

Sunday just gone was awesome as we got to baptise Christine! She lives with us and has taken a work break to give 6 months to the work of 24-7 Ibiza. I think someone threw the idea out about getting baptised and along with lots of encouragement and maybe a dash of good-pressure, she decided nothing would be better than to get baptised whilst serving God in Ibiza.

What made the day really special for me was the company. Some of our best friends who live and work here for the summer agreed, albeit slightly reluctantly, to come along and witness this strange Christian tradition done Ibiza style.

Our guests came around our house for food first (which always helps) and then we all piled down to a beach to dunk Christine under the sea. It was a really great day, and they were all pleasantly surprised by the whole symbolic act of Christine publicly declaring her belief in Jesus.

There's nothing more exciting then baptising someone here in Ibiza. I wonder who'll be next?

Jackanory

I love stories. Whether they be funny, sad, inspiring, painful or even romantic. My favourite usually involve swords and fighting and saving people and defeating evil, and of course, kissing the girl that's just been saved. Or maybe they are just in my head.

Now, I wouldn't consider myself to be a great storyteller; I'm not a great communicator nor have the confidence to make any up. Last night three friends come over from Northern Ireland to help us move and join in our adventure. To be honest, they are Brian and Tracy's friends, but now they're mine too! 3 guys called Stevie, Brian and Chris. They were all telling funny stories of their travels and adventures and we were laughing long and hard. Truth be told, we were all drinking Rioja and were on our fourth bottle...

But i have a story. It's of life, risk, faithfulness, stress, excitment, and above all adventure. The main character is God, and he takes the star role, saving me at the last minute! No swords - thankfully. I'll post it on here so you get to read it.

It'll be the kind of story we tell each other whilst sitting round the fire in our new house, years from now. We'll tell it to each other when we're finding life hard. I'll remind myself of it when I'm trusting in God to meet my needs in a time of worry. Do me a favour? Please remind me of it in a few months...

God's answer to prayer

Over the last 6 weeks i have been praying alot about finding a solution to our housing situation. As many of you know, Helen and i live together in a rented house, which we began in April of last year. You might also have heard of our 'Finca' that we're moving into this Wednesday 14th January. If not, where have you been?

The 4 of us signed the contract to the 'Finca' at the start of December knowing that there was a level of risk to our commitment, namely the fact that Helen and i were signed up for a whole year on our current location. I suppose it was our step of faith! The risk for me meant moving into a new place with new rent and still honouring the contract to my old house. This would have been totally impossible.

But today i received the best news! Someone is going to be moving into mine and Helen's house and wants to be in THIS Thursday (15th January)! Talk about perfect timing!?! I mean, there have been times that i've been very stressed and worried about this situation - but once again i've been humbly reminded that God is my provider and knows the right time to remind me of that! I'm so happy and so thankful. I have no words right now of just how thankful i am for God's provision.

'Shining like stars in the universe'

Manumission was a really good night!

We got to Amnesia about 2am and went straight to the main room. Not sure who was DJing, but the music was awesome. At first i found it hard to concentrate and enjoy myself and really dance as there were too many things that distracted me; those around me in costumes; dancers; but especially the video footage of past parties - TV screens everywhere. So we went to the terrace area and Zane Lowe was DJing. He was on the mic quite a bit - i think he liked the sound of his own voice to be fair. He played loads of different stuff, from alternative to drum and bass. The atmosphere was really good. At about 3am the 'show' started, but it came in drips and drabs, and not all at once. It was wierd to keep flicking from dancing to watching, but you got used to it. The show had lots of talent on offer. There was this amazing flamenco guitarist and some Spanish dancers; a Didgeridoo player who was awesome. He played along to the DJ, adding his own stuff. There were loads of dancers, who looked very much Moulin Rouge...at one point it all seemed like a glamorous circus. There were a few shocking moments, which i won't share here, but these are some of the things that came into my mind: 'interesting', 'didn't know that was possible', and 'she must have alot of time on her hands'. We bumped into loads of workers towards the end of the night and hung out with them for a bit. Mike and Claire, the promotors, know how to put on a great show. The DJ played some great choons too, and i really felt i could shine and go for it. I love when you're dancing and just in the way you look at others and dance you can communicate something to them. You can even invite someone to dance with you too. I love those connections.

Tonight we're going to a party called 'Thailandia' - a Full Moon Party which is happening down at the Hippy Market at Las Dalias. Our friend Kym Mazelle is doing a live PA. She has invited us as her guests. It seems like the whole Island is going. We met with Kym this week to hang out and eat and pray. She hopes to shine in her music and her singing. It should be great fun to be there. I'll let you know how it goes.

"This is the start of something"

Michael was praying the other night about moving forward and taking new ground and into his mind came the line 'Gonna break down the doors'. He wasn't too sure who produced it, and I remembered that it was Erick Morillo feat. Audio Bullys.

I forgot i had his CD somewhere, so last night we took it to the prayer room and during our prayer time we played that track, and we both realised just how good the lyrics are to this song.

'Enter the darkness, the beats marching in, the lightening now begins, don't ask what's happening - This is the start of something! We gonna break down the doors, we gonna break down the floors, this new thing is mine and yours, but what is it? It's gonna break down the doors, it's gonna break down the doors. Look to the skylight, push out your fears, the fine light now appears, it could take years and years, or it could take days and days - it depends on the game you play, it depends on the names you say, at the end of the day we all put the same, light the flame.'

Good lyrics yeah? So we're in the West End praying last night and there was a huge power failure across the bars and clubs, and everyone was out on the street, enjoying being brought together because of the power cut. There was darkness everywhere, and we felt we should be out there, just praying about the darkness and being in the midst of it. We knew the power would eventually come back on, and it did, and then a cheer went up.

God is up to something. He has been for years here in Ibiza. Yet is this the start of something new? Our prayer at the moment is simply: God, please break down the doors!

'Release those Shackles'

I had such a good night last night. We were invited personally by Kym Mazelle to attend her new 'Gospel House - Live' night in Playa d'en Bossa. For those of you who don't know her, she used to sing in 'Soul ll Soul', and is probably most famous for covering the hit 'Young Hearts Run Free', in the film Romeo and Juliet. At present, she feels that she needs to be in Ibiza presenting the Gospel of Jesus to as many people as possible. She came to our Sunday service a few weeks back and we got a chance to hear her story and to pray with her.

I've never been to the club 'Martina Discotheque', and although it was fairly small, it had an intimate feel to it and also a touch of upper-class to it too. Kym came on after the DJ and had a full band and gospel choir with her. She began her set with 'Oh Happy Day', and then went into 'This little light of mine'. To be honest, i was absolutley gobsmacked! There i was standing in a club in Ibiza hearing someone singing gospel songs and i loved it. And when she sang 'Over the mountains and the sea', i was buzzing. I've sung that song in church settings since i was like 14, so to hear it here in Ibiza was amazing. And she wasn't ashamed of singing about Jesus and encouraging the crowd to lift their hands and hearts to God.

To be honest, half of the club dispersed when she came on, yet those that stayed seemed interested in such a unique presentation of the Gospel. I have so much respect for Kym. She was both bold and courageous, and i believe she was speaking God's words to all of us. What made me think the most was her rendition of 'Shackles' by Mary Mary. The words go, 'take the shackles off my feet so i can dance, i just want to praise you, i just want to praise you.' I quite often hold back when dancing, afraid of letting go, for fear of being made fun of. But i went for it...i found a new boldness.

Kym is here for the summer, promoting the Gospel and singing about her faith in God. I hope we get to go along again, and i hope that those that hear her singing find a new freedom, like i did.