Greetings in the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are writing to you today to bring you up to date on all that has been happening in the ministry here. The Lord has been fulfilling His word to us, regarding the future of this ministry, with greater swiftness than ever before.
Beginning in 1992, the Lord began to give me a series of visions showing the details that would direct our path in the years ahead. So, in recent years, we have anticipated a move from our church in Columbus, Georgia, to a permanent location at the Eagles’ Refuge Campground, the place that the Lord gave us across the river in Smiths Station, Alabama. According to visions from the Lord, that would direct our path in the years ahead, a total of seven structures were to be built there. God gave us the land, and two prayer chapels and a tabernacle were erected.
We listed the church in Columbus several years in a row in order to be ready to follow the commission the Lord had given us to build Him a place where He could speak to His people. Although there were several churches anxious to buy our facility, financing proved to be a problem for each one, preventing the sale from ever being completed. It just wasn’t time.
This spring, however, I felt the Lord leading us to have a large for sale sign erected on the church property, describing what we were offering and giving a telephone number. Before camp meeting this summer, the Lord sent us buyers, friends that my Granny and I had known for years. They found our church to be what they needed, and in the area where they wanted to be. Because they had just sold their church and were able to pay cash, negotiations and all aspects of the sale went through very quickly and smoothly. We were suddenly confronted with the fact that this was the time to step into the fulfilment of the visions God had shown us through the years.
I felt a little sad leaving the church my grandmother had sacrificed so much to see built. God had given us thirteen wonderful years to worship in that building, and He had poured out so much revelation there. We had countless supernatural visitations from the Lord and beheld His Glory there so many times. But a vision was calling us to the Eagles Refuge Holiness Campground in Smiths Station, Alabama.
Land for the campground was purchased in 1992, a few months after the Lord told us about it in a service, by prophecy. He also identified the exact property by vision, showing the position of some cedar trees. It was as that series of visions unfolded, that we were shown the location of each building that would be needed to support the ministry. I saw the location of the prayer chapels, and the exact spot where the tabernacle was to be situated. I also saw the administration building which would contain the offices and a printing press. Another building He showed me at that time was the future location of the School of Ministry.
The Lord sent us help to begin to cut in roads, make pads for our first buildings, and clear the land that was in disarray after a logging operation a few years earlier. One night as we were burning debris, clearing the camp ground, the wind picked up and the fire got out of hand. Calls went out for saints to come to the campground to make a bucket brigade from the neighbor’s pump. After prayer, the wind died down and the Lord supernaturally took control of the fire. I saw two beings in white walking between us and the fire as it settled down and God protected His interests.
The Lord revealed that He wanted two prayer chapels erected first, showing the location by vision. When they had been built, the ladies’ prayer chapel was named The Mildred Shelley Memorial Prayer Chapel, in memory of my grandmother. The chapel the brothers were to use was named in memory of Brother Marion Hollis, Brother Jonathan’s father, who lost his life while returning from his place of prayer in the woods near his home. Each one has a large, comfortable and beautifully decorated room and two prayer closets, pleasant little rooms that have a bench and a window. They are open around the clock for anyone to come and pray.
During some of Satan’s severest attacks, we have spent time together praying and finding comfort in rehearsing the good things the Lord had done, and remembering His promises to us. The hours we have spent in intercession and worship there have been times when God took us into deeper anointings and higher levels in His Kingdom. Those two little buildings have been a refuge for our people, and many of the saints from the nations have enjoyed the Presence of the Lord as they prayed in the peaceful atmosphere in those chapels.
The next building to be completed was the tabernacle, a tin-top open-air building. The Lord showed us where it was to be built, which at the time was a hillside. After talking to several earthmoving contractors who said it couldn’t be done, we found one who told me, “Preacher, I can do it.” A pad was built, on the what had been greatly sloping land, according to the vision the Lord had shown.
In the spring of 1993, an open-air, steel structure that can seat over a thousand people was in place. Today it stands as a monument to the faithfulness of God. The building was erected by a contractor, but the saints did a great deal of work preparing for that first camp meeting and in the years following.
By the time our visitors arrive each year, from other states and the nations of the world, countless hours had been spent beautifying the grounds, spreading sawdust, dusting chairs, raking, scrubbing, printing song books, preparing prophecy books and tracts, copying tapes and videos, and preparing and stocking the campground bookstore. Many of the church people also rearranged things in their homes in order to make room for visitors who would have already sacrificed, coming from so far away, and need accommodations. In recent years, God has enabled us to feed everyone a free meal each night after service, in a tent on the hill.
A large part of the preparation for camp meeting has always been the seasons of fasting, prayer and intercession. The saints have stood as a unified army, breaking spiritual ground for the great deliverances that we knew would take place.
Words could never express how I felt when the Lord gave me a vision of the design of the platform on March 20th, 1993. In my heart, I knew it held great prophetic significance because its design originated in the mind of God. He gave it to me in the minutest detail. I was very excited to see a beautiful pulpit which I described as “absolutely unbelievable”.
I sketched the platform for my people the very next day. I wanted them to be able to visualize it. “This design has to be just right,” I told them, “because the Lord was very specific in dealing with me about the section of the platform where the pulpit will rest.” Four steps were to lead up to the platform from the front. On each side was a gently-sloping ramp, leading to the section where the pulpit would sit. (During prayer lines, the brothers move the pulpit back to make this front center section of the platform accessible.) The people were to walk up the ramp to be ministered to, and then walk down the ramp on the other side.
That has become a most precious spot. People coming from the nations have been healed and delivered as they have come across the platform. Several times, a whole row of young people, or young children would each be prayed for as they stood together, each receiving the Holy Ghost at almost the same time. Those who were touched first would turn and help us pray for the rest. I will never forget the sight of them standing there lost in the Presence of the Lord, with tears streaming down their faces, then praying for one another or hugging each another. God has arrested so many in that spot, and caused them to be slain in His Presence, raising up healed, renewed and changed for Kingdom purposes. Revelation from the Throne has ushered forth from that large pulpit, and those who had their ears finely tuned to what the Holy Spirit was saying, could hear what God was revealing to His Bride, making the Message of the Hour come alive as never before.
As I began to draw the design that morning in the service, I told the people, “The Lord showed me that above the platform is to be a ceiling or roof made of cedar boards.” I further explained, “This thing on top extends out above this part. I don’t know what the purpose of that is.” It was almost like a roof top over the platform. I was describing what I had seen, yet its meaning remained hidden for some time to come.
The brothers caught the vision. Guided by my drawing, they picked up their hammer and nails, and with purpose they built the platform God had shown. I was out of the town when the work began, but when I came home to see it, I realized that it was not quite to the specifications the Lord had shown me. Those precious brothers took apart anything that wasn’t exactly according to the vision, and redid it.
At that time, we didn’t do anything about the cedar encasement ceiling, since the Lord had not revealed the significance of that important piece of the puzzle. As time went on, however, the He revealed that it represents a Chuppah. The Chuppah is the canopy under which a Jewish couple is married. In ancient Palestine, after the ceremony, curtains were let down on the sides, and after the friend of the Bridegroom prepared the bridal chamber, the couple would enter together and consummate their vows. So, we proceeded to have it built. That cedar Chuppah would symbolize the chamber of consummation of the earthly Bride and the heavenly Bridegroom.
Several years ago, when we thought the church was selling, we moved our offices to a double-wide manufactured building on the campground. Having that done made our recent move here much simpler. The Lord also provided a climate-controlled storeroom for our pews until they are needed.
We had talked many times about beginning our multi-purpose building as soon as the church was sold, so that we could worship there until a new church was built. Then this summer as the Lord spoke to me again, He reminded me that we had been directed to follow a vision. Being a meticulous God, he wanted first things first.
Instead of looking toward working on the multi-purpose building, which I will tell you about later, he instructed us to begin the administration building. If it was designed correctly, we would be able to use it for a sanctuary with a nursery, and then convert it into its intended purpose after it was no longer needed for services. What a peace came when we realized that God was not going to let us make any mistakes in fulfilling the vison.
Plans were drawn up and things began to quickly move ahead. As each obstacle showed itself, we prayed, and miraculously God answered prayer for the speedy move forward.
Earthmovers have been busy hauling dirt from the site of our proposed multi-purpose building, to prepare for building the administration building. The pad is now set in place and compacted for the start of that building. At the same time, we have prepared a pad for our fifth building. It will be used for a Christian school, a school of ministry and a temporary fellowship hall. By building these two buildings at the same time, we will be able to save money in several ways. Approval has been given to link the septic systems together, and will also be able to pour the slabs at the same time. We thank the Lord for Brother Greeley, who has once again blessed us, in yet another way, by coordinating and overseeing the building of these two structures. He has made all the necessary contacts with contractors, suppliers and inspectors, and he oversees operations on a daily basis.
A couple of weeks ago, my boys and I were watching the earthmovers. As I walked on the site for the new administration building, I saw that vision again. It was the first time I had a close-up view of the building that we would temporarily use as a sanctuary until God provides a permanent place of worship.
Years ago, in vision, I had seen people scurrying back and forth between that building and the prayer chapels, carrying books and letters in their arms. I was so impressed with the fact that everybody knew what they were supposed to do. They had an anointing and zeal, a revelation of their place, and they were fulfilling it. Whatever was going on was of great importance, a great undertaking.
I saw men coming to donate their time and resources, once the ground was broken for the new building. I was not to worry, because the Lord was going to give us favor with people we don’t even know.
Let me tell you, we have been experiencing that in the last few weeks. Contractors have cut their prices for us, and important work has been volunteered by business people we don’t even know, just as the Lord has spoken. He promised us they will come and just want to have a part. He also said that our loved ones with means, businesses, skills, and labor will come, giving of themselves and their resources to bring the vision to pass. I saw stonework and landscaping, all kinds of things being accomplished by those who don’t know the Lord the way we have known Him. The Lord encouraged us to let them help us because what we give them would be even greater than what they would give us.
A Christian school is part of the vision for this ministry. We are making plans for a small academy, knowing that the Lord will call and position those who are to prepare young people to be tools for harvest in around the world. I saw a brother, who I didn’t know, over the school. I remember seeing myself walk over to him and asking him, “What is going on in the school?”
He said, “Everything is just fine, brother. The teachers are doing wonderful. The children are doing good, and parents are doing better than they’ve ever done.” I knew he was not a teacher, perhaps the principal. It made me know that God had somebody somewhere built to do that.
Time and again I have been asked by people from other nations if we have any kind of training program for high school graduates who want to learn spiritual Truths to help them in their ministry. We have had nothing of that kind and yet it was part of the vision.
The School of Ministry will train those who come to take the Truth of this hour to the nations. It will not be a seminary or a Bible college. The purpose of this training will not be about book work, although that is part of it. We will have seasons of prayer, times of fasting and standing together, laboring, and feeling the unity only the Holy Ghost can bring. That will build the Church. Young people who have not yet been trained in witnessing need to know how to approach a stranger about being a Christian.
Many years ago the Lord said that seventy men would go out from this place to take the Truth of this Message to the nations. That seemed almost impossible for many years, but we held on to the vision. Now we know that quickly it will all be fulfilled, just as the rest is being fulfilled. The Lord has let me see them. I know they won’t all have the same skin color. And although some may still be caught in denominational systems, while others may be living in sin, He will set them free as they come. I know that God is already pulling them to be part of the seventy.
In vision God showed me a map of Europe, Africa, Asia, and all the way down to Australia. Raising up over this map were the heads of little birds, with their mouths open, representing souls hungry for what God has given to this people. As a little bird would raise his neck and stretch it up, waiting to take the worm from the mother, so these who represented the nations were raising up their hungry heads, waiting to receive the revelation of Jesus Christ. What a commission we have received from the Lord to feed the nations! He has entrusted into our hands the very Life these souls desire.
The Lord challenged us by prophecy. “You are engorged. Your breasts are full. I am calling you to give the nations suck, to nourish them, to feed them, to fill them. Prepare thyself. I will enrich thee with revelation to sustain and to strengthen. Nurse them and nourish them. Draw them to you and give them suck. Set them upon your lap and pull them close, for they are needy and they are hungry. They have been forsaken, left to care for themselves. They are suffering, with some never hearing the good news. Forsake them not again, for they are Mine, My babies. I have called you to help them. Raise up and be not slack. With haste, prepare thyself to feed them, saith the Lord.”
The sixth building we were called to build is a two-story conference center. In the Spirit, I saw the ground moving as though something was working underneath the surface. Suddenly it was breaking forth, raising above the ground. Before my very eyes emerged the building. It had a porch roof projecting over a driveway at the entrance, to provide shelter for those getting in and out of vehicles. The Lord told me that as this building is being erected, the Lord will cause others to catch the vision and allow Him to use them in various ways to raise up a place for the Bride coming from the nations.
We are eagerly looking forward to the day when that building will be completed, and we will be in a position to provide sleeping quarters for over a hundred people – rooms for single visitors, and larger rooms with facilities for families. By having a commercial-style kitchen and a large dining hall, we will be able to serve hot meals to several hundred people, all at very nominal cost.
In a dream in 1994, I saw myself walking into a new building. It wasn’t extremely fancy, but it was tastefully done. I knew it was the new church I was pastoring. When I first stepped into the vestibule, a woman I didn’t recognize greeted me and handed me a pink rosebud. “We want to honor you, Brother Shelley, with a rose. Would you wear this today?
I thanked her, pinned it to my lapel, and continued through the swinging door into the sanctuary. The pews were set in a curve. Some of my church people were already there. Others were coming in. I laid my Bible down on the platform and left the sanctuary through a side door leading to the hallway. There were people standing around sharing.
One by one they began to testify of how bound they had been in denominations. I heard someone say, “I would never have believed a Message such as this, but when I saw the power of God working with Brother Shelley and the church here, I came out. Now I believe the Truth.”
There was a woman standing there with her husband. We had been close friends, but when I came to believe this Message, we lost contact. I was shocked to hear her say, “I want to tell you right now, Brother Shelley is my spiritual father. He has led me back to the Lord.”
I continued down the hallway and came to a large room with theater seats the color of golden oak. The floor appeared to be slanted. It seemed to be a rehearsal room for music. Parents sat in the seats watching the little children lined up on the stage to sing. The sister in charge told me that she was so nervous, and concerned about the program that morning.
I told her, “Sister, don’t worry about it. God has called you to work with children in music. Do not worry about it one bit.” She just smiled. The children looked so pretty with their sun-tanned faces, dressed so colorfully. They just shined.
I said, “It’s about church time. Come on into the sanctuary. It’s time to start.” The sanctuary was already getting full, even though there were more than a hundred in the music room.
A woman with short hair and make-up met me as I left the rehearsal room. I welcomed her, and she just smiled and thanked me. I greeted her husband, and he asked me the strangest question. He pointed to the rosebud and asked, “Is that the first flower you have ever worn?”
I remember thinking, “Was he just trying to make conversation?”
The key to that strange question was my reply. “Why, no sir. I have been preaching for (and I told him how many years.) I have had flowers many times.” I continued down the hallway and saw the different rooms. One room had books and literature on spinner racks. “What in the world is that?” I thought. I was supposed to know, but I didn’t know if these were for sale or being passed out. People were filing past me, rushing in. Some were Holiness; others were not. I began to hear music and singing. I started toward the side door of the sanctuary and just stopped. Such a Presence of God had moved in. I stood paralyzed.
I looked across that great host of people worshiping. To me it was more powerful than I had even imagined heaven’s worship to be. The people, especially the young men, had their hands lifted in such peculiar fashion. Their arms and hands were close together, lifted straight up in the air. “This is the most perfect worship I have ever seen,” I thought.
They had been singing a most beautiful worship song, when suddenly it stopped. Even the leader, whoever he was, didn’t say a word. He couldn’t. He too was paralyzed by that Presence. Immediately the people went into deep, deep spontaneous worship. Most of the time I couldn’t make out the words. There was no music, but the worship rose to such a thunderous roar, it seemed like the walls would cave in.
Every now and then I would hear a “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!” or “Thank You, Jesus.” It was fearful, and very, very powerful. Now I understood why the sister had been so concerned about the little song the children were to sing. She wanted nothing to disturb this Presence.
I looked at women with tears flowing freely down their faces. Their mascara was leaving black streaks like rivers, but my heart didn’t condemn them. Instead of thinking, “What right do these Jezebels have to praise the Lord?” I thought, “This is what they need.” I knew that once the Word was preached, the Holy Ghost’s convicting power would so touch them, that they would find the Lord in a depth they have never known.
When the music would stop, thunderous spontaneous worship would begin again. I promise you that you have never seen such worship. I have been in the best of meetings, but nowhere on earth has there ever seen such worship. I believe it was a gift from God.
I was finally released to go to the platform. The atmosphere was so holy and reverent, I remember thinking, “Even preaching would disturb this. How will I ever find words to speak?” But then a swelling came over me from way down deep within, an anointing came making my words absolutely roar like thunder. They were words most powerful. I don’t know what it was, but it was coming.
I scanned the congregation and saw the look of astonishment on people’s faces. Their mouths were opened like they were caught away in the anointing of what was being said. Suddenly I heard that noise again, and I heard thunder after thunder after thunder of worship. It sounded like thunder in the sky.
(When I prayed about this dream, the Holy Ghost spoke the following to me. “I want you just to see a little key here. Part of the mystery, part of the revelation of the seven thunders is pure and perfect worship.”)
We need never worry about imitating this. Man could never manufacture this. If I were to challenge a congregation to stand and worship with everything they had, if we were to scream and holler and praise the Lord with all our might, we couldn’t even begin to touch that worship. It changed people’s faces, and it changed me.
We are miles and miles from perfect worship. That worship bypasses the brain. It is so sacrificial, it is like prophecy. This can never be taught. The sweet, sweet worship we have known does not bypass the mind. Our mind keeps telling us how we are supposed to act. On occasion we have been caught up in higher worship, but some thought or some distraction would pull us out of that atmosphere.
Without this perfect worship we will never make the resurrection. God’s prophet told us that one day the Bride will be worshiping the Lord, and she will step out of this body into her theophany.
I believe before the Living God that the things I have shared with you are Thus Saith the Lord. They will surely come to pass. God will vindicate neither man nor ministry, church nor individual. He will only vindicate His Word and His Truth. He will vindicate His visions and promises by bringing them to pass. When the Lord directed me to go to Israel in September of 2002, little did I know what great things God had in store, or what would be added to the commission He had already given this ministry. He only gave me a small piece of the puzzle, letting me know He desired to give me something for our people. The trip was quickly arranged, and I went, accompanied by my father-in-law, Brother Ron Whittaker, Brother Arthur (Benny) West, and Brother Wes Greeley. Even before we left, He led me to make connections on the phone with people that would be important to the future work we would have in Jerusalem. I found myself speaking with acquaintances of people of importance there.
The Lord provided a wonderful place for us to stay, with friends we had met in Norway on a trip to Europe a few months earlier. As we circulated through the city, we were given divine appointment after divine appointment. We made the acquaintance of some important people, that we could see would one day lead to us being introduced to some of Israel’s leaders.
Our experiences at the wailing wall were so precious. You’d see very religious people with their prayer books rocking back and forth saying their prayers, almost like a song. One day as I began to weep and groan in the Spirit, I felt a hand resting on my right shoulder. My first reaction was that it was a manifestation of the Presence of God. But as I kept weeping and praying, and calling out to the Lord, the hand squeezed my shoulder. So I turned. There was an old Jewish man, dressed all in black, with his white shirt and a long beard. He had a look of compassion for me in his eyes. He just smiled when I looked at him and shook his shoulder a little. He took his hand and wiped it across my face, and wiped a tear from my chin. Then he turned and sat down and began to read the prayer book. That was a wonderful experience. God allowed that old man to feel my love for the Jewish people and for the nation of Israel.
We had the privilege to worship in the first synagogue that was ever built outside the old city of Jerusalem on Succoth Torah, which is the final day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the most jubilant day of they year. They take the Torah scrolls out of the chest and dance with them all over the synagogue, kissing them.
On many occasions we were told by Jewish people that we were righteous Gentiles. That means they consider you the sons of Noah. Even our guide said, “I perceive that you are a righteous Gentile.” Both the Reform and Orthodox Jews believe that if you are Gentile that lives by the seven laws of the Noaic Covenant, you will share in whatever inheritance God has given the Jewish people.
We were able to see the first breastplate that the high priest will wear in the third temple when it’s rebuilt on the top of the Temple Mount. We saw silver trumpets and gold vessels and much, much more at the Temple Institute. We attended services around the city, as the Lord led us, and became acquainted with several Charismatic ministries. Because of my background, having been raised by a godly grandmother who pastored a church, I do not shy away from sisters who are trying to do a work for the Lord, perhaps without the full knowledge of all that has been given to us by the Message of the Hour on that subject. I was invited to speak several times in their pulpits, a privilege I never would have imagined possible when I was planning this trip of obedience.
Ministering in Jerusalem is such a sacred trust. The Lord led me to preach on the tokens of consummation and they loved it. I said, “You can sing all day long that you’ve been with the Bridegroom, but unless you’ve got that bloody sheet, the token of your consummation, unless you can prove that you’ve been with Him, then you’ve not been with Him. It’s about those who come out of the bridal chamber living the life.” They welcomed us with open arms, receiving every word, because they knew that it was the truth.
It seems that in almost every service a great number of different countries were always represented. (As I ministered on subsequent visits to Israel, even in a small gathering we have had as many as 15 different countries represented at one time.) Those who were ministered to experienced the Anointing of God, as he revealed His Word and those areas of their lives that needed direction to which only He could know the solution.
The prophetic gift was so precious and so clear and specific in that city where there’s an open heaven that we have been able to gather pages and pages of transcript of what the Lord spoke. Many of people we met are familiar with the “gifts”, however, so many times they have seen them used for personal encouragement and promise, regardless of the condition people are in. I find that the prophets of the Bible prophesied good and evil, blessings contingent on obeying the Lord. In our ministry the Lord is very specific so many times. This set us apart.
One of the pulpits that became available to me had a lady pastor by the name of Nancy Bergen. She is a precious lady who has given her life and resources to live by faith and do a work for the Lord in Jerusalem. She had a ministry home that was available for sisters to come and stay for days, weeks, or even months at a time, in order to be a part of the prayer ministry God had entrusted to her. They had a prayer meetings every afternoon and weekend services at that house.
I could see that she was hungry for the things the Lord was revealing. We began to share with Sister Nancy, and those sisters that were with her, how God had used the voice of a Kentucky gentleman to relate what the seventh angel was giving the Bride for this day. We shared the tapes and books we had brought. It was easy to see that she was hungry for all the Lord had spoken. We came home knowing that there was a new and fresh excitement in the land. In our report we told the church that there is a cry for righteousness stirring among both the Jewish people and the Christians. Jews are coming home from many different countries, and God’s mercy is being poured out, and they are asking to be filled with His spirit.
We hadn’t been back long when the Lord showed me a camel train loaded with heavy, wonderful things. The Lord said, “The Queen of Sheba is on her way.” I knew that if God can give you a ministry in Israel, you can sow to the whole world. We knew that God was going to provide for the need.
On the weekend of November 23rd, Sister Nancy began to play Brother Branham’s tapes in the chapel in Jerusalem, sending it out spiritually like a trumpet to the Jews. Prophetically, God was moving for the Gentiles to take the gospel back to the Jews.
We sent her a big package of tapes and books. Right on top of it all, I included the book we had published in 1992, Write the Vision. In my mind I battled the thought that she might pick it up, and open to the part about my granny realizing that according to the Word she could no longer preach. I wondered if it might turn her away, and that would be the end of our acquaintance.
You can just imagine how shocked I was to get a call from Jerusalem letting me know that the testimony of Granny was the very thing that had struck a cord as soon as the package came. It had opened a revelation to Sister Nancy that she could no longer preach. My! That was so precious! To think that a lady with such a zeal for God could get the revelation that He could use her in many other ways, without preaching, was such a precious thing.
It wasn’t too many weeks before she called to ask if I would pastor the people who she was ministering to there in the city of Jerusalem. I told her that I would pray about it, and that I had planned to come to Jerusalem in the spring. She said she wanted to be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ at that time. I told her I would baptize her in the Jordan River. As time went on, however, she began to realize that she just couldn’t wait. So she asked the Lord to make a way for her to come to our New Year’s Meetings. She was baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in our church in Columbus on December 31, 2002.
In a series of prophetic words and songs the Lord gave during those meetings, we knew that it was His will for us to accept a pastoral position in Jerusalem. This could mean traveling back and forth approximately every three months.
Our church people were very much behind picking up this burden from the Lord, believing that somehow God would strengthen me for the dual role of pastoring two groups, and help them to be able to sacrifice financially in order to sustain the work there until it was established.
A very significant thing happened on the fortieth anniversary of the releasing of the seals. In March 2003, a little tape recorder played Brother Branham’s words in the city of Jerusalem to people gathered from different countries of the world, in our ministry chapel!
We have been able to locate two very lovely three-story apartments that are side by side, that we could use. By families pledging $100 a month, and some $200 a month, we have been able to keep the rent and taxes paid. We also needed to furnish these apartments, and the Lord provided furniture on loan, that the previous tenants were willing to leave for a time, and the purchase of part of what we are needing.
Sister Nancy moved over to be with us, and uses one of the apartments for herself and the ladies that still come to be with her. A group of ladies from Taiwan who had received the Message, and a powerful experience with the Lord before the move, recently returned and stayed with her there in the apartment. They have now returned home again, loaded with compact discs, tapes, videos, books and tracts, ready to share with hungry Chinese family and friends. I am leaving for my fourth trip to Israel. (Our family returned from our last trip just in time for camp meeting at the end of July.) It will be very difficult to leave behind my wife, Stacey, and our sons Benjamin Judah, Joshua River, and now our month-old daughter, Olivia Zion, but I know the Lord is calling and I must answer.
Brother Jonathan Hollis has been living in our apartment. He will be with me there during the next three weeks, assisting in the services. He has been so faithful to fill the pulpit in my absence, and assists in many facets of the ministry. He has been to Israel three times now, and been in the land a total of about six months. He grew up in the church in Columbus, and has always been an eager student of the Scriptures, so we have confidence that the people are being fed in our absence. We have enjoyed hearing what the Lord speaks through him on the tapes.
Brother Jonathan and Sister Nancy have been preparing a little chapel in the basement of our apartment where we can have services until God provides a building. We have purchased an electronic piano and a sound system, in order to be able to record the wonderful things the Lord gives us. We are asking the Lord to help us get them paid for speedily, as there are so many other needs. Please keep us in your prayers as our little church spreads out so far in this big world. I told the congregation that we are all to live the Word and provoke the Jewish people to jealousy. (Romans 11:11) We have been taught that Israel will have a Pentecostal revival. Until God finishes His work among our Jewish brethren (performed by Gentiles), there will be no rapture. This Bride has a heavy and holy commission, and now is the time.