reflection
December 16, 2010
What I love about God is that he gives us hints to what is to come and He does that through different ways. Earlier this year in the Spring I was driving from Taber, my home city, to Lethbridge just west of Taber by about 80 km (50 miles) when I saw in the sky a plane that was made from a formation of clouds. It was a very big plane, one that was used for international flights and I sensed that I was receiving something from our Lord. I found it interesting because I travel by plane from time to time for work however I knew this was not work related because the planes I fly with for work are small. At the time I was praying about a trip to India that I was planning so I thought it might be a reference to those plans and I kept this picture in my heart.
Carrie Ross December 16, 2010December 7, 2010
Well it has been three weeks since my daughter-in-law Amanda and I arrived back in Canada and we came home to snow and cold. My home country is so beautiful so the conditions did not throw me and the drive home gave me time to enjoy the beauty and to savor the short time in Nigeria with wonderfully warm weather. It has been anywhere from 0 C (32 F) to -40 C (-40 F) since we've been home so winter is settling in.
Carrie Ross December 7, 2010November 14, 2010
Today we were allowed to have a lie-in … until 8 am. All the same, the night wasn’t particularly great. Beneath our window a group of football fans celebrated until 3 in the morning. When the alarm rang, I had nonetheless had a pretty good rest. Taking a shower doesn’t bother me any more. I’ll still be happy when I don’t have to see or use the hotel room any more.
I enjoyed breakfast and the African morning in the open air on a white plastic chair in the tent belonging to the “God’s favor rental” company – Africans don’t have any sense of pain.
Stephan Mittelstädt November 14, 2010November 13, 2010
I am not a big Facebooker but it sure is a great tool at times and so it was that I happened to be on Facebook when I saw an "advertisement" for a contest. It was about the middle of September 2010 and as I was reading the advert I got very excited. Reinhard Bonnke!!! He would be someone that I would most definitely want to hang out with! Without hesitation I entered the contest on line and a about a week later an acknowledgement came in the mail. I replied as they requested and then received a confirmation as a registered contestant. This was great to me! I prayed that the Lord would let me go and be apart of this wonderful crusade and this mighty man of God.
Carrie Ross November 13, 2010November 13, 2010
5.30 am We’re back on our bus travelling in the dark through the still sleeping city of Ogbomosho. I’ve only had four hours’ sleep again because I spent too long talking to Lars about all that had gone on. I wonder how long I’m going to be able to cope with this lack of sleep. 6.00 am – breakfast. It’s slowly becoming a routine. However, I feel a bit like a prisoner. Our hotel is surrounded by barbed wire and there are security gates like a prison. The Governor’s house is surrounded by high walls topped with broken glass. There are always guards with machine guns standing outside. On the campaign field, our area is cordoned off and we always have a police escort when we travel to and from the hotel, the Governor’s house and the field. When we drive back from the campaign in the evening, there are sometimes ten dark four-wheel-drive vehicles ahead of us, some of them with a blue light, and the column is closed by a truck with soldiers on the loading platform. I suppose a president feels like that, too. I don’t want to think about the fact that it is for our safety. That makes me a bit nervous.
Stephan Mittelstädt November 13, 2010November 12, 2010
God is very good. We have just finished at the crusade where 250000 people have gathered to worship the living God who is most definitely alive and being faithful today to his promises today. Amen amen amen!
We were able to walk out into the crowd and see at close range the faces of the people we have been ferverently praying for from a distance. Lives are truly being touched, lives set free in Jesus name and bodies being healed.
Daniel Kolenda had the priviledge of opening the word this evening. He spoke on the passover power of the blood of Jesus. People were asked to lay down their charms and idols which were burnt later and curses were broken in Jesus name. Amen. A very powerful move of the Spirit was witnessed tonight.
Richard Meikle November 12, 2010November 12, 2010
The second bad night. I’m sure I hadn’t had more than three hours’ sleep when the alarm went off at 4.45 am. We dragged ourselves out of bed and tumbled into the bus still half asleep. Because our group was twice as big this time and a team from Brazil had joined us, we were going to eat in two shifts. Unfortunately, we were the first. The breakfast made up for it all again – just like yesterday. I was in amazingly good form and was looking forward to the morning prayer meeting with Reinhard Bonnke at 6.30 in our little group. To think that he preached to us with the same passion as he did yesterday to a crowd of 150,000 is really amazing. I’m thankful that I can be so close to such a great man of God.
Daniel Kolenda sat next to me and talked to his 6-year-old son.
Stephan Mittelstädt November 12, 2010November 11, 2010
Another great night,Reinhard Bonnke preached a very good message on John 8, on the woman caught in adultary and who should throw the first stone. At the end of the sermon, when the call to salvation was made, it was incredible hearing the crowd roar back the sinners prayer, and then sing out I Surrender All. Many lives were touched. During the singing what looked like mist rolled in, and we realised it was the dust rising from people dancing. There were about 200000 people here tonight, you could tell the density of the crowds have increased from last night and the traffic jam as we are trying to leave is a lot worse than last night. The little roads of Ogbomosho are resembling. The M25 tonight!
Richard Meikle November 11, 2010November 11, 2010
Good morning, our bus rolled out at 5:15 this morning and the streets of Ogbomosho had already started to stir in the cool, dark of this morning. We are about to have devotions, then at 7 am the Fire conference starts, which is a training time for the pastors and church leaders. It starts early, to try and miss the heat of mid day. Nigel (one of the CfaN guys from the UK) is sporting his black CfaN shirt which clashes with his early morning complexion, but maybe it helps repel the myriad of bugs that seem to like us a lot! Its going to be a good day.
Richard Meikle November 11, 2010November 10, 2010
Haven’t slept much. We’re staying in the best hotel in Ogbomosho but the rooms are small. There’s no wardrobe, the air conditioning isn’t working, the ceiling fan wobbles and only runs at top speed, and the toilet has no seat or lid.
In the room it was hot and stuffy and I sweated a lot. Difficult for a German who likes to sleep with the window open. I did not dare to take a shower; it was too revolting. Perhaps I’ll be able to cope better tomorrow.
For breakfast we travelled to a lodge owned by a church, where Reinhard Bonnke and Daniel Kolenda are staying and where the team chef cooks for the CfaN team and around 35 international guests. There was everything you could want and it made up for the bad night. We then drove 20 minutes back to the hotel and I wrote about what I had experienced the day before. It took me 1½ hours. I had a lot to think about and digest and writing about it helped.
Stephan Mittelstädt November 10, 2010