Prayer Evangelism and Equipping

Newsletter - 9th Dec 2022

operation hope - annual report and message - dec 2022

Hoping you all have a very Happy Christmas and a Blessed New Year!
Annual Message and update 2022

A year we came close to giving up, saw our greatest miracles and bought a house with no money!
Annual message and update 09/12/2022 By Steve Pilkington

We live in a time of great difficulty for so many.

UCB Christian radio have spent last week dealing with the subject of poverty and helping raise awareness of CAP (Christians Against Poverty).

I want to address this today and talk a little bit about why God allows suffering and difficulties, and what the fruit of that may be. And how can we think about missions at a time like this?

Often in the Kingdom of God it feels like things are going the wrong way when God is preparing us to be projected forwards. (Bow and Arrow)

You may hear us talk about missions and think, how on Earth could I possibly be a part of any of this. Where would I get the money to go with them or to do something along those lines.

It is hard enough to pay the electricity bill, right?

To assume in any way that I have somehow got it all together. And have such great experience and support that I’m flying along would be a gross miss understanding.

I have given testimonies of when God did this that or the other. How He provided all the money to buy this tent or rent that base or similar.

All of it true! But…

Is it easy? Do I know how it will work out? Does it even seem possible? No!

Allow me to expose my heart here a little and say you are not the only one who struggles. Everyone reading this has battles going on right now.

In the summer I gave God an ultimatum because I had been struggling for so long in poverty and confusion that I couldn’t go on. I said Lord if you don’t speak to me clearly in this conference I am going to next week, I will have to put this down and look for other work.

I had trust issues with God! I felt like Peter when he had tried to walk on water. I felt if Jesus didn’t do something I would sink.

Maybe some of you feel that way too?

God spoke to me powerfully at that conference in many ways.
Did he provide finances and make my problems go away? No!

He taught me that no matter what the situation, I can trust God!

And if my problems persist a while, then it is going to work out good for me.

In the time of Daniel, three men stood for God when all others bowed the knee. The Lord didn’t stop them from enduring the fiery furnace. He went into it with them and took the heat on Himself.

They went through the flames and came out without even smelling of smoke.

You will all have times in life where you are going through fire and times when you are riding the crest of the wave.

But God has promised I will never leave you nor forsake you.

If He has you in a trial, it is going to work out for your good!
You can trust God!

  • Romans 8:28 All things work together for good for those called after His purposes
  • Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare not for harm. To give you a future filled with hope. Then you will call to me, and I will listen to you! (You may have troubles, but you have Gods ear too)
  • Romans 8:31 What then shall we say of these things? If God is for us who can be against us?
  • Romans 8:32-33 He who did not spare His own son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also give us all things?

It is not our job to focus on our problems or so called lack! But it is our job to focus on the solution, Jesus Christ! Peter started to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus.

The bible says in Philippians 4:6-7 – Be anxious for nothing! (Literally Nothing) But by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding (Doesn’t always make sense to us), will (literally) guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

It is not supposed to be easy! But He has promised that you need not be anxious! It takes trust!

God is not looking to remove all our problems today! He is offering to come into your situation and transform it by walking in the flames with you!

He and His presence through His Holy Spirit is literally the answer you are looking for.

After that conference, my wife and I took a decision to set our faces towards God and not look to the left or the right. If we go bankrupt and lose everything, then you can right on our tomb stones “The first people to be let down while trusting God”

We are fully committed to what He had said.

He called us out of work, without giving us a replacement salary. We still have a mortgage to pay, electricity, oil, car maintenance, fuel, kids, food, clothes etc etc etc.

We have all the demands that everyone else has yet no possible solution in the flesh. Sometimes it gets very scary, yet God makes a way where there seems to be no way!

He has no favourites and will do for you what He does for us.

Does it work out how we want it to? No, not very often.
Does it work out how we imagine and think it should, no not often.

Do we have lots of sponsors so we can work out budgets and make plans? No, we just listen to God and try to be obedient.

We have a few who bless us. But mostly if we sat down and worked out a budget we would scream and run to the job centre.

So how does it work?

Allow me to give you some insight. Faith that cost you nothing is not real faith!

I had to learn to trust God before He could do anything about my situation.

After that conference, God asked me to go to Kenya trusting that He could make all the provision I needed even while I’m in a developing nation.

I had no money, literally around £14 in the ministry account and nothing in our own. I had a family to provide for.

How could I say yes Lord!

Because I had heard His command!

Slowly a couple of gifts came in and I found I had money for the flight but nothing else and that would leave my family with nothing. What kind of person books a plane ticket when he hasn’t provided for his family?

God said GO! He said your family are my responsibility, you are my responsibility.

I had to learn once and for all that I could trust God. There was no point telling everyone because I wouldn’t know if it was God or not.

So, I booked the ticket knowing I may get on that plane with no way of eating when I got off.

He did just that, I had to board a plane with no return for 4 weeks with no money and my family having nothing either.

By the time I arrived I had enough for a few days.

Lisa’s told me that after I left, she was stood by the stove cooking. She said to the Lord, my husband has gone, how do I provide for this family. He spoke softly into her ear, “By this evening you will have all that you need”.
Later that day she went to lock the front door and found two envelopes of money pushed through the letter box. God had used two people to provide all that she needed.

Each time I ran out of money I prayed, and a gift would go into my account.

It was dropped on my schedule to go to a town called Busia and preach for 5 days. I had no hotel money and had to leave the next day. I cried out to God before going to sleep. I was determined to not tell anyone. God must provide. He sent me to that place, so He will make a way.

The next day my hotel money was in the account. I shared with the giver about how timely his sacrifice had been. He testified that during the night God clearly told him to give to me. He answered yes Lord I’ll put £20 in his bank tomorrow. God then gave him no peace to sleep. So, he said OK Lord, I’ll give him £50 tomorrow. God still gave no peace, so he said Lord what are you asking. God said “Give him £100 and do it immediately”

My trip was to cost an extra £100 and although it’s not a lot. When you are in the middle of Africa alone with no money. It may as well be a million.

During that week of ministry, they ushers brought a girl in on a bed who was paralysed from the waist down. God spoke to me and said, ‘because you trusted me, you will see that Faith manifests in miracles, the same God who impossibly brought you here will now raise this girl up”.

He did just that! These things are on our YouTube channel if you’d like to see them.

God is willing and able to do amazing things in your life. It’ll be tough and not work as you may imagine but He will never leave or forsake you. He will take you on His journey and you will look back in amazement.
You need to decide. Am I going to say to God what would you have for me do for you?

What if he said to you to come on our next trip? But you have no money and can’t pay your bills?

Impossibility is God’s opportunity to show you His power and love.

Faith grows as you stand on the knowledge that you have heard His voice and step out in obedience.

Real Faith manifests in miracles.

Allow me to highlight to you one more miracle God has done this year. Although I could share so many.

God has enabled us to buy our home!

One day I was walking through my front door when the Lord whispered to me, “I am giving you this house”.

It was utterly impossible, and I kept it in my heart to see what God might do.

Not too long afterwards our landlord approached us and said she would love to get out of renting, she was not threatening us with eviction but asked if we might buy the place.

I showed her that this was completely impossible. We have no real income to speak of and could never get a mortgage without giving up our ministry which we couldn’t do.

She came back to us and said that something inside was telling her we should own the house. I told her who I thought that was.

She said she was willing to go to her solicitor and set up a legal loan contract for us to buy the house.
No deposit as she had, had 4 years rent anyway, no credit score as we have never missed a payment before, no interest as she didn’t want to make any profit from us, and she would also give us the house at the price she paid 5 years previous.

To cut a long story short, God assured us this was Him. We agreed, He provided all the solicitors fees, and we now own our house. He who brought the miracle about, will pay the mortgage. Which is £75 less than we were paying in rent.
God is so Good!

Allow me to tell you about our upcoming mission and how you can be involved in various ways

Leaving February 23rd for two weeks

  • We will have two weekends of revival meetings in numerous churches.
  • We will be hiring a big Evangelism Truck
  • We will be visiting Schools, prisons, marketplaces, and orphanages with the truck and with the Good news of Jesus!
  • We will be holding a 6-night Tent Mission in and around Kakamega
  • We intend to finish furnishing our base
  • And manage to show our team a day or so as tourists, what Kenya has to offer.
  • Together we will see thousands come to Jesus and receive a new start through His redemptive message
  • We will no doubt see His wonderful power released on the sick and needy through healing and miracles of so many kinds.

How can you be involved in this mission?

  • It is not too late to come! Now or July! We have a base, and it is a part of our vision to fill it as much as possible. It is transformative to your life and church experience.
  • Pray! Pray! Pray! Organise in the church to cover each day on the itinerary in prayer for God’s fruitfulness. This makes all the difference to each trip. WhatsApp group?

You can sign up for our regular updates if you don’t already get them?

  • Can you give? Financially, each time we go there are thousands and thousands of pounds that need to be found to do the ministry we engage in. Each member of the team must find their costs for going but just the ministry we have planned in February is huge. We are hiring a big truck for 6 days, sign writing it, fuelling it, getting quality translators, PA, Generators. We are transporting our tent, getting a team to put it up, security guards to watch it, electricity, field hire, and so on. You get the story. I would love to see churches saying how can we fund raise to send one of our folks on these trips, and investing in their lives?
  • Orphans, we are looking for sponsors for our 23 Children in the Kakamega orphanage.
  • Churches may be able to gather items of clothing, writing pads, pens, and pencils ect. Pack them in a box and cover the costs of posting it to the orphanage.
  • Or perhaps soft furnishings and items we need to furnish the mission base in Kakamega. You can see QR Codes here for each of these things. Or just speak to any of our team.

In the summer I will be out there for around two months receiving multiple teams and doing all the above but bigger and multiple times. Pray for us and join us?

All our love at this wonderful time of year, thank you so much for all your prayers and support.

Steve, Lisa, Faith, Grace, Nathan, Hannah and Josiah xxxxxxx

 

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