Dear brothers in Christ,
This is the account of a journey that the Lord Jesus sent Paul A Norman and Michael F. To'o on in 2007/8. The purpose of the journey was simply to be available to the Holy Spirit for what the Lord Jesus wants done in each place he sends us.
This account is being written as we go along, and I am writing it with Michael's help. If you click on any of the photos you'll get a bigger version and also sometimes more information.
In 1981 the Lord Jesus called me to leave my work and go and live in a house rented from a church group in Wellington New Zealand in the South Pacific, and see two things happen. One was to simply go down on the streets of Wellington and tell people about the wonderful love of the Lord Jesus, and the other was to do this by faith - and God would build a community of people up who would be given by Him to the work of the gospel.
By His grace this came to pass, but the church we rented some of the buildings off decided they wanted to control the whole community and didn't want leaders in the community from other churches, didn't want the leadership team to pray together, wouldn't allow even overnight visitors (who even asked) to be baptised, and wanted us to force every one to tithe like Mormons 10 percent of their income to their church - with no respect for where God had the people.
This taught us all a valuable lesson about God's ministries needing to stand in fellowship with each other but each 'team' being under the direct headship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Eventually we believed God directed us to close the community down.
And the same month another major outreach opened in the same city, which I believed was God's wonderful working.
At the time God already had me "on the road", and I had gone back up to Wellington with the revelation of closure to find that the leadership team remaining in the community had the same revelation.
What I saw happening during those years, was God preparing people in a non-organisational way to operate as individuals and as teams in His Holy Spirit to accomplish various tasks all over the globe.
Slowly a loose knit sense of fellowship started to develop between ones and twos here and there, and on a much broader front.
Some brothers were obviously apostolic teams evangelising, building up believers, readying the body of Christ in each district for eldership. Others were doing pure evangelism, or were more targeted in practical projects. While others were more prophetic in nature.
One thing then and now that runs through out all of this move of the Holy Spirit, is a desire to understand and hold to the teachings of Christ that His first apostles have passed down to us as recorded in Scripture and still born witness to by the Holy Spirit today.
This has meant that in some districts all over the world, many of the brothers and sisters have found themselves brought into conflict with members of groups who still want to hold onto styles of church that yet have some form of elevated hierarchal priesthood heading them up, or who have adopted the various political correctness doctrines currently filling the world. Issues ranging from not accepting woman's spiritual leadership or teaching in the Body of Christ, to rejecting the push to become "inclusive" (falsely allowing that a Christian may a be a practising homosexual, lesbian or other ongoing sinner).
--Instead the direction followed is to remember the Lord Jesus in all things and the teachings He passed down through the apostles in Scripture - knowing that there are no "cultural/historical" justifications for sidestepping the New Testament, and that in fact nothing changes until we can all see the Lord Jesus coming in the clouds with all of His holy angels.
The wonderful thing that I have observed time and time again, is that the groups and individual Christians who do hold onto Christ, and stay in the life and leading provided by the Holy Spirit, are seeing the same miraculous God, who had the bible written in the first place and Who raised Jesus from the dead, still performing His great signs and wonders as He has always done for those who actually believe and follow His only begotten Son our great God and Saviour - the Lord Jesus Christ.
And by signs and wonders I do not mean strange falling overs or peculiar behaviour of people like animals or in trances, I mean God hearing prayers and changing regional weather miraculously and instantly, healing people with visibly broken bones instantly, utterly healing non-existent fertility, restoring sight to blinded people, mobility to the enfeebled, replacing skin where there is none, raising the dead and casting out powerful demons. Miracles and provisions, on the lessor and grand scale. The list is truly endless!
Things that Satan has been withheld from at this time. Which only our Heavenly Father does - by the Holy Spirit to confirm the Person and message of the Lord Jesus - encouraging and assisting His children in the outworking of their Salvation and this life of love, truth and holiness that he has called us to.
And regarding holiness I doubt that there is one amongst us who has not over the years fallen to foul sins, but through the working of God's grace and fellowship of dedicated brothers and sisters, God's redemptive and restorative processes have lifted willing people back up to living again wholeheartedly in Christ's loving forgiveness.
One thing that has always come forward as essential - and while really obvious is often allowed to dwindle all too easily ("out of sight, out of mind") in this materialistic self centred world - is love, not only for God as described above, but deeply for each other whole heartedly. Holding no resource back that is needed for the sustenance of God children and the furtherance of Christ's kingdom, faithfully trusting for God's provisions now and rewards in the here after for those called to the gift and grace of giving.
For the team that I can see that the Lord has us part of at this time, there are some people who God has drawn to be a core part of things longterm and others who He has associated for seasons at a time. The whole basis of it is having a discernible call of God to live trusting Him in what He reveals He wants done to the exclusion of all other pursuits.
Whether that means "going" or "staying", in a proactive gathering, building or supply role. Each one carrying out their duties in great love and as unto the Lord Jesus Christ Personally living in fear of the Day of Judgement and hoping rather by His grace for the Day of His Coming and resurrection to a better life and reward.
With those thoughts in mind, the thrust has by necessity always had a high component of evangelism in it, every one who has ever been associated has served God with that gift to a greater or lesser degree.
Prophecy and teaching, preparing men for eldership and outreach, has been another constant theme running through this ministry.
An organisation has never been set up, rather the Holy Spirit has always cautioned that the whole thing is something He is doing which can only be sustained by faith and hope in the Lord Jesus' living and active words.
Projects range from the highly practical (soap making for primitive circumstances - computer activities, to raising buildings) to the purely spiritual as each is given ability by God the Father, called by the Lord Jesus and gifted by the Holy Spirit.
The net result is always to be souls saved, believers encouraged and nurtured, and the Community of Christ built up - with the Lord Jesus building His Church.
This present trip Michael and I are on is building upon a foundation laid by a number of people on trips both within and outside New Zealand since at least 1981.
After much prayer and seeming false starts Michael and I finally left New Zealand on June 18th 2007. We believed that we were first to travel to Los Angeles while on a round the world ticket.